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Trust and being "worthy" - the key to creating wealth	[ "Trustworthiness", "Ethical leadership", "Trust", "Theory of reasoned action", "Followership", "Wealth creation", "Capacity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Despite decades of analysis by scholars (Hosmer, 1995), there continues to be little consensus about the nature of trust - despite the fact that there is near unanimous agreement that trust is the glue to effective organizational relationships and a key to competitive advantage (Reina and Reina, 2015). And despite the acknowledgment of the importance of trust in leadership relationships (Covey, 2004), research findings have continued to acknowledge that leaders and organizations are frequently not trusted (Robbins, 2016) and are not perceived to be worthy of that trust (Barney and Hansen, 1994).\nThe nature of trust: In his widely quoted book, Functions of the Executive, Chester Irving Barnard summarized lectures he presented to the Harvard Business School in 1938 and described how business actually operates as leaders strive to obtain cooperation and results. Barnard explained that authority or team members' actions in cooperating with the directions of a leader, was a construct dependent on the leader's perceived trustworthiness and was ultimately action taken by each cooperator at his or her discretion. Barnard called cooperation the abnormal, not the normal condition in organizations, and emphasized the need for leaders to obtain participants' cooperative support if organizations were to succeed. Noting that most organization leaders were ineffective and that most organizations achieved only mediocre success, Barnard (1938) emphasized the critical responsibility of the leader in earning the trust, commitment, and followership of others.\nTrust and the TRA: The nature of trust and insights about this diversity of opinions about trust become much easier to identify in context with one's understanding of how people interrelate and the process of predicting their behaviors. The TRA provides a powerful resource in understanding trust behavior and the relationship between one's cognitive beliefs, affective attitudes and emotions, conative intentions to act, and actual actions and behaviors. Fishbein and Ajzen (2010) provide the diagram below that helps explain why trust is viewed in so many different ways (Figure 1).\nThe critical importance of trust: Trust behavior adds value, creates organizational wealth, increases innovation, improves customer service, and enhances the ability of organizations to achieve competitive advantage (Covey, 2004; Pfeffer, 1998). high performance work systems (HPWS) are based upon creating high trust cultures that treat employees as valued \"owners and partners\" (Block, 2013). Arthur and colleagues (2016) affirm the important role of HPWS in building trust, increasing profits, and creating long-term value when organizations create organizational systems that treat employees as empowered and respected individuals. Creating Human Resource Management (HRM) systems that demonstrate high trust and that create policies, programs, and processes that reflect espoused organizational values are acknowledged as key elements to achieving strategic competitive advantage (Caldwell and Hansen, 2010). Chang (2016) also noted that HPWS enhance the quality of an organization's work climate, increase commitment, empower employees, and increase organization ambidexterity.\nContributions of the paper: As the essential element for building strong organizations and high employee commitment, high trust is widely valued but rarely achieved by those who seek to lead. In explaining the role of trust as a leadership quality, this paper makes four significant contributions for practitioners:\nConclusion: The ability of leaders to create greatness in organizations is dependent upon their worthiness to lead - their genuine caring for others, their personal integrity, their acquired expertise, and their capacity to integrate those qualities. Increasingly, scholars have advocated that leaders must raise the bar in virtuousness (Cameron, 2011), perspective (Bennis and Nanus, 2007), and the ability to combine a broad range of ethical values (Caldwell, 2012) as ethical stewards (Hernandez, 2012).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purposes of this paper are to present a clear model for understanding trust by integrating the diverse viewpoints in the trust literature and to explain how that model enables individuals and organizations to optimize their ability to create value and sustain competitive advantage.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual paper that integrates the perspectives of many widely regarded scholars and links trust with value creation in organizations.\nFindings: The paper builds on previously established conditions essential to creating trust but suggests that trustworthiness requires an integrative quality which we call \"capacity\" that enables those who seek to lead to translate trust into action. That integrative quality is the key to effective execution for individuals and organizations.\nOriginality/value: Trust is widely acknowledged to be both a critical condition for successful organizations but a missing commodity in many leader-follower relationships. The paper offers insights for scholars and practitioners about the importance of leaders earning trust by being worthy of their followers' commitment and cooperation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Social values in health priority setting: a conceptual framework	[ "Social values", "Health organisation and management", "Decision making", "Health priority setting" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: By definition, to set priorities is to give higher importance to some things over others. Priority setting in health aims to determine what, in the context of limited resources, is most important. Priority setting is undertaken at many different levels of decision making, from the highest levels of health politics and management, where overall resources are allocated, to decisions at the bedside where the value of interventions has to be assessed. Priority setting is not unique to the public sector - private insurance engages in priority setting when it determines entitlements and exclusions.How priorities are set in different institutional and national settings, however, will vary considerably, given that what is thought most important in one society may not be thought most important in another society because of a whole range of social factors, including politics, culture, social demographics, religion and levels of economic development. So, whilst the challenges of priority setting may be common to very many societies, the variety of factors that are taken into account in practical decision making, and how those decisions are shaped by an array of social values is of great interest. The purpose of this paper is to map a set of what seem to be the most significant of those social values as they occur in the context of health care, in order to facilitate the beginnings of an international comparative study of the role social values play in priority-setting decisions.It has come to be recognized increasingly over recent years that setting health priorities requires not only apparently \"technical\" judgments such as those around clinical and cost effectiveness, but that it also involves value judgments - and these judgments are social. Social value judgments might be defined as judgments made on the basis of the moral or ethical values of a particular society. Social values can be contrasted with purely moral values in so far as the latter may include values which are not held by a particular society at a particular time (Biron et al., 2012). This is not, however, to say that social values are relativistic in the philosophical sense, but rather that they give particular form to \"universal\" moral values of, for example, justice - and this particular form is shaped by the social, cultural, religious and institutional features of any given society.One of the central aims of ethical priority setting must be to produce a distribution of healthcare resources that it is justifiable - that is, socially justifiable. As Daniels points out: \"when we knowingly and deliberately refrain from meeting some legitimate needs, we had better have justification for the distributive choices we make\" (Daniels, 1996, p. 317). Given that the public are those most directly affected by priority setting - it is they or, more particularly, patients whose \"legitimate needs\" we might refrain from meeting - it follows that decisions about resource allocation should embody values which are, broadly speaking, the same values as those held by the population served by the healthcare system in question.Determining when and how decisions on priority setting are justifiable involves values relating to process (that is, how decisions are made) and to the content and reasons used (that is, what decisions are made and why).There are many values that may be involved in priority setting in specific contexts, including legality, faithfulness to constitutional provisions and respect for international obligations. However, this paper focuses on three general process values which can be seen and assessed in any system:1. transparency;2. accountability; and3. participation.In terms of content, there are also a number of values, but here we identify:* clinical effectiveness;* cost effectiveness;* justice/equity;* solidarity; and* autonomy.Table I is the \"values\" template provided to participants at the social values and health priority setting conference for which this paper was produced. It puts the values in a wider societal and institutional setting.Procedures of transparency, accountability and participation may not seem quite so clear as \"social values\" as those listed under the content heading. However, the way in which decisions are made is important for legitimacy, which is in turn essential in terms of justifiability: it may be difficult for people to accept a judgment if they do not know the process by which it has been made and who has been involved in making it. There is a distinctly \"social\" aspect of the \"social value\" of decision-making procedures: it may be that in some societies, participation is thought less important than, say, the involvement of experts, or that accountability takes very different institutional forms, or that the degree of transparency expected is high or low depending on levels of social trust. So, both the profile of each of the process values as well as the balance between them will be informed by the particular features of any given society.The process values selected here are those commonly associated with processes of public reasoning and legitimacy in democratic decision-making (see, for example, Gutmann and Thompson, 2004). They also draw on the values inherent in what has become the leading framework for procedural justice - Daniels' accountability for reasonableness model (Daniels, 2000a) - and on the values adhered to by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in its decision-making processes (NICE, 2012).In contrast to the process values, content values focus on the substance of decision-making - the reasons and criteria upon which decisions are made. Here we outline those content values which almost inevitably arise in some form or other in any system of healthcare. The list of content values used here draws upon a reading of statements of social values from NICE (NICE, 2008; Rawlins and Culyer, 2004) and from the wider bioethics literature (see for example, Chalkidou et al., 2009; Hoedemaekers and Dekkers, 2003; Oliver, 2003; Powers and Faden, 2008; Persad et al., 2009; Cookson and Dolan, 2000).Considerations of clinical effectiveness, however that term is defined, are necessary if only from the perspective of assessing the safety of interventions. Yet even with a measure as apparently \"purely\" technical as safety, there will be variations between one society and the next with regards to standards of safety and how they are determined, as well as with regard to what passes for clinical effectiveness more widely.Cost-effectiveness is perhaps controversial as a social value: it is possible to argue that it is not, in itself, a value but rather a vehicle which allows for the balancing of other values. Others may argue simply that it is just a necessary evil. However, the role of cost-effectiveness in any healthcare system is vital in ensuring that money is only spent on those treatments that justify the opportunity costs, since any expenditure on one patient inevitably means less for someone else given circumstances of limited resources: for example, highly expensive interventions of low effectiveness potentially impose loss of services upon a large number of other patients. From this point of view, cost effectiveness can be seen as preserving a fair balance between different sets of potential healthcare beneficiaries.The value of justice or fairness is fundamental to priority setting decisions and, in terms of its inclusion in the list, perhaps the least controversial. It is, however, internally one of the most contested values not only in priority setting but in bioethics and indeed political philosophy more widely, with multiple models available (see Hoedemaekers and Dekkers, 2003, for a summary of dominant conceptions of justice and their application to healthcare). How fairness in healthcare is conceived in different systems will naturally be shaped by wider conceptions of social justice, which may in turn be affected for example by levels of social inequality and attitudes to discrimination, as well as by social institutions such as written constitutions or bills of rights. Which conception of justice or fairness is in operation will also be substantially informed by the balance of the other social values in the list. So, in a setting where social solidarity is held to be particularly significant, justice may be more concerned with addressing health inequalities and minimizing financial barriers to access than it might be in a setting where individual autonomy predominates.Solidarity is a key value in many healthcare systems, at least in Europe but increasingly beyond. It is often associated with concerns to limit the financial risks associated with ill heath, such that no individual who needs care should be prevented from accessing it because they cannot afford to pay for it. But it can also be expressed as \"health solidarity\" such that no individual, however serious or minor, rare or common their condition, is excluded from coverage. However, the way in which demography, the increase in chronic diseases and the high cost of pharmaceuticals are combining in many countries is increasingly putting strains on solidaristic healthcare arrangements, and raising questions as to where the reasonable limits of solidarity might lie.The value of autonomy is often taken to be one of the fundamental principles in medico-moral decisions, along with requirements of beneficence, non-maleficence and justice (see for example, Beauchamp and Childress, 1989). However it can be instrumental not only at the clinical level but also at the macro-level of policy decisions about priority setting, both in terms of questions about individual responsibility for one's own health and in terms of questions about individual freedoms, perhaps most notably the freedom to choose the form of healthcare one prefers - and the responsibility that goes with that freedom to pay for those choices with one's own money (see as an example of this conception of autonomy Richards, 2008; Weale and Clark, 2009).It is clear that this list of values is not exhaustive. However, our primary aim in this paper is not to be exhaustive but rather to simply map some of the values which are most prominent, in some form or other, across different healthcare systems. We hope that this exploration of the values \"territory\" might act as a prompt for reflection amongst those making priority-setting decisions, as a means to facilitate better recognition of which social values are in play, as a tool to improved understanding of the implications and role of the values in specific circumstances, and as a starting point for discussion between practitioners and researchers in developing a values-based framework for priority setting in healthcare.\n2. Process values: Transparency\n3. Content values: Clinical effectiveness\n4. Conclusion: Important values underlie both the \"process\" and \"content\" elements of decision making in health priority setting.The \"process\" values of transparency, accountability and participation are closely linked: transparency forces governance to be more careful so as to stand up to public scrutiny - it is, in this way, the instrument of accountability and justifiability: if transparency is lacking, it will be difficult for decision-makers to be held accountable in any meaningful way since those who wish to hold them to account will not have the relevant knowledge with which to do so. One way to advance transparency may be to increase participation, especially in an area like health where citizens (as well as patients) are directly affected by decisions and where they may have much to contribute to governance. In turn, increasing participation may be a pre-condition to increasing transparency.In terms of \"content\", value judgments are often hidden in technical criteria such as clinical and cost effectiveness measures. However, there is a complex interplay between the value and technical components of health priority setting decisions as well as between the values themselves - different conceptions of the values of justice and solidarity in particular are significant in how technical judgments are worked out and how the various reasons within decisions are weighted. The degree to which a society values solidarity will have a large impact on how it weighs justice considerations in decisions, and what form those considerations take, particularly in determining which characteristics of persons are relevant - and therefore legitimate - to take into account in priority setting decisions and which are not.As such, a purely technical approach to quality of life measures that does not acknowledge the values it assumes will likely be lacking in some way - and it will make accountability for, transparency and participation in those value judgments difficult if not impossible. The Oregon priority setting experiment where a ranked list of interventions was produced on the basis of cost-effectiveness alone, produced considerable counter-intuitive effects (Hadorn, 1991), and further, there is evidence to suggest that the public in some countries at least wish for both accountability and participation in relation to value judgments.The process and content values are closely related for the following reasons. There is no one knock-down argument that will persuade those holding to different positions on questions of content, for example the relevance of age considerations, to agree on an answer. The issues are complicated and often turn on fine judgements. In this situation it is important to have processes that resolve such disagreements in a fair way, and the process values address this concern.As the following papers in this edition show, there are many common challenges facing different healthcare systems situated in diverse cultural and institutional settings. The escalating costs of pharmaceuticals is a common theme, raising issues around coverage in both public and insurance-based systems, and in wealthy and poorer countries alike. Such issues show many countries struggling to find ways to maintain some conception of solidarity with the less well-off in society. What factors to take into account when judging clinical- and cost-effectiveness also appears as a concern in several of the papers: what measures to use and which interventions are eligible are questions which challenge systems at different levels of development in different ways, and they are shown sometimes to engage issues of culture as well as those of justice and of cost- and clinical- effectiveness themselves. Accountability too appears as a common concern amongst many of the systems which feature in the papers: whether it is institutionalised via existing, explicit priority-setting institutions or playing a key role in establishing new ones, or where it is rooted in constitutional provisions, there appears to be an appetite amongst both policy makers and the public in many countries for increased accountability - and often with it, transparency and stakeholder participation. How different countries resolve any of these issues will depend partly on their level of economic development, and therefore the relative urgency of different needs, and partly on their culture.This framework and the wider research project of which it is part aim to assist policy makers in identifying the role that the values play in their decision making, to recognise the relative weight and influence accorded to some values as against others and, importantly, to identify and better understand value trade-offs. However, the framework as it exists here is far from definitive: it is precisely the object of the wider research project to work with practitioners to develop both its form and content in an iterative process as it is used and tested against the ever-growing challenges of setting priorities in healthcare around the world.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - It is commonly recognized that the setting of health priorities requires value judgements and that these judgements are social. Justifying social value judgements is an important element in any public justification of how priorities are set. The purpose of this paper is to review a number of social values relating both to the process and content of priority-setting decisions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A set of key process and content values basic to health priority setting is outlined, and normative analysis applied to those values to identify their key features, possible interpretations in different cultural and institutional contexts, and interactions with other values.\nFindings: - Process values are found to be closely linked, such that success in increasing, for example, transparency may depend on increasing participation or accountability, and \"content\" values are found often to be hidden in technical criteria. There is a complex interplay between value and technical components of priority setting, and between process and content values. Levels of economic development, culture and need will all play a part in determining how different systems balance the values in their decisions.\nOriginality/value: - Technical analyses of health priority setting are commonplace, but approaching the issues from the perspective of social values is a more recent approach and one which this paper seeks to refine and develop.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Social media based value creation and business models	[ "Value co-creation", "Social media", "Value creation", "Value capture", "Service-dominant logic", "Business model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The rapid growth of Web 2.0 technologies and the breakthrough of social media applications (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010; Singaraju et al., 2016), in particular, have undoubtedly revolutionized the ways in which individuals share content and interact in various previously unreachable and globally distributed social communities and networks. Moreover, recently developed methods of collecting, monitoring, analyzing, and visualizing social media-related conversations and interactions have created a number of new research opportunities and challenges, resulting in huge possibilities for organizations interested in transforming their businesses or pursuing new innovations and services using social media data (Jussila, 2015; Mayer-Schonberger and Cukier, 2013; Mithas et al., 2013). For example, the use of advanced social media analytics tools and analysis techniques has enabled companies to access real-time data, which can then be used to extract useful patterns and intelligence on, for example, customer behavior (see Fan and Yan, 2015; He et al., 2015; Hussain and Vatrapu, 2014).\nBackground and key concepts: The service-dominant logic perspective of value creation\nThe methodology: Processing the literature review\nResults: General remarks\nDiscussion and conclusions: Various types of business models and revenue models were recognized and analyzed throughout the papers forming this literature review. Only two research papers (Lee, 2011; Wielki, 2010) identified significantly social media-specific business models, and the actual co-creation of value, as well as the potential roles and impacts of social media in new business model creation, was also largely unexamined. This strongly supports the findings of Gassman et al. (2015), who, after reviewing several hundreds of business model innovations, found that only about 10 percent of the innovations represented genuinely novel concepts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to create an organized picture of the current understanding of social media-based value creation and business models.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Following the process model presented by Fink (2005), a systematic literature review of academic journal articles published between 2005 and 2014 was conducted. The research was grounded on the theoretical foundations of service-dominant logic.\nFindings: This study offers detailed descriptions and analyses of the major social media mechanisms affecting how value is created in social media-based value networks and the kinds of impact social media can have on present and future business models.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study is limited to academic research literature on business organizations, excluding all studies related to public and non-profit organizations.\nPractical implications: Attention is given to developing an in-depth understanding of the functions and concrete value creation mechanisms of social media-based co-creation within the different organizational processes (e.g. in product and service development and customer services) and to updating the related practices and knowledge.\nOriginality/value: This study provides new insight into the challenges related to research models and frameworks commonly used for observing value creation, thus highlighting the need for further studies and updates.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A project perspective on doctoral studies - a student point of view	[ "Project management", "Higher education", "Project", "Doctoral studies", "PhD studies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Doctoral studies are many times a part of a doctoral programme, i.e. financed studies within a certain period of time, with the aim of obtaining a doctoral degree. Programmes can vary significantly across countries and universities, some highly structured and others more informal and flexible (Martinsuo and Turkulainen, 2011). Doctoral students are in general expected to achieve personal maturity and development by means of an independent dissertation work (Franke and Arvidsson, 2011). Typically, a doctoral student should become familiarised with the research field, learn appropriate methodologies, deliver relevant results and defend a dissertation (Martinsuo, 2007). With that in mind, universities invest considerable resources in doctoral students by providing highly individualised supervising (Kluever, 1997). Hence, universities commonly call for high demands on efficiency in terms of time goals, where doctoral students are expected to defend their dissertation within four years (Franke and Arvidsson, 2011; Martinsuo, 2007). The outcome for the student also has financial implications for the university, where a greater percentage of government funds tend to be linked to the doctoral completion rates (Vilkinas, 2002; Martinsuo, 2007). The completion rates are also important considering the impact on students' emotional, mental and financial well-being (Lindsay, 2015). According to Vilkinas (2008), enrolments in higher degree programmes are increasing, and supervisors are required to supervise more students than they have in the past. Hence, efficiency and effectiveness in higher education has become a central topic for politicians, funders, and universities across the world (Leonard 2000; Lindsay, 2015). However, a vast majority of doctoral students never complete their studies, and very few finish within the stipulated time (Frischer and Larsson, 2000; Buttery et al., 2005; Martinsuo and Turkulainen, 2011). Obstacles occurring during doctoral studies are, for example, planning difficulties, time pressures and lack of autonomy (Kluever, 1997), lack of communication between supervisor and student (Buttery et al., 2005), and insufficient follow-up by supervisors (Frischer and Larsson, 2000). In order to better understand this cumbersome road of doctoral studies, and to perhaps facilitate managing them, a project perspective could be useful.\nTheoretical frame of reference: Managing projects requires a clear project organisation (i.e. roles and responsibilities), project control (i.e. obtaining goals in regards to limitations within the iron triangle) and the use of project methods and tools. As a basis for the analytical framework, these project management areas will be discussed in relation to previous studies on doctoral studies, starting with an overall project management perspective.\nMethod: The research design should be appropriate with the type of research questions asked, providing a framework for collecting and analyse data. As the aim with the study is explorative, a qualitative research approach seems suitable in trying to understand how an individual or a group of individuals interpret a phenomenon (Denzin and Lincoln, 2011, p. 3). The approach is also considered suitable when a phenomenon can be considered complex, implying that rich descriptions of the social world are needed to increase understanding (Creswell, 2013, p. 48; Denzin and Lincoln, 2011, p. 13).\nAnalysis: The aim of the qualitative analysis was primarily to identify relationships and patterns (cf. Yin, 2011, pp. 177-179) in the students' reflections. The empirical findings have been categorised and clustered according to the themes developed in the theoretical frame of reference. By means of the qualitative research software NVivo (provided by QSR International) meanings or phrases have been categorised due to affinity, and in a next step assigned to the most appropriate theme. During these steps additional and more specific, themes emerged, for example project phases and project approaches (e.g. traditional and agile). These themes have not been elaborated further in the paper, as the primary aim has been to illustrate and describe how students make sense of a project perspective in doctoral studies, i.e. as a basis to identify further research initiatives.\nEmpirical findings and analysis: Many different views came up considering a project perspective in doctoral studies, independent of being student in engineering science, management science or some other discipline. An overall difference in reflections among the students could be discerned among students with previous experiences in project management, who could make comparisons and give examples.\nConclusion: The journey towards a doctoral degree is often perceived troublesome and arduous by doctoral students, and consequently many are failing or not completing their dissertation in time. Therefore, it is of importance managing doctoral studies as effectively and efficiently as possible. From a university point of view, the many doctoral studies going on could be seen as a process. However, for the individual student a project perspective seems to be more accurate, and hence a project management approach.\nDiscussion: Several valuable studies have been made concerning project aspects in doctoral studies, described in the \"Theoretical frame of references\". Findings from these studies have in different ways been confirmed in this study, which also generated additional findings. Compared to previous research, this study explicitly explores how students make sense of their doctoral studies from a project perspective, more thoroughly based on project theory. Further, key findings will be discussed based on the theoretical implications and comparison with previous research studies. The study's results cover several different project perspectives, where previous research mainly is about project roles, and more specific the project manager role from a supervisor perspective (cf. Lindsay, 2015; Lee, 2008). A more nuanced picture has turned up in this study, where some students also saw themselves being the project manager, or sharing the role with the supervisor. In addition, other organisational project functions have been discussed, for example the use of a steering group and a reference group. Considering project control, the students have made reflections on the steering parameters in the project triangle, indicating, among other things, that managing time and scope limitations could be troublesome in a doctoral project. This perspective (including all the parameters in the project triangle) is scarce in previous studies. Another finding considering a control perspective is how to set project goals, which also have been studied by Lahenius and Martinsuo (2011) and Frischer and Larsson (2000). However, in confirming these previous findings, this study also recognises the concepts of goal-orientation and goal-seeking as important aspect to be consider when managing a doctoral project. Planning skills have been discussed in previous studies, and connected to successful doctoral studies, though mainly on an overall level (Lindsay, 2015). For example, student's Individual Study Plan (ISP) has been studied by Martinsuo and Turkulainen (2011) and Lahenius and Martinsuo (2010), but seems mainly to be about the monitoring function, rather than being a support for planning and managing a doctoral project, as discussed in this study. Several project methods and tools useful in a doctoral project have been identified. Especially, stakeholder and uncertainty management have been highlighted in the study, to manage requirements and needs, and avoiding disturbances in obtaining goals. A final and more overall contribution from the study is that the doctoral project and the doctoral student have been in focus, in contrast to a research project and a research student, i.e. with the process to become a researcher in the centre.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Many doctoral students never obtain a doctoral degree, and many do not finish their studies in time. To promote aspects of effectiveness and efficiency in doctoral studies, the purpose of this paper is to explore a project perspective, more specifically how doctoral students experience their studies in terms of key dimensions of projects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Written reflections concerning a project perspective in doctoral studies, based on 18 students at a Swedish university, have been categorised and analysed by the means of the qualitative research software NVivo.\nFindings: Main findings are reflections on the project manager role including both the supervisor and the doctoral student, and different views on project control parameters and the concepts goal-seeking and goal-orientation. A more comprehensive picture of project planning is presented, compared with the Individual Study Plan, including different project methods and tools that can be suitable in a doctoral project.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study is based on a limited number of doctoral students; however, the aim has been to give examples of project perspectives. The findings could be valuable for increased understanding of doctoral studies and of the project management field in general.\nPractical implications: The study can induce awareness among doctoral students and supervisors of a project perspective in doctoral studies, promoting aspects of efficiency and effectiveness.\nOriginality/value: Compared to previous research, this study explicitly tries to understand how doctoral students make sense of their doctoral studies from a project perspective.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing and improving robot spot welding efficiency: a benchmarking study	[ "Automotive industry", "Aperture", "Body shop", "Spot welding" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The current economical and financial downturn as well as globalization has imposed new realities on the automotive industry. The requirements for surviving in future manufacturing markets include:\n2 The welding process: The welding process, a relatively new procedure, is a high-tech profit making process. It is usually the best economical way to join parts at the level of material consumption and manufacturing costs. Alternative joining methods call for more complex shape modification (i.e. addition of holes) and addition of fasteners (i.e. rivets or bolts) (Groover, 2007).\n3 Communization and flexibility: Driven by the goals of improving customers' satisfaction and increasing the market share, car manufacturers are expanding their range of products. However, this high product variety increases manufacturing complexity (Wang et al., 2011). According to a study conducted by Paralikas et al. (2011) which focused on the effects of body shop product modularity in the automotive industry body part modularity/flexibility will increase assembly utilization by 46.9 percent. The study focused on the under-body structure which joins three sections (i.e. engine, transmission, and suspension). The under body section plays an important role in shaping the final body structure of the vehicle, shown in Figure 5.\n4 Robot utilization and features: The automotive industry relies heavily on robots in their body shop assembly process. The amount of welding that is applied in order to connect the different parts of the vehicle requires high efficiency, constancy, and precision, which makes it an ideal job for a robot. The robots can be programmed to conduct the same operation the same way every cycle for a very long period of time, with minimum maintenance required (Pires et al., 2006).\n5 Benchmarking robot efficiency: Resistance spot welding robots varies in design and size based on the task that they are required to perform. The size and shape of the robot and weld gun design depend on the part size and location of the weld required. For example, the part requiring welding on the engine box system are smaller in size and shape than the ones on the framing system, therefore the robots that perform welds on the engine box parts are equipped with smaller size weld guns than the ones used to weld framing system.\n6 Conclusion: This research paper shows a continuous improvement opportunity that the Big Three must address in order to reduce part of current competitive gap with the foreign manufacturers. Improving spot welding efficiency and reducing the variability in robots' arm design or weld gun design for the US automotive (domestic) manufacturers will require implementing fundamental changes from the design stage to the manufacturing and assembly stages. For example, if we just consider the gap in weld guns arm; according to KUKA Robotics Inc. an average weld gun arm can cost around $15,000. Therefore, companies such as Ford which utilize 229 weld guns more than Toyota have an opportunity to reduce its cost by $3.4 million annually. But in order to reduce the gap the Big Three must first focus on investing in communization of vehicles body parts and processes. Other opportunity which some foreign companies currently utilize is flexible systems. Implementing such as system at the Big Three will give its facilities the capability to produce a wide range of platforms on the same assembly line and that integrated with body part communization will yield a high return on investment (El-Khalil et al., 2010).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The paper presents a benchmarking analysis that investigates the efficiency gap in relation to spot welding robots in automotive body shops at foreign and domestic companies in North America. The main purpose of this paper is to determine body shop efficiency improvement opportunities for the domestic companies or the Big Three, therefore reducing the competitive gap and improving business performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The following paper is an extension of an earlier dissertation study conducted by EL-Khalil that focused on improving body shop overall efficiency. The Harbour Report was utilized to determine the best in class facilities that must be visited for benchmarking purposes. The data and information presented were obtained from the facilities visited through observations and interviews. The research utilized the corresponding facilities' labs in order to perform measurements and inspect product welding efficiency. The data obtained were a result of a two-year benchmarking study.\nFindings: The inspection results of spot welds applied on the door flange do not justify the utilization of additional spot welding arm designs and/or robots for the domestic companies. The data presented provide a good opportunity for improving business performance at the body shop Big Three facilities. In order to reduce the current competitive gap, decrease cost, and improve utilization, the Big Three must adopt new strategies (i.e. communization of specific vehicles parts).\nResearch limitations/implications: The benchmarking study was limited to the aperture area. Researchers are encouraged to test the propositions further on different types of vehicles and different areas of the vehicle body.\nPractical implications: Based on the actual findings, this paper presents a case that impacts the improvements of the body shop overall performance in relation to reducing the number of spot welding arm and robot designs at the automotive industry in North America.\nOriginality/value: The presented gap analysis on body shop spot welding efficiency for automotive companies in North America was not conducted previously. Therefore, the data can be utilized as a benchmark target to drive improvements at the domestic automotive body shops.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Liberalization and tariff dismantling: Effects on the competitiveness of mussel cultivation industry in Spain	[ "Prices", "Association and free trade agreement (EU and Chile)", "Liberalization", "Mussel cultivation industry", "Production and consumption of mussels" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction and objectives: Fisheries markets are undergoing a major transformation because of globalisation and the ever-growing liberalisation of international trade. This represents a major opportunity to enter new international markets. However, this process is not without its risks, as there is a danger of malpractice in the marketing of fish products, particularly if the product is processed. Moreover, the small-sized producers in more developed countries (Porter, 1985) could suffer through the introduction of a product that is cheaper because of lower manpower costs in developing countries. Therefore, it is highly salient to examine the implications for the production, organisation and marketing of fish products in this new context of greater internationalisation in economic and trade activity.\n2. Previous research: 2.1. Previous research concerning mussel cultivation sector\n3. Theoretical foundations and application to the mussel farming industry and the liberalisation process: 3.1. Porter's model: analysis of competitive rivalry in industrial sectors\n4. Methodology: The methodology used, as detailed below, has been structured to take into consideration the objectives of this research (see Table II). First, we aim to observe the general panorama of the evolution of production, distinguishing between fresh and industrial usage, and the evolution of prices at source of the mussels depending on the destination (fresh or industrial). The most reliable source of data is that provided by the Regulatory Council for Galician Mussels. The analysis of figures has been carried out using data from 2003 to 2012. Prices have been deflated to give a true comparison. Second, we have conducted an analysis of competitive rivalry in the industrial sector of mussel farming in Spain based on qualitative information on the organisation of the sector (production vs industry), the theoretical framework of Porter's (1985) model and the law of supply and demand. Third, we want to analyse the impact of the tariff dismantling agreement between Chile and the EU on per capita consumption for different categories of mussel (fresh, frozen and preserved) and on the competitiveness of the mussel industry. The data used to respond to this objective was MERCASA (data from 2008 to 2011) and DATACOMEX data on imports, exports and geographical destination (data for 2003-2011).\n5. Results: 5.1. General panorama of the sector and impact assessment of the tariff dismantling agreement between Chile and the EU\n6. Implications: Below we list the main implications of this paper. The implications have been organised in line with the key question that led to this research, namely the influence that the agreement between Chile and the EU dismantling tariffs has had on the Spanish mussel farming industry, particularly Galicia.\n7. Conclusions: The aim of this work has been to assess the impact that the free trade agreement between the EU and Chile resulting in the dismantling of tariffs has had on the mussel industry, particularly in Galicia. More specifically, we have examined how trade liberalisation has affected the mussel farming industry and we draw three major conclusions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact that the free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Chile and its resulting dismantling of tariffs has had on the mussel cultivation industry, particularly in Galicia. Specifically, the authors examine how trade liberalisation has affected the mussel farming industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors aim to observe the general panorama of both the evolution of production, distinguishing between fresh and industrial usage, and the evolution of prices at source depending on destination (fresh or industrial in the period 2003-2012). In order to analyse the relationships between different agents of the value chain, Porter's model has been used as a reference.\nFindings: There is a loss of competitiveness in the mussel farming-production sector following the liberalisation agreement of 2006 and huge bargaining power of the processing sector vs the production sector.\nPractical implications: There is an opportunity to implement traceability programmes and develop a more differentiated product. In addition, it is profitable to promote Galician mussels through generic advertising and promoting exports.\nOriginality/value: There is a lack of empirical studies about the impact that the new free trade agreement between the EU and Chile has had on the Spanish mussel industry. Particularly, the study analyses economic repercussions, managerial implications and new challenges stemming from the new context of trade liberalisation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Linking archival data to location: a case study at the UK National Archives	[ "Historical periods", "Archives management", "Knowledge management", "Geographic Information Systems" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Geo-referencing, relating information to geographic location, is an important consideration for information access systems (Hill, 2006; Chapman and Wieczorek, 2006). This is due to the ubiquity of location (particularly place names) within much of the information we encounter on a regular basis. For example, many documents on the Web contain geographical identifiers, including place names (or toponyms), addresses (and address fragments), postal codes, and hyperlinks (Ding et al., 2000; McCurley, 2001; Himmelstein, 2005). In addition, Petras (2004) showed that over half of a set of five million library catalogue records of the University of California contained one or more place-related subject headings or codes.However, documents not only contain geo-references, but users of search systems also query based on location. For example, a study by Zhang et al. (2006) found that 12.7 per cent of queries submitted to a web search engine contained a place name; Sanderson and Han (2007) also showed that queries for city names were repeated more frequently than for other names (e.g. country and state). This information can be exploited and used to provide spatial awareness to information systems (see, for example, Buckland et al., 2007; Purves et al., 2007). Zong et al. (2005) discuss how the ability to perform query by location can be an important and useful addition to a digital library and Buckland et al. (2007, p. 376) concur with this in saying \"libraries have a broad need to support geographic search\".This paper presents an overview and case study of the challenges and goals of linking archival data to location. Managed archives, particularly those operating on a large scale, such as national archives, often hold large and extremely diverse collections of historic data, making it difficult for users to successfully retrieve the historic documents they are interested in. Linking historical documents and records to place allows synthesised, seamless access across heterogeneous archival data sets and facilitates novel ways of being able to search and browse large-scale archival collections. This paper describes the initiation of a project to explore place-based access to historical data at The National Archives1 (TNA), the UK Government's official archive. Section 2 discusses past work in exploiting location for enhancing information access to libraries and archives; section 3 introduces the UK National Archives, the data and motivations for the proposed project on space exploration; section 4 describes areas involved in geo-referencing information; section 5 outlines our planned project work and section 6 concludes the paper.\n2. Related work: Geography provides an important facet for information seeking in many contexts, including historical, cultural, libraries and archives. Several studies have examined the nature of search queries in the cultural heritage field, both for general information (Cunningham et al., 2004) and for images (Pask, 2005; Choi and Rasmussen, 2003; Collins, 1998; Chen, 2001). These all had similar findings: namely that people, places, time periods, and subjects were popular topics of search in this domain. This is also true of library users (Buckland et al., 2007; Zong et al., 2005) and utilising place (and time) for information access has been investigated in a range of past projects.Probably one of the most widely cited research projects that made use of geo-referencing was the Alexandria Digital Library (ADL) project (Frew et al., 1998; Goodchild, 2004) which aimed \"to develop a user-friendly digital library system that provides a comprehensive range of services to collections of maps, images and spatially-referenced information\".Moritz (1999) describes the geo-referencing of narrative descriptions of specimens in natural history museums written by collectors in the field. Reid et al. (2004) discuss some of the projects funded by EDINA, a National Data Centre in Edinburgh, including Go-Geo! and Geo-X-Walk. These projects facilitate the discovery of geo-referenced information from distributed collections in the UK.Buckland and Lancaster (2004) describe combining place, time and topic in the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative2, designed to foster a research community interested in geo-temporally encoded data and create a catalogue of geo-referenced online resources. As a part of this initiative, Buckland et al. (2007) overview the Going Places in the Catalog project, an initiative to offer seamless searching of educational and scholarly numeric and textual resources. This includes extracting geo-spatial information from library catalog records to enhance the user's search experience.Johnson (2004, 2005) describes the indexing and delivery of historical maps online from the National Library of Australia using the TimeMap3 tool (a mapping Java applet which generates complete interactive maps with a few simple lines of html code). With a similar goal, Martins et al. (2007) describe the EU co-funded DIGMAP project aimed at making collections of digitised historical maps spatially aware, through the use of text mining techniques and Geographic Information Retrieval (GIR). This project deals specifically with some of the issues involved in using digitised versions of historical documents (e.g. old font styles, incorrectly OCR'd words, etc.).Mostern and Johnson (2008) describe the construction of a historical event gazetteer (these are records of historical events that describe the existence of named places) and the use of spatio-temporal visualisation to view events and relationships from the Heurist4 collaborative database. Clough et al. (2008, 2009) describe a study in which semantic access to cultural heritage information from Tate Online, a large online art collection, is investigated. This includes the development of a prototype system to demonstrate advanced search and browse functionalities, including faceted browsing, timelines and maps, based on semantic enrichment of data from Tate Online.Finally, the Vision of Britain5 web site brings together census data, election results, historical maps, gazetteers and travel writing between 1901 and 2001 into a single point of access. This is part of the Great Britain Historical Geographical Information System (GBHGIS) project managed by the University of Portsmouth (Gregory and Southall, 2003).\n3. The National Archives (TNA): 3.1 The role of TNA\n4. Geo-referencing: Relating information to geographic location involves linking between informal means of referring to locations using place names (or toponyms) and formal representations based on spatial referencing systems (e.g. longitude and latitude or the British National Grid system). Much of the geographical information contained in libraries and archives is based on place names, however these must be geospatially referenced (grounded) if they are to be used to their greatest potential for enriching information access and knowledge discovery. Locations are also identifiable in other forms than just place names, including addresses, address fragments, postcodes, phone numbers, URLs and IP addresses.Gazetteers are typically used to provide the link between informal (place names) and formal (corresponding spatial references) representations (section 4.1 presents some example gazetteers). A key task for providing geospatial information access is the recognition (or extraction) of potential geo-references and their geospatial referencing (discussed further in section 4.2). Geographic Information Retrieval (GIR) deals with the indexing of information to enable searching over it to find information that is potentially relevant to some information need (discussed in section 4.3).4.1 Sources of geographical knowledge\n5. Supporting geographical searches at TNA: The geo-spatial work at TNA is still at an early stage. A number of challenges and potential approaches to handling historic, geographic data have been identified. These will now be discussed and then three case studies will be presented that illustrate the benefits of adding explicit spatial information to historic data.5.1 Challenges\n6. Conclusions: In this paper we have discussed the role of geo-referencing within archives. In particular, we have discussed a programme of work at The National Archives, the UK Government's official archive, on linking archival data to location. The diversity and vastness of content at TNA currently presents a real challenge for the archival staff and end-users of the archive, such as scholars and the general public. By exploiting geo-references from the content, material can be linked and aggregated to provide enhanced forms of information access and knowledge discovery across discreet data sources. It would also highlight complementary information in TNA's databases, and in doing so enhance the richness of the data. Place data are also one of the most popular topics for searching the archives from TNA's web site and Geographical Information Retrieval (GIR) technologies could help improve the current search paradigms. By applying (and exploring) existing technologies from areas such as GIR and text mining, we can geo-enable the archive and prepare it for future access.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The National Archives (TNA) is the UK Government's official archive. It stores and maintains records spanning over a 1,000 years in both physical and digital form. Much of the information held by TNA includes references to place and frequently user queries to TNA's online catalogue involve searches for location. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how TNA have extracted the geographic references in their historic data to improve access to the archives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To be able to quickly enhance the existing archival data with geographic information, existing technologies from Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Geographical Information Retrieval (GIR) have been utilised and adapted to historical archives.\nFindings: - Enhancing the archival records with geographic information has enabled TNA to quickly develop a number of case studies highlighting how geographic information can improve access to large-scale archival collections. The use of existing methods from the GIR domain and technologies, such as OpenLayers, enabled one to quickly implement this process in a way that is easily transferable to other institutions.\nPractical implications: - The methods and technologies described in this paper can be adapted, by other archives, to similarly enhance access to their historic data. Also the data-sharing methods described can be used to enable the integration of knowledge held at different archival institutions.\nOriginality/value: - Place is one of the core dimensions for TNA's archival data. Many of the records which are held make reference to place data (wills, legislation, court cases), and approximately one fifth of users' searches involve place names. However, there are still a number of open questions regarding the adaptation of existing GIR methods to the history domain. This paper presents an overview over available GIR methods and the challenges in applying them to historical data.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Foreign direct investment and natural resources in Africa	[ "FDI", "Africa", "Natural resources", "Trade/regional blocks" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction and literature review: Natural resources are key to the overall economic growth of Africa (see African Economic outlook, 2013). In its review of the United Nations Millennium goal of ensuring sustainable environment, WDI (2013) noted that \"[...] Achieving sustainable development also requires managing natural resources carefully, since high economic growth can deplete natural capital, such as forests and minerals. Countries that rely heavily on extractive industries have seen large increases in natural resource rents, but their growth will not be sustainable unless they invest in productive assets, including human capital [...]\" According to the World Trade Report (WTR, 2010), Natural resources could be defined as \"stocks of materials that exist in the natural environment that are both scarce and economically useful in production or consumption, either in their raw state or after a minimal amount of processing.\"\n2. Data and methodology: The paper uses annual panel data of 49 African countries over the period 1980-2011. The dependent variable is FDI's for all the 49 countries scaled by their GDP. For each country, we looked at the independent variables (natural resource) from two perspectives. That is contribution to GDP and as a measure of export drive. The natural resource contribution to GDP considers three measures. These are OR as percentage of the GDP, FR as a percentage of GDP and mineral rent (MR) as a percentage of GDP. On the natural resource as export drive we consider fuel export (FE) and ore and minerals (OME) export. The literature indicates various measures of natural resource. However, all measures are categorized into two main perspectives: natural resource as a contribution to GDP and natural resource as export drive. Asiedu and Lien (2011) employed the share of fuel in total exports and share of minerals in total exports as measure of natural resource in their interaction between FDI and democracy. On the other hand, Asiedu (2006) used the share of fuel and mineral exports as measure of natural resource. Similarly, Onyeiwu and Shrestha (2004) used FEs to measure natural resource availability. Mohamed and Sidiropoulos (2010) also assessed natural resources from FEs. Using a dummy variable, Anyanwu (2011) assessed natural resource from oil exporters and non-oil exporters. Recent paper by Asiedu (2013) used share of fuel in total exports as natural resource measure. The above studies thus measured natural resources as export drive. Few studies have also sought to measure natural resources as a contribution to GDP. This measure simply shows how natural resource is important to the growth (GDP) of the host country. Poelhekke and Van der Ploeg (2010) used ORs as a share of GDP to represent natural resource endowment. In an expansion of their earlier study, Poelhekke and Van der Ploeg (2013) captured natural resources by means of hydrocarbon reserves and other minerals. Again, as a robust measure, Asiedu (2013) employed ORs as the measure of natural resource.\n3. Results: From Table II we report the system GMM/dynamic estimation of the coefficients in Equation (1) above. FDI is the dependent variable in all the models whilst we control for the explanatory variables especially in the case of the various natural resources. From model 1, natural resource proxy by FR is not significant in predicting FDI flow to Africa as well as MR and OR. This might be due to the strong correlation that exists between this variables and trade openness. Trade openness shows a significant relationship with FDI flows. BSC, PSC and infrastructure are not significant control variables in model (1). In model (2), we drop the trade openness as we find it to be strongly related to natural resource outflows (result not reported). The coefficients of the various measures of Mineral and ORs become statistically significant, which confirms natural resource as the predictor of FDI flows to Africa. Surprisingly, dropping MR and OR as measures of natural resource, we report a positive and statistically significant relationship between natural resources proxy by FR and FDI flows in Africa (shown in model (3)). We find a strong statistical interaction between BSC credit expansion and FDI. On the other hand, infrastructure and PSC credit expansion are insignificant control variables. Using MR as the only measure of natural resource, we found a statistically significant positive relationship with FDI suggesting FDI is significantly hyped in the face of MR (see model 4). There is no significant relationship between our control variables FDI to Africa. In model (5), we proxy natural resource with OR and found it to be positive and economically significant. For the control variables, we found that in the presence of OR (oil resources) policies to enhance private and BSC credit expansion is suboptimal. Pooling the different measures as one variable, a positive and economically effect is reported for the continent. The various rents are statistically significant in attracting FDI flows to Africa, and it is independent of the financial market development, which is channeled through private credit expansion in the face of increased infrastructure and trade openness for oil and mineral export.\n4. Conclusions and implications: The paper extends our understating of the impact of natural resources on FDI in Africa by employing a much comprehensive measure of natural resources against the proxies used in the literature (see Hailu, 2010; Dupasquier and Osakwe, 2006; Poelhekke and Van der Ploeg, 2010; Asiedu, 2013, Asiedu and Lien, 2011, 2006). Disaggregating the data into the various regional economic trade blocs, we seek to provide a quantitative estimate of the impact the various blocs have on the continent's drive to attract FDI. Using the system GMM/dynamic model with one lag, we regressed natural resources on FDI whilst controlling for financial market development, export drive; trade openness and infrastructural development using data from 1980 to 2011. We report that though natural resource is an important FDI drive in Africa, its impact is also dependent on the measure of the natural resource, which intends calls for specific interventions as well. Measures of financial market development, infrastructural development, export drive and trade openness interact differently depending on the measurement of the natural resource. We also reveal that the various regional trading blocs exhibit different results reflecting the moderating effect of regional and trade formations though inconsistent results were reported in the case of UMA bloc in the case of OR. Different types of natural resources call for specific policy interventions to promote financial market development in terms of BSC credit expansion or PSC expansion and whether to integrate that with huge infrastructural development and trade openness. Given, abundance of natural resources (FR) specific interventions should be encouraged to increase trade openness whilst for MR, both trade openness and rigorous infrastructural development should be pursued. In the presence of oil resources, both BSC credit expansion and trade openness should be encouraged.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of natural resources on foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa. Decomposing the measures of natural resource, in terms of contribution to GDP (oil rent (OR), mineral rent (MR) and forest rents (FRs)) and export drive (fuel exports (FE) and minerals export), with the objective of obtaining quantitative estimates of their relationship with FDI, we considered the effect of regional or trade blocks on the continent and control for trade openness, financial market development and infrastructure.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using annual panel data of 49 African countries over the period 1980-2011 and employing the system GMM estimation technique.\nFindings: The authors show that after allowing for effect of trade or regional block formation, natural resources in its composite form (ORs, MRs, forest rents (FRs), FEs and minerals export) influences FDI in Africa. Quantitatively, we demonstrate that though natural resources (compositely) influences FDI, the different measures of natural resource differ significantly in terms of their marginal contribution in attracting FDI to the continent especially to different trade blocks. The authors provide that in the presence of certain type of natural resources, trade openness or banking sector credit expansion or infrastructural development is less desirable whilst regional or trade blocks strongly moderate the effect of financial market development and infrastructural development on FDI flow on the continent.\nOriginality/value: The authors employed a broad data set to provide evidence of the association between natural resources in its composite form and well as its various component and FDI to African after accounting for regional/trade blocks.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Evolution of international and Chinese anti-bribery and corruption compliance programs	[ "Corporate governance", "Corruption", "Risk management", "Code of conducts", "Corporate ethics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The number of corruption investigations involving multinational corporations (MNCs) has increased significantly over the past several years (Figure 1). Costly regulatory fines, placement of compliance monitors within a company's operations and other debilitating sanctions have had significant operational and reputational implications on the organizations at fault. The Siemens bribery scandal led the company in 2008 to agree to US$1.6bn in legal settlements to the US and European authorities, and required the new CEO to replace 80 per cent of the top-tier, 70 per cent of the second-tier and 40 per cent of the third-tier executives (Watson, 2013). These penalties have no doubt inspired other commercial establishments to take action, motivating them to raise their own standards for business conduct.\n2. Literature review: Gordon and Miyake (2001, p. 166) explored the role of corporate codes of conduct in combating bribery, noting the \"growing compliance pressures emanating from a legal environment that is evolving rapidly, as many countries enact or seek to extend their anti-bribery laws\". Cleveland et al. (2009) provided comprehensive documentation of the evolution of international \"hard law\" mechanisms such as the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); \"soft law\" mechanisms such as the codes of conduct promulgated by the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); and enforcement mechanisms (Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, etc.) over time. They discussed the situation in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and called for a particular emphasis on Transparency International's (TI) high Bribe Payer Index countries. Wanyama et al. (2013) examined how stakeholders view the issue of corporate governance in a developing country, specifically Uganda, and found that they take a broad view of the topic, with a particular emphasis on how it should address endemic corruption. Adegbite (2012) studied the issue of corporate governance within the unique institutional landscape of Nigeria and urged greater attention to institutional context within each country in the implementation of corporate governance codes.\n3. Research methods: Our data are primarily of a qualitative nature, although quantitative information has been drawn from survey results, regulatory enforcement actions and other statistical findings. We began by documenting the evolution of international anti-bribery legislation, starting with the FCPA in 1977, and codes of conduct introduced by multilateral organizations. We then augmented our data with materials published by international organizations focused on evaluating ABC compliance standards, primarily within a business context. Subsequently, we conducted seven semi-structured interviews with leading experts in the area of ABC compliance (Table I), with regards to expectations for Chinese MNCs.\n4. Evolution of international anti-bribery and corruption compliance standards: 4.1 The early history of anti-bribery and corruption compliance\n5. Anti-bribery and corruption compliance - China's regulations: 5.1 Corruption and China\n6. Anti-bribery and corruption compliance - the Chinese perspective: 6.1 Compliance requirements\n7. Anti-bribery and corruption compliance disclosures in China: According to TI, \"the first line of defence against the risk of bribery and corruption must be a comprehensive anti-corruption program which is fully implemented and monitored on a regular basis\" (Transparency International, 2013, p. 14). TI suggests that the recommended elements of such a program are as described in its 2009 publication titled Business Principles for Countering Bribery. TI also \"believes that public disclosure of measures to counter corruption is critical to improving corporate transparency\" (Transparency International, 2013) and recommends that disclosure of these measures should incorporate at a minimum seven basic reporting elements as outlined in its 2009 publication Reporting Guidance on the 10th Principle against Corruption (Transparency International, 2013, p. 12).\n8. Conclusion and future research directions: In summary, it is apparent that Chinese MNCs have room for improvement in their ABC compliance programs and related disclosure practices. In our opinion, this is an easy win for Chinese companies. At the very least, Chinese MNCs could influence change by enhancing their ABC compliance program disclosures. It will be interesting to observe whether Chinese MNCs perceive this to be of importance, especially in light of the recent crack-down on corruption by their political leaders.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the regulatory framework in China and the extent to which Chinese multinationals have implemented and disclosed their anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) compliance practices. This is done against the backdrop of the evolving international ABC compliance standards.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is based on detailed reviews of the ABC compliance standards of international organizations; legislation passed by the USA, the UK and Chinese Governments; seven semi-structured interviews with leading experts in the field; and comparisons of ABC program disclosures of four Chinese with four best-in-class western multinational corporations.\nFindings: A high level of convergence was found in the ABC standards published by the international organizations. Several positive features were found in the Chinese ABC regulatory frameworks but our findings indicate that there is minimal disclosure around ABC compliance program practices. This paper shows that a transparent disclosure would represent an easy win for Chinese multinational corporations and contribute to raising their reputations internationally.\nResearch limitations/implications: While there are numerous studies in the law literature on ABC compliance standards and the extent to which they are effective in achieving their objectives, this is an emergent area in management research, to which our study makes a contribution. Future research could explore how other emerging economies are tackling this important issue.\nPractical implications: By proactively adopting ABC compliance practices, corporations can seize the ethical high ground and build solid reputations with their stakeholders.\nOriginality/value: It is believed that this study is the first academic study that compares Chinese and international ABC standards.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Upward influence in academic organizations: a behavioral style perspective	[ "Leadership", "Higher education", "Behaviour", "Social interaction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Six months into his new position as dean of the college of business administration in his university, Robert Barrera (a pseudonym) realized that something was not right. The problem was not the position itself, as Barrera enjoyed academic planning, working with faculty and staff, fund-raising and development, and directly affecting the growth of the college and university. Overall, the position of dean was fine. The problem was his vice-president for academic affairs, Susan Walters (a pseudonym), with whom he could not seem to communicate and interact as effectively as he would like. The vice president, a renowned scholar in the field of plant pathology, had previously served as the dean of a college of science.\nConcept of upward influence: The classical view of organizations focused on rational aspects of decision-making and the formal relationships and interaction patterns between employees and supervisors (e.g. Weber, 1947). More recent work has acknowledged the emotional dimension of decision-making and the informal nature of power and relationships that exists in the modern workplace (e.g. Morris and Feldman, 1996). Understanding how and why employees deliver information, receive resources, and achieve objectives is central to both the theory and practice of organizational life. In contrast to the rational view of organizational behavior, these actions and decisions take place in a \"web of influence\" that exists up, down, and across the organization (Shim and Lee, 2001). Employees use downward influence via formal authority, lateral influence in team settings, and upward influence in dealing with supervisors and others higher in the hierarchy. Influence behavior is fundamental to employee efficacy and ultimately affects decisions and outcomes at the organizational level (Floyd and Wooldridge, 1997).The concept of upward influence offers a compelling perspective that has not received a great deal of attention in the literature of higher education administration. However, anyone who aspires or succeeds to a position of major decision-making must exercise expertise in the process of managing his or her supervisor, particularly as it pertains to the use of different sets of behaviors. This is true within various power-based relationships, organizational structures, cultural contexts, and other settings.Academic studies on upward influence have examined the intentions, personality, and other characteristics of the subordinate (e.g. O'Neil, 2003; Shim and Lee, 2001), but have paid less attention to the characteristics of the supervisor (Cable and Judge, 2003). Although there are sources that offer guidelines for managing upward influence, very few suggest behavioral styles as cues for working with supervisors (e.g. Cava, 1990; Cohen and Bradford, 1991). Even when an individual is sensitive to the signals other people send, both verbally and nonverbally, this is often done with little conscious thought. Therefore, individuals often miss opportunities for \"managing up\" because they are unaware of the behavioral style paradigm.\nConcept of behavioral style: Behavioral style reflects a pervasive and enduring set of interpersonal behaviors. Rather than focusing on the innermost workings of one's personality, behavioral style focuses on how one acts - that is, on what one says and does. People have been fascinated with one another's behavioral differences over the ages. In ancient Greece, for example, the physician, Hippocrates, identified four temperaments - Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Melancholic, and Choleric. In 1921, Carl Jung, who was the first individual known to scientifically study personal styles, described them as Intuitor, Thinker, Feeler, and Sensor (Keirsey and Bates, 1984). Since then, psychologists have produced many different models of behavioral differences. However, a common model used throughout the centuries has focused on grouping human interactive behavior into four categories. These categories typically represent quadrants along two dimensions of human behavior.Interactive dimensions\nStyles within teams and organizations: The functional dynamics of a team are greatly affected by the styles of its members (Hambrick and Mason, 1984) and impact directly on effective administration and leadership. According to Drucker (1973), leadership tasks require at least four different kinds of human beings, including the thought person (Analyzer), the action person (Director), the front person (Socializer), and the people person (Relater). Drucker also suggests that finding the strengths of all four types in one person is virtually impossible.Effective administrative leadership teams value all types of individual contributions, and the most productive team in an academic organization will usually have a balance of individuals who reflect each behavioral style. All members of this complementary team must be willing to work together for the benefit of the organization as an interactive system (Katzenbach, 1998). An understanding of the behavioral style paradigm of all those involved assists with this interaction and facilitates a greater respect for the diversity within a leadership group. One test of this approach, however, occurs in times of stress and conflict.Back-up behavioral style\nImplications and future directions: The behavioral style paradigm is an important reference point for improving administrator effectiveness in academic organizations. When incorporating behavioral style into upward influence situations, the objective is neither to change one's basic behavioral style nor to imitate the other person. The best and most productive interpersonal relationships and communications occur when two styles become complementary, with each individual's strengths compensating for the weaknesses of the other.In the illustrative example, Barrera's use of behavioral style techniques resolved the interaction difficulty that existed with his vice president. As Barrera learned to understand and respond to the behavioral style of his vice president, he began to use Walters' strengths to make their interpersonal interactions and more productive. Much like research has suggested, Barrera focused more on the social and political element of his role as dean and less on the technical and hierarchical dimension (Rosser et al., 2003). Barrera shared the concepts of behavioral style with others in his college and university, as well as the vice president.As Barrera, Walters and others became acquainted with behavioral style and began to use them in interpersonal interactions, they were able to make more meaningful contributions to the university. In turn, each of them became more valuable members of the academic community. When behavioral style is understood as a key to goal achievement in an academic organization, the synergistic nature of personal leadership and organizational effectiveness can become a reality. Administrators who are able to adapt to a variety of individuals and situations will prove more successful in managing and leading, gaining cooperation and trust, and responding to future demands (Sosik et al., 2002). Given the promise of behavioral style to more effective university administration and decision-making, this section addresses practical implications of the approach and suggests areas for future research efforts to explore.Practical implications\nConclusion: Administration and leadership researchers and practitioners will find the concept of behavioral style to be valuable for further research on, and understanding of, the process of upward influence in college and university settings. The concepts presented in this paper enable individuals to understand themselves and others and improve the effectiveness of their administrative practices, both upward, downward, and laterally in academic institutions. The practical implications and research questions mentioned are aligned with recent calls for research efforts that \"make a difference\", especially those that create local knowledge and enable an institution to move forward on its goals (Bensimon et al., 2004, p. 104).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To introduce the behavioral style paradigm as a tool for creating effective upward influence within academic organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Concepts of upward influence, behavioral style, communication orientation, back-up style, and style flexibility are described and analyzed.\nFindings: - Provides information on creating more effective institutions of higher education by using the behavioral style perspective in managing upward influence situations.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Suggests a number of questions and ideas that may be examined in future research efforts.\nPractical implications: - Outlines the importance of understanding behavioral style techniques for improving administrator effectiveness and the effects of behavioral style techniques on various outcomes within and outside the academic institution.\nOriginality/value: - Fulfills a need as universities face increasingly complex environments and require more effective leadership and administration. Offers practical help to leaders in higher education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Homepage not enough when evaluating web site accessibility	[ "Worldwide web", "User studies", "Disabilities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Nielsen (2000) argues that the homepage is the gateway to the web site and therefore sets the tone of the entire web site for the user. There are many studies evaluating the accessibility of the web for people with disabilities that have included only the homepages (Davis, 2002; Flowers et al., 1999; Lazar et al., 2003; Lazar and Greenidge, 2006; Loiacono and McCoy, 2006; Klein et al., 2003; Paris, 2006; Spindler, 2002; Yu, 2002), a selected handful of pages (Diaper and Worman, 2003; Sloan et al., 2002; Thompson, 2003), or limit the levels of pages of the web site being evaluated (Jackson-Sanborn et al., 2002; Hackett et al., 2004). One can look at the homepage of a site as being the \"doorway\" into the site as was done in Yu (2002). Yu (2002) looked at four sets of homepages for each of the 108 California Community Colleges, where available, including the homepages of the college, library, distance education, and disabled student programs and services. The rationale behind looking at only homepages is that the initial web pages are gateways to major resources; if these pages are free from accessibility errors, they provide successful pathways to the information (Yu, 2002). Or, as stated in Klein et al. (2003), if the home page is not accessible, the rest of the site probably is not accessible. Similarly, Loiacono and McCoy (2006) felt that homepage evaluation was appropriate because visitors are most likely to enter through a homepage and, if the homepage is not accessible the accessibility of the remainder of the site becomes irrelevant.If the homepage is a true representation of the entire site, studies looking at only the homepage are valid; however, if not, these studies have no consequence. This study asks the question of whether the homepage is enough when evaluating a web site for accessibility for people with disabilities, in particular visual impairments, and hypothesizes that homepage accessibility is indicative of the accessibility of the entire web site. Previous studies evaluated the accessibility of web sites and not the correlation of accessibility scores between the levels of a web site. The findings from this study will guide future evaluations of web accessibility and may also be relevant to other types of web site evaluation.\nBackground: Web accessibility\nMethodology: Materials\nResults: Of the top 50 web sites, 33 were evaluated between April 11, 2007 and July 15, 2007. We used an accessibility evaluation tool and crawler which we developed, called Kelvin (Parmanto and Zeng, 2005), to evaluate the pages of each web site for accessibility according to the WAB score. A total of 17 web sites were eliminated from the analysis for the following reasons:* six were unavailable for Kelvin evaluation due to lack of a designated \"content type\" within the HTML, a Kelvin requirement;* ten were excluded from the study because the site did not generate four levels of data for evaluation: the site was simple and not composed of four levels or the site was composed of multiple unrelated domains (i.e.: geocities.yahoo.com and finance.yahoo.com are not considered to be the same site); and* one web site was predominantly in a language other than English.The means of each level and the averages included in the analysis are included in Table I.The ICC of level 0 and the average of levels 1, 2, and 3 is 0.250 (p=0.062) and indicates a low correlation between the homepage WAB score and that of the rest of the web site. An ICC was computed for levels 1, 2, and 3, to see how these levels correlate to each other: 0.784 (p<0.0001) indicating a high-level of correlation between these levels. ICCs for the homepage and each level were computed (Table II). The homepage accessibility correlates most highly with level 1; however, this correlation is still only moderate. Level 1 is also highly correlated with the average WAB scores of levels 2 and 3.A paired-sample t-test was computed to compare level 0 to the average WAB of levels 1, 2, and 3 and there is a statistically significant difference (df=32, p=0.043). The average WAB of all homepages is 8.17 and the average WAB of levels 1, 2, and 3 is 6.93.Finally, a scatterplot of the homepage WABs and the WABs of the average of levels 1, 2, and 3 depicts only a small pattern of correlation (Figure 2).\nDiscussion: The WAB score of the homepages of the popular web sites evaluated are not strongly correlated to the WAB scores of the rest of the web site, leading to a rejection of the hypothesis that homepage accessibility is indicative of the accessibility of the entire web site. These results demonstrate that evaluating the homepage alone is not sufficient when evaluating web pages for accessibility. Previous studies using only the homepage in the analysis (Davis, 2002; Flowers et al., 1999; Lazar et al., 2003; Lazar and Greenidge, 2006; Loiacono and McCoy, 2006; Klein et al., 2003; Paris, 2006; Spindler, 2002; Yu, 2002) may not have shown the whole picture of accessibility. However, the WAB scores for levels 1, 2, and 3 of these web sites are highly correlated and previous studies that included more pages than just the homepage (Diaper and Worman, 2003; Sloan et al., 2002; Thompson, 2003), if even a limited number of deeper pages (Jackson-Sanborn et al., 2002; Hackett et al., 2004), may have provided better estimates of the accessibility of the web sites under evaluation.When using popular evaluation tools that include a manual component, like Bobby, using only the homepage for accessibility evaluation is attractive from the practical standpoint. As shown in Table I, the average number of pages that need to be evaluated when evaluating just the homepage is 1, while to evaluate level 1: 67, level 2: 907, and level 3: 8,011. Level 1 is almost two degrees of magnitude more pages than level 0, while level 3 and 2 are one degree of magnitude larger than the shallower level. Manually evaluating all web pages to level 3 becomes prohibitively expensive and impractical.Because the WAB scores of the deeper levels are highly correlated, using the homepage and level 1 of a web site will give more accurate results as to the accessibility of the entire web site. Because level 1 is highly correlated with level 2 and 3, it provides sufficient representation of these levels. The practical implication of the findings is that using only the homepage and level 1 provides accurate results while it still being economical compared to using all pages of a web site.\nContributions: Because the WAB scores of levels 1, 2, and 3 are highly correlated, it makes sense to limit the evaluations to the homepage and level 1 of the web site for purposes of accuracy and resource management, as it is administratively simpler to obtain data for level 0 and level 1 than it is to collect data for level 2 and level 3. This is particularly true when using more manual methods of accessibility evaluation. Future studies in web accessibility should also include the homepage and at least one other level of the web site to ensure accurate measurement of accessibility.\nLimitations: A limitation of the study is the small sample size. While 33 popular web sites were used in this study, a future study should be conducted that includes a larger sample size and a wider representation of web sites. Another limitation can be attributed to the variation in sample sizes collected from the popular web sites and the varying number of pages evaluated for each level of the web site. Some of the web sites had thousands of pages included in the analysis, while others had relatively few. This could bias the averages to be more consistent with the scores of the sites that had a larger number of pages evaluated.\nFuture direction: In the future, the authors plan to pursue a study that would include a larger sample of web sites and more genres of web sites to determine if the findings apply to various genres. While this study found that the homepage and level 1 provide a representation of site accessibility, it is not clear if this is the optimal sampling method. A future larger study will also examine optimal sampling level to determine if the homepage and level 1 is the optimal sampling method or if an alternative level should be used.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to determine if the homepage of a web site is representative of the whole site with respect to accessibility.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper presents an intraclass correlation (ICC) between homepage web accessibility barrier (WAB) scores and the WAB scores of web site levels 1 through 3 for 33 popular web sites.\nFindings: - The paper finds that the homepage is not sufficient to detect the accessibility of the web site. ICC of the homepage and average of levels 1-3 is 0.250 (p=0.062) and ICC of levels 1, 2, and 3 is 0.784 (p<0.0001). Evaluating the homepage and first-level pages gives more accurate results of entire site accessibility.\nOriginality/value: - This is first study correlating homepage accessibility with web site accessibility.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing demand and supply uncertainties to achieve mass customization ability	[ "Mass customization", "Uncertainty management", "Supply and demand", "Manufacturing industries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Mass customization (MC) is the ability to manufacture a relatively high volume of different product options for a relatively large market that demands customization, without substantial tradeoffs in cost, delivery, and quality (adapted from McCarthy, 2004). It combines the cost-saving effectiveness of mass production with the value-added processes associated with product customization (Westbrook and Williamson, 1993; Berman, 2002; Duray, 2002). It is widely acknowledged that MC provides companies with competitive advantages (Kotha, 1995).MC ability is dependent upon two main competencies. The first is to accurately understand customer needs and the second is to procure appropriate and timely supplies for the manufacture of the required product configurations (Westbrook and Williamson, 1993; Ahlstrom and Westbrook, 1999; Zipkin, 2001). However, uncertainties in demand or supply make it difficult to efficiently match supply with demand. A company's ability to cope with demand uncertainties directly affects its ability to satisfy diversified customer demand (Fisher, 1997). Likewise, a company's ability to cope with supply uncertainties affects its production efficiency, and will indirectly impact its ability to satisfy diversified customer demand by preventing supply-demand mismatches (Fisher et al., 1994; Lee, 2002). Thus, effectively managing both demand and supply uncertainties should impact a company's MC ability.In this paper, we theoretically link demand and supply uncertainty management to MC, and empirically investigate this relationship with survey data. In the next section, we use organizational information processing theory (OIPT) to identify mechanisms that companies use to manage demand and supply uncertainties, and propose hypotheses about their relationships with MC ability. Then, we describe the research methods and report the findings. Academic and practical implications of the findings are discussed in the last section.\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: The impact of demand and supply uncertainties on supply chain design has been widely discussed in the literature. Fisher (1997) categorized supply chains into two types depending on the product's demand characteristics: efficient supply chains for functional products with predictable demand, and responsive supply chains for innovative products with unpredictable demand. Lee (2002) expanded Fisher's framework by including supply uncertainties. Based on their work, we define demand and supply uncertainty management as the use of various mechanisms by manufacturers to cope with uncertainties in demand and supply in order to satisfy customer demands more effectively and efficiently.While several researchers have highlighted the importance of managing demand and supply uncertainties for MC ability (Da Silveira et al., 2001; Zipkin, 2001; Berman, 2002), the current study is the first one to examine the impact of both demand and supply uncertainty management on MC ability. Including them both in one study allows us examine their individual and the joint effect on MC ability. We also propose a theoretical foundation for these relationships, which is missing from existing literature. Specifically, we use OIPT to identify mechanisms that companies frequently use to cope with demand and supply uncertainties, and hypothesize their relationships with MC ability. This theoretical basis enables us to systematically examine the impact of these uncertainty management mechanisms on MC ability, and reconcile divergent findings in previous literature. Additionally, our study is distinct from previous studies in one more aspect: while some of these relationships have been discussed in previous studies, these were mostly conceptual in nature. In contrast, our study is empirical in nature; we test our hypotheses using data from a large-scale survey enhancing generalizability of the relationships.Organizational information processing theory\nMethods and results: Measurement\nDiscussion and conclusion: Theoretical contribution\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Managing demand and supply uncertainties is critical for all manufacturers, but it has added importance for companies that intend to achieve mass customization (MC) ability because these uncertainties are an intrinsic characteristic of MC. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how managing uncertainties in a firm's demand and supply affects its MC ability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are conducted on data collected from 189 manufacturing plants to empirically test two hypotheses.\nFindings: - Both demand and supply uncertainty management have a positive impact on a company's MC ability. However, managing either demand or supply uncertainties independently of the other is not enough to achieve MC ability; instead, a company needs to concurrently manage both demand and supply uncertainties to achieve MC ability.\nOriginality/value: - The current literature lacks a sound theoretical basis to link demand and supply uncertainty management with MC ability. The paper provides such a theoretical foundation, and systematically identifies several demand and supply uncertainty management mechanisms that enable firms to achieve superior MC ability. In addition, it is one of the first large-scale empirical studies to address the impact of managing both demand and supply uncertainties on MC ability.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Original editions of Chinese gazetteers in the Yale East Asia Library	[ "United States of America", "University libraries", "Collections management", "Chinese gazetteers", "Yale East Asia Library", "History", "China" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nHistory of the Yale East Asia Library: Yale University was the first university in the US to collect books in East Asian languages. The first documented acquisition was a shipment of over 90 volumes of Chinese works to the Yale College Library purchased from China in 1849 (Hammond, 2011). Samuel Wells Williams (1812-1884), who later became the first professor of Chinese language and literature at Yale in 1877, was involved in organizing this shipment during the time he resided in the treaty port of Canton as a missionary printer (Hammond, 2011).The Chinese Collection in the Yale Library was augmented by a significant donation from Yung Wing Fixed graphic 1 (1828-1912), the first Chinese who graduated from an American university (Yale class of 1854). His initial donation in four crates of Chinese woodblock print books in 1878 consisted of 1,280 primarily Qing volumes of various materials including Confucian texts, official histories, literary works, dictionaries, etc, many of which are rare editions such as a 1716 edition of the Kangxi Dictionary Fixed graphic 2 (Hammond, 2010, pp. 6).Systematic collection development for Japanese materials in the Yale Library was started in 1872 when the Yale College Librarian Addison Van Name (1835-1922) acquired Japanese books with Tokyo booksellers referred by an American professor William Elliot Griffis in Japan (Hammond, 2010, pp. 4-5). Van Name had received 2,700 volumes for Yale by 1876 (Hammond, 2010, pp. 5). These books became the core of Japanese Collection in the Yale Library.Thanks to Samuel Wells Williams, Yung Wing, and Addison Van Name, the Yale Library had built up considerable resources in Chinese and Japanese by the early twentieth century. In 1907, Asakawa Kan'ichi (1873-1948), who received a PhD in history from Yale University in 1902, was appointed to the Curator of the Chinese and Japanese Collections, which inaugurated the formal presence of an East Asian Collection at Yale. Asakawa served as the Curator for 41 years and successfully achieved his goal of establishing a collection that could support scholarly research on a par with libraries in East Asia.After the Second World War, the Yale East Asian Collection was expanded remarkably in response to the rapid growth of the East Asian studies program. The Yale East Asian Collection, now known as the Yale East Asia Library, has become one of the largest East Asian collections in North America. The print collection now includes approximately 800,000 volumes (nearly 520,000 volumes are in Chinese), supplemented with resources in many other formats.\nChinese gazetteers in the US libraries: literature review: Gazetteers or fangzhi Fixed graphic 3 as encyclopedias of regions and places, contain invaluable materials on geographic features and changes, administration, economies, cultures, dialects, officials, dignitaries, and other regional and local information. They are regarded by scholars and historians in the China field as one of the most important primary sources for the study of history of Chinese economy, politics, culture, military, and science and technology. Gazetteers are also enormously useful for scholars and historians in the field to understand the local impact of national events and trends, and to conduct a comparative study of different regions and places.The compilation of gazetteers probably originated in the Zhou dynasty (ca. 1027-256 BC) when it was recorded that several officials were in charge of collecting \"records from all areas within the four directions\" (Weerdt, 2003, p. 124). Such a practice became standardized during the Sui (581-618) and Tang (617-907) dynasties, and reached its peak during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). A small number of gazetteers were compiled during the Republican Period (1911-1949) because of the war. According to Union Catalogue of Chinese Gazetteers (Zhuang et al., 1985), more than 8,500 gazetteers published before 1949 survive today and can be found in various libraries and institutions in China, most of which date from the Ming (1368-1644) and particularly the Qing (1644-1911) periods.Because of their importance and high research value, Chinese gazetteers have become one of the key materials to collect for many research libraries in the US, including the Yale East Asia Library. Several libraries in the US, such as the Library of Congress, Harvard-Yenching Library, University of Chicago, and Columbia University, are known for their comprehensive collections of Chinese gazetteers.A number of library catalogs and scholarly articles have focused on Chinese gazetteer collections in the US since 1940s. The first publication was compiled by Shih-chia Chu for Library of Congress in 1942 (Chu, 1942). Chu later went through Columbia University's holdings of Chinese gazetteers and published an article on his study in 1944 (Chu, 1944). Nine more catalogs of gazetteers in US libraries were published in the latter half of the twentieth century, including Cornell University (Ma, 1964), University of Washington (Lowe, 1966 and Byon, 1979), University of Michigan (Tang, 1968), University of Pittsburg (Kuo et al., 1969), University of Chicago (Tsien, 1969), University of California, Berkeley (Zhang, 1980), University of Iowa (Felsing and Yu, 1985), and Genealogical Society of Utah (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1987). Harvard-Yenching Library did not compile a catalog of their gazetteer collection like other research libraries with a large collection of Chinese gazetteers, but they published three articles to discuss the strength and rarity of their gazetteer holdings (Wu, 1985, Chun, 2003, and Weerdt, 2003).\nChinese gazetteers in the Yale East Asia Library: The Yale East Asia Library has also extensively and continuously collected Chinese gazetteers, including original editions, modern and contemporary reprints, and microfilms, but unlike its peers it had never compiled a catalog of its gazetteer collection or written an article about it in the past. Therefore, as the first step, the author conducted a survey of original editions of Chinese gazetteers in the Yale East Asia Library by searching the Yale online library catalog and comparing with existing catalogs of Chinese gazetteers published in the US. Accordingly, this paper will focus on the findings from this survey and the author's preliminary research on them.Based on the author's search results from the Yale online library catalog, the Yale East Asia Library holds approximately 337 original editions of Chinese gazetteers consisting of 8,623 volumes. Of them, two titles are Ming (1368-1644) editions and date to the Wanli period (1573-1620). A total of 256 titles are Qing (1644-1911) editions, 67 of which date to the Qianlong period (1736-1795) or earlier. Seventy-nine titles were compiled and published during the Republic Period (1911-1949). Almost 60 percent of the rare editions (those dated to the Qianlong period and earlier) came from the library of the couple Arthur F. Wright (1913-1976) and Mary C. Wright (1917-1970), both of whom were prestigious China historians during the mid-twentieth century and taught at Yale for more than a decade.The majority of the original Chinese gazetteers in the Yale East Asia Library is rarely found in other academic and research libraries in North America according to the WorldCat and thus has high research value. A total of 309 titles or 92 percent are owned by only five or fewer libraries in North America. Of them, 89 titles are arguably unique to Yale.The original editions of Chinese gazetteers in the Yale East Asia Library have comprehensive geographic coverage, and feature 30 provinces and municipalities in China. Three provinces have the most titles, namely Shanxi Fixed graphic 4, Zhejiang Fixed graphic 5 and Hebei Fixed graphic 6. Nearly 40 percent (126 titles) of the gazetteers deal with the Shanxi province, which is an interesting discovery and might be related to the faculty research interest when they were acquired.A variety of types of gazetteers are represented in the Yale collection of original Chinese gazetteers, including comprehensive gazetteers, provincial gazetteers, prefectural gazetteers, sub-prefectural gazetteers, county gazetteers, market town gazetteers, garrison gazetteers, mountain and river gazetteers, temple gazetteers, academy gazetteers, etc:* two titles are comprehensive gazetteers: Accounts of the Unified Empire Fixed graphic 7 (dated to 1573-1620) and Illustrated Records of Prefectures, Sub-prefectures and Counties during the Qianlong Reign Fixed graphic 8 (dated to 1788-1803);* 52 titles or 15 percent are provincial gazetteers;* 27 or 8 percent are prefectural gazetteers;* 33 titles or 10 percent are sub-prefectural gazetteers;* 151 titles or 45 percent are county gazetteers;* six titles or 2 percent are market town gazetteers; and* 62 or 18 percent titles are gazetteers of garrisons, mountains and rivers, temples, academies, etc.There are also two titles, which cover multiple regions (Northeast, Sichuan and Tibet) and thus do not belong to any types.Table I shows a detailed distribution of the original Chinese gazetteers in the Yale East Asia Library by region, time, and type.\nOriginal editions of Chinese gazetteers from the Shanxi Province: Yale vs Library of Congress: As discussed above, a large portion of original editions of Chinese gazetteers from the Yale East Asia Library focus on the Shanxi Province. According to the existing catalogs and research articles, the Yale East Asia Library probably holds the third largest collection of original editions of Shanxi gazetteers after Harvard-Yenching Library (Wu, 1985) and Library of Congress (Chu, 1942). As only the Library of Congress has published a detailed catalog of their gazetteer holdings (Chu, 1942), we will compare their collection of Shanxi gazetteers with Yale's by type, time period, and geographic coverage to examine the comprehensiveness and uniqueness of the collection at Yale.A variety of types of Shanxi gazetteers at provincial and all local levels (prefecture, sub-prefecture, county and market town) are well represented in both the Yale East Asia Library and Library of Congress collections, as demonstrated in Table II. By comparison, the Library of Congress actually has relatively fewer types of Shanxi gazetteers than Yale, since Yale's holdings also include gazetteers on natural resources, manmade works and local education, such as Gazetteer of Qingliang Mountain Fixed graphic 9 Revised and Enlarged Gazetteer of Irrigation Works in the Hongdong County Fixed graphic 10 and Gazetteer of Schools in the Linfen County Fixed graphic 11. In terms of historical coverage, both the Yale East Asia Library and Library of Congress have most titles from the Qing period and a considerable number of titles from the Republican period, while the latter has a few from the Ming period, which are rare.Both the Yale East Asia Library and Library of Congress cover a wide range of localities in Shanxi Province when examining the geographic coverage of their Shanxi gazetteer holdings at all local levels (prefecture, sub-prefecture, county and market town). However, if we compare the total number of localities with the total number of Shanxi gazetteers from both libraries, Yale's collection actually has a much broader geographic coverage (Table III). In addition, the Yale East Asia Library includes a few sub-prefecture (which is Jizhou Fixed graphic 12) and county (which are Huairen Fixed graphic 13 Zuoyun Fixed graphic 14 Tongguan Fixed graphic 15, Xiyang Fixed graphic 16 Jingle Fixed graphic 17 and Mayi Fixed graphic 18) gazetteers in Shanxi Province which are not found in the Library of Congress.In conclusion, the Yale East Asia Library has a comprehensive and unique collection of original editions of Shanxi gazetteers particularly in terms of type and geographic coverage, although the total number of titles is approximately 54 percent of the Library of Congress.\nSummary and future work: Yale University was the first university in the USA to collect East Asian language books, which started as early as 1849. After over 160 years' development, the Yale East Asia Library has become one of the largest East Asian collections in North America.Since the very beginning, the Yale East Asia Library has been keen on collecting Chinese gazetteers. However, unlike its peer research libraries in the USA, the Yale East Asia Library had never studied its gazetteer collection in the past. Therefore, for the first time, the author attempted to systematically review original editions of Chinese gazetteers held in the Yale East Asia Library by searching the Yale online library catalog and comparing with catalogs of Chinese local gazetteers from other research libraries in the USA. According to her findings and preliminary research, Yale holds approximately three hundred and thirty-seven original Chinese gazetteers with high research value and comprehensive geographic coverage and in a great variety of types.The author's future work is to conduct a more comprehensive survey of Chinese gazetteers in the Yale East Asia Library, which includes not only original editions but also reprints and microfilms. This paper is primarily based on the author's findings from her search results of original editions of Chinese gazetteers in the Yale online library catalog. It is likely that some titles might have been missed by her searches while some titles might not have been included in the online catalog because of backlogs. Therefore, a physical survey of original Chinese gazetteers in the Yale East Asia Library may need to be done in the future, to get a more accurate review of Yale's holdings. Moreover, the original editions of Chinese gazetteers in the Yale East Asia Library actually only account for a small portion of Yale's collection of Chinese gazetteers, since a large number of modern and contemporary reprints and microfilms were acquired during the second half of the twentieth century. Such collecting efforts have continued to the present. Thus, it will be useful to conduct a more comprehensive survey and in-depth research in the future to gain a full understanding of Chinese gazetteer collection in the Yale East Asia Library.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Chinese gazetteers are one of the most important primary sources for the study of history of Chinese economy, politics, culture, military, and science and technology. Since the very beginning, the Yale East Asia Library has been keen on collecting Chinese gazetteers. However, unlike its peer research libraries in the USA, the Yale East Asia Library had never compiled a catalog or written an article about its gazetteer collection. The purpose of this paper is to systematically review, for the first time, original editions of Chinese gazetteers held in the Yale East Asia Library to reveal the holdings and research value.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The author conducted a survey of original editions of Chinese gazetteers in the Yale East Asia Library by searching the Yale online library catalog and comparing with existing catalogs of Chinese local gazetteers compiled by other research libraries in the USA. The paper focuses on the edition, coverage, rarity and variety of Yale's holdings.\nFindings: - According to the author's findings and preliminary research, Yale holds approximately 337 original Chinese gazetteers. The majority of them is rarely found in other North American research libraries and thus has high research value. They cover almost all provinces and municipalities in China and have a great variety of types.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Although the author tried to use various search strategies to look up in the Yale online library catalog to ensure high retrieval, the results here may not be accurate. Also it is likely that a number of Chinese gazetteers are not recorded in the Yale online library catalog because of backlogs. A physical survey of Chinese gazetteer holdings at Yale and more research need to be done in the future.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is the first of its kind to provide a systematic review of original editions of Chinese gazetteers held in the Yale East Asia Library.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Retrospective: tracking service failures and employee recovery efforts	[ "Service encounter", "Service recovery", "Service failures" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Mistakes are the portals of discovery.\nMotivation for the Original Paper: Given the human-based nature of many service processes, service failures are inevitable. Hence, the \"zero-defects\" mantra of the manufacturing era is not a realistic expectation for service firms. Consequently, it would seem that developing and implementing a service recovery program throughout the firm would be a no-brainer, and developing an effective recovery culture with the goal of \"zero-defections\" might be a more appropriate mantra.\nMain contribution: The main contribution of Tracking Service Failures and Employee Recovery Efforts (Hoffman et al., 1995) was that it provided managers with a very useful process for:\nResponse from the marketing community: Tracking Service Failures and Employee Recovery Efforts was published in 1995, and was awarded the 1997 Article of the Year Award from the Journal of Services Marketing, and it continues to resonate with academicians and practitioners alike. Today, the article remains one of the top ten cited articles in the Journal of Services Marketing. Based on Google Scholar, the article has been the recipient of 627 citations to date. Subsequent publications that have cited our manuscript have been published in the Journal of Marketing Research,Journal of Marketing,Journal of Operations Management, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,Journal of Service Research,Journal of Business Research and many more. In the current academic environment where faculty are only given credit for articles appearing in \"premier\" journals, our article offers a prime example of the fallacy that only publications within a \"premier\" journal list can make a meaningful and lasting contribution. We would like to thank the editors and publishers of the Journal of Services Marketing for providing a platform where published articles can make a lasting contribution to the field of marketing.\nWhere are we now?: Over the past 20 years or so, the field of service recovery continues to be a very popular research stream. Much of this research has been conducted in specific sub-sections of the service recovery process with some area receiving much more attention than others. Examples of service recovery sub-sections and a sample of articles in each area include:\nFuture research directions: Most of the current research in this area focuses on customer complaint behavior that views service recovery from a consumer behavior perspective. In contrast, few studies have focused on complaint management from the firm perspective (Homburg and Furst, 2007). As a result, there are future research opportunities with regard to developing and maintaining an effective service recovery culture. A firm's recovery culture has been termed as an organic approach to service recovery. An organic approach reflects the \"supportiveness of the internal environment with respect to complaint handling\" (Homburg and Furst, 2005, p. 97). Despite the importance of developing a service recovery culture, very little is known about how successful firms develop such a culture or its component parts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation of the findings first put forward in the article Tracking Service Failures and Employee Recovery Efforts with the benefit of hindsight, and to offer directions for further research and developments in the research area.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Research directions which emanated from the publication of the article have been examined in light of current service(s) marketing theory and practice. As a result, promising current and future strands of research have been identified.\nFindings: The original study yielded the initial steps into what has become a systematic step-by-step process that outlines the development and implementation of a service recovery program that now includes failure identification; failure attribution; recovery strategy selection; recovery implementation; and tracking, monitoring and evaluating effectiveness. Subsequent research has linked organistic and mechanistic components of a recovery program to important customer and financial outcomes and the development of a service recovery audit.\nPractical/implications: The original study served as a starting point for the development of a set of implications for services marketing practitioners. Specifically, as a result of the original research, a programmatic approach to service recovery was developed that includes the systematic process of failure identification; failure attribution; recovery strategy selection; (4) recovery implementation; and tracking, monitoring and evaluating effectiveness.\nOriginality/value: The original article was highly rated, and generated discussion and important further research. It has value as a part of the history of service(s) marketing research. The retrospective analysis by the author(s) gives a unique insight into processes and thinking associated with understanding key aspects that contribute to the historical development of service(s) marketing, and provides substantial food for thought for future research directions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Doctors as managers: moving towards general management? The case of unitary management reform in Norwegian hospitals	[ "Health services", "Doctors", "Managers", "Clinical medicine", "Norway" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: reform and profession-managers: In recent years there has been a growing focus on management in hospitals, which can be connected to the influence of new public management (NPM) (Pollitt, 1990). An NPM-inspired perspective promotes general management as an independent field of knowledge and the manager as an active agent (Clarke and Newman, 1997; Klausen, 2001). However, introducing general management in hospitals has met resistance among professionals (Harrison and Pollitt, 1994), and has not been successful in changing clinical practice. This reflects the strong position of medicine and a profession-based understanding of management in hospitals (Mintzberg, 1979). On the department level, it has been argued that a better way to bridge the gap between management and profession is to make managers out of professionals. Accordingly, an increasing number of doctors find themselves as managers in hospital departments (Doolin, 2001). As the knowledge areas of medicine and management traditionally are seen to represent different discourses of government and responsibility, an important research question is how physician-managers handle being part of the different worlds of medicine and management.Based on interviews with physicians who became department managers in a Norwegian hospital in 2001, I discuss in this article how a reform in Norwegian hospitals introducing \"unitary management\", i.e. one manager on all organisational levels, influenced the relation between management and profession. The unitary department managers are to be line managers for all personnel groups of the department, and responsible for strategic decisions concerning the departments' professional development. Thus it breaks with the dual manager model where physicians manage physicians and nurses manage nurses. The study was carried out in the first year after the reform, and analyses the physician-managers' first experiences within a new managerial regime.Research has shown that integrating managerial and clinical roles can be problematic (Schneller et al., 1997; Thorne, 1997; Ostergren and Sahlin-Andersson, 1998; Hoff, 2001). Fitzgerald (1994) found that physician-managers experience problems in relation to colleagues over both professional and managerial matters. One of the problems concerns legitimacy among colleagues, which for physicians is tightly related to participation in clinical work (Hoff, 1999a, b). Many studies about doctors as managers report that doctors continue with a clinical practice of some kind (Fitzgerald and Dufour, 1997; Kitchener, 2000; Doolin, 2001; Sognstrup, 2003; Gjerberg and Sorensen, 2006). This is to secure both legitimacy in a career path of lesser status, and a way back to the clinic. Establishing a formal specialty in medical management has even been discussed (Montgomery, 1990). However, research on doctors as managers could be expanded to include how the connection to the profession becomes part of negotiating the moulding of a new manager role. Thorne (1997) found that doctors as clinical directors adopted a more \"managerial\" mindset while their identity remained firmly rooted in the profession (Thorne, 1997). In this article I focus on how the physician-manager role develops along with more general manager principles entering the rhetoric and the structural solutions in the hospital. The key question to be addressed is whether the development in department management constitutes changes of concepts and practices that step away from the profession-based manager in the direction of a general manager-model. I also ask how the coupling between profession and management is done, and how the new responsibility is interpreted.\nTheoretical perspectives: the coupling of medicine and management: Medicine's strong position\nResearch method: The manager reform that spurred the present study was a structural reform that the government launched by adopting the Specialist Health Services Act in 2001 (Ot.prp.10, 1998-1999)[3]. The Act states that Norwegian hospitals are to have one manager on each level, and that management is a \"profession neutral\" responsibility. On the department level this means that the manager may be a physician, a nurse or another health professional - a decision that met considerable with protests from many physicians and the Norwegian Medical Association (Bakke, 2002). Before the reform, a chief physician and a ward matron had shared the managerial responsibility for the departments in nine out of ten Norwegian hospitals (NOU, 1997, p. 2).The study took place in a large university hospital in 2001-2002 during the first year after the management reform. The hospital provides a wide range of advanced medical services, including acute functions, and had approximately 30 departments and a four-level hierarchical management structure (hospital executive director, centre management, department management and section management) at the time of the study. Top management carefully prepared the implementation of unitary management, organising seminars for all managers about the intentions of the Act and its implementation. All department managers were relieved of their duties and were interviewed about their management interests and qualifications. Afterwards they had to apply for the new \"unitary\" positions.Access to the hospital was made through the Executive Director, and the physician-managers were chosen to represent both clinical departments (eight interviews), and medical service departments and laboratories (two interviews). The departments represent different medical and surgical specialities, different shares of acute admissions, and different department sizes (from 30 to 400 employees, and one to seven wards). Clinical departments were prioritised because the principle of \"profession neutral\" management had proven particularly controversial here (Johansen, 2005).Data consists of interviews with ten department managers, i.e. physicians who had become managers, with a total responsibility for the departments, its activities and employees. There were eight male and two female informants - the only two female physician-managers that were employed. They are all quoted as \"he\" for anonymity reasons. The physician-managers had limited managerial education (courses of a few weeks mostly), except for one who had more than one year of management education. Four had previous management experience, and six did not. The interviews were done in the informants' offices and lasted between one and a half and three hours. After a pilot interview an open interview guide was developed, which concentrated on the reform and its consequences related to the managers' profession and work situation. The interview guide built on experiences from an earlier project on managerial responsibilities in hospital departments (Dahl and Mo, 2000). Analysis was done by reading through interviews, creating categories, rearranging categories as knowledge increased, and developing insight by going back and forth between interviews and processed text until the final text was written (for further information, see Mo, 2006).The perspectives of the physician-managers may reflect the fact that the interviews were performed during the first year of the reform, at which time they had little experience with unitary management. Maybe their reflections would have been different at a later stage. However, we know that change allows for a questioning and deconstruction of the previous social order (Czarniawska and Sevon, 1996), and a transition period is an opportunity to study the negotiations between the existing order and new ideas, which was the purpose of this study.In the analysis of data, we related the managers' perceptions of management, professional practice, new roles and identities to the reform and its intentions. Also, we analysed how managers describe their new practice in relation to existing institutional boundaries. They presented the space that they see for a changed practice and how it relates to their professional background and experience. Also, we analysed how the perspective related to the manager's own professional background and the managerial function. This was seen as an indicator of the way new ideas of management are negotiated in relation to the existing social order. The data on practice are thus descriptions of how the new physician-managers have chosen to perform within a new regime, based on how they interpret the manager role in their context.\nNegotiating clinical practice: Entering the balance\nDiscussion: Has the unitary manager reform in Norwegian hospitals constituted a change of concepts and practices that step away from the old medical profession-based manager in the direction of a general manager-model? This study of physician-managers shaping a new manager role has painted an ambiguous picture. The findings indicate that the physician-managers are establishing a practice that contains some elements of the new manager responsibilities and functions. However, a close contact with the clinic is still stressed as important for physician-managers, although the content of the specific relationship varies. Wearing a white coat serves to demonstrate where the physician-managers belong. Thus the change in the relation between profession and management has both concrete and symbolic elements. How can they be interpreted?A new practice?\nConclusion: The reform introduced changes that were new and partly contradicted a professional view of management, and the managers were expected to carry out their practice according to a different logic or discourse. However, to have authority and legitimacy as managers for their physician colleagues, they had to relate to the existing cultural \"codes\". One of the most important competencies of the hybrid manager is this ability to inhabit two worlds. This is done by establishing practices that comprise the discourse of the new department management, and at the same time emphasising the close connection to the clinic that gives them authority as managers within the medical field. The study indicates a different perspective on department management in which managers contribute to change through their changed practice.The analysis shows the strong position of the medical logic in the hospital. Even if unitary management in principle is described as a general manager responsibility taken by health professionals, the \"profession\" part of the responsibility seems to dominate on the department level. The reform is not able to get past the institutionalised logic of professional knowledge and the clinic as an important basis for authority and legitimacy. This suggests a continued medical definition of management, ensuring authority and legitimacy for the new department managers. However, the study also shows that the new physician-manager role cannot be built on a constant presence in the clinic, and that this fact is handled in different ways. The emerging new practice thus constitutes a department manager that in some significant ways breaks with the \"old\" profession-based manager, indicating that the boundaries between manager and professional are in transition. Whether this signifies changes that will contribute to the development of a more encompassing department manager role than the \"old\" chief physician remains to be seen. The findings suggest that the balancing of managerial and professional considerations contributes to develop a consciousness of the superior and collective responsibility of the department, while the professional background that enhances the importance of the individual expert knowledge remains crucial for legitimacy reasons. It suggests that the future development of this role will depend on the way in which the collectivist and individualist aspects of responsibility are handled, as well as on the further development of managerial knowledge of physicians.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to explore whether the development in department management in Norwegian hospitals after the unitary management reform in 2001 constitutes a development in the direction of general management\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Interviews were conducted with ten managers from different levels in a large Norwegian university hospital in 2001-2002, as a unitary management model was implemented.\nFindings: - There is an emerging change of practice among the physician managers according to this study. The manager function is more explicit and takes a more general responsibility for the department and the professions. However, the managerial function is substantiated by conditions related to the professional field of knowledge, which gives legitimacy within a medical logic. Contact with the clinic is stressed as important, but it is possible to adjust both amount and content of a clinical engagement to the demands of the new manager position. This has both a symbolic and a practical significance, as it involves both legitimacy and identity issues.\nPractical implications: - The paper shows that the institutionalised medical understanding of management has a bearing on managerial reforms. Managerial changes need to relate to this if they are to have consequences for the managerial roles and structures on department level in hospitals.\nOriginality/value: - The paper suggests that the future development of this role will depend on the way the collectivist and individualist aspects of responsibility are handled, as well as on the further development of managerial knowledge of physicians.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The red thread of information	[ "Information science", "Information theory", "Marcia J. Bates", "Domain analysis", "Ethnography of infrastructure", "Social epistemology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: To mark its 50th anniversary in 1999, the Journal of the American Society for Information Science published a special double issue. The guest editor, Marcia J. Bates, introduced and summarized the auspicious collection of writings as reflecting, debating, predicting, and celebrating information science (1999b, p. 960). The first part of the double issue was centered upon the journal, its society, and the future of print. The second part covered paradigms, models, and methods of information science and opened with a statement by Bates herself, entitled, The Invisible Substrate of Information Science. Invisible Substrate (for short), aimed to \"elucidate the key elements of the information science paradigm\" in order to \"...communicate it more rapidly and effectively to large numbers of new people, and so that we can continue to influence the future of information in the 21st century\" (1999a, p. 1043). The article was well received and won the JASIS Best Paper award for 2000; has garnered more than 500 citations; and was nominated as one of the most important information science publications of its decade. For me personally, Invisible Substrate was a eureka! moment that changed my life; after reading it I decided to become an information scientist. Key points of the article are as follows.Information science is one of three meta-disciplines that reside at a conceptual level higher than conventional academic fields. The three meta-disciplines - education, information science, and journalism - play distinct and crucial roles in the production and transmission of human knowledge. Information science deals with its organization and retrieval in recorded form; education with its teaching and learning; and journalism with its dissemination to the public as news. The meta-disciplines are \"orthogonally\" situated in the university and society because they run at a 90-degree angle across the conventional disciplines, enabling their intellectual processes and outputs. Bates further develops this framework about the nature of the information professions in later works (2015).Another quality that defines our field is a concern for the form and organization of information, more so than information's content. For example, when exploring a topic of interest, such as the \"Old Kingdom of Egypt,\" most people focus upon interesting accounts of pharaohs and pyramids. Along the way, they are largely unaware of keywords, titles, tables of content, indexes, and other information structures associated with the domain. Bates says that the average person, \"...never notices the structure that organizes their information, because they are so caught up in absorbing and relating to the content\" (p. 1045). However, an information scientist, on the job, would relate to these architectures over any tales of Egypt's Old Kingdom. She contends that it takes students a semester to shift their concern from information content to information structure and that the transition can be counterintuitive and challenging, given a lifelong preoccupation with content.Bates' earlier publications display her keen eye for structure over content. The 1978 article, What Is a Reference Book? (1986) describes the unique structural features that constitute reference books: records, fields, and files. Following Bates' lead, an information specialist can leap across these information structures to answer reference questions - even if they are unfamiliar with the content or context of the query. Another example of Bates' penchant for information structure appears in the article Information Search Tactics (1979), which (like Invisible Substrate) won the JASIS Best Paper Award for its year. Information Search Tactics provides a model language and process for navigating information retrieval systems based upon the structure of the database and its information collection. A searcher can CUT, STRETCH, PARALLEL, RELATE, SUB, AND SUPER through these structures as if climbing within and around an informational jungle gym.Returning to Invisible Substrate: the theoretical tradition of information science, says Bates, resembles other groundbreaking ideas of the mid-twentieth century that likewise examine, \"the underlying structure beneath the surface variety of life\" (Bates, 1999a, p. 1047). General systems theory, game theory, cybernetics, information theory, and Chomsky's theory of syntactic structures in language are parallel arguments for the significance of immaterial infrastructures. General systems theory, for example, illuminated patterns in social and technical institutions and devices and examines their synergy or emergent behavior. Of note, this version of information science's origins may come uniquely from Bates and her mentors at the University of California, Berkeley, in the late 1960s and 1970s (Bates, 2004). It stands in contrast to historical narratives that trace information science to librarianship (Butler, 1933) or the European documentation movement (Rayward, 1997).\nThe information science universe: As members of a meta-discipline oriented to information structures - not content - information scientists operate within an \"information science universe\" (1999a, p. 1047). According to Bates, that is, \"the world of recorded information produced by human agency,\" and it includes \"books, articles, databases and data files\" (p. 1048). In addition to scholarly research, this distinct universe entails, \"popular literature, business records, personal archives, music, film,\" and it manifests in both print and electronic forms (p. 1048). Reflecting upon these sundry information phenomena, she asserts that the hallmark of our research and practice is that, \"...we are always looking for the red thread of information in the social texture of people's lives\" (p. 1048). Bates uses this statement to powerfully and poetically conclude the main argument of Invisible Substrate.Despite this lucid vision of the nature of information science overall, to me the information science universe presented in Invisible Substrate remains mysterious. Looking for \"...the red thread of information in the social texture of people's lives\" feels like potent inspiration rather than practical instruction. The next section of this paper makes the material, social, and conceptual machinery of information science more perceptible and tangible still.\nThe red thread of information: But first, why might Bates invoke a red thread? In one Chinese legend, the gods tie an invisible red cord around the ankles of people who are destined for a love relationship. A Jewish folk custom is to wear a red string around the wrist to ward off misfortune. In Greek mythology, a red thread can refer to Ariadne's thread that guided Theseus out of the Labyrinth after slaying the Minotaur. Centuries ago, the ships of the British Navy were identified by a telltale red thread running through their ropes and rigging. Bates has said she was unaware of these connotations when writing Invisible Substrate. Nevertheless, the red thread has mythic associations with love, protection, guidance, and identity.Of note, Bates uses red thread as a metaphor. Metaphors are powerful conceptual tools that guide and structure thought (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). In metaphor, a source domain (something easy to define) is used to bring clarity to a target domain (something more elusive to define). My prior visual research reveals that pictorial metaphors are often used to make sense of the concept of information (Hartel and Savolainen, 2016). When asked to draw a picture of information, people invoke the source domains of earth, web, tree, light bulb, box, cloud, and fishing/mining; each lends some familiarity and clarity to the sometimes murky concept of information. For example, the earth suggests that information is a global phenomenon and a cloud identifies information with thought and consciousness.What follows are nine phenomena within the information science universe that can be seen to constitute Bates' notion of the red thread of information. They are presented as composites of information structures and their associated processes. Keeping with Bates' penchant for metaphor, and in the manner of a scientist-poet (White, 1999), additional metaphorical expressions of the red thread appear. The elements are reported in an order from the smallest particles up to more sweeping systems. Many of the definitions are drawn from the Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science, among other reference works (Bawden and Robinson, 2012; Rubin, 2016), and key concepts are bolded.Terms\nDiscussion: Bates' intriguing idea of the red thread of information has been elaborated earlier as: terms, genres, literatures, classification systems, scholarly communication, information retrieval, information experience, information institutions, and information policy. The major concepts associated with these entities appeared in bold, above, and are collected in Table I.The nine information phenomena outlined here constitute the long-standing epicenter of information science circa the publication of Invisible Substrate. The survey at hand does not include the dynamic and emergent frontier of information science, which must be articulated by future generations of scientist-poets.Next, the framework for information science in Bates' Invisible Substrate is related to three resonant ideas, namely, domain analysis (Hjorland, 2002), the ethnography of infrastructure (Star, 1999), and social epistemology (Shera, 1968).Domain analysis (Hjorland, 2002)\nConclusion: It was once said that information science suffers from a shortage of poets (White, 1999). Yet with \"the red thread of information,\" Marcia J. Bates endowed the field with a poetic, picturesque, and memorable metaphor and slogan. As a teacher of information science, I can attest that for more than a decade the red thread has worked in my own classrooms to rally and focus students, and it has also served as a conference theme to motivate wide-ranging discussions across ranks. Bates' fecund statement is not without ambiguity, though. This article has unpacked and fortified her vision with greater precision and shown its relationship to similar big ideas. Hopefully, for newcomers to information science and seasoned scholars alike, information content may more readily fade into the background as crimson information structures take shape in the foreground. Then, we can roll out the red carpet and welcome everyone to the information universe.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In The Invisible Substrate of Information Science, a landmark article about the discipline of information science, Marcia J. Bates wrote that \"...we are always looking for the red thread of information in the social texture of people's lives\" (1999a, p. 1048). To sharpen our understanding of information science and to elaborate Bates' idea, the work at hand answers the question: Just what does the red thread of information entail?\nDesign/methodology/approach: Through a close reading of Bates' oeuvre and by applying concepts from the reference literature of information science, nine composite entities that qualify as the red thread of information are identified, elaborated, and related to existing concepts in the information science literature. In the spirit of a scientist-poet (White, 1999), several playful metaphors related to the color red are employed.\nFindings: Bates' red thread of information entails: terms, genres, literatures, classification systems, scholarly communication, information retrieval, information experience, information institutions, and information policy. This same constellation of phenomena can be found in resonant visions of information science, namely, domain analysis (Hjorland, 2002), ethnography of infrastructure (Star, 1999), and social epistemology (Shera, 1968).\nResearch limitations/implications: With the vital vermilion filament in clear view, newcomers can more easily engage the material, conceptual, and social machinery of information science, and specialists are reminded of what constitutes information science as a whole. Future researchers and scientist-poets may wish to supplement the nine composite entities with additional, emergent information phenomena.\nOriginality/value: Though the explication of information science that follows is relatively orthodox and time-bound, the paper offers an imaginative, accessible, yet technically precise way of understanding the field.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The profile of income-poor children	[ "Children (age groups)", "Poverty", "Income", "Demographics", "Social policy", "Portugal" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Child poverty is a problem firmly recognized in the industrialized world. In many OCDE countries, reducing child poverty has become one of the most important targets for policy makers. In recent years, public policies have focused on this challenge[1].The dimension of the problem point out for the consequences of living in poverty, for children and also for the society, as a whole. These consequences are wide-ranging and long-lasting (Griggs and Walker, 2008).For children these consequences act in the short run; in their physical and psychological development, their school outcomes and welfare and, on their expectations for the future. But these consequences also last in the long run for them: adults who lived in poverty when they were children, commonly have problems with self-esteem and confidence, civil participation, insertion in the labour market and professional qualifications (Danziger and Danziger, 2010; Bastos and Nunes, 2009; Corak, 2005). Living in poverty in childhood contributes to perpetuate the familial cycle of poverty.For the society child poverty also produces negative impacts (Griggs and Walker, 2008). There is a human cost of allowing children to grow up in deprived environments. This is a question of social justice that goes against the compromises sealed by the Convention of the Rights of the Child, adopted by more than 100 countries in 1990. There are also costs immediately translated in money - government spends with social programmes, education and social benefits. This cost also includes the damage to society functioning or the fail of children reaching their full potential (Hirsch, 2008). Nevertheless, the full cost of child poverty is inestimable and not easily measurable.The statistics of EUROSTAT show that nearly one in every five children in the EU lives in poverty. In Portugal recent trends show a deterioration of children's situation. In 2008, 23 per cent of children were at risk of poverty and they were the age group most vulnerable to this problem.Despite the importance of child poverty in our country, the diagnosis and knowledge about the processes that underline the problem are rather incomplete. The scarcity of information about it motivates the research summarized in this paper. Our analysis speaks to three specific objectives:1. to draw a picture of child poverty in recent years;2. to investigate the sociodemographic and economic attributes associated with child poverty; and3. to evaluate the efficiency of social policies specifically assigned to households/children to reduce child poverty.First, we discuss methodological issues that design the framework used in the empirical analysis. This discussion begins with the concept of child poverty. Our analysis deals with child income poverty, using the poverty line established by EUROSTAT, to allow international comparisons. Then, we present the measurements used to evaluate child poverty. We also offer a set of breakdowns in order to shed light on the sociodemographic and economic attributes associated with this problem. All these items are developed in the next section.Our second focus is on the extent and nature of child poverty in recent years, in Portugal. The period of analysis corresponds to the available data gathered by European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU_SILC): 2004-2008. We apply the methodological tools presented in the second section to give a cross-sectional snapshot of child poverty in Portugal. We also estimate an econometric model to give characterization elements of the process underlying child poverty. These contents design the third section of the paper.In the fourth section, we discuss the results obtained and their implications. Furthermore, we give a first assessment of the role played by public policies specifically assigned to households/children and, therefore, should impact on child poverty. This section ends with the presentation of concluding remarks that summarize the discussion.Our paper aims to contribute to the literature by:* updating the diagnosis of child poverty in Portugal;* developing an in-depth analysis of EU_SILC microdata in order to capture the sociodemographic and economic attributes associated with child poverty, using descriptive as well as inference methods; and* doing a first evaluation of social policies designed to reduce child poverty.\nMethodological issues: The definition and measurement of poverty has been widely developed in the literature[2]. This process involves three issues:1. the resources variable to be considered;2. the identification of the poor; and3. the aggregation of the information into an index of poverty.These issues are not simply technical questions, they also include value judgements. In order to construct the methodological framework to be applied in our empirical study, it is important to detail our choices regarding these elements.(i) Resources variable\nEmpirical results: This section presents the statistics that draw the portrait of child poverty in Portugal over the period 2004-2008. Based upon an income-based approach to poverty, we first analyse the relative position of children compared to the whole population, to adults and to the elderly. To detail this portrait, we also investigate child poverty by age group. This analysis encompasses the three dimensions of poverty: incidence, intensity and inequality. Then, we examine child poverty according to the attributes established in the previous section, in order to capture the elements that design the profile of income-poor children. We go further in this analysis by estimating an econometric model that consistently supports this profile and allows statistical inference.Global trends\nDiscussion and concluding remarks: The previous section draws the picture of child poverty over the period 2004-2008. The position of children during these years culminated with a serious deterioration. In fact, in 2008 children were the most vulnerable group to poverty as they show the highest poverty risk and also the highest values of poverty intensity and inequality, underlying the importance of the problem both in absolute and in relative terms. Despite the global poverty run-out in 2008, children had the worse performance, especially in what concerns the older ones (16-17 years).In spite of child's poverty dimension, social policy did not produce a significant effect in reducing it, during the period under analysis. The results presented in Table I shows that, globally speaking, social transfers have the lowest impact within children. For the other age groups poverty risk decreases at lest for an half, after social transfers. If we consider social transfers specifically targeted to family/children, we only observe a decrease of nearly three percentage points in child's poverty incidence, over the period under analysis, suggesting a weak effect, much lower than the impact of pensions on elderly poverty risk, despite the differentiation on the nature of such transfers.In order to contribute to the design of social policies more efficient in tackling child poverty, we evaluate the impact of modifying social transfers specifically targeted to family/children - designed as family/children-related allowances in the database - in children's poverty risk. We consider 2008 as the basis for these simulations.The disaggregated analysis of child poverty by sociodemographic attributes highlights the importance of households such as: lone-parent households and households with three or more children. This result was also found in previous studies such as Bastos et al. (2009) for the 1990s, and European Commission (2008), for the beginning of this decade.To evaluate the effectiveness of social policies on child poverty, we suggest the essay of two scenarios, based on a variation of social transfers specifically assigned to these households. First, we target lone-parent households. Scenario 1 considers an increase of social transfers for them of: 20, 30, 50, 100, 200 and 210 per cent. Figure 1 reveals a non-significant reduction on child poverty derived from this scenario. Even with an increase of 210 per cent on social transfers to children/families, child poverty risk will only be reduced by nearly 2 per cent points and not even by 1 per cent point on intensity. This result is certainly associated with the proportion of lone-parent households - nearly 2.5 per cent in the sample - and therefore, with the non-significant number of households targeted by this increase. As it would be expected, the major variations occur within poverty risk and intensity of individuals included in these households. However, only an increase of 210 per cent allows a poverty risk for them similar to that observed in the whole population underling the vulnerability of these individuals to poverty.Second, we globally target families with children - Scenario 2, suggesting an increase in social transfers according to the number of children included in the household. The influence of this number should be regressive in order to take into account scale economies. Hence, and in line with equivalence scales proposals, we suggest a variation on social transfers specifically assigned to family/children given by: (a*[?]number of children in the household)%, with a=20, 50 or 100. This scenario produces effects on child poverty risk just with the lowest variation, as Figure 2 shows. The impact on child poverty increases with the number of children included in the household, allowing the reduction of this problem within a group particularly vulnerable to poverty, as it was stressed in the previous section.Finally, we suggest a global increase in these transfers of: 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 200, 286 and 300 per cent (Scenario 3). Figure 3 shows that only an increase of 286 per cent allows a reduction of child poverty to the level of the global poverty risk. In terms of poverty intensity, this equality is only reached with 200 per cent variation in these social transfers, suggesting a weak effect of such modification.The results obtained with the three scenarios underline the importance of differentiating policies to tackle this problem, in line with the results obtained for child poverty inequality (severity). They also suggest reinforce social transfers for households with children, given the weak impact observed by the actual level of such transfers.Besides, household typology, the empirical analysis undertaken also highlights the importance of other sociodemographic attributes within child poverty. The model points out the rural character of the phenomenon, making aware of the negative consequences of the desertification process in course on children. Finally, parent's school level was also found to be associated with child poverty, alerting for the development of school support structures for disadvantage children.The analysis carried out by economic attributes, stress the impact of parent's occupation on child poverty. This result is intrinsically associated with parent's education level referred above, underling, once again, the importance of uphold poor children. Besides, this global result, the model also underscores the case of agricultural workers, in line with the rural character of child poverty mentioned.Unemployment is fairly associated with child poverty. In fact, the model does not include this covariate nor does the descriptive analysis assigns significant importance to it.However, the subjective perception of economic strain plays an important role in determining children poverty status. It should be noted that this perception has, by itself, immediate consequences on children's well-being and, therefore, on poverty. These consequences are related to the availability of resources allocated to children, to parent's expectations and to their daily stress.The concept of poverty used in this paper relied on an income approach to this problem. Moreover, it assumes that resources are equally shared within the household and, therefrom, uses the household as the unit of measurement. In order to figure out the specific patterns of child poverty, a broader concept of child poverty, including items particularly assigned to children's well-being, would be preferable. This is in fact a limitation of this study that we will explore in further studies.Our analysis provides a portrait of recent trends on child poverty in Portugal. It uses European microdata enabling international contextualization of the problem. The results obtained and in particular the social transfers' evaluation, seeks to contribute to policy design targeted to reduce child poverty.The econometric model estimated goes further than common descriptive analysis, allowing conclusions inference. This is even more important as the analysis carried out is based on a representative sample of the Portuguese population.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Child poverty has become an important issue in social and political agendas. In Portugal, almost 25 per cent of children are at risk of poverty and the most vulnerable age group. This paper seeks to investigate child poverty in Portugal, using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions microdata for 2004-2008. It explores the sociodemographic and economic attributes associated with child poverty in order to design the profile of income-poor children. Furthermore, it analyses social policies efficiency in reducing child poverty.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper uses descriptive methods as well as econometric tools to select the characteristics of income-poor children and to evaluate social policy efficiency. The estimation of a discrete choice model allows inference purposes.\nFindings: - Results obtained show that children included in large households and in lone-parent households, are particularly at risk. Social policies undertaken had roughly impact on child poverty.\nOriginality/value: - This paper aims to contribute to the literature by establishing the profile of income-poor children, which may contribute to design more efficient policies to tackle the problem of child poverty. The policy evaluation sheds light on the results obtained by the current policies suggesting the discussion of new programs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Education for sustainability: Fostering a more conscious society and transformation towards sustainability	[ "Sustainability education", "Contemplative education", "Curriculum development", "Inner transformation", "Personal transformation", "Inside-out sustainability", "Interiority", "Sustainability transformation", "Values", "Beliefs", "Worldviews" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Despite the prominence of sustainability as a concept, societies' trajectories remain deeply unsustainable (WEF, 2018; WWF, 2016). While sustainability scholarship and education have led to substantial analytical advancements and new knowledge over the past two decades, they do not seem to have catalysed the necessary change to address todays' increasingly complex challenges (Wals and Corcoran, 2012; Wamsler et al., 2018).\n2. Phase 1 - preparing the ground: This strategic first phase was set up to:\n3. Phase 2 - development and implementation: The findings of Phase 1 were evaluated and integrated into the creation of the master's level course \"Sustainability and Inner Transformation\" and two associated contemplative interventions. This section presents the development, implementation and evaluation of these activities.\n4. Conclusions: critical reflections and the way forward: Research into ESD points to the need for:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Current approaches to sustainability science and education focus on (assessing and addressing) the external world of ecosystems, wider socio-economic structures, technology and governance dynamics. A major shortcoming of such approaches is the neglect of inner dimensions and capacities (which constrains education for sustainability as an end), and a limited capacity to facilitate reflection on the cognitive and socio-emotional processes underpinning people's learning, everyday life choices and decision-taking (which constrains education for sustainability as a means). More integral approaches and pedagogies are urgently needed. The purpose of this paper is to advance related knowledge.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper provides a reflexive case study of the development of an innovative course on \"Sustainability and Inner Transformation\" and associated interventions in the form of a practice lab and weekly councils.\nFindings: The paper elaborates on the connections between sustainability and inner transformation in education, offers insights into the process of adapting contemplative interventions to sustainability education and concludes with some reflections on challenges, lessons learnt and future work needed to support more integral approaches. The findings show that inner dimensions and transformation can be a vehicle for critical, improved education for sustainability and how this can be achieved in practice.\nOriginality/value: It is only recently that the concept of the inner or personal (sphere of) transformation has received growing attention in sustainability science and education. Despite this interest, such new conceptualizations and heuristics have, to date, not been systematically connected to education for sustainability (neither as an end nor means). The paper presents a critical, reflexive case, which advances related knowledge. It sets a precedent, which other universities/training institutions could follow or learn from.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cold compress? Pros and cons of a compressed working week	[ "Compressed work week", "Job satisfaction", "Work-life balance", "Alternative work schedule" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nReview: Say what you like about the dictatorial bosses of the Industrial Revolution in the UK, but they did not have to manage the myriad of working options open to the employees of today. Remote working, flexible hours, compressed hours, carer's leave, and duvet days - you can imagine the ruddy faces the early industrial pioneers would have got, even ruddier if presented with a request from a man seeking to take nine months' parental leave in place of their partner. As for people wanting to work just a few hours a week to enable them to follow a certain lifestyle or to have more than one job - no, their stove pipe hats would have been thrown to the ground in sheer exasperation.\nAdapt or die?: In any given situation then, HRM practitioners have to understand the factors at play in their particular environment and act as they see fit. Often, they are dealing with multiple environments across different countries and on a huge scale. How can they manage these consistently and fairly? Often, they simply cannot, and they should have national or local policies in place. HRM managers then have to coordinate a trade-off between satisfying legislative mandates, the needs of their employees, and the desire of management for maximum efficiency.\nTesting, testing: The context of the study by Hyatt and Coslor is a large municipal organization in the USA, and the authors wanted to challenge some research which had suggested that CWW methods are more effective than others, even when they are imposed for all employees rather than optional. This evidence has been less prevalent for public sector employees, and what really bothered the authors was that the choice itself was being taken out of the equation. It was not just that the imposed CWW was working better than another option but that it was imposed, and there was no other option. How can that feeling of freedom and flexibility be measured when it is removed?\nNo kidding, Sherlock: As with many academic studies, some challenges that authors set themselves seem to have pretty obvious outcomes, such as the 4th and 6th bullet points set out above. However, this is a necessary part of any study to challenge assumptions and not take anything for granted. The real nub of this investigation is look at a real-life situation - in this case, a municipal government operation in the USA with around 6,000 employees, a third of which switched to mandatory CWW. The reason behind the move to 4/10 working was to save on energy costs, reduce emissions by requiring fewer commutes, and extend service hours to citizens. The local government authority reported savings and an approval rating among employees of almost three-quarters and extended it to more employees. This was when the authors surveyed those involved to take a closer look.\nComment: The article \"Compressed lives: how 'flexible' are employer-imposed compressed work schedules?\" by Hyatt and Coslor (2018) is a valuable read for any HR manager seeking to develop or improve a CWW offer for their employees, especially in the public sector. Of course, every cohort is different and may differ significantly, but it makes sense that while some will appreciate the greater freedom that a 4/10 week offers, many will disagree, prefer a regular five-day week, or simply reject out of hand the forced nature of the arrangement. Perhaps a phased approach targeted with a more open set of employees would prove more effective if a voluntary arrangement is not possible.\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: Say what you like about the dictatorial bosses of the Industrial Revolution in the UK, but they did not have to manage the myriad of working options open to the employees of today. Remote working, flexible hours, compressed hours, carer's leave, and duvet days - you can imagine the ruddy faces the early industrial pioneers would have got, even ruddier if presented with a request from a man seeking to take nine months' parental leave in place of their partner. As for people wanting to work just a few hours a week to enable them to follow a certain lifestyle or to have more than one job - no, their stove pipe hats would have been thrown to the ground in sheer exasperation.\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" } ]
Impact of scholarly output on university ranking	[ "India", "Academic ranking", "Evaluation of universities", "NIRF", "Scholarly productivity", "University ranking" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Ranking of universities and institutions is a global phenomenon. The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) of the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of Times Higher Education (Times), UK; and QS World University Rankings of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), UK are the best-known examples of world university ranking schemes. Rankings perform certain functions. It is a tool for measuring the effectiveness of higher education institutions (Shin et al., 2011). It may help allocate funding rationally, prioritize research and educational investment (Ioannidis et al., 2007), improve performance and quality of academic institutions (Aithal et al., 2016) and provide good, worldwide free publicity (Yerbury, 2006). Rankings help differentiate among diverse types of institutions and varied programs and disciplines (Harvey, 2008). It is also considered as a brand management exercise (Yeravdekar and Tiwari, 2017). It is obvious that students are increasingly using ranking results as a handy information tool for making decisions.\nObjectives: The NIRF 2017 participants included 232 universities, 1,024 engineering institutions, 546 management institutions, 318 pharmacy institutions and 637 general degree colleges and others. When compared to the vast quantity of higher education institutions in India, the rate of NIRF participation was estimated to be 6 per cent. The reasons behind this low turnout are attributed to lack of awareness, lack of documentation and non-eligibility as per criteria. The NIRF 2017 provided a common overall rank of best institutes in the country across all disciplines apart from a discipline-specific rank. It was found that some of the institutes that became top in NIRF also found a place in World University rankings. This may be because of the similarity of ranking parameters of national and world ranking process. In this respect, it is appropriate to understand the ranking parameters of NIRF and world university rankings. The geographical distribution of top ranked universities is another area of interest for a vast country like India. On a preliminary examination it was revealed that the universities that received top position in the NIRF and world university rankings have more scholarly articles to their credit. This triggered further examination to establish the correlation between scholarly output and institutional ranking. Hence, this study is attempted from the following perceptions:\nMethodology: The data for the study were collected through Web content analysis. Web content analysis is the application of traditional content analysis techniques to the Web (Herring, 2009).The major parts of data were collected from the official websites of NIRF, Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Ranking. The study covered NIRF Ranking 2017, Times World Universities Ranking 2016-2017, BRICS & Emerging Economies University Rankings and the QS world university rankings 2017. The study is limited to the university-wise ranking of NIRF. The NIRF provides for ranking of institutes in five broad generic parameters:\nReview of related studies: Scholars have explored different aspects of institutional ranking. They identified both benefits and drawbacks of existing ranking system and put suggestions for improving them. A study (Ioannidis et al., 2007) attempted to compare Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and found that both the systems are of composite nature suffering from lack of scientific credibility which would harm science and education. Buela-Casal et al. (2007) compared four international rankings and observed a growing international convergence on the measurement of academic quality based primarily on research and production and on academic reputation. Liu & Cheng (2005) observed that any ranking exercise was controversial, and no ranking was absolutely objective. Aguillo et al. (2010) compared the five world university rankings (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Times Higher Education Supplement, Web Ranking of World Universities by the Cybermetrics Lab, Higher Education and Accreditation Council of Taiwan and Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University) using a set of similarity measures and found that there are reasonable similarities between the rankings, even though each applied a different methodology. They noticed high similarities between citation-based measures. Docampo (2013) discussed the difficulties that arise when trying to reproduce the results of the Shanghai ARWU. Ranking was perceived as giving insights on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of institutions (Aithal, Shailashree and Kumar, 2016). Huang (2012) explored the validity of the h-index in the assessment of research performance at the university level. His study found that a high correlation exists between the h-index ranking generated in the study and that produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Altbach (2013) noted that global rankings give more emphasis to research productivity than other indicators. It is because research is the easiest and reliable indicator to measure. Salmi (2011) recognized that research-focused universities are getting top positions in world rankings. Mukherjee (2017) noticed that NIRF ranking in India gave maximum weightage to research and professional practice. The institutions are ranked based mainly on the number of publications as found in international databases. He doubted that the research output would reflect the research performance of an institution. We need further examination on the correlation between scholarly outputs and institutional ranking, as scholars have left this area unattended.\nFindings: Types of universities and their representation in National Institutional Ranking Framework\nConclusion: Ranking of universities will be an unceasing process in a world that values quality and competition. Global rankings paved the way for localization in institutional ranking by national governments. Global ranking parameters are being adopted for national ranking systems like NIRF. The number of scholarly articles by a university and the number of citations received for the articles are important measures in global and national rankings. The role of libraries in supporting research and scholarly productivity has been well established. Libraries can also take an active role in supporting the parent institution in achieving top position in national and global rankings through arranging focused programs.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine if there exists a relation between scholarly output and institutional ranking based on National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of India. This paper also aims to analyze and compare the parameters of NIRF with those of leading world ranking university rankings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data for the study were collected through Web content analysis. The major parts of data were collected from the official websites of NIRF, Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University rankings.\nFindings: The study found that the parameters fixed for the assessment of Indian institutions under NIRF are par with those of other world university ranking agencies. Scholarly output of a university is one of the major parameters of university ranking schemes. Indian universities who scored high for research productivity came top in NIRF. These universities were also figured in world university rankings. Universities from South India excel in NIRF and there is a close relationship between scholarly productivity and institutional ranking.\nOriginality/value: Correlation between h-index and scholarly productivity has been dealt with in several studies. This paper is the first attempt to find the relationship between scholarly productivity and ranking of universities in India based on NIRF.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Supply chain management: theory and practice - the emergence of an academic discipline?	[ "Supply chain management", "Research" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Welcome to this special issue of the International Journal of Operations & Production Management (IJOPM) focusing on the question: is supply chain management (SCM) an emerging academic discipline? SCM has continued to grow in prominence within the field of operations management and also within the broader discipline of management. SCM over the last 20 years or so has gained increased attention from scholars from a variety of academic disciplines adding to the breadth and depth of knowledge and theory development within the field. Furthermore, practitioners have begun to adopt and adapt new techniques to supply management that improve firm performance. Organisations in both the public and private sectors are becoming increasingly aware of the pivotal role that SCM can play in their business success.It is always an honour to be asked to edit a special issue of a journal, and especially so, when it is one of the leading journals in the field and is focused on a topic in which I have personally been involved as a practitioner, consultant and academic since 1980. This is a challenging special issue aimed at stimulating debate rather than providing a definitive answer to the question that we have posed. We have had a great deal of interest in the issue with nearly 40 papers submitted for consideration and eventually six papers accepted. Submissions to the issue came from all over the globe, including Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, the UK, and the US. It has taken two years and a great deal of dedication and hard work from the referees, authors and the editorial team to edit and compile this special issue. It was an extremely tough process selecting the papers to appear in the issue, however, we are very pleased with the final selection.The first three papers examine the theoretical development of the SCM discipline; while the remaining three papers address the development of SCM in practice. We hope you enjoy the papers that we have selected and find this issue stimulating and interesting.\n2 Context and overview: It has now been at least two decades since SCM began to receive serious attention, with scholars arguing that purchasing, as it was then known, be regarded as a key area of academic study and practitioner focus (Burt DNS, 1985; Farmer, 1972; Fearon, 1989). This debate has continued to attract scholars across a range of academic disciplines, including operations management, management science, strategy, economics and organisational behaviour, to name but a few. The early 1980s saw the academic debate move from a logistics/operations management orientation, focused on inventory control systems, transportation, trans-shipment problems and distribution issues, towards a focus on the strategic nature of supply itself. Kraljic (1983) in his highly quoted Harvard Business Review paper also began to shift the debate away from examining the practical technical issues of purchasing towards thinking about purchasing as a more strategic business issue. Kraljic (1983) introduced concepts and strategies, such as category management, leveraging and relationship management, into common business parlance. The term \"supply chain management\" was typically introduced to refer to the entire supply activity of the firm. Whilst it is interesting to note that many authors do not like the term, SCM has been adopted by the global academic community, despite several attempts to advance the debate and offer new terms such as pipeline management, network sourcing, demand management and value stream management (Christopher, 1992; Farmer and van Amstel, 1991; Hines et al., 1999; Lamming, 1993).The increasing profile of SCM in the academic world has been equally matched by a rise in purchasing's profile within the firm. Several world economic events including the oil price crisis of the late 1970s, increased global competition, the rise of Japanese manufacturing, and world recessions, have helped purchasing to become a key function within many firms. The optimisation of internal production through operations management tools and techniques, such as world class manufacturing (Schonberger, 1986), benchmarking and \"business process reengineering\" (Hammer and Champly, 1993), were no longer sufficient in this environment. The introduction of lean manufacturing (Womack et al., 1990) helped shift the focus, considering not only how the production process could be optimised, but also how this was constrained by supply chain activities. Lean supply techniques were introduced including supplier tiers, collaboration, joint design and development, and supplier associations (Lamming, 1993; Rich and Hines, 1997). The application of, and research into, SCM also began to focus on concepts such as just-in-time (JIT), and TQM, and their relationships with supply management practices. Research into managing this subset of inter-organisational relationships has blossomed, and has been accompanied by research across a range of academic disciplines, with each discipline making use of its own theoretical lens, such as transaction cost economics (TCE), resource-based view (RBV) and social capital, to analyse and explain supply activities of firms.Today, SCM is a well recognised area of academic debate. It has an international presence, with both practitioners and academics alike recognising that this is an important area of management. However, SCM still appears to suffer from an underlying frustration or perception of being largely ignored; practitioners feel they have a great deal of value to add, but the organisation is not concerned with them. Scholars of SCM whilst advancing research into theory and practice have been calling for SCM to have its own \"theory\" from which to build research (Chen and Paulraj, 2004). The question therefore is whether, despite all of the debate over the last 20-30 years, SCM research has reached a level where it has a sufficiently significant body of knowledge to call itself a discipline? Although it would seem apparent that there is a general problem domain called SCM (Croom et al., 2000), has it developed sufficiently to be a discipline? It is the purpose of this special issue to address this question and to seek some understanding of what is meant by a discipline, to undertake a retrospective examination of the body of theory to date and to make some suggestions for a future research agenda based on this evidence.\n3 Structure and content of this special issue: In building this special issue we wanted to present a progressive and applicable debate around our central question. This issue can be read as either stand-alone papers, or as we hope, a series of papers that build on each other to illustrate the SCM discipline debate. We will now briefly discuss the papers appearing in this special issue, with the first three dealing with theory development and the latter three dealing with SCM in practice.We open with a literature review and analysis by Burgess et al. (2006) entitled \"SCM: a structured literature review and implications for future research\". This paper provides a rigorous analysis of one hundred randomly selected journal papers on the subject of SCM. The authors find some interesting results, namely that the field is relatively new and lacks a consensus of definition of key terms within the field. They also found that several disciplines are attempting to claim ownership of the field. Broadly speaking there are a range of research methods used, and papers range from the conceptual to the highly empirical, although there appears to have been a proliferation of early research which is of a less empirical nature. This paper challenges us to think about how we can formalise the terms that we use and the theoretical perspectives that we take to understand the complexities of supply management.Our second paper, following the theme of theory development, is presented by Harland et al. (2006) and is entitled \"Supply management: is it a discipline?\" The paper addresses the central question of this special issue. It is predominantly a conceptual piece of work using an extensive literature review to build a range of propositions challenging us to think about what a \"discipline\" means, and whether SCM meets the tests of a discipline. The paper evaluates four \"test criteria\" namely coherence, quality, impact and debate, concluding that supply management cannot yet be classified as a \"discipline\". Although there is a developing body of knowledge with research across a range of areas, there is currently not sufficient coherence, quality, impact and debate to claim that supply management is a discipline in its own right. SCM is instead proposed as a \"developing\" discipline.The third and final paper dealing with theory development is presented by Storey et al. (2006) titled \"SCM: theory, practice and future challenges\". The authors have examined six supply chains, encompassing 72 European companies. The paper examines both the theoretical and the practical implications of the development of supply and concludes that at best SCM is still at a very emergent stage. The authors show that substantial gaps exist between theories developed and what is actually occurring in practice; and identify a range of \"barriers\" to effective SCM. The paper concludes with some theoretical suggestions and practical approaches to help to bridge these barriers.These three papers conclude the first part of this special issue, which focused on tackling the theory development question. The debate so far has shown that SCM is viewed as an emerging discipline. Whilst the papers all agree that there is a developing debate and body of knowledge within this area, there seems to be broad agreement that there is still insufficient depth, coherence and theory development to argue that SCM is a discipline in its own right. Authors have argued that SCM still lacks a coherent theoretical lens and empirical rigour. They are also calling for more critical discussion within the SCM academic community.We now turn to the remaining three papers investigating how supply management is changing within organisations. These papers attempt to provide a practical viewpoint on supply management's evolution and development. We begin with a paper from the editors, Cousins et al. (2006) \"An empirical taxonomy of purchasing functions\". This paper presents a cluster analysis using data from 151 UK firms to show that there appear to be four distinct configurations of purchasing functions, termed strategic, celebrity, undeveloped and capable. The paper then links the configuration of purchasing function to firm performance and is able to show how some configuration types can perform better than others. The authors argue that firms should choose appropriate purchasing configurations to meet their performance requirements, and in line with the resources available to them. The paper challenges us to think about the practical, as well as theoretical, implications of implementing SCM within the firm.The next paper, authored by Vachon and Klassen (2006), explores the development of supply management within the environmental debate. Their empirical paper is entitled \"Extending green practices across the supply chain: the impact of upstream and downstream integration\" and uses hierarchical regression analysis to identify key green supply chain practices. This is an interesting paper examining supply chain integration from both an upstream and a downstream dimension, and focusing on a key issue of policy and management where SCM can have a significant strategic impact.The final paper in the issue is by Giunipero et al. (2006) titled \"Supply management's evolution: key skill sets for the supply manager of the future\". The focus of the paper is probably one of the most important issues within SCM practice today. As previous authors within this issue have indicated in their research, the development of purchasing skills, knowledge and capability are essential for the implementation of any strategy. The paper employs a Delphi study to examine the views of 54 Purchasing Executives in the USA. They conclude that SCM will assume a more strategic role, a theme that we have seen throughout this special issue. The results also indicate a potential skills gap, which may prevent SCM from achieving this potential.\n4 Conclusions: The aim of this special issue is to provide a set of papers stimulating debate on the nature and development of SCM. We achieve this through an examination of both theory development and SCM in practice. The high level of interest and international nature of the papers in this issue is indicative of the intense research effort being conducted around the world in this field. However, as Harland et al. (2006) point out, whilst there is a degree of debate and research activity being conducted, there is not yet the coherence and depth to call SCM a discipline in its own right. Similarly, many of the papers in this issue, particularly the latter three, conclude from their respective research agendas that SCM still has some way to progress in order to be a strategic value-adding element of the business.Irrespective, it is evident from this issue, and other publications in the field, that SCM is developing a wide and diverse body of knowledge. To an extent, SCM suffers (or benefits) from being studied from a wide range of academic disciplines and diverse theoretical perspectives. On the one hand this encourages a rich and lively debate, but it may also lead to a fragmented literature, with overlapping constructs and a failure to produce consistent findings. This lack of coherence and under-developed state of the SCM literature, despite the considerable number of studies and reviews from a range of theories and perspectives, suggests that part of the difficulty may also lie within the complex and context-specific elements of buyer-supplier relationships themselves. Although several theories of SCM and supplier relationships exist, each theory applies under different conditions (Forrester (1961) industrial dynamics model). Moreover, the existence of clear definitional constructs, and conceptual frameworks on which to base our research has been lacking, leaving a fragmented field open to the danger of a lack of generalisability (Chen and Paulraj, 2004). Perhaps SCM will become simply an overarching field for differing theories applied to study the variety of phenomena and situations that arise. Although we doubt whether a unifying theory of SCM will emerge, debate about the boundaries and nature of the discipline can only help provide the direction necessary for coherent theory building and accumulation in the area.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To introduce the special issue focusing on the question: is supply chain management (SCM) an emerging academic discipline?\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A brief discussion of the papers in the special issue.\nFindings: - Outlines how the papers stimulate debate on the nature and development of SCM and indicates that there is an intense research effort being conducted around the world in this field.\nOriginality/value: - Provides a summary of the perspectives considered within the issue.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Voice behavior and creative performance moderated by stressors	[ "Voice behaviour", "Creative performance", "Challenge stressors", "Hindrance stressors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Voice behavior is prevalent in organizations. According to Liepin.com (2009), approximately 72 percent employees of over 4,000 workers from 73 enterprises in China demonstrate interest in voicing out their ideas. Recent studies on the effects of voice behavior on individual outcomes, especially employee performance, are increasing considerably (Bashshur and Oc, 2015).\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Voice behavior\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Validity and reliability\nDiscussion: First, voice behavior is found to be related positively to creative performance in this study, further supporting the positive perspective of the voice behavior-employee performance relationship. Following the resource acquisition argument that employees can acquire various resources through voice behavior (Fuller et al., 2007), we propose that an employee can acquire cognitive and psychological resources required for creative cognitive and affective processes by voice behavior, thereby promoting the creative performance. Our empirical finding complements and extends the previous study conducted by Ng and Feldman (2012). Based on resource conservation and acquisition tenets, they proposed competing hypothesis regarding the role of voice behavior in creative performance. By meta-analysis, Ng and Feldman (2012) discovered a significant and positive correlation between voice behavior and individual-level creative performance (r=0.46). Our finding is in accordance with that of Ng and Feldman (2012), and empirical evidence is provided for the resource acquisition argument.\nPractical implications: First, our study is conducted with a sample from China. China is characterized by a collectivist culture (Leung, 2008). Collectivist culture highlights group solidarity and welfare (Astakhova, 2015). People in collectivist cultures opt to practice actions that create harmony among the members (Liu and McClure, 2001). This norm may be broken by voice behavior, and thereby people in collectivist cultures may dislike the voicer and tend to think that the voicer may get a poor performance. However, we find that voice behavior is positively related with individual creative performance. Therefore, organizations, especially under collectivist cultures, should realize the importance of voice behavior to the voicer' performance, and encourage employees to speak up using effective measures.\nLimitations and future research directions: The study has three notable limitations. First, all variables are collected by self-report, especially creative performance. Despite the acceptance of self-reported creative performance in the literature (e.g. Shalley et al., 2009), the bias resulting from self-reported measure cannot be evaded completely. Thus, future research can use objective assessment or external evaluation (e.g. leaders' or colleagues' evaluation). Second, all variables in our study were measured by cross-sectional design, which cannot be used for causal inferences (LePine et al., 2005). Future research could use longitudinal data or experimental design to complement this study. Third, despite the use of several control variables in current study, including gender, age, education level, tenure, and industry, additional control variables (e.g. hierarchical level of the employee in the company) should be considered in future research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the moderating role of work-related stressors on the relationship between voice behavior and the voicer's creative performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample comprised 781 full-time employees from 16 companies covering six industries in the central region of China. Hierarchical moderated regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Results showed that voice behavior had significant positive effect on creative performance. The positive relationship between voice behavior and creative performance was stronger for employees with low challenge stressors as well as for employees with high hindrance stressors.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study employs a cross-sectional design with data collected from the same source.\nPractical implications: The findings suggest that employees should be encouraged to voice out their opinions and ideas. Work-related stressors should be treated differently to expand the effects of voice behavior on creative performance.\nOriginality/value: This study is one of the few to establish boundary conditions from the contextual perspective on the effect of voice behavior on employee performance. Considering whether work-related stressor is a challenge or a hindrance could possibly result in a better understanding of the role of work-related stressors in the voice behavior-creative performance relationship. An empirical evidence is provided for the positive relationship between voice behavior and employee performance outcomes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Threshold concept in intellectual property law	[ "Intellectual property", "Compliance", "Interpretation", "Public interest", "Threshold concept" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Threshold concepts as initiated by Meyer and Land (2005) are considered as a unique contribution to teaching and learning. Threshold concepts came out of the idea that there are certain concepts that constitute \"troublesome knowledge\" (Perkins, 1999). It means in every subject area:\n2. Threshold concepts in law: Meyer and Land proposed identification of \"threshold concepts\" as a possible option to teach core concepts in a subject to encourage deep learning so that students could acquire critical skill and independent analytical and argumentation skill in a particular subject. According to Meyer and Land (2005), threshold concepts have following five characteristics:\n3. Threshold concepts in intellectual property law: Without having any existing literature on threshold concepts in a particular area, the search for these concepts in IP law is not only challenging but it has also been somewhat akin to the search for El-Dorado (see notes, Broadbent, 1964). This article analyzed some troublesome knowledge in IP law which could be construed as threshold concepts and thereby offer hope for designing the IP curriculum in a way that will be balanced and relevant to public good and sustainable development.\n4. Concluding remarks: This article considers that identification and use of threshold concepts in IP law education could help ease tension between the north and the south regarding the role of IP to deal with some global challenges such as public health, climate change and food security and poverty. It could be used as a commodity that is bought, sold and protected by law or could also be considered as \"social and developmental tool\" that gives a society a sense of cohesion, cooperation and innovation for development and greater public good. Without a proper understanding of threshold concepts in IP law as identified in this study, one may end up in an imbalanced and one-sided view of IP and thereby will broaden the ongoing tension of \"IP is no good and only useful for a few developed countries\". Therefore, proper understanding of these threshold concepts will help to develop not only a balanced view of IP but also to repudiate an assertion like \"IP should die for greater good\" (Azam, 2011).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to identify the threshold concept in intellectual property (IP) law.\nDesign/methodology/approach: It used doctrinal methods for such identification based on the existing pedagogical scholarship in the field of effective teaching and learning.\nFindings: It explained how the use of the threshold concept in IP law education could facilitate understanding of IP law from globalised perspectives and validate use of IP in a balanced way.\nResearch limitations/implications: It is yet to be tested for practical curriculum design in different jurisdictions.\nPractical implications: The understanding of threshold concepts in IP law could generate \"eureka\" moments, when, after a long struggle, students come to a deep understanding of a new concept.\nSocial implications: This will facilitate social acceptance of IP for balancing global obligation and national developmental and social goals.\nOriginality/value: Till date, little work has been undertaken on the threshold concepts on IP law. Therefore, this study tried to make a unique contribution by identifying threshold concepts in intellectual property law.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Measuring globalization : Existing methods and their implications for teaching Global Studies and forecasting	[ "Strategic planning", "Globalization", "Systems theory", "Codes", "Social systems", "Teaching methods", "Global networks", "Globalization indices", "Globalization measurement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: When developing curricula for Global Studies, one of their key pillars should evidently be offering a systemic vision of the globalization dynamics. The development of such a vision necessarily brings in not just speculative outlines, but the issue of measurability - what indicators should we measure in order to understand recent globalization trends and future prospects, and how we can measure them correctly. The same methodological discourse on defining the sets of telling indicators (and consensus finding process) was under way in environmental protection, sustainability, global change, global warming some decades ago.\nReview of globalization indices: Without making any claims to compiling a complete list of the existing globalization indices, we can specify (in no particular order) several ones including a considerable variety of indicators and frequently referred to in scholarly literature:\nGlobalization indices: application in scholarly literature: The issue of globalization impact upon various indicators of countries' development and welfare has attracted considerable scholarly attention. The variety of developmental aspects analyzed in their relation to a country's level of globalization is great, ranging from depth of financial crises to public health. Most commonly such works based their estimates of countries' globalization levels upon various indices. Thus, Martens and Amelung (2010) tested the relation between a country's globalization level (based on Maastricht Globalization Index) and its vulnerability to the global financial economic crisis of 2008-2009 (their data set included only European countries). Another paper by Martens et al. (2010b) used an indicator-based approach linking the Maastricht Globalization Index to a number of important health indicators. The same index was used by Martens and Raza (2010) to reveal the correlation between globalization and sustainable development. MGI and KOF globalization indices can be used to empirically address to what extent globalization affects social phenomena (Martens et al., 2010a). Axel Dreher, the person behind the KOF Globalization Index, actually constructed this index in his paper studying the impact of several dimensions of globalization upon growth. In Dreher's own words, \"[s]ince many of these dimensions are highly correlated, it is impossible to include them all individually in one regression. Therefore, the study develops an index of globalization covering its most important aspects: economic integration, social integration and political integration. To measure these dimensions, 23 variables have been combined to three sub-indexes using an objective statistical method. The sub-indexes are in turn aggregated into one single index of globalization\" (Dreher, 2006, p. 1092).\nGlobalization indices: methodological drawbacks: A number of scholars have already questioned the methodology and applicability of particular indices. Thus, Dreher and colleagues present a thorough analysis of the Maastricht globalization index, investigating the measuring potential of each particular indicator included in the index and coming up with a list of methodological uncertainties that complicate the measuring potential of the index as a whole (i.e. all things considered, what does MGI measure? What does it mean if one country scores less than another?). They also derive a number of more general questions to the methodology behind the MGI, such as absence of either weighting procedure or variable adjustment to the geographical characteristics of countries, inclusion of indicators being not factors of globalization but rather symptoms of its outcomes (environmental block of factors), etc. (Dreher et al., 2010).\nPossible methodological solution: binary relations and network analysis: Capturing the content and strength of country-country flows and to reveal the existing networks seems essential to measuring and understanding globalization. The importance of adding the spatial dimension to measuring globalization (and, in particular, global geography) is convincingly proved by Gilbert Ahamer (2012, 2013). However, surprisingly few scientific undertakings in this sphere can be named.\nConclusion: Adequate tools for measuring globalization are crucially necessary in developing Global Studies curricula, as they would allow us to develop a truly systemic vision of the globalization flows and processes and their interactions to base our curricula upon. Most attempts at globalization measurement currently take the form of globalization indices and country rankings. However, our analysis reveals several fundamental methodological drawbacks due to which globalization indices' use in teaching Global Studies proves very limited. Thus, high volatility of indices' rankings does not allow to establish long-term trends in the world's (or separate countries') globalization processes with any decent degree of certainty. The choice of indicators remains disputable, in terms of cultural globalization, and most indices tend to lean toward the economic indicators, which raises the question of to what extent trade and economic openness can stand for globalization in general. Moreover, indicators (and sub-indices), even if weighted, are still merged into a unified index without any attempt at either distinguishing between globalization breadth and depth, or, still less, at revealing the complex interaction between the various aspects of globalization. However, the most critical drawback in our opinion is that capturing just the total volume of flows (economic, migration, informational, etc.) but not their direction does not allow any distinction between globalization and regionalization.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to encourage discussions regarding the existing approaches to globalization measurement (taking mainly the form of indices and rankings) and their shortcomings in terms of applicability to developing Global Studies curricula. Another aim is to propose an outline for the globalization measurement methodology that would take a systemic approach to revealing the global flows (both their direction and content) and networks, which will allow the multidimensionality in globalization measurement crucial for proposing and verifying formal explanations and hypotheses, as well as for developing globalization forecasts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Several methodologies for globalization measurements are compared in the paper, among the most important are variations of the index compilation methodology, and methods of network analysis.\nFindings: For Global Studies curricula, globalization measurement tools much more complex than indices are needed. A possible solution could lie in the analysis of country-to-country flows (and networks which these flows form), which appears much more data- and effort-consuming than the methodologies behind the index compilation, will allow the elaboration of a systemic vision of globalization and the interactions between its various aspects, which should necessarily underlie the Global Studies curricula.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research concentrates upon the most widespread approaches to globalization measurements, such as the most widely recognized globalization indices, and the few attempts at country-to-country flows and networks measurement.\nOriginality/value: The paper's originality/value lies in proposing an outline for a new multidimensional approach to measuring globalization based upon country-to-country flows and networks.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Ranking retrieval systems using pseudo relevance judgments	[ "Information retrieval", "TREC", "Batch evaluation", "Large-scale experimentation", "Relevance judgments", "Retrieval evaluation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Information retrieval (IR) indicates the retrieval of unstructured records that consists mainly of free-form natural language text (Greengrass, 2000). It is a way of obtaining information that is most relevant or related to a user's query from a collection of information. Unstructured records are those documents that do not have a specific format where the information is presented. When a huge amount of information is available, retrieval of the related material is quite crucial. Ideally, the main target of an IR system should be to provide information as accurate as possible based on the user's query and that information being relevant to the user.\n2. Research background: Generating relevance judgments for large-scale test collections through human assessors consumes a lot of time and is prone to induce errors during judgments (Scholer et al., 2011; Smucker and Jethani, 2012). Relevance judgments generated by human assessors for large-scale test collections may not be feasible and possibilities to reproduce are slim due to varying judgment decisions at various times by different assessors or the same assessor. Hence, there is a need for alternative methods to generate relevance judgments with reduced human assessors' effort.\n3. Research design: In the traditional TREC evaluation cycle, after pooling using the top X (usually 100) documents that are deemed to be most relevant from the submitted runs of participating systems, the pooled document is presented to human assessors for judgment to create the relevance judgment. Instead, this study proposes the creation of relevance judgments without human assessors. The system scores are then calculated using the chosen metrics to rank the systems.\n4. Results: The analysis of the results obtained through the experimentation conducted in this study using each proposed method in Sections 3.1 and 3.2 are in separate sections starting with exponential variation method for a pool depth of 100 and 200; and document ranking method. Each results section consists of subsections as below:\n5. Discussion: Experiments with different pool depths have increased the numbers of relevant documents in the pseudo relevance judgments, but correlation coefficients between lists of system ranks using the original TREC relevance judgments and pseudo relevance judgments did not increase largely. As mentioned in the previous study, the results show reliable output when a sufficient pool depth of 100 is used (Zobel, 1998). Similarly, it can be reiterated that sufficiently good results are obtained through pool depth 100, although an increasing pool depth does provide improvement in the system effectiveness scores. Without pooling, there would be too many documents to judge by human assessors, which may introduce errors in the judgments. The proposed methods overcome disagreement errors introduced by human assessors while systematically generating relevance judgment. The concern of too many documents for judgment by human assessors is therefore minimized.\n6. Conclusions and future work: Two main methods have been experimented in creating the relevance judgments to reduce the human efforts involved. Based on the Kendall's t correlation, the document ranking method has higher correlations compared to the exponential variation method. In the subdivision of systems with similar performances, the low performing systems correlate positively with the original systems ranks. Pooling with non-contributing and contributing systems from TREC has a minimal impact on the system rankings of low performing systems since the methods proposed have judged the relevancy of documents in a reliable manner where the proposed methods does not re-rank the low performing systems to high ranks. However, the proposed methods with documents from contributing and non-contributing systems have affected the system rankings of the good and moderately performing systems that could be due to the additional documents from the non-contributing systems.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In a system-based approach, replicating the web would require large test collections, and judging the relevancy of all documents per topic in creating relevance judgment through human assessors is infeasible. Due to the large amount of documents that requires judgment, there are possible errors introduced by human assessors because of disagreements. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study explores exponential variation and document ranking methods that generate a reliable set of relevance judgments (pseudo relevance judgments) to reduce human efforts. These methods overcome problems with large amounts of documents for judgment while avoiding human disagreement errors during the judgment process. This study utilizes two key factors: number of occurrences of each document per topic from all the system runs; and document rankings to generate the alternate methods.\nFindings: The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated using the correlation coefficient of ranked systems using mean average precision scores between the original Text REtrieval Conference (TREC) relevance judgments and pseudo relevance judgments. The results suggest that the proposed document ranking method with a pool depth of 100 could be a reliable alternative to reduce human effort and disagreement errors involved in generating TREC-like relevance judgments.\nOriginality/value: Simple methods proposed in this study show improvement in the correlation coefficient in generating alternate relevance judgment without human assessors while contributing to information retrieval evaluation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Compulsory acquisition of oil exploration fields in Delta State, Nigeria: The compensation problem	[ "Compensation", "Compulsory purchase", "Oil industry", "Nigeria" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Land is the subject of compulsory acquisition and compensation worldwide. There is hardly any human activity that does not require the use of land. It is a gift of nature that man's existence depended upon through the ages, even now.Historically, the Nigerian society has always attached a high value to land since housing that has been acclaimed second most important need in the hierarchy of man's needs depends on land.Ever since the discovery of crude oil in Oloibiri in 1958. In the Niger-Delta, the acquisition of land has become a common phenomenon in the oil producing areas since the government and the oil prospecting companies are empowered by the various legislations to acquire land compulsorily for public purpose and oil exploration respectively. Delta state is one of the oil producing states in the Niger-Delta, as a result, most oil exploration companies have pitched their tents in this oil rich state. Oil exploration in the Niger-Delta since its discovery, has always taken place in the rural areas of the region due to the fact that oil is found in abundant quantity in swampy areas that are mainly inhabited by the rural dwellers.These rural dwellers are poor and they depend on primary activities such as farming and fishing as their major occupation.\nProblem statement: Land can be acquired compulsorily either by government for overriding public purpose or by oil prospecting license holder for the purpose of oil exploration. Once this expropriation takes place, the enabling laws provide that compensation be paid to those whose rights have been revoked.In most cases, the compensation paid often generates a lot of controversy due partly to inadequacy or even non-payment (Akporiaye, 1996; Odu, 1999; Ibagere, 2000). The following questions, which are pertinent to this study, agitate this research:1. Why is it that the issue of compulsory acquisition and compensation has always generated a lot of crisis in the Niger-Delta?2. What are the causes of those problems that emanate from the acquisition and compensation payment for the oil exploration fields?3. How functional are the enabling laws that govern this acquisition and compensation?4. What are the roles of the estate surveyors and valuers in this process of acquisition and compensation?5. How do the acquiring authorities acquire land and pay compensation in the study area?\nThe study area: The study area spans from Irri town in Isoko government area to Okpai, gas plant in Ndokwa local government area. The area is enclosed by longitude 6deg and 8deg East and the latitudes 5deg 15' and 5deg 42' North in the Delta region of Nigeria. Irri town and Okpai gas plant fall within the evergreen forest belt of southern Nigeria. The oil palm tree dominates the vegetation and the people in this area are known for the production of oil palm and palm kernel (Ikime, 1977).The outstanding features in this area are the swampy systems. The major occupations of the people in this area are farming and fishing. Crops like yams, plantain, corn, cassava are the main food crops produced and most of the people in the area are involved in water transportation, building of canoes, fish traps and other fishing gears. The study area is made up of four villages namely: Irri, Idheze, Ofagbe and Ibrede.\nAn overview of the enabling laws: The various laws that govern compulsory acquisition of land and compensation in Nigeria as observed by Chudi, 1974; Okolo, 2000; include:* Public Lands Acquisition Acts cap 167 of 1917.* State Lands Acts.* Land Use Act No. 6 of 1978.* The Oil pipeline Act of 1956.* The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.Public lands acquisition acts\nLiterature review: Chudi (1974), tried to look at compulsory acquisition and compensation under the Land Use Act where he noted that the Land Use Act did not make provision for disturbance and injurious affection. He however concluded that the Act should be amended to cater for these. His work centered on the Land Use Act generally but did not specifically focus on the Niger Delta.Akporiaye (1996) conducted a research into oil exploration and compensation payment in the Niger Delta and observed that payment of compensation poses problems when land is acquired for oil exploration in the Niger Delta. Though, this is in line with the current research, but the methodology adopted was not empirical but theoretical with much emphasis on oil exploration.In the same vein, Ajoku (2000) observed that compensation assessment for the purposes of payment in accordance with the provisions of the enabling laws would always result to inadequate compensation due to obvious gap in these provisions. He focused on compensation generally under the Land Use Act without specific interest in the Niger Delta. In another dimension, Hemuka (2000), views compulsory acquisition as peaceful on one hand and by force on the other hand, he opined that acquisition by the force of the law results in forceful dispossession of Land against the will and consent of the owner, which eventually leads to crises. His approach was theoretical and did not focus on the Niger Delta.Okolo (2000) carried out a study on the laws relating to compensation practices in Nigeria and observed that the problem of inadequate compensation that characterized our compensation practices in Nigeria is rooted in the various laws that govern compulsory acquisition and compensation in the country. He, however, concluded that these laws need to be reviewed in order to reflect the current circumstances in the country. In the same line of thought, Ibagere (2000), emphasized the need to adhere strictly to the ethics in compensation practice in Nigeria.Odu (1999) while trying to look at adequate compensation for compulsory acquisition stressed that the problem of inadequate compensation was a critical factor in ethnic and communal crises in the Niger Delta. The findings of all these past works are germane to the current study but there approaches are more theoretical than empirical. In view of the foregoing, this paper tries to empirically show the problems that surround compulsory acquisition and compensation of land in the Niger-Delta.\nMethodology: This study adopts the use of questionnaires to elicit information from some estate surveying and valuation firms in Delta state who are competent professional firms in the aspect of land acquisition and compensation on one hand and some residents whose lands had been acquired compulsorily on the other hand.A total of 45 firms of estate surveying and valuation in the state were selected randomly from the directory of the Nigerian institution of estate surveyors and valuers while a total of 113 residents whose lands had been acquired compulsorily were randomly selected from the list of compensation schedule of expropriated owners.A total number of 168 questionnaires were administered for the purpose of this study. Data collected were analyzed and presented with the aid of simple statistical methods.\nData analysis and discussions: A total of 168 questionnaires that were administered on both the estate surveying and valuation firms and the expropriated owners form the basis of this analysis. The data were collected in a questionnaire survey, which formed the major part of a wider study.Out of this total, 45 questionnaires were administered on the firms of estate surveying and valuation in the state. And the remaining 123 questionnaires were administered on some residents whose rights in land were expropriated. This is shown below:The farm produce in the area are grouped into food crops like Yam, Cassava, Cash crops like groundnuts, cocoa and economic trees like rubber, oil palm, mango, etc. Table I shows that food crops dominate the various farm produce found in the area with 44.05 percent of the total farm produce found in the area. Cash crops and economic trees are also found in the area.Adequacy of compensation\nFindings: From the analysis of data collected through questionnaires and through oral interviews with respondents, the following findings were arrived at:* Inadequate compensation due to the absence or reasoned analysis of the determination of the level of actual loss by claimants, since the services of non-professionals (damage clerks) are being used.* The roles played by the parties involved, that is, the government, oil companies, valuers and expropriated owners are contributing factors to the problem of inadequate compensation.* The general rating for crops and economic trees fixed by the oil producers trading section (OPTS) is lower than the open market value (see Appendix).* There is need for the land use Act and other statutory provisions to be reviewed or amended as they are contributing factors to the problems of the inadequate compensation.* The right professionals are not mostly used in compensation valuation rather damage clerks are used.* Undue delay in the payment of compensation that tempts claimants to accept whatever the oil companies offer.* Difficulties in identifying true owners of rights or interest in land.\nRecommendations: The following are suggested recommendations:* There should be reasoned analysis in determining the level of the actual loss by claimants. Assumption by officers should be discouraged. Inspection is necessary and officers should be vigilant and have the proper knowledge.* The government should try to protect her citizens from exploitation by the oil companies. Dishonesty and greed should be discouraged among estate valuers who tend to lower their fees in order to get power of attorney from landowners. Expropriated owners should be enlightened on the dangers of employing quacks as their representatives.* The general rating for crops and economic trees should be discouraged. Valuation of crops should be based on the expected yield of a crop's productive life and not on fixed rates.* The land use Act and other statutory provisions should be amended or there should be proper implementation of the law as stated in section 28(2) and section 29(2). Land should be compensated for; attention should be paid to heads of claims like disturbance, severance and injurious affection.* The correct definition of \"fair and adequate\" compensation as stated in the Act should be applied when carrying out compensation valuation and payment.* Government should ensure that only the services of registered estate surveyors and valuers are engaged in compensation issues.* Prompt payment should be ensured to avoid legal battle and crisis.* Government should ensure that all landowners must have legal documents to show ownership. There should be an enlightenment programme to advise them on its importance.* Representatives from the acquiring authorities should be able to relate better and improve on the public relations with the communities.* Apart from compensation being paid to communities for their affected properties, the acquiring authorities should also try to provide basic amenities such as pipe-born waters, electricity, clinics, good roads, etc. to improve on their welfare.\nConclusion: Oil explorations and consequential compulsory land acquisition and compensation are common phenomena in the Niger-Delta due to the availability of crude oil in this region. This process has been mentioned as one of the causes of the series of crises that engulfed the region in recent times by restive youths in the Niger-Delta who claimed neglect of the areas by the oil companies and the devastating effect of their activities on the environment. Oil workers have several times been held hostage and expatriates kidnapped as a result of this issue of inadequate compensation in the Niger-Delta.The oil companies engage the services of Damage Clerks who are incidentally not professionals in the area of compensation for the assessment of properties compulsorily acquired; the rates fixed for items acquired are perceived to be too low.The enabling laws are not really functional since the oil companies do not adhere to the provisions of these laws in the process of acquisition and compensation, an example at hand is the issue of Damage Clerks that are being used as against professional Estate Surveyors and Valuers as provided in the laws. The appeal machinery as stipulated by the laws is not really functional hence the landowners are left with no option but to accept whatever amount given to them as compensation.This study has highlighted inadequacy of compensation for compulsory acquisition. It has shown that a great amount of skill and expertise is needed to ensure a crisis free compensation payment.The different problems leading to the inadequacy of compensation for compulsory acquisition in the study area have been brought to light as such recommendations were made to facilitate effective remedy to the problems. From the study, it was revealed that the compensation paid to the dwellers of the study area is inadequate. This is evident from the responses of the respondents administered questionnaires. This problem is not peculiar to the study area alone but to all compulsory acquisitions and compensation paid to rural dwellers in the Niger-Delta. However, there is need for the government and the acquiring authority to formulate new policies that will assist them in ensuring a crisis free compensation and compulsory acquisitions process.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to focus on the problems of compensation for compulsory acquisition of oil exploration fields in Delta State with particular reference to the oil field acquired by Agip Oil Company for gas pipeline way leave in Irri and Okpai towns of Delta State.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A survey was conducted in which questionnaires were administered on some residents whose lands were acquired compulsorily on one hand and some estate surveying and valuation firms who are professionals in the fields of compensation on the other hand. The data collected were analyzed and presented using simple statistical methods.\nFindings: - The findings in this paper show that the compensation paid to residents whose lands were acquired is grossly inadequate, since professionals are not always involved in the process.\nPractical implications: - The paper shows that the issue of compensation for compulsory acquisition for oil exploration is very central in the oil-rich Niger-Delta, and if this is not handled carefully, it can lead to uncontrollable crisis.\nOriginality/value: - This paper empirically examined the process involved in compulsory acquisition and compensation of land in the Niger-Delta for oil exploration with a view to determining the adequacy or otherwise of the compensation paid.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The gift in shared HRM ethics in SMEs	[ "Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)", "Relations", "Gift", "Shared HRM ethics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: HRM practices in SMEs are not very formal and usually stem from the owner-manager (Galang and Osman, 2013). HRM in SMEs has aroused increasing interest from researchers and practitioners over the past 30 years (Lai et al., 2016; Hornsby and Kuratko, 1990). However, the construction of these practices remains largely unknown (Singh and Vohra, 2009) and more specifically as regards the role of leadership/personnel relations in their development. Psychogios et al. stress the fact that SME wage-earners become more dedicated because of the informal nature of the HRM. In the continuation of these authors' work, we are interested in the construction of such HRM under the prism of the gift/counter-gift relationship. More precisely, our ambition is to show how the gift/counter-gift process can contribute to the construction in SMEs of a kind of HRM that we describe as shared and ethical. By \"shared\" we mean a form of HRM that is co-constructed by the employees and the manager, and by ethics we mean a form of HRM that the stakeholders want as it is in line with their expectations.\nTheoretical background: Maussian gift: what is at stake in SMEs?\nMethod: Research context\nFindings: Owner-manager's initial gift: between context and HRM policy\nResearch contributions, limitations and future research: Theoretical contributions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how the relationship of gifts/counter-gifts between actors enables us to build an HRM policy that we call \"shared and ethical\". It is shared because it is co-constructed by both owner-manager and employees, and ethical because it is deemed desirable by the players and meets their expectations. This approach aims to make HRM more responsible in view of the commitments made by stakeholders.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing upon the Maussian theory of gift/counter-gift, a longitudinal and retrospective study was conducted over a period of three years with a French SME.\nFindings: The authors highlight two key stages in the gift process: the initial gift of the owner-manager, which is reflected in the establishment of a social pact, and the gap in perception between employees' contribution and the counter-gift expected of the owner-manager. The authors show the complexity of the gift-chain by building a shared and ethical HRM and highlight the tensions identified between the existence of tools and mutual adjustments in HRM through gifts and counter-gifts.\nOriginality/value: Usual HRM in SMEs is centred on the owner-manager. On the contrary this research highlights how an SME can develop an alternative HRM. A longitudinal and retrospective study, carried out with a French SME, led to the construction of a process modelling of a shared HRM ethics.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Olive oil consumption: a preliminary study on Brazilian consumers	[ "Consumer behaviour", "Olive oil", "Sensory analysis", "Compound oil", "Consumer segmentation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Olive oil has been used by mankind since ancient times, becoming economically important especially in Mediterranean countries. The International Olive Council (IOC) is responsible for gathering worldwide data and information concerning the olive sector. Regarding emerging markets, olive oil is also present in South Africa, China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, as well as other countries in South America, such as Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru (International Olive Council (IOC), 2016; Turcato and Mattar, 2013; Oliveira et al., 2012).\nTheoretical background: Olive oil consumer behavior\nResearch context: olive oil market in Brazil: The Brazilian olive oil market is mainly dominated by foreign products. Imports increased 12 percent over the past four years, and the quantity consumed since the 2014/2015 crop reached 74 thousand tons of olive oil annually (IOC, 2016). Portugal and Spain are the main suppliers (Mesquita and Thome, 2012; Garcia, 2008) as per recent market data, according to which the olive oil market in Brazil still has a strong presence of both Portuguese and Spanish brands. Specifically, 75 percent of the olive oil sales in Brazil are represented by extra virgin olive oils and the revenue of the entire sector in 2016 was BRL1.6bn (Abras Publisher, 2017). Figure 1 displays the evolution of olive oil consumption in Brazil over the past 20 years.\nMethodology: This research endeavor is a preliminary study of descriptive and quantitative nature (Pinheiro et al., 2006; Gil, 2008). The research corpus was composed of 115 olive oil consumers in the city of Lavras, MG, Brazil. The sampling method used was non-probabilistic, using convenience sampling (Aaker et al., 2001), due to the fact that most Brazilians do not have high consumption levels for olive oil (Ballus et al., 2015). Data collection was conducted during May and June 2016, at the \"Rex Supermarket\" (Lavras Shopping Mall branch). The city of Lavras was chosen due its economic and social relevance for the southern region of MG, and its proximity to the olive oil-producing regions from Serra da Mantiqueira. The surveyed participants were selected according to the following criteria:\nResults and discussion: General characterization of consumer sample\nConcluding remarks: This paper, characterized as a preliminary study, aimed at understanding the sensory perceptions and purchase intent for olive oil, considering the perception of a sample of Brazilian consumers. The study also has a distinctive feature of comparing traditional brands of olive oil (EGO and OAE samples) with a Brazilian-made product (GEA sample). Generally, it was observed that consumers showed coherent sensory perceptions toward olive oil characteristics, distinguishing them from the compound oil (GOA sample). Compound oil was included in the analysis because it is highly present on the Brazilian market. However, the intention of evaluating consumers' perceptions brought up an important discovery concerning differences between purchase intent and sensory analysis. This demands deeper research in future studies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose an initial step for understanding the sensory perception and purchase intent of Brazilian olive oil consumers. It also investigates the sensory perception and purchase intent for a Brazilian-made olive oil.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample, consisting of 115 surveyed consumers, is described demographically. The aspects related to sensory analysis and purchase intent associated with the key attributes indicated by the consumers are then discussed. Finally, consumer segmentation is carried out to characterize the consumers in more detail, in terms of both demographic and predictive variables for olive oil consumption.\nFindings: Consumers displayed a sensory perception that is coherent with olive oil characteristics, thus being able to distinguish three different olive oils from a compound oil sample. Regarding purchase intent and preference, consumers showed mixed behaviors, which was not entirely convergent with the identified sensory aspects. Therefore, it was possible to segment them into three distinct groups: utilitarian, naive, and expert consumers.\nOriginality/value: Brazil is an emergent olive oil market, which can create both research and business opportunities for the country. This preliminary study contributes to the advancement of this research subject in the non-traditional markets for olive oil.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A self-determination theory perspective on customer participation in service development	[ "Co-creation", "Health care", "Service experience", "Service development", "Customer participation", "User innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This article concerns customer participation in health-care service development and explores patients' motivations for participation and the influence participation may have on the participants' well-being. Customer participation, defined as the participation of customers in service development as sources for information or as a partners in development (Fang, 2008), has been a central theme in service management and marketing since the field's conception (Heinonen et al., 2010). Customer participation is viewed as a way to stimulate innovation and achieve more efficient and customer-centered services (Alam, 2002; Kristensson et al., 2002; Lovelock and Young, 1979). It is a natural component in different stages of service development and includes methods such as focus groups, participatory design and ideation techniques (Edvardsson et al., 2012). Bitner and Brown (2008, p. 43) argued that:\nTheoretical framework: A service marketing perspective on health care\nMethodology: We have taken a qualitative and interpretative approach to explore the motivations and experiences associated with customer participation in health-care service development, and extend the theory of self-determination to these situations. An exploratory research approach was appropriate because there is currently little research that has examined patients' motivations and well-being in relation to health-care service development. Diaries were used to capture lung cancer patients' experiences and ideas (Alaszewski, 2006; Elg et al., 2012; Jones, 2000). Following participation, participants were interviewed. Our sampling strategy, which includes a sample of limited size, but of high interest, corresponds to a critical case sampling to \"yield the most information and have the greatest impact on the development of knowledge\" (Patton, 2002, p. 236).\nFindings: Motivations for participation\nDiscussion: The goal of this study was to better understand the phenomenon of customer participation in service development from the participants' perspective: to explore what drives participation in service development and how participation may influence well-being.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what motivates patients to participate in service development and how participation may influence their well-being. Health-care providers are increasingly adopting practices of customer participation in such activities to improve their services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper builds on an analysis of data from a service development project in which lung cancer patients contributed by sharing their ideas and experiences through diaries. Out of the 86 lung cancer patients who were invited to participate, 20 agreed to participate and 14 fully completed the task. The study builds on participants' contributions, in-depth interviews with six participants and the reasons patients gave for not participating.\nFindings: This paper identifies a number of motives: non-interest in participating, restitution after poor treatment, desire for contact with others, volunteerism, desire to make a contribution and the enjoyment of having a task to complete. A self-determination theory perspective was adopted to show how the need to satisfy basic human needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness determines if and how patients participate. Participation may have important benefits for patients, especially an improved sense of relatedness.\nPractical implications: Service providers must be prepared to meet different patient needs in service development, ranging from the need to express strong distress to expressing creativity. By understanding the dynamics of motivation and well-being, organizers may achieve better results in terms of improved services and in patient well-being.\nOriginality/value: This study makes a significant contribution to the study of customer participation in service development, especially in relation to health care, by offering a self-determination-based typology for describing different styles of patient participation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Classes of food additives in food products sold in Mauritius	[ "Food additives", "PCA", "Food categories", "Market survey" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Food additives are substances which can be derived naturally or artificially and they are added deliberately to foods to prevent degradation, to improve organoleptic properties and to retain their quality and colour. The use of additives has increased since the twentieth century, especially with the development of synthetic industrial chemistry (Tarnavolgyi, 2003). The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives recommends that food additives should be used only if there is a technological justification for their use and when toxicological studies have proved that they are safe to be used in the amounts required in the foods. Food safety incidents caused by the abuse of food additives in China from 2006 to 2011 included mainly the illegal use of sweeteners, preservatives and colourants in some categories of foods (Linhai et al., 2012). Hence, to keep the intake of food additives within safe levels, the use and labelling of the additives shall be regulated in foods. Labelling of food products plays a vital role as it provides all the mandatory information regarding the ingredients present in the food (Saltmarsh, 2013). The name/EEC codes and classes of food additives present in a food must be clearly mentioned on the label as the classes and levels of food additives in different categories of foods are usually regulated (CODEX GSFA, 2018, Adopted in 1995, Revision; Mauritian Food Regulations, 1999; Food Regulations GN 173; Official Journal of the European Union, 2011; Regulation 2011/1130/EU). Consumer concern towards food additives is on the rise as many perceive food additives as health hazards and prefer to consume foods without additives (Carocho et al., 2014; Baines and Seal, 2012; Holthe et al., 2015; Charles et al., 1998; Tarnavolgyi, 2009; Jain and Mathur, 2015). Hence, consumers scrutinize the list of ingredients to look for foods with naturally derived food additives (Devcich et al., 2007; Bearth et al., 2014). The most used natural classes of additives are colourants, sweeteners, antimicrobials and antioxidants (Carocho et al., 2014) and they include beta carotenes, paprika, curcumin, lutein, anthocyanin, lycopene, capxanthin, chorophyll, annatto, beetroot red, polyphenols, tocopherols, natamycin and stevia (Morlock et al., 2014; Kaewprachu et al., 2015; Smith and Hong-Shum, 2011; Wang et al., 2015; Oliveira et al., 2007; Resa et al., 2014; Hendry and Houghton, 1996; Delgado-Vargas et al., 2000; MacDougall, 2002; Dicks, 2007; Kostik, 2012).\n2. Methodology: 2.1 Sampling plan\n3. Results and discussions: 3.1 Classes of food additives most frequently present in food\n4. Limitations and future research: The findings from this study relates only to labelled pre-packed foods sold in hypermarkets and shops. However, many food products especially snacks, pre-cooked frozen food, fruit drinks and milk-based drinks are sold in markets, fairs and on streets by individuals. Further analysis can be done to determine compliance of food products to the National Food Regulations regarding food additives.\n5. Conclusion: This study reports the occurrence of food additives in different food categories. In total, 75 per cent of food products surveyed contained at least one class of food additive. Food products that contained the highest number of classes of food additives were snacks, biscuits and cakes, soft drinks, fish fingers, fish nuggets, fish cakes, fruit drinks, candies, jellies and meat products. Though a significant relationship was observed between origin and number of classes of food additives, many local and imported products had the same number of classes of food additives. Results also indicated that there was a strong relationship between certain types of foods with specific additives. Preservative is predominant in meat products; colour in snacks and candies; thickener in mayonnaise; raising agent in biscuits and cakes; and acidity regulator in fruit drinks and soft drinks.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Food additives are a group of substances added deliberately to foods to improve their organoleptic properties and stability, extend their shelf life and retain their nutritional value. The purpose of this paper is to identify the most frequently used classes of food additives and the food categories which contain the highest number of classes of additives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A market survey was carried out in hypermarkets and shops where the original labels of 629 food products (195 local and 434 imported) were examined for presence of food additives. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore the association between food category and classes of additives, and a kh2 test was performed to establish any association between product origin and the number of classes of food additives.\nFindings: In sum, 75 per cent of food samples surveyed contained at least one class of food additive. The food categories which contained the highest number of classes of food additives across the group were: snacks (12 classes), biscuits and cakes (11 classes), fish products (11 classes) and soft drinks (10 classes). The most common classes of additive used were acidity regulator, colour and preservative. kh2 test revealed a significant association (kh2 = 8.28, p < 0.05) between the origin and number of classes of food additives, and the PCA showed that biscuits were associated with raising agent, candies and snacks with colour, fruit drinks and soft drinks with acidity regulator, mayonnaise with thickener and meat products with preservative.\nResearch limitations/implications: The food products were sourced only from retailers selling labelled food products.\nOriginality/value: This novel study provides a basis for determining compliance of food products to the National Food Regulations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Want to, need to, ought to: employee commitment to organizational change	[ "Organizational change", "Job satisfaction", "Change management", "Employee attitudes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Workplaces are faced with endless change (Herscovitch and Meyer, 2002), and effective management of that change is an important competency currently required by an organization (Paton and McCalman, 2000). The growing frequency and complexity of workplace change requires employees to adapt to change without disruption; however, resistance to change is the more common reaction (Caldwell et al., 2004). As managers make decisions for coping with change, they must consider not only how firm performance will be affected but also how employees will be affected. Can commitment to change (C2C) be obtained and, if so, will that help the implementation efforts? This issue warrants research attention.\nLiterature review: An important development in academic research is the recognition that employees can be committed to many different work-related foci. Recent work suggests the importance of considering objects of commitment in addition to the organization itself, such as supervisors or change initiatives (Herscovitch and Meyer, 2002). Noble and Mokwa (1999, p. 61) defined organizational commitment as \"the extent to which a person identifies with and works toward organization-related goals and values\". Moving toward a more context-specific definition, Herscovitch and Meyer (2002, p. 475) defined C2C as \"a force (mind-set) that binds an individual to a course of action deemed necessary for the successful implementation of a change initiative\".Affective, continuance, and normative commitment\nMethod: Data collection\nResults: The means, standard deviations, intercorrelations, variances, and covariances for all the constructs in this study appear in Table I. Note that the standard deviations for the ten variables, which are measured by seven-point multi-item scales, range from 1.83 to 2.45 (M=2.09), indicating a substantial amount of variance in the responses. The covariance matrix was the input matrix for measurement and structural model analyses. Convergent validity was supported in that estimated standardized loadings were significant (p<0.001); t-values ranged from 9.40 to 18.85. Furthermore, the variance extracted estimates (Table I) for all the multi-item measures ranged from 0.575 to 0.942, exceeding the suggested minimum levels (Fornell and Larcker, 1981).To determine discriminant validity, we followed the procedure recommended by Fornell and Larcker (1981). Discriminant validity is supported when the variance extracted estimates of each of the constructs involved in the highest estimated correlations exceed the square of the correlation between the constructs. The largest correlation, between implementation success and improved performance, was 0.786. The variance extracted estimate for implementation success was 0.792, and for improved performance, it was 0.863; therefore, both exceeded the square of the largest correlation (0.7862=0.618), in support of discriminant validity. We also compared all construct pairs with the average variance extracted (AVE) estimates. In each case, the AVE estimate exceeded the square of the correlation, thus providing additional support of discriminant validity. Cronbach's a values ranged from 0.838 to 0.975 (Appendix), and composite reliabilities ranged from 0.844 to 0.993 (Table I), indicating reliability of the measures.Measurement model results\nDiscussion: Motivations underlying employee acceptance of organizational change are important. However, these motivations have received little research attention (Rousseau and Tijoriwala, 1999). In this study, we attempt to examine this important area more closely and contribute to the understanding of why employees C2C and what that commitment can mean for the organization. The results of our model testing provide useful information for both managers and academicians. The data generally support our premise that employee commitment to organizational change has important consequences. We found that of the three commitment components, AC2C has the most significant effects on the outcome variables included in our model. Such a finding is consistent with previous studies. For example, Sinclair et al. (2005) found that at least a moderate level of AC is necessary to achieve desired outcomes. In addition, we show that select antecedents play an important role in influencing employee commitment to organizational change.Theoretical implications\nConclusion: The fundamental purpose of our study was to draw scholarly attention to and to demonstrate empirically the role of employee C2C in the perceived success of the implementation of strategic initiatives. To that end, we reviewed literature from a variety of disciplines and proposed a model of antecedents and outcomes of the three components of employee C2C. The results from a test of our model suggest that employee C2C, particularly AC2C, is important. Thus, the means to success in implementing change initiatives include choosing the right strategies and effectively implementing them (Zeithaml et al., 2005). A key to effective implementation appears to be in the development of AC2C. Our results offer insights for managers and identify opportunities for future empirical research on change initiatives in organizations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study aims to focus on the role of employee commitment in the success of organizational change initiatives. The authors seek to propose and test a model that delineates antecedents and consequences of affective, normative, and continuance commitment to organizational change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were collected via online survey from employees working in a large not-for-profit organization. A total of 191 responses (32 per cent) were obtained. The hypothesized model relationships were tested using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: - The results demonstrate that the antecedents: fit with vision, employee-manager relationship quality, job motivation, and role autonomy all influence commitment to change (C2C). Notably, affective commitment, which in turn influences employee perceptions about improved performance, implementation success, and individual learning regarding the change, had the greatest impact.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Limitations that could lead to future research include three primary issues. First, the data were collected from one organization. Second, data were collected at one point in time. Third, the proposed model is far from exhaustive. Other antecedents to C2C could include risk acceptance, organizational culture, and/or leadership style.\nPractical implications: - In addition, given affective commitment to change (AC2C) has the greatest influence on outcomes such as implementation success and improved performance, the antecedents of AC2C warrant management's attention. If managers can influence AC2C through such factors as those proposed here, outcomes such as individual learning, perceived implementation success, and perceived improved performance will be influenced.\nOriginality/value: - The paper integrates two models evaluating employee reactions to change, an under researched area, to help uncover ways to improve the success of change initiatives.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Forensic investigation of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami disaster: A case study of Rikuzentakata	[ "FORIN approach", "Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami", "Historical comparison", "Rikuzentakata", "Root causes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Finding the root causes of disasters is one of the most important tasks of disaster research. However, it is difficult to find well-equipped analytical tools for conducting research in order to find the root causes of losses from a disaster. The forensic investigation (FORIN) of disaster approach is an international effort to provide the tools to investigate disasters. The purpose of this research was to use the FORIN approach to identify the root causes that greatly exacerbated the loss of human life in the city of Rikuzentakata, one of the local coastal municipalities that was most devastated by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET) disaster. First, an overview of the impact of the GEJET disaster by coastal landform was undertaken. Second, focus was placed on the local municipalities along the Sanriku ria coast, mainly in Iwate prefecture, that suffered severe damage from the GEJET disaster and from past tsunamis. In particular, the death rates in the inundated areas (DR/IA) of each municipality were examined because DR/IA are indicative of the severity of tsunami. The average death rate in the inundated areas along the ria coastline was 4.6 percent - much higher than that which occurred in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures along the flat coastline. Finally, Rikuzentakata was selected in order to investigate, using the FORIN approach, the critical factors that caused the exacerbated loss of life. Rikuzentakata suffered the highest loss of life along the Sanriku ria coast and the highest DR/IA in the GEJET disaster, as shown in Table I.\n2. Methodology: 2.1 Finding the root causes of the high death rates\n3. Research findings: 3.1 HVI and a comparison with previous historical events\n4. Discussion: lessons learned for building resilient communities: Rikuzentakata had extremely high human losses in the inundation area and very extensive damage, as compared with losses in previous tsunami disasters and the experience in other areas. Survey results indicate that there were evacuation delays, which was the main cause of death. With reference to the root causes of death as mentioned in the previous section, the factors suggest the following four points for building disaster resilient communities.\n5. Conclusions: Burton explained that the goal of case studies based on the FORIN approach was \"to probe more deeply into the complex and underlying causes of growing disaster losses than previous research has.\" In addition, he wrote that FORIN \"penetrate[s] more deeply into the fundamental causes of disasters in a broad, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive manner, and they will engage specialists from any and all relevant fields\" (Burton, 2010, pp. 36-41).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Using the forensic investigation (FORIN) approach, the purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that exacerbated the loss of human life in one of the most devastated local municipalities on the coast by 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET) disaster.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper begins by reviewing the extent of damage to the local municipalities along the Sanriku ria coast, which has a long history of tsunami disasters. Second, the paper compares previous major tsunami events by using a human vulnerability index, and applies this index to detect the city of Rikuzentakata. Third, the paper identifies the root causes of the GEJET disaster in the city. Interview records with disaster victims were used to elucidate the main factors that exacerbated the number of deaths.\nFindings: The study indicates that the FORIN approach can be effectively applied to identify the target city for this case study and to point to those factors the most exacerbated human sufferings, and also provides many lessons based on research findings and methodologies to support building resilient societies in the future.\nOriginality/value: This paper indicates FORIN approach as an effective research template by investigating the GEJET disaster.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An empirical exploration of the link between reporting to stakeholders and corporate social responsibility reputation in the Spanish context	[ "Stakeholders", "Reputation", "Corporate social responsibility", "Spain", "Reporting" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Within Europe, Spain has been one of the countries that has suffered most from the latest Great Recession of 2007-2008 (Alonso and Bremser, 2013). Before the financial crisis, Spain experienced a long period of prosperity. However, the growth and employment creation of that time were based on such factors that did not prove to be durable (Elteto, 2011). The main motor of the prosperity was the construction and real estate industry, which created jobs for millions of people and stimulated high rates of immigration in the country. Private consumption also grew considerably, always facilitated by cheap loans mainly coming from the banking industry (Elteto, 2011). Nonetheless, the economic crisis began in 2007 with a liquidity crisis in the banking system resulting from the sale of complexly structured financial products and aggravated by the severe housing bubble in the country (Alonso and Bremser, 2013). The consequences of the recession is Spain have derived in a financial and political situation that has been significantly marked by high unemployment rates, stagnation, frequent financial scandals and political corruption (Palau and Davesa, 2013). Overall, this situation has made policy-makers realize the necessity of profound reforms that began with a big transformation process in the banking industry and the labour market (Elteto, 2011). Additionally, a series of measures have been implemented in order to increase business transparency to improve investors' and stakeholders' confidence in the business network (Carballo, 2011). Some of these measures include the creation of stress tests in the banking industry or the tightening of managers' professionalism requirements (Carballo, 2011).\nApplications of stakeholder theory to reporting to stakeholders: In the light of stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984), a company is regarded as a nexus of contracts between the company and its various stakeholders and its success is dependent upon good management of all the relationships that the company has with these groups (Moneva et al., 2007). A stakeholder is \"a person or group that can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization's objectives\" (Freeman, 1984, p. 46). Shareholders are, of course, a substantial class among stakeholders, but other audiences, such as customers, suppliers, employees, local communities, regulators, the media or the general public, may also be important from the perspective of stakeholder theory (Roberts, 1992).\nResearch hypotheses: The first goal of this paper is to test the relationship between the global intensity of reporting to stakeholders and the CSRR. For this purpose, we consider that arguments related to the strategic posture of a company towards CSR activities (Ullmann, 1985) support a positive relationship between the global intensity of reporting to stakeholders and the CSRR.\nMethod: Data\nFindings: Table II presents the correlation matrix and basic descriptive statistics for all the dependent and independent variables incorporated into the study. The low correlations give us no reason to suspect multicollinearity (Fombrun and Shanley, 1990). In general, although some of the variables have correlations with each other that are statistically significant, most of these correlations are lower than 0.50 (only one correlation is 0.53). This result confirms that reporting to stakeholders is multidimensional and provides additional support for the separate analysis of the eight stakeholder groups theoretically proposed in this paper.\nDiscussion: Based on arguments taken from the managerial perspective of the stakeholder theory (Deegan and Unerman, 2011; Dong et al., 2014), the findings of this study provide evidence that increasing the intensity of CSR reporting to some stakeholders may be an interesting strategy to improve the CSRR of companies. This statement is particularly true for significantly salient stakeholders, that is, for stakeholders with demands that have the power, legitimacy and urgency to influence the behaviour of companies in the short run (Mitchell et al., 1997). In this regard, previous scholars have theoretically suggested that the corporate strategic posture towards CSR activities, the past and current economic performance of the company and the salience of stakeholders directly affect the intensity of reporting to stakeholders (Ullmann, 1985; Mitchell et al., 1997). Specifically, the stronger the active posture, economic performance and stakeholder salience, the higher the intensity of reporting to stakeholders and, as a consequence, the financial and CSR performance of the company. Nevertheless, our empirical findings suggest that only some of these ideas can be extended to the understanding of CSRR as an outcome of reporting to stakeholders and that the context of research plays a significant role in understanding the salience of stakeholders and the findings of this study.\nConclusions, practical implications and future lines of research: In this paper, we explore the relationship that exists between reporting to stakeholders and the CSRR of several companies listed in the Spanish \"MercoEmpresas Responsables\" index. Based on stakeholder theory, scholars have traditionally concentrated on analysing the corporate motivations for reporting information to stakeholders, the relationships among reporting to stakeholders, financial and CSR performance or the effects of financial performance on corporate reputation (Hasseldine et al., 2005). However, little previous empirical research has explored the direct relationship between reporting to stakeholders and CSRR, especially when the intensity of reporting to different stakeholder groups is considered.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Based on the principles of stakeholder theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the information reported to stakeholders in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and companies' CSR reputation (CSRR).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper implements two regression models to test how reporting to stakeholders influences the CSRR of 84 companies included in the Spanish \"MercoEmpresas Responsables\" reputation index.\nFindings: The results demonstrate that greater global reporting intensity to stakeholders does not necessarily mean a better CSRR. Contrarily, the reporting-reputation link depends on the intensity of reporting to specific stakeholders such as investors, regulators and the media. The findings are explained largely by the institutional, political and business characteristics of Spain after the Great Recession of 2007-2008.\nResearch limitations/implications: The evidence reported in this paper confirms stakeholder theory as an adequate framework to understand corporate reporting to stakeholders and its relationship with CSRR. The findings suggest that stakeholder salience (i.e. power, legitimacy and urgency) is a key concept for understanding the reporting-reputation link better in future research.\nPractical implications: In the light of the findings, companies willing to use reporting to stakeholders as a tool to improve CSRR should establish regular mechanisms for monitoring stakeholder power, legitimacy and urgency, provide complete information to investors in their CSR reports and minimize the amount of detail provided to regulators and the media in their CSR reports.\nOriginality/value: There is still little empirical evidence concerning how the information to stakeholders contained in CSR reports influences the processes by which CSRR is built or destroyed. This paper contributes to the previous literature by describing how the global intensity of reporting to stakeholders and the intensity of reporting to different stakeholder groups relate to CSRR.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Which cues cause consumers to perceive brands as more global? A conjoint analysis	[ "Cluster analysis", "Conjoint analysis", "Global and local consumer culture positioning", "Perceived brand globalness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction and purpose: It is a prominent reality that markets are becoming more globalized (Ozsomer and Altaras, 2008). The demand for global brands is strong, especially among particular consumer segments (Akaka and Alden, 2010). Studies show that consumers often see global brands as key symbols of quality, prestige, a global myth for being trendy and modern and even a stamp for social responsibility (Dogerlioglu-Demir and Tansuhaj, 2011; Gammoh et al., 2011; Holt et al., 2004; Steenkamp et al., 2003). As a result, the brand equity of global brands is often superior to that of local brands (Zou and Volz, 2010). Roy and Chau (2011) and Steenkamp et al. (2003) found that global brands are generally preferred over local brands. Brand managers could therefore strengthen their brand equity by explicitly positioning their brand as global (Gammoh et al., 2011). What is crucial for a successful global positioning is an understanding of how consumers' perceptions of globalness are formed (Akaka and Alden, 2010). If brands wish to position themselves as global, which elements should they manipulate to influence consumers' perceptions? Research on the antecedents of consumers' perceptions of brand globalness is extremely scarce. Although it has been suggested that perceived brand globalness can be achieved through the use of global symbols (i.e. brand name, symbols, themes, brand logo, spokesperson) in marketing communications (Alden et al., 1999), it is unclear which of these symbols most strongly influence consumers' perceptions (Swoboda et al., 2012).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1. Perceived brand globalness\n3. Method: 3.1. Conjoint analysis: attributes and levels\n4. Results: SPSS-conjoint was used to carry out the analyses. For each respondent, the analysis computes the relative importance of each attribute based on the part-worth utility for each level of each attribute. The total part-worth utilities and relative importance of the attributes are calculated for the total sample by averaging the individual scores. The correlation between the actual and predicted preferences is calculated for each person and tested for statistical significance. In the total sample, the total correlation is 0.998 and significant, indicating a good fit (Hair et al., 2006).\n5. Discussion and conclusion: The present study represents the first investigation into the antecedents of perceived brand globalness that we are aware of. Since previous literature points out that perceived brand globalness can be associated with enhanced brand esteem, credibility, prestige, quality and purchase likelihood (Dimofte et al., 2008; Holt et al., 2004; Ozsomer and Altaras, 2008; Steenkamp et al., 2003), it is interesting for both academics and managers to understand how this perception can be achieved through advertising and branding, and which elements contribute most to this perception. The results show that, by far, advertising copy most strongly contributes to perceived brand globalness, across product categories and consumer culture segments, with a relative importance of about 40 percent in most cases. The brand logo is often the least important cue, especially for a high-involvement product, where it only determines 2.4 percent of perceived brand globalness.\n6. Implications: This study provides an analysis based on the semiotic theory provided by Alden et al. (1999) on local positioning vs global positioning from a new perspective. The results indicate that advertising copy is the most essential part to signal globalness. The relative importance of the brand name, the spokesperson and the brand logo depends on the product category and on consumer culture. It appears that central cues (i.e. advertising copy and brand name) are more important under high involvement and for global-minded consumers, while peripheral cues (i.e. spokesperson and brand logo) are more essential under low involvement and for local-minded individuals. These results could be used by future (experimental) researchers as guidelines for manipulating global positioning and local positioning in their studies.\n7. Limitations and suggestions for further research: The present study has a number of limitations that provide opportunities for further research. First, the Netherlands is a developed country with a high level of foreign trade, a large immigrant population and a high openness to other cultures (Nijssen and Douglas, 2011). Possibly, the differences between local and global positioning would be different or more outspoken in, for example, more ethnocentric or more traditional societies (Steenkamp and de Jong, 2010) and developing countries (Alden et al., 1999). Even though we identified a \"local\" and \"global\" segment within the Netherlands, it is likely that the \"local\" consumer culture is still relatively global-minded. Therefore, future research should try and replicate these findings in different countries with different cultural backgrounds and degrees of economic development.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the globalization (vs localization) of different cues (advertising copy, brand name, spokesperson, brand logo) influences consumers' perceived brand globalness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors conducted conjoint analyses for two products differing in product category involvement (chocolates vs computer) with 200 consumers from the Netherlands. Additionally, based on cluster analysis, the authors divide respondents into two groups: local vs global consumer culture individuals, and the authors compare the results of the conjoint analysis for these two clusters.\nFindings: Advertising copy is most important in determining perceived brand globalness. The spokesperson and the brand logo determine perceived brand globalness more strongly for a low-involvement product, whereas the brand name is more important for a high-involvement product. Further, the spokesperson and the brand logo are relatively more important for global consumer culture individuals, while local consumer culture individuals find the brand name and advertising copy relatively more important.\nPractical implications: The most important cue to position a brand as global is the advertising copy. Brand managers of a low-involvement product and/or targeting global-minded consumers should concentrate on the spokesperson and the brand logo to position their brand. Managers of a high-involvement product and/or targeting local-minded people should focus on the brand name.\nOriginality/value: While a number of researchers have emphasized the importance of perceived brand globalness for international consumer behavior, the present study is the first to the authors' knowledge to investigate the relative importance of different cues in creating perceptions of brand globalness.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Transformative business sustainability: Multi-layer model and network of e-footprint sources	[ "Transformative", "Business", "Sustainability", "Earth‐to‐Earth approach", "E‐footprint", "Recovery pool", "Redistribution buffer", "Environmental management", "Ecosystems" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: We contend that the quest for zero-sum cycles in business should start and end at the planet Earth. Docherty et al. (2002, p. 11, cited in Backstrom, 2009) write that the core concept of sustainable systems is that resources deployed are regenerated by the system. Thus, with the increasing demands on businesses to be environmentally responsible, for example with regards to procurement, production, distribution and the market, means that companies allocate sufficient resources that enable them to undertake appropriate efforts to reduce, not only their own carbon footprints (i.e. carbon dioxide equivalent) of business (Fearne, 2009), but also the total Earth-footprint that we label as \"business sustainability\", which we subsequently refer to the total effort of a company - including its demand and supply chain network - to reduce the impact on the Earth's life- and eco-systems -, i.e. the total e-footprint.The e-footprint is not only about or limited to the carbon footprint, but the use of, for example, toxic substances, non-renewable sources or other sources having an impact on Earth's life- and eco-systems. We also contend later on in this paper that business sustainability should be \"transformative\", which stresses the need and importance for an open minded, dynamic and flexible approach to \"business sustainability\" not governed by presumptions from previous theory or existing models in literature, because too much is at stake regarding our planet Earth. It would be meaningless and potentially a fatal mistake to adapt empirical observations and data to existing theories and models, instead of the opposite.The business impact on Earth is nothing new, but it is only in the last part of the twentieth century that the collective impact of society's activities has reached a global scale (Ehrlich and Ehrlich, 1987). There is now recognition that economic activity cannot be sustained independent of the functions and systems provided by the biophysical world (O'Hara, 1998).There have been few genuine attempts focusing on Earth-to-Earth (EE) approaches in business research (Wagner and Svensson, 2010, 2011) and business practices (Cambra-Fierro and Ruiz-Benitez, 2011; Hogevold, 2011; Santos, 2011; Svensson and Wagner, 2011a, b). The business impact on Earth's life- and eco-systems (i.e. the e-footprint) is examined to a greater extent, though it still often addressed in narrow terms (e.g. as done in recent special issues on sustainability). We intend to try to fill these gaps by describing business sustainability based upon teleology in complexity sciences (Stacey et al., 2000), which is explained and justified in the next section.\nTeleology in business sustainability: Stacey et al. (2000, p. 14) introduced a framework based upon the teleological cause, where teleology means:* movement into the future believed to be either towards a known or an unknown condition (i.e. predictable or unpredictable); and* the reason for the movement of a phenomenon into the future is in order to achieve some optimal arrangement, i.e. a chosen goal.The following approaches of teleology in their framework are potentially relevant for use in business sustainability, namely:* formative;* rationalist; and* transformative.Formative teleology\nResearch objective: We believe \"transformative business sustainability\" may be both a theoretical concept and managerial roadmap to plan, implement and evaluate business sustainability.The objective is to describe this concept of transformative business sustainability. Principally, it consists of a multi-layer model of units (i.e. different businesses or other stakeholders) and a network of e-footprint sources. The frame of reference is derived from a combination of literature review, conceptual frameworks (Wagner and Svensson, 2010, 2011) and case studies of corporate efforts to achieve business sustainability (Cambra-Fierro and Ruiz-Benitez, 2011; Hogevold, 2011; Santos, 2011; Svensson and Wagner, 2011a, b).The rest of the article is structured as follows:* a frame of reference supporting the concept of transformative business sustainability is described;* the concept of transformative business sustainability is outlined and discussed including a brief empirical illustration;* implications and lessons learned are provided; and finally* conclusions are drawn and suggestions for further research are offered.\nFrame of reference and conceptual development: The frame of reference that follows in this section and the underlying paragraphs are synthesised, and its structure shown, in Figures 4 and 5. Further details and discussion regarding the logic and interpretation of these figures are provided in the next section.Earth\nTransformative business sustainability: The concept of transformative business sustainability consists of:* a multi-layer model of units (i.e. different businesses or other stakeholders); and* a network of e-footprint sources in business applying an EE approach.It becomes a transformative network due the continuous and simultaneous interconnectedness between sources (procurement, production, distribution, the market and consumers) and layers (units). It should be noted that each e-footprint source of transformative business sustainability applies and extends beyond corporate and judicial boundaries.A multi-layer model\nImplications and lessons learned: A number of implications and lessons learned may be drawn from the introduced concept of transformative business sustainability supported by a multi-layer model and a network of e-footprint sources.Accepting that business sustainability is an important global challenge, economic growth must be developed and decoupled from negative environmental impacts on Earth and achieved within the carrying capacity of the life- and eco-systems (Karsten and Reisch, 2008). There is a need to establish favourable conditions for the production of e-footprint friendly goods and services solutions. At the same time, there is a need to improve energy and resource efficiency and to promote continuous performance improvement and labelling. There is also a need to encourage management systems, consumption patterns and business behaviours considering the e-footprint of both units as well as demand and supply chain networks.In this context consumption patterns and behaviour are essential aspects where both supply and demand sides need to change and evolve towards the goal of business sustainability. In addition, the consumers' contribution to achieving a better overall sustainability is important. Business sustainability engagements so far have largely appealed to rational consumers' mind and their ability to adopt and change behaviour as well as consumption pattern.From this perspective, we argue that the introduction of the \"recovery pool and redistribution buffer\" interface as part of business sustainability models gain the attention of the network of e-footprint sources and total e-footprint of demand and supply chain networks. Companies produce \"bundles\" of goods and services solutions that create and contribute to consumer value. In so doing, business sustainability must take into account business that includes metrics for carbon emissions, reduced energy consumption, better traceability and reduced traffic (Barnes, 2008).Performance measurement and benchmarking before and after the introduction of business sustainability initiatives are imperative in calculating the e-footprint by units. This requires decision-making processes to support the planning, implementation and evaluation of business sustainability.Utilising the multi-layer model and the network of e-footprint sources outlined in this article may be a starting point, or point of reference, to establish sound business sustainability in the marketplace and across societies. Considering interconnections and calculating trade-offs within and between units and sources of the multi-layer model, in conjunction with assessment of available resources and technologies with the mix of human capabilities, skills in managing the \"recovery pool and redistribution buffer\" interface, will enable ongoing environmental monitoring of units' and demand and supply chain networks' e-footprints. Corporate learning and sharing of experiences play a key role by inculcating and adopting shared organisational values and views to underpin and manage business sustainability appropriately.Retailers, wholesalers, intermediaries, manufacturers, suppliers and producers of raw materials suppliers need to join forces to reduce the total e-footprint in demand and supply chain networks. This cannot be achieved on a large-scale individually or worldwide. Common industry agreements and partnership practices should be implemented and applied in combination with individual company capabilities. It is unlikely that business sustainability-related goals will take precedent over performance criteria (such as cost, quality and delivery) on their own. Most likely, global political involvement is required long term to create the necessary incentives and obligations to make significant worldwide change.\nConclusions and suggestions for further research: A multi-layer model of units (i.e. different businesses or other stakeholders) and a network of e-footprint sources representing transformative business sustainability are shown in Figures 4 and 5. The model and the network in focus are applicable on different units and demand and supply chain networks, though potentially not all. Furthermore, they do not just shed light on the importance of the immediate business sustainability concerns of units, but also demand and supply chain networks as well as the planet Earth with its life- and eco-systems. The latter appears to be under non-sustainable pressure and destiny at the moment (IPCC WGI - Fourth Assessment Report, 2007).The multi-layer model offers research opportunities in terms of examining additional e-footprint sources in different demand and supply chain networks. Those outlined offer some insight and their universal applicability across demand and supply chain networks need to be verified. We believe the e-footprint sources introduced provide a seed and foundation to be built upon. The crucial contribution at this stage is the \"recovery pool and redistribution buffer\" introduced in the multi-layer model and founded in empirical evidence from the European food industry (Salhofer et al., 2008; Amies, 2009). This interface also offers further research opportunities in examining its relevance and value across demand and supply chain networks using its underlying logic within the multi-layer model. We believe that the likely validity and generality of the tool is high, but needs further examination for it to be sustained or not.In sum, whatever the e-footprint source in the multi-layer model of transformative business sustainability, the well-being of the planet Earth has to be at the core of business sustainability. We contend that this is where our coined \"recovery pool and redistribution buffer\" interface plays a crucial role and makes both a theoretical and managerial contribution by achieving genuine and continuous business sustainability through the awareness at strategic, tactical and operative levels of business, beyond use of empty \"buzzwords\" and shallow window dressing. We believe that the logic of the interface is easy to understand and communicate within demand and supply chain networks to achieve and enhance a common goal of planned, implemented and evaluated efforts toward business sustainability.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe the concept of \"transformative business sustainability\". \"Business sustainability\" refers the total effort of a company - including its demand and supply chain network - to reduce the impact on the Earth's life- and eco-systems -, i.e. the total e-footprint. \"Transformative\" highlights the need for an open minded, dynamic and flexible approach to \"business sustainability\" not governed by blinkers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper discusses a conceptual development of transformative business sustainability, derived from a frame of reference. The essence is the introduction of a multi-layer model of units (i.e. different businesses or other stakeholders), a network of e-footprint sources and a \"recovery pool and redistribution buffer\" at the interface.\nFindings: - Transformative business sustainability is both a theoretical and managerial concept. It could also be seen as a roadmap to plan, implement and evaluate business sustainability.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Transformative business sustainability provides opportunities for development. Suggestions for further research are presented.\nPractical implications: - E-footprint sources in business, applying an Earth-to-Earth approach, are described. The concept of transformative business sustainability contributes by achieving genuine and continuous business sustainability and awareness at strategic, tactical and operative levels of business, avoiding use of buzzwords and window dressing.\nOriginality/value: - Well-being of the planet Earth has to be at the core of business sustainability. The authors contend that the \"recovery pool and redistribution buffer\" is crucial in the planning, implementation and evaluation of transformative business sustainability.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Increasing productivity in the Big 4: a research note	[ "Big 4", "Deloitte", "Employee retention", "EY", "KPMG", "PWC" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: A common stigma attached to Big 4 employment is high turnover among employees. After, two or three busy seasons it is common for staff to leave the company. The reasons for leaving the company range anywhere from unreasonable working hours to better job opportunities in other companies. Researchers seek to understand why, even after years of existence, this pattern of high turnover continues to persist. Many accountants aim to work for Big 4 companies and most have dreams of becoming partner, but the truth is many do not actually make it to that level. The day-to-day pressures and long work hours of working in a Big 4 company are not unheard of and main reasons as to why people leave before they make it to partner. If employees are trained to be positive leaders who support healthy lifestyles, then an employee's quality of life would increase and the like their loyalty towards the company would increase.\nKey findings and recommended actions: EMEA (the Europe Middle East Africa sector) had \"the highest percentage of total revenues for the Big Four firms, averaging 43 per cent of total worldwide revenues. Americas average about 40 per cent and the Asia Pacific countries (including India, South Asia, China, North Asia and Australia) have the remaining 17 per cent of the revenue share\" (\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine the idea of increasing employee productivity and retention within the Big 4 accounting firms through the inclusion of sleeping pods to allow napping.\nDesign/methodology/approach: I have reviewed multiple sources of information and data including Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development data to conclude that allowing napping within Big 4 accounting firms could increase productivity.\nFindings: As a research note suggesting future research, I am hoping that future research shall find support for the idea that there may be a relationship between being well rested and increase in performance.\nPractical implications: Higher quality of workers will increase their productivity and the company's profits. Conservative leaders in large audit firms may reject the idea of incorporating \"energy pods\". New ideas always come with push back and criticism.\nOriginality/value: Big 4 firms have developed a working system that could be improved to remove the negative stigma of overworking their employees. The value this research strives to reveal is a structure that reduces turnover and increases retention after two years. \"Energizing pods\" have been introduced into technology and airline companies. Taking naps in a fast-paced, stressful work environment is not common, but it is a concept that should further explored for the sake of business professionals.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Historical approaches for hospitality and tourism research	[ "Qualitative research", "History", "Methodology", "Oral history", "Archives", "Biography", "Prosopography" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recent work in business and management has posited the value of historical research and narrative frameworks to explicate business phenomena (Perchard et al., 2017; Maclean et al., 2016), but there remains opportunity in the hospitality and tourism fields for such work to further contribute to our understanding of how historical research methodologies can enhance tourism research (MacKenzie and Gannon, 2019). As hospitality and tourism studies is an integral part of business and management studies, the identification of the benefit of insights offered by historical approaches similarly applies (Decker, 2013; Rowlinson et al., 2014; Kipping and Usdiken, 2014). History offers excellent narrative frameworks to explicate business phenomena, but also a wealth of evidence to test and validate existing theories concerning business (Maclean et al., 2016). Furthermore, it can be used in conjunction with existing approaches in hospitality and tourism to offer a deeper understanding of the subject. There has been a growing number of works following this approach (MacKenzie and Gannon, 2019; Maclean et al., 2018; Paraskevas and Quek, 2019; Quek, 2012) and it is suggested here that there is scope for more work that goes beyond the why and addresses the how. Understanding how historical approaches can be deployed can better inform our understanding of hospitality and tourism research, which has been implicitly recognised in a number of recent works (Murdy et al., 2018; Alexander et al., 2017). This article argues that hospitality and tourism research has much to gain by incorporating historical methodologies as either discrete and/or complementary approaches alongside existing standard approaches in the discipline.\nHistorical theory: Historians have been criticised in the past for not explicating their methodology sufficiently (Gaddis, 2002; Perchard et al., 2017), which may explain the lack of work examining how historical methodologies can contribute to business and management studies. To remedy this, we propose three principal historical approaches that can be of specific value to hospitality and tourism research in extending existing theories, contributing the potential for new theoretical advances, and explanation of past phenomena in the discipline. These are\nDiscussion: Each of the three historical methodologies outlined above offer significant potential to aid our understanding of hospitality and tourism research on three levels: on an individual basis; combined with each other; or supplementary to other existing widely used methodologies. This study has demonstrated the benefit of each of the three approaches. Each historical methodology covered here is well established in other disciplines with significant canons of work available to show hospitality and tourism scholars the value of historical methodologies if considered and deployed appropriately (Table II).\nConclusion: Hospitality and tourism research is a pluralistic subject that encompasses a wide range of research methodologies that have combined to offer a more holistic and detailed understanding of the subject. Surveys, ethnographies, diaries, content analysis, semi-structured interviews and panel data analysis, amongst other approaches, have all been deployed to better understand the subject over the years, often with an overt focus on contemporary understanding rather than the development of phenomena or understanding over time. On this basis, historical methods such as archival research, oral histories, and biography and prosopography have largely been overlooked. This presents the opportunity for hospitality and tourism scholars to incorporate these historical methods and further develop their interest and understanding of the subject. Consistent within this is recognition that knowledge is incomplete and developing. This requires then a wider perspective on the subject that encompasses not only analysis of the present and recent, but also of the wider and longer run past. Historical methods allow for this if used carefully and consistently and can unveil patterns of change, the role of contingency, and, of course, change over time. For researchers in hospitality and tourism seeking to expand their range of research methodologies, historical approaches offer the dual benefit of both transparency in data and methodological rigour allowing for a more complete research approach.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to show how historical approaches can better inform understanding of hospitality and tourism research. Recent work in business and management has posited the value of historical research and narrative frameworks to explicate business phenomena - here the authors propose an approach to hospitality and tourism studies could be similarly beneficial.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three principal historical approaches are proposed: systematic study of historical archives, oral histories and biography and prosopography. The paper further proposes that such work should be aligned to Andrews and Burke's framework of the 5Cs: context, change over time, causality, complexity and contingency to help situate research appropriately and effectively.\nFindings: This paper suggests that historical methods can prove particularly useful in hospitality and tourism research by testing, extending and creating theory that is empirically informed and socially situated. The analysis put forward shows that undertaking historical work set against the framework of the 5Cs of historical research offers the potential for wider and deeper understandings of hospitality and tourism research by revealing temporal and historical dynamics in the field that may hitherto be unseen or insufficiently explored.\nOriginality/value: Much of the existing work on the benefits of historical approaches in business and management has focussed on the why or the what. This paper focuses on the how, articulating how historical approaches offer significant potential to aid the understanding of hospitality and tourism research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Business intelligence and big data in hospitality and tourism: a systematic literature review	[ "Big data", "Tourism", "Systematic literature review", "Hospitality", "Business intelligence" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, the notion of \"Big Data\" (BD) has become increasingly popular in both academic and non-academic media. The concept has generated a real buzz, especially on the internet and social media. At the moment of writing the paper at hand (February 2017), a Google search using the circumlocution \"Big Data\" obtained more than 290 million resulting items. The circumlocution identifies the enormous volume of both unstructured and structured data generated by technology developments and the exponentially increasing adoption of devices allowing for automation and connection to the internet. The use of networked devices, such as tablets and smartphones, has brought an explosion of data (Verhoef et al., 2016), often in connection with user-generated content stemming from online social networks (Leung et al., 2013). Given their volume and characteristics, BD are difficult to process by deploying traditional statistical methods and software techniques (Chen et al., 2014). Nevertheless, BD is becoming rapidly popular as an emerging new field of inquiry also in social sciences, where it has been identified as an irreplaceable factor to enhance economic growth and prosperity and to solve societal problems (Mayer-Schonberger and Cukier, 2013) as well as a major driver for the creation of value for firms and customers (Verhoef et al., 2016).\n2. Business intelligence and big data: 2.1 Business intelligence\n3. Methodology: To assess the extent to which BI and BD feature within the hospitality and tourism literature, we carried out a systematic literature review of academic articles indexed on the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The method of systematic literature review has been largely adopted in the wider social sciences (Tranfeld et al., 2003), including in the hospitality and tourism domain (Gomezelj, 2016; Ip et al., 2011; Law et al., 2016). Thus, we embraced this approach to identify the relevant scientific work.\n4. Results and discussion: The total number of BD articles in the area of tourism and hospitality selected as described above is 96. The number of BI publications is 77. Their time distribution is given in Figure 3 (for the past five years). Incredibly, it seems that besides the hype about the BD issue, not many hospitality and tourism researchers have decided to pay some effort in studying these topics so far, and only a handful of them have invested time and resources in considering the possibilities of an application of BD to the tourism and hospitality field.\n5. Reflections and conclusions: 5.1 Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the extent to which Business Intelligence and Big Data feature within academic research in hospitality and tourism published until 2016, by identifying research gaps and future developments and designing an agenda for future research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study consists of a systematic quantitative literature review of academic articles indexed on the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The articles were reviewed based on the following features: research topic; conceptual and theoretical characterization; sources of data; type of data and size; data collection methods; data analysis techniques; and data reporting and visualization.\nFindings: Findings indicate an increase in hospitality and tourism management literature applying analytical techniques to large quantities of data. However, this research field is fairly fragmented in scope and limited in methodologies and displays several gaps. A conceptual framework that helps to identify critical business problems and links the domains of business intelligence and big data to tourism and hospitality management and development is missing. Moreover, epistemological dilemmas and consequences for theory development of big data-driven knowledge are still a terra incognita. Last, despite calls for more integration of management and data science, cross-disciplinary collaborations with computer and data scientists are rather episodic and related to specific types of work and research.\nResearch limitations/implications: This work is based on academic articles published before 2017; hence, scientific outputs published after the moment of writing have not been included. A rich research agenda is designed.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to explore in depth and systematically to what extent hospitality and tourism scholars are aware of and working intendedly on business intelligence and big data. To the best of the authors' knowledge, it is the first systematic literature review within hospitality and tourism research dealing with business intelligence and big data.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Food insecurity status of the working poor households in south west Nigeria	[ "Working poor households", "Food insecurity", "South west Nigeria", "Ordered logit" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Food is an edible material that is indispensable to life, whether rich or poor, as it is a major supplier of nutrient necessary for survival (FAO, 2001). It is sine-qua-non for healthy survival and living. With the exception of shelter and clothing as basic necessities of life, food remains the most important necessity because of its centrality to human existence. However, in recent times, the accessibility, affordability, utilisation and sufficiency of food vary from one individual to another. The basic reason for this is the disparity and inequality in income among households, resulting in the poverty status of households.Poverty, a complex, multidimensional and universal socio-economic problem, is influenced by employment, although the relationship between employment status and poverty outcome is not direct (Kathyrn et al., 2014). This is because employment participation is an individual characteristic, while poverty is most commonly measured at the household level (ILO, 2008). An individual is taken to be poor if their consumption or income level is unable to meet their basic needs. For instance, among the increasing poor and the near-poor are people who have worked hard all their lives, but are still unable to ensure a decent standard of living for their families. In addition, many employed workers encounter various obstacles that make it difficult for them to find and keep a job, save up and maintain a sense of self-worth (Ehrenreich, 2001). The recognition of this group of people led to the concept of the working poor, which was introduced in the 1990s as a means to disaggregate total employment by linking it to (household or individual) earnings or consumption levels.Various definitions have been developed to describe who the working poor are. For instance, the working poor are defined as people who spend 27 weeks or more in a year in the labour force either working or looking for work, but whose income fall below the poverty line (USA BLS, 2013). Also, the working poor are defined as people who earn less than US$2 a day (Bhorat and Nadio, 2014). The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines the working poor as the proportion of employed persons living in a household whose members are estimated to be below the poverty line of US$2 a day. Based on these definitions, the household is the point of reference and links household poverty to the number of employed people in the households. Further, Brady et al. (2011) based on their cross-national research study defined the working poor household as one with at least one working member with total household income less than 60 or 50 or 40 per cent of the median income of the country. They demonstrated that working poverty is not the same as the overall poverty using demographic characteristics, economic performance, unified theory and welfare generosity.Although employment is expected to be a way out of poverty subject to the quality of the job, earning adequacy, job security and safe working environment, extreme working poverty remained widespread, with more than 300 million workers in emerging and developing countries having a per capita household or consumption of less than US$1.9 per day, indicating that employment is not a guarantee against poverty (ILO, 2018). It was estimated that 13 per cent of all the employed persons in the world are moderately poor, while 8 per cent were extremely poor. The situation remains most alarming in Africa, where the share of working poor was about 33 per cent in 2018, implying that about one-third of all workers lived in extreme poverty despite having a job and thus representing more than half (56 per cent) of the global working poor. In addition, 22 per cent of African workers were moderately poor, while only 45 per cent have been able to escape poverty (ILO, 2016).In Nigeria, the working poor are regarded as individuals who are engaged in one form of occupation or the other, but because of some factors, have been unable to move above the poverty line. In fact, millions of Nigerians are engaged in jobs that cannot keep them and their dependents out of poverty. This is on the increase with the present economic recession the country is in. Most civil servants in all tiers of government fall into this category, especially with the inadequacy attached with their earnings (Ochiaka, 2016). In the urban areas, while the number of people working has recently reached a record high, the number of low-paid jobs still account for a large percentage of the workforce. The belief that employment growth is fundamental in the fight against poverty and social exclusion has been a crucial point of discussion in Nigeria for a long time. However, past experience demonstrates that employment growth does not always affect the distribution of work across households in such a way as to reduce the risk of food poverty (Cantillon, 2011). Consequently, the incomes of most working poor families are not adequate for the basic sustenance of life.Food insecurity, a consequence of inadequate consumption of nutritious food, taking into consideration the physiological use of food by the body as being within the domain of nutrition and health, was included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which was introduced in 2015 to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that spanned from 2000 to 2015 (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2017). SDG 2 is to ensure that by 2030, there is an end to hunger and people have access to food particularly the poor and the vulnerable. Yet, about 820 million people in the world are still hungry, with Africa having the highest prevalence of undernourishment at about 20 per cent with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 22.8 per cent, proving that Africa is an enormous victim of food insecurity among all other continents. This has been steadily increasing, reaching almost 260 million people in 2018 (FAO et al., 2019). This brings to the fore the fact that the right to food is still one of the most often violated right in the world today (Clover, 2003). Nigeria prides itself as the giant of Africa and yet has about 7.1 million people facing acute food insecurity (FAO, 2017). In addition, the 2018 Global Food Security Index (GFSI), which is used to measure and track hunger globally using the availability, affordability and quality and safety of food, ranked her 96th in the world and 17th in sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting a decline in the food security status of the country when compared to a rank of 90th in the world and 11th in sub-Saharan Africa in 2016.This situation thus engendered a growing interest in food systems that encompass all dimensions from production to final consumption in Nigeria. However, most policy recommendations focus on addressing rural food production and tend to neglect the crucial importance of access and affordability for low-income groups, thus worsening the food insecurity situation, and more specifically, for working poor households that are typically found to bear the impact of the economic costs relating to sudden negative shocks in the economy, thereby leading to a reduction in their welfare and productive capacities. Against this backdrop, taking into account the proportion of the labour force below the poverty line as well as their food security status in the formulation of strategies towards poverty alleviation and improvement of food security status is pertinent. Arising from the foregoing, empirical studies on the nexus between the poverty status and food security status of working households are significant contemporary policy prerequisites. However, there is paucity of empirical literature on the link between poverty, employment and food insecurity, although there have been many studies on food insecurity and poverty. In fact, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no study on the food security status of working poor households in Nigeria. Thus, this study, apart from filling the gap in literature, seeks to answer the following questions:Who are the working poor in south west Nigeria, and what is their food insecurity status? What are the factors influencing food insecurity status of the working poor households?The remaining sections of the paper are organised as follows. The next section of the paper is the literature review, followed by the methodology, which includes the data and the analytical techniques used in the study. The results and discussion of the results follow the methodology. The last section is the conclusion and recommendations arising from the study.\nLiterature review: The part played by employment in poverty alleviation cannot be overstressed because it offers better education, health and improved standard of living and hence access to employment remain an effective protection against poverty (Goux et al., 2013). For example, previous studies in Nigeria reported a close association between a low probability of being poor and employment (Ajakaiye and Adeyeye, 1999; Alayande and Alayande, 2004; Anyanwu, 2013) thereby affirming that employment is a means of escaping poverty. However, there is also evidence that employment has become a less secure means of exiting poverty by a household (McQuaid et al., 2010) because there is a strong negative link between individual and household employment patterns and poverty (Ray et al., 2010; Tomlinson and Walker, 2010). Poverty is measured at the household, while employment is an individual characteristic that involves the participation in the labour market for the purpose of earning an income, and this is based on the work characteristics such as the salary earned, regularity of income, working hour, type of contract, etc. However, the household circumstances, i.e. the number of earners and number of dependents, determine the amount of resources pooled by all household members and their needs respectively. (Bardone and Guio, 2005). Therefore, an individual may not be poor relative to their earned income or wages, but the household composition might make them poor because high numbers of household members who depend on the total household income are a main factor leading into working poor households (European Commission, 2011). In addition, low earnings, low labour force attachment, low level of education, terms of employment (i.e. part-time and temporary employment) or/and a high number of dependents in relation to national averages represent the mechanisms or immediate causes of working poor status (Cooke and Lawton, 2008; Crettaz and Bonoli 2010: European Commission, 2011). This situation makes households vulnerable to food insecurity, as they do not have the capacity to cope with physical and socio-economic shocks.According to the available literature, it was established that understanding the factors that affect food insecurity can play a significant role in addressing the issues of malnutrition and undernourishment, especially among the labour force (Oluwatayo, 2009: Orewa and Iyangbe, 2009; Arene and Anyaeji, 2010; Nurudeen 2013; Odusina 2014). Assessing food insecurity in Nigeria, Orewa and Iyangbe (2009) reported that among the rural and low-income urban population, majority of the food insecure habitants were male, and there was a high food insecurity incidence among pre-schoolers. Also, Oluwatayo (2009) asserted that household members who belonged to one form of cooperative society were more food secure than non-cooperators. Bamire (2010) revealed that age and member of an association were important predictors of food security. This assertion was affirmed by Arene and Anyaeji (2010) who reported income and age of household head as the most influential factors of household food security. Assessing the prevalence of food insecurity and the level of food access, Odusina (2014), using the household food insecurity scale and probit regression, discovered variables responsible for increasing the probability of households being food insecure during the hunger period as age, household size, number of males and job loss experience. While most of the studies have attempted to establish a link between poverty and FI, this study is unique, in that it provides a link between employment, poverty and FI among urban households in south west Nigeria.\nData and methodology: This study employed primary data collected by administering questionnaires to the respondents. Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted by the study. The first stage was a random selection of Osun and Oyo State from the five states that constitute the zone. The second stage involved a random selection of two local government areas (LGAs) from each state. The third stage was a random selection of three towns from each local government. The fourth stage was a random selection of 25 households from each town, making a total of 300 respondents. However, due to incomplete questionnaire information, only 284 households were used for this analysis. These 284 households constituted the sample size for this study.Analytical technique\nResults and discussion: Profile of the working poor and non-poor households\nConclusion and policy recommendations: Food insecurity among the working poor households in south west Nigeria is associated with dependency ratio, level of education (secondary and tertiary), asset ownership, age, having a savings scheme, income regularity and having an alternative source of income. Thus, it is imperative that the Government collaborates with International agencies and donor agencies to adopt development strategies for economic growth with particular attention given to the alleviation of poverty and food insecurity among the affected working households. In addition, the government should protect workers rights against non-payment of salaries/wages. This could be through the payment of fines by the employers who fail to pay their employees salaries or by empowering the employees to take legal action against their employers without fear of intimidation. Given the negative significance of education on the food insecurity status of the working poor households, investment in human capital development becomes critical for improved living standards and productivity. Furthermore, while social security allowance should be provided by the government as a form of alternative source of income for households that are unable access safe and nutritious food due to inevitable crisis or emergencies that lead to welfare loss, efforts should also be geared towards enlightening households on the benefits of family planning for improved household food security.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing the food insecurity status of the working poor households in south west Nigeria.\nDesign/methodology/approach: International Labour Organisation poverty line, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale as well as the Ordered Logit model were used to identify the factors influencing the food insecurity status of the working poor households in south west Nigeria.\nFindings: The study revealed that more than half of the respondents were working poor households, with more than four-fifths of them being food insecure. Income irregularity, savings and level of education had major roles to play in the food insecurity status of working poor households.\nSocial implications: Employment has always been considered as a route out of poverty and food insecurity. However, the intensity of poverty among working households should be considered in the design and development of policy and programmes, targeted towards workers. Laws should protect the right of workers against non-payment of salaries, advantages of family planning should be emphasised, social security allowance should be provided to serve as an alternative source of income during emergencies and more investment made in education.\nOriginality/value: This paper attempts to bridge the knowledge gap in the empirical link between employment, poverty and food insecurity. Particularly, its application to the working households.\nPeer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2019-0589\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Government measures needed to promote building energy efficiency (BEE) in China	[ "China", "Buildings", "Energy conservation", "Environmental engineering", "Government policy", "Energy consumption" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Climate change and sustainability have garnered increased attention globally since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2007) brought the issues to the attention of governments. The building industry uses a substantial amount of resources and, accordingly, has a large impact on the environment (Chan and Lau, 2005; OECD, 2003; Qian et al., 2006; Zhang, 2004). Buildings in the USA account for 39 per cent of the country's total energy use, 12 per cent of total water consumption, 68 per cent of total electricity consumption and 38 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions (EPA GB, 2004). In China, where industrialisation and urbanisation have been fast-paced, the building industry is number one in terms of energy consumption, accounting for 44.2 per cent of total consumption (Tang, 2001; Wu and Liu, 2007). More than 60 per cent of the energy consumed in buildings comes directly from fossil fuel combustion, and buildings are responsible for 17 per cent of China's total CO2 emissions. It is now well recognised that efficiency improvements in energy used by the building industry would make a major contribution to meeting such national objectives as increasing energy-efficient investments, improving the security of the energy supply, enhancing productivity and competitiveness, reducing the release of greenhouse gases, and lowering the local environmental costs of energy supply and use. At the international level, energy efficiency is being promoted to mitigate climate change, decrease global warming and improve air quality (Meyers, 1998). International cooperation and the attainment of knowledge through open and critical comparative studies will go a long way toward furthering these efforts. The governments of China and the USA recently signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment (US Department of State: www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/july/126575.htm), which provides for long-term bilateral cooperation on climate change, clean and efficient energy and environmental protection through a range of mechanisms.The significant environmental impact of building activities has given momentum to the \"green building (GB) movement\". Green, or sustainable, building is the practice of creating and using healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance and demolition (EPA GB, 2004). GB brings together a vast array of practices and techniques aimed at reducing the impact of the building industry on energy consumption, the environment and human health. The energy consumed in the building sector accounts for a large part of total consumption in most countries (Chan and Lau, 2005; OECD, 2003; Qian et al., 2006; Zhang, 2004). The concept of building energy efficiency (BEE) has become an important component of GB, and the issues surrounding it are embraced under the GB umbrella in this study. A number of internationally recognised assessment systems, such as leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) in the USA, the BRE environmental assessment method (BREEAM) in the UK and internationally, the Hong Kong building environmental assessment method (HK-BEAM), and EnerGuide in Canada, has attempted to develop objective BEE standards. Objective BEE criteria are incorporated into these international and local assessment systems.Many developed countries have set good examples for BEE promotion, and China would do well to draw on these examples to compare and contrast its current measures with the international experience to explore effective measures that would suit the national situation. For example, the UK, the USA and Canadian Governments have formulated a series of public policies on BEE promotion, which has served to enhance the efficiency of building energy consumption. At present, buildings in mainland China use nearly four times less energy per square metre than buildings in the USA or Japan (CCICED, 2008). If the country's consumption pattern follows that of the developed world, however, then annual building emissions and energy consumption will increase substantially in future. In 2002, energy demand in China surpassed gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the first time in two decades, and the continuation of this trend through 2005 raised alarm both internationally and in China (China Energy Group, 2009). It is imperative that appropriate policies be developed and urgent measures taken to address this issue. A World Bank report highlights the 2000-2015 period as a crucial stage for the development of the construction industry in the mainland. China thus has a golden opportunity to campaign for BEE to reduce energy waste in future (Wang and Zeng, 2005). Although previous research has touched upon these issues, plenty of room remains for an in-depth review of the role played by governments and an exploration of possible measures that government, particularly that of China, can take to promote BEE.Aim and objectives\nMethodology: The study comprised four major exercises. The first was a theoretical review of the inherent challenges posed by BEE and the governments' role in promoting it. This review then provided a framework for the second exercise - a critical review of the government measures available for BEE promotion in the form of an international comparative study of China and three developed countries. The third exercise was an opinion survey carried out amongst market stakeholders in China to obtain data support for the major findings of the comparative study. The final exercise was to triangulate the analysis of the results of all exercises and formulate recommendations. The triangulation strategy of integrating survey and fieldwork, and combining quantitative and qualitative research approaches, has been employed since the 1950s, particularly in policy research (Chan, 1997, 2002; Shapiro, 1955). In Csete and Albrecht's (1994) words, triangulation reaps the \"best of both worlds\". The strategy can be employed for within method (cross-checking) and between-method checking (validity checking of the qualitative results and quantitative data analysis) (Webb, 1966; Weber, 1933). In this study, the quantitative questionnaire method was adopted to embellish the primarily qualitative comparative study, which is one of the four triangulation models suggested by Steckler (1992).A literature review on the classification of government roles provided a well-grounded framework for the critical comparative study of the government measures available for BEE promotion in China and developed countries. The USA, Canada and the UK were chosen for this comparison, as they are large economies comparable to China. They are also relatively advanced in terms of BEE promotion, and their GB standards, such as BREEAM, LEED and EnerGuide, are world recognised and provide common grounds for comparison.Details of the questionnaire survey carried out amongst active building design professionals in major cities in China are presented in later sections. Statistical analysis was conducted to identify the favourable government measures expected by the market to further our understanding of future BEE promotion in China. The final part of this paper will present the results triangulated from the findings of the comparative study and questionnaire survey, a discussion of any unusual observations, and recommendations for strategic measures the Chinese Government could take to improve BEE promotion.\nLiterature review: Challenges for GB and BEE\nMarket perceptions of favourable measures needed: To support the findings of the aforementioned comparative study, questionnaire survey data were collected and analysed for a better understanding of the market expectations of government measures to further GB and, in turn, BEE development. The aim of this survey was to find out from market stakeholders the favourable measures that the Chinese Government could take to further the development of GB, with the further aim of clarifying which measures should be emphasised to meet the needs of the market.Target respondents and sample selection\nObservations and discussion: Combined findings of questionnaire survey and comparative study\nRecommendations for government measures: The foregoing observations and discussion are the result of triangulating the analysis of the comparative study and questionnaire findings, analysis that leads us to suggest that the following measures be considered for BEE promotion in China:* Active government intervention is required in two main areas. First, energy prices should be regulated to meet the actual needs of the building industry, which may require different energy pricing levels for different industries. Second, mandatory BEE standards should be established and implemented through legislation. Such legislation would clarify the legal liabilities of the parties involved and provide a level playing field for all players.* The industry should be subsidised to improve GB performance to attract users. The government should provide economic incentives to stimulate the BEE market and financial support to allow the industry to pursue technological innovations and R&D projects aimed at the continuous improvement of BEE.* The government should create demand for and appreciation of BEE products by making available BEE education programmes for both building professionals and the public, widely promoting and supervising labelling programmes, publishing BEE product information and implementing BEE assessment schemes. Agreed common standards will encourage professionals to strive for excellence to capture greater market share and allow consumers to recognise genuine products. Only when consumers appreciate the benefits of energy efficient buildings will there be demand for BEE products.\nFurther study: This study provides a critical review of the current BEE promotion situation. The findings of a comparative study of mainland China and its developed counterparts have been supplemented by statistical analysis of a questionnaire survey carried out amongst building design professionals in the major cities of China. Owing to limited resources, this survey did not extend to all parts of the country. It is recommended that the investigation be extended to other parts of China and that a wider spectrum of stakeholders, including other construction professionals and employer representatives, be surveyed to reinforce the views obtained from the building market. This study provides the foundation for such further study, and will facilitate an investigation of how and why BEE economic incentives can work in China as well as in developed countries. Such investigation should address the following questions. What are the well-established models for promoting BEE in other countries? How can they be assessed and optimised for implementation in the Chinese context?\nConclusion: This paper discusses the government's role in enhancing BEE promotion by breaking that role into four categories: the roles of law and policymaker, economic motivator, fiscal hub and advocator. This framework has facilitated comparison of the BEE promotion measures adopted in mainland China and three developed countries, the USA, Canada and the UK, with the aim of highlighting government BEE measures in China. Some of the findings were further tested by statistical analysis of a market survey. Triangulating our analysis of the findings provided us with more reliable results, which led to a number of recommendations for measures that the Chinese Government could adopt to promote BEE. As it has been well established that the government's role is paramount in such promotion, China's Government should take the lead in developing policies and guidance to the BEE market and the public. The findings presented in this paper demonstrate that the governments of different countries play different roles in BEE promotion based on their own national circumstances. It is important to understand market expectations to ensure that corresponding government measures for BEE promotion are equitable and effective for the industry and consumers. BEE policy provides fertile ground for further investigation of the way forward in achieving sustainable development.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to investigate the major differences between the government's role in building energy efficiency (BEE) in China and three developed countries, and to further the understanding of market expectations of the most effective government measures to encourage BEE development in China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach taken was: establish a framework for a critical comparative study; compare and assess the BEE promotion measures available to governments in the USA, Canada, the UK and China; survey the BEE market expectations of building design professionals to better understand the favourable measures the Chinese Government could take to further promote BEE; and triangulate the findings of the comparative study and questionnaire survey to develop recommendations for BEE promotion in mainland China.\nFindings: - Economic incentives are important for BEE promotion at the current stage, but they are lacking in China. Active government interventions, such as adjusting energy pricing and implementing BEE legislation, are needed in China if BEE is to become economically viable and efficient.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Owing to limited resources, the questionnaire survey did not reach every part of China. A further study should be carried out to extend the investigation to more areas of China and to obtain wider stakeholder coverage.\nOriginality/value: - The originality of this paper lies in its development of a theoretical framework to further understanding of the government's role in BEE promotion and its use of first-hand data collected from industry to verify market expectations of that role in China.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing millennials in the digital era: building a sustainable culture	[ "Talent management", "Millennials", "Millennials workstyle" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Talent management has become the heart of the HR function with scores of millennials joining the workforce in the digitalized world. Despite completing three decades of their entry, managing these millennials (Generation Me) still remains a difficult task for most organizations. Millennials are outgoing, assertive and team up quickly (Howe and Strauss, 1992). They prefer instant feedback and are interested in engaging conversations and being coached. Millennials are over ambitious and like to challenge the status quo. They engage in discussions with the like-minded and often exhibit intolerance with incompatible. A study by the American Psychological Association (2017) corroborates that millennials prefer working with professionals with similar strengths and thus often distance themselves from older professionals. As a result, senior executives, mostly the Generation X groan at the quality of millennials being hired in the organizations forcing the organizations to rethink the way they view the talent.\nCollege to career: As millennials enter organizations, they pass through the transitional phase marking the end of adolescence and the beginning of the adulthood. These individuals experience variability in terms of age, demographics, and their socio-financial status. Lack of uniformed teaching system in the academics challenges these individuals in the workplace. During their earlier days, they are curious about the organization, collect information, and become knowledgeable as much as they can. Once they get acquainted with the organization, they identify themselves with the organization and contribute towards its growth. The leadership must ensure smooth transition and create a congenial environment to accept the millennials the way they are. School to work transition theory (Wendlandt and Rochlen, 2008) often referred as STWT highlights three phases, namely, anticipation, adjustment, and achievement. The theory also states that new hires who cannot connect with the workplace leave the organization in the first two years of their joining.\nCommunication to over-communication: Millennials are detail-oriented and gather as much information as possible before kicking off a project. The Innate curiosity acts as a driving force to search and know everything that is relevant to them. They are restless and keeps learning constantly from day one to their last working day in the organization. In fact, one of the easiest way to manage their unquenchable thirst is to update them with all the organizational, team and work related information frequently. To suite their working style, organizations need to constantly communicate with these individuals. However, they do not like being overloaded with senseless overkill of information; thus, the messages should be concise and clear. The comprehending ability varies with each individual; therefore, organizations may prefer to frequently communicate, as it reinforces the message, eliminates the ambiguity, and builds trust between the employee and the employer.\nManager to coach: Performance management systems in the organization have undergone a paradigm shift and the organizations are moving away from the bell curve or the forced distribution method. An analysis into this revealed that the millennials want frequent, instant, and more feedback. They do not like to wait until the year-end just to know about their performance, further they are more interested in engaging discussions and coaching. In the initial days of their career, they expect more from a manager; hence, managers should be willing to provide ongoing consultation and provide real-time feedback. Identifying the strengths and playing to their strengths are critical aspects in enhancing one's performance. Certain individuals might be well aware of their strengths, while others may not; hence, managers should coach by asking intuitive questions to discover their strengths. Strengths could be seen as strengths to deliver and strengths to nurture. Strengths to deliver are those that are required to perform well in day-day work, while strengths to nurture are those that will be mastered over the course of the time. It is important for a manager to groom the individual in a way that the work they do motivates and keeps them energized as the millennials experience highest level of stress.\nLearning to development: Learning and development is a key function of the human resources that devises training programs to develop competencies of the employees across the levels. Most of the organizations have mandated the training hours per year for employees; hence, employees complete the mandatory hours based on the training calendar prepared. However, the effectiveness of the trainings is still a baffling question to the leadership. The return on investment from these training programs seems under achieved. Development of the individual refers to the employer providing opportunities to help the employees grow. In other words, it should be more of futuristic in nature focusing on the development of the individual and support them in accomplishing their goals. The learning calendar should incorporate the real-world situations and focus on learning aids that imparts millennials with all the necessary information to do their job effectively. Besides, they should be given an option to choose their learnings, as the chances of excelling at their learning remains high keeping them motivated and upskilled. It is also a best practice to invite external facilitators, as they bring in new perspectives outside the organization.\nReimagining workforce: The need to stay connected becomes critical in the digital world as organizations are adding headcount, projects, and locations year over year. To bring in the oneness, organizations are confronted, where their youngest employee is 20 years old, while their oldest employees are at an age of 50 or above underscores the importance of revisiting the organization the way they are functioning currently. According to Kevin Bandy, Chief Digital Officer, Cisco, reimagining workforce refers to rewriting the rules of business and will require a workforce that is appropriately equipped to work with the speed and agility that this level of change will demand (Cisco, 2016). In other words, it means a workplace where employees invest in themselves by building new capabilities; exploring new possibilities, together by creating a conducive, self-sustaining environment for innovation and collaboration; changing the lens by adopting a new culture of being bold and inclusive; enabling well-being by balancing new and evolving priorities; and empowering voice through two-way communication and complete transparency. Such a transformation cannot happen without commitment from leadership, and it is high time for the leadership to move from nice to do versus need to do model.\nConclusion: Just as parents strive to give best to their children, the older generations had to provide better working opportunities than they had which could only happen when they engage in discussions with open mind and being transparent. Research indicates that millennials stay loyal to work when they enjoy coming to work, they want work to be fun and hence organizations should consider creating a work environment that is fun. Besides, organization need to build a culture that is scalable, supportive, and sustainable for the future generations too, as very little is known about the next generation, popularly known as Generation Z.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present strategies maximizing the millennial talent. The study focuses on finer aspects such as millennials interests, likes, risk tolerance level, and unhappiness at workplace. The paper also underlines that the generational differences in the workplace cannot be ignored but only has to be welcomed to build an organization that exhibits and promotes inclusive behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research design adopted for the study is exploratory in nature. The research analysis is based on the information/data collected from the journal articles, newspapers, and the various conferences and majorly from in-person discussions with the HR heads.\nFindings: Millennials engage in discussions with their age group and peers, who are like-minded. They often tend to exhibit intolerance with incompatible and thus avoid talking to older generation workforce in the organization. While confronting them, they like to challenge the status quo and go beyond the conventional way of doing things.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings and the implications reflect the perspective of millennials employed in the services industry. Further research can focus on other industries especially in the manufacturing sector, where the scope of innovation and doing different is limited.\nPractical implications: Millennials express very little loyalty when compared to the older generations. Further, they also feel that they are underutilized and have greater potential to do more. Organizations should take every effort that the older generations help the millennials in understanding the work, invest time in coaching and development of their leadership skills.\nOriginality/value: The study presents an alternative in managing the millennials thereby maximizing their talent in the workplace.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Online training helps basketball federation towards its goals: Coaches and players learn the steps to success	[ "Italy", "Coaching", "Sport", "Referees", "Basketball" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: What marks out the world's best sportsmen? Exceptional talent at their chosen sport is obviously one factor, physical fitness is another - combined, of course, with having the mindset to succeed.\nCompetitive and winning regularly: The FIP is seeking to create a quality standard that can produce mid-term and long-term benefits not only to the FIP's associates but also to the whole sport of basketball. It aims to provide relevant knowledge and skills for everyone in the basketball world in Italy - since the knowledge and skills of those engaged in the basketball sector constitute vital assets for an organization that aims to be competitive and winning regularly at the international level.\nContributing to the growth of Italian basketball: The FIP wanted to develop a uniform knowledge system that would be available to anyone throughout the whole of Italy. It believes that such a system will increase competitiveness and in the end, contribute to the overall growth of Italian basketball.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Observes how the Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro (FIP), the Italian National Basketball Federation, has concluded that increasing emphasis must be placed on training coaches and players. That means implementing innovative training strategies to improve the competitiveness of all those operating in Italian basketball.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Describes the training system adopted, how it is working in practice and the advantages it is expected to bring.\nFindings: Shows how the Docebo's Cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) learning management system (LMS) is currently managing and monitoring the learning records of some 2,000 basketball-related learners throughout Italy. The system is helping the FIP to manage a large number of training projects; allow the FIP's basketball experts to share their knowledge online - especially with the association's coaches; and enable the FIP's managers to constantly monitor all the learners' training records via the system's in-built reporting tools.\nPractical implications: Reveals that while it is still too early to see the evidence of the new training regime's success in terms of improved on-court international success, there is every indication that more learning materials are reaching more people under the auspices of the FIP than ever before.\nSocial implications: Considers some of the advantages of sportsmanship over gamesmanship.\nOriginality/value: Gives an example of e-learning in the sporting area.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Overcoming barriers to quality work: Child-onset disability doesn't mean "any job will do"	[ "Family", "Social capital", "Strong ties", "Underemployment", "People with disabilities", "Childhood-onset" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: People with childhood-onset disabilities, like most people, want to be self-sufficient through paid work, which allows them to use their education, skills, and experience. Yet they are among the most marginalized people, and those fortunate enough to find employment are much more likely to be underemployed with a consequently lower quality of life.\nCritical network ties for supporting career success: For these reasons, Baldridge et al. (2017) of Oregon State University, USA, conducted a study drawing on disability research and opportunity, motivation, and ability (OMA) social capital theory to propose a model of the impact of strong ties with family and close friends on enhanced employment. Their study raises concerns that people with childhood-onset disabilities who have few family members or close friends may have difficulty overcoming barriers to employment opportunities. More public support is needed for job development for these workers to fill the gap experienced by individuals with few or no family members and close friends. Also, insufficient public support linking persons with childhood-onset disabilities to employment may increase stresses on family members and friends who step in to fill this gap.\nStrong ties positive predictors of employment outcomes: For these people, motivation and ability of network ties are likely to be critical for supporting career success. Application of the OMA framework helps explain why people with disabilities are more likely to encounter obstacles to the benefits of social capital than people without disabilities. When social capital transactions do occur, the OMA theory suggests that connections can be expected to be less motivated to contribute resources to people with disabilities, because social exchanges are often driven by instrumental considerations and people with disabilities are often viewed as having less ability to reciprocate owing to stigmatization, discrimination, and isolation.\nChildren positive predictor of both paid-work hours and skill utilization: Contrary to the notion that strong ties enhance opportunities for workplace skill utilization, number of close friends was negatively associated with skill utilization at all levels of disability severity and became more steeply negatively associated with skill -utilization as disability severity increased. Research has shown that developing and maintaining social ties can be costly owing to demands on time, and energy and perhaps workers with severely disabling conditions must choose between investing in close friendships and investing in quality of employment.\nComment: This review is based on \"Childhood-onset disability, strong ties and employment quality\" by Baldridge et al. (2017). They examine the extent to which social capital in the form of strong ties with family and friends is associated with enhanced employment outcomes for people with childhood-onset disabilities.\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: The paper examines the extent to which social capital in the form of strong ties with family and friends is associated with enhanced employment outcomes for persons with childhood-onset disabilities. As theorized, family-of-origin size is positively associated with hours worked. Family-of-origin size is also associated with having more close friends and children. These strong ties, in turn, are positively associated with hours worked. The impact of having more children on hours worked and skill utilization, however, is positive for men but non-significant for women.\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" } ]
New marketing definition: a future agenda for low cost carrier airlines in Indonesia	[ "Service marketing", "Low cost carrier", "Service quality", "Supplier relations", "Indonesia", "Airlines", "Service industries", "Customer services quality" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The marketing concept was initially introduced by McKitterick (1957) and Keith (1960). It is defined as a distinction of organizational culture or business philosophy that put the customer at the center of the firm's strategy and operation. The marketing knowledge base is growing continuously. In 1985, the American Marketing Association (AMA) defined marketing as the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.For more than 19 years, this definition was used by practitioners and academics. However, the AMA announced a revision of the new marketing definition in 2004. The AMA defined marketing then as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. The association makes periodic reviews about marketing definition from time to time. Recently, AMA announced a new marketing definition:Marketing is an activity, set of institutions, and processes of creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large (American Marketing Association, 2007).The main reason for the change in the definition of marketing announced by AMA is to better relate marketing with tactical issues and not as a business strategy (Gronroos, 2006b). The American Marketing Association and Fleishman-Hillard (2009), conducted a study to get a better understanding of perceptions about the future of sustainability. According to their findings, the respondents believe that corporate reputation is more important than marketing considerations in encouraging the adoption of sustainability practices. Strategy and tactics have different meanings in marketing. The marketing strategy is a foundation for the success of a business. It is a path to understanding what the customer wants and needs from time to time.However, the tactical dimension is an execution of the organization's marketing plan. It is supported by some previous studies which found that a top management meeting did not mention marketing as an important actor in customer management (Brown, 2005). To some extent, CEOs had a negative impression of their marketers (Cassidy et al., 2005). It was found that less than 10 percent of the boards' time was spent discussing marketing and customer-related issues (McGovern et al., 2004).The scope of marketing is become wider. Marketing is now creating recognized value to shareholders, stakeholders, customers and society. This value creation also provides an explanation for the development and growth of intra- and extra-networks (Sheth and Uslay, 2007). The new marketing definition probably changed to cover the emergence of marketing fields such as service marketing, relationship marketing and network-based business-to-business marketing (the IMP approach) which has evolved alongside consumer goods-oriented marketing (Gronroos, 2006b).Christian Gronroos, a Professor of Service Marketing, commented on the definition of marketing. He believes that it is geared towards the very nature of marketing as a process, and shifts the interest of research into marketing from structure to process. He added that the process of marketing now opened up the black box of consumption and usage. It does not end with the purchase decision like traditional marketing scholar view. The consumption or usage process becomes an integral part of marketing and the marketing process (Gronroos, 2006b).Service marketing\nMethod: A convenience sample of ten managers in LCC organizations was asked for an interview session drawn from ten different LCCs in Indonesia. The list of airlines and contact numbers was supplied by the Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and verified with online yellow pages. Figure 1 shows the qualitative study process. Letters of invitation were sent by mail. The letter sent had a letterhead from the School of Management University Sains Malaysia. The letter was signed by the investigator and supervisors, and included an explanation of the importance of participating as a respondent in the study. After that, the investigator followed up with the respondents by phone. Data collection was conducted via personal interviews to achieve the objective of study. The respondents were experienced managers who understood and were closely involved in managerial activities. The investigator also explained the types of information needed for the study in addition to assurance of anonymity and confidentiality. The objectives of the survey were explained to the senior manager in charge. All the interviews were conducted at the respective managers' establishments.\nResults: Four of the ten managers participated in the study. The interview protocol follows the methods of McCracken (1988) and Thompson et al. (1989). An interview protocol is used to ensure a consistent pathway to analyze the data from the interview. The protocol consisted of detailed information regarding the respondents, the interview schedule, ethical considerations and several loosely structured interview questions that served as a means of gently probing for information about the research questions and objectives. Although the interviews were conducted using an interview protocol, respondents were allowed to expand, illustrate and digress (Alam, 2005). Elite interviews are used to collected information from managers. \"Elite interview\" refers to interviews with managers and decision makers (Dexter, 1970; King, 1994). All of the interviews were tape-recorded and detailed notes were taken. The interviews resulted in about 15-20 pages of transcripts. Multiple readings were undertaken to capture a holistic picture of respondents' stories (Flint and Woodruff, 2001). The transcripts also produced memos, which were sorted and combined to arrive at broader theoretical statements and conclusions (Alam, 2005). The interview was focused on business strategy with the aid of several general questions.LCC model in Southeast Asia\nConclusion and future research: Banking, insurance, hospitality, information technology, airline are included in service sectors. Manufacturing is a service, and its output is part of the service-provision process. This paper reviews the new marketing definition literature towards the service marketing research agenda. It discusses the related components of the new marketing definition.The new marketing definition clearly stated that marketing is a set of activity that deals with many people. It is extended to the process of how humans communicate, delivers, and exchanges value to the society. Organizations are encouraged to build strong internal capability to produce a better product and service quality. This is necessary to fulfill societies' wants and needs. The previous definitions of marketing published by AMA in 1985 and 2004 tend to give less attention to clients, partners, and society.However, the latest definition of marketing recognizes the complexity of modern business, which needs to produce synergy among the company, customers, clients, partners and society. It can be seen, especially in service-based organizations, that a customer can participate in the service process.Furthermore, the ability to manage clients and partners has become a requirement for a company s to be able to compete successfully in the market. Society is also expected to derive benefits from organizations, such as green campaigns, societal orientation, careers and so on. Employees, customers and society at large have the opportunity to interact with an organization's web blog and share their experiences there via comments in an interactive format.According to the study respondents, the LCC model provides the best fit with South Asian countries, especially in Indonesia. This is because of the number of potential customers, and the distances entailed by geographical clusters of several islands.The LCC's image was mentioned as the important factor which influences the customer decision-making process. Since the EU has banned all Indonesian airlines from flying into Europe due to safety problems, this issue must be addressed effectively.As a service organization, the capabilities of the employees need to be considered a competitive weapon. The sophisticated technology used by Indonesian LCC's will be useless if they do not have sufficient knowledge on how to apply the technology and treat customers like kings. The LCC service could be unique if management employ and manage the young generation as workforce, especially as frontline staff who provide services to customers. Nurturing youngsters in a LCC organization with training and development will bring an innovative spirit, creativity and new service development, toward the overall success of the organization.Thus, the LCC is encouraged to forge collaboration with partners and suppliers, outsource some service process to the partner and employ reliable providers for aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul and other high technology equipment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - A new marketing definition was issued by AMA in 2007. However, the new definition has argued that marketing covers a set of activities that guide organizations to achieve their business objectives. Perhaps, exploring the new insight of service practitioners would enhance the understanding of how the new marketing definition is universally applicable, especially in a developing country. This paper seeks to focus on the issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The qualitative research was conducted on a sample of managers who worked in a low-cost carrier (LCC) airline. Four managers of ten LCCs agreed to participate in the study. The interviewees had to comment on their business challenges and current practices. The researcher then classified the interviewees' comments and opinions into sub-topics.\nFindings: - There are some future agenda and implications for practitioner and service marketing researchers to develop service quality in the Indonesian LCC industry. The factors are corporate image, employees' capabilities, and a strong bonding with reliable suppliers.\nPractical implications: - In the LCC industry, the combination of internal and external supplier capabilities to deliver service quality is a business strategy to gain service breakthroughs.\nOriginality/value: - This is preliminary investigation to identify a new research agenda in service marketing and to improve the quality of LCC service in Indonesia.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Outsourcing logistics activities in Turkey	[ "Outsourcing", "Logistics", "Transportation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Logistics is that part of the supply chain processes that plans, implements, and controls the efficient and effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customer requirements (www.clm1.org).Owing to the globalization of sources, manufacturing and production, distribution companies in recent years have been adopting the logistics management view to guide their business operations. The adoption of logistics concepts has increasingly forced such companies to focus on their core business and, at the same time, to outsource their transport and other logistics activities. This has resulted in an increasing demand for logistics services that has generated, in past decades, the creation of a worldwide growing market in which specialized service providers, which are called third party logistics (3PL) providers, operate. Recently, it has been highlighted that successful logistics management depends more and more on the performance of the 3PLs. Accordingly, they can play a key integrative role in logistics functions by the management of information flows connected with the entire delivery of goods. This has created an increasing need to support customers' logistics requirements through the effective use of information and computer technologies.Bendor-Samuel (1998) asserts that outsourcing provides a certain power that is not available within an organization's internal departments. This power can have many dimensions: economies of scale, process expertise, access to capital, access to expensive technology, etc. Another possible benefit is that outsourcing provides companies with greater capacity for flexibility, especially in the purchase of rapidly developing new technologies, fashion goods, or the myriad components of complex systems (Carlson, 1989; Harrison, 1994).One of the advantages of using 3PL results from economies of scale (merits from large truck fleets, warehouses, etc.) and economies of scope, which encourage firms to increase net value by reducing costs. The effects of these economies depend on the type of 3PL provider (e.g. IT-equipped, marketing-based, non-asset-based, etc.) Competent 3PL providers possess high coordination ability, enabling them to find reliable partners or sub-contractors, and to efficiently manage the inter-firm flow of goods. Such ability can be developed through experienced 3PLs.Likewise, by outsourcing logistics activities, firms can save on capital investments, and thus reduce financial risks. Investment on logistics assets, such as physical distribution centers or information networks, usually needs large and lump sum costs, which involves financial risks. Furthermore, the 3PL provider can spread these risks by outsourcing to sub-contractors.In developed countries, transport carriers and logistics service providers are expanding their services into various areas that traditionally belonged to their customers upstream as well as downstream. This outsourcing trend is a huge challenge for operators but is also a great opportunity for enlarging their base for business activities. To be able to carry out these new services effectively, significant requirements are put on development for appropriate processes, capability of collaborating and use of advanced information technology.On the other hand, as the world becomes more globally integrated and the boundaries between countries and cultures disappear, many developing countries, including Turkey, are turning into attractive centers for international firms because of their geographical locations, low working fees and high potential for market extensions. However, a previous study shows that in Turkey, outsourcing is still solely based on transportation (Ulengin and Ulengin, 2003). As can be seen from this research, many Turkish firms understand logistics services as taking the transportation order from the manufacturer and delivering the goods to destination points, without thinking about the warehouse design, the optimum location of the warehouse or of inventory management. Such ways of thinking are concerned only with one side of the subject and reduce logistics services to a narrow transportation perspective.The main focus of this particular paper is to analyze the current as well as the future state of Turkish firms in terms of their use of transport carriers and 3PL providers.\nLiterature review: The operational structure of many companies in the face of globalization demonstrates that long-term cooperation agreements between buyers and sellers are increasingly common. These benefits have inspired production companies to establish strategic relationships with external third-party service providers (3PL).There has been considerable interest worldwide in the last few years in the growth of 3PL providers. These firms typically provide some of the following services: warehousing operations, freight payments, carrier selection and rate negotiation. In addition, 3PL firms may develop information systems and manage inventory and customer order fulfillment (Golop and Reagan, 2001; Boyson et al., 1999). Several recent studies have addressed the issue of growth in the 3PL market in detail. A study by Murphy and Poist (1998) provides a review and synthesis of research on this topic. Their study suggests that while current use is fairly low, the majority of users of 3PL services will increase such use in the near future.Traditionally, 3PL services are provided by the organization of the shipper (Lieb and Randall, 1996). The next step in the evolution is that freight transport and forwarding firms, which handle logistics operations on behalf and on credit of the shipper, can be called on as the 3PL providers of the first generation (Berglund et al., 1999). The fourth party logistics (4PL) provider integrates the logistics services provided to the shipper as part of a partnership, managing and optimizing the whole supply chain (network), including both operational and strategic levels (Magill, 2000). Bade and Mueller (1999) define the 4PL firm as the Supply Chain Integrator (SCI), managing the firm's own resources, skills and knowledge, as well as its technologies, combining them with sub-suppliers for delivering the holistic supply chain customers.Recent studies performed in Europe in the same period report that market growth has not been as rapid as predicted in earlier studies (Virum, 1993). Parker (1999) and Stone (2000) report that while European users of 3PL services are satisfied with services received, they have not, in general, increased their use of such services during the last few years. However, many have increased the breadth of services purchased beyond warehousing and transportation.Skjott-Larsen's (2000) evolution model for 3PL logistics companies consists of the integration rate with the customer's business and the specialization of assets. Schary and Skjott-Larsen (2001) claim that logistics services in Europe have shifted, first from the market transaction to the outsourcing of freight transport and warehousing, and then to 3PL and 4PL companies.Today, in the USA, manufacturing is the industry sector most likely to outsource, with durable goods accounting for 39 percent of all activity, and nondurable goods accounting for 25 percent (Zhu et al., 2001). In addition, with a global outsourcing market estimated at PS188 billion in 1998, and with annual growth rates of 15 percent (Coombs and Battaglia, 1998), the distinction between economic activities in different sectors has become blurred (McCarthy and Anagnostou, 2003).Although outsourcing is undertaken by many organizations to control or reduce costs, there is some evidence that it does not decrease costs as expected, and in some cases, actually increases costs. For instance, when an item is outsourced, the assumption is that the supplier's costs and required contribution is less than and will continue to be less than the cost of internal provision. A survey based on 1,000 managers worldwide by the PA Consulting Group (PACG) revealed that only 5 percent of organizations gained high levels of economic benefit from outsourcing (PA Consulting Group (PACG), 1996) and that 39 percent of organizations admitted \"mediocre\" economic benefit. It is necessary but not easy to establish a reliable and cost-effective partnership between the firm and the 3PL provider. In order to establish a reliable partnership, efforts should be made in two stages; 3PL provider selection and contract signing. First, in the stage of selecting a new partner, it is important to select the 3PL provider which has the ability to provide better services. To do this, complex selection procedures are necessary to identify their ability. However, the complex selection procedures may involve additional transaction costs. Second, it is important to establish a system to maintain their reliable partnership once the 3PL partner is selected; information sharing and apparent risk sharing between parties is always required. This would also involve additional transaction costs. Constructing a risk sharing scheme between the firm and the 3PL provider is critical in establishing reliable partnerships.As can be seen from a survey of the literature, past studies on outsourcing and supply chains generally provide information about developed countries. There are very few studies based on developing countries' current supply chain and logistics activities (Sohail and Sohal, 2003, Ulengin and Ulengin, 2003). Sohail and Sohal (2003) examine 3PL services in Malaysia and indicate that a number of operating units in many Malaysian firms utilize the services of logistics providers, and have being doing so for several years. Ulengin and Ulengin attempt to provide a perspective for the current status of logistics activities in Turkey. In this research, the cluster analysis conducted shows that it is possible to categorize Turkish firms as \"modern\" or \"traditional\" firms; \"modern\" firms outsource their logistics activities more than \"traditional\" firms. In traditional firms, logistics comes fourth in terms of importance, after manufacturing, marketing, and purchasing, while it is second for modern firms, coming just after sales.The above-mentioned study also demonstrated that outsourcing is generally understood as transportation. That is why this paper analyzes the current state as well as the future of general outsourcing activities in Turkish firms in more detail, but is especially focused on the outsourcing of transportation activities.\nMethodology: A survey analysis was conducted with 250 of the top 500 Turkish firms specified by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce for the year 2001. The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce lists and evaluates 500 firms every year, based on the firms' total sales volume, profitability, and other financial performance indicators. Questionnaires were sent by fax to the respondent group, which was composed not only of large scale firms but also of those which have continuous growth. A total of 48 questionnaires were returned, representing a 19.2 percent response rate. The questionnaires were based on those proposed by Lambert and Stock (1999) but changes were made to adopt them to Turkish firms.This paper only takes into account the outsourcing part of a large survey that also investigates the current status of all the logistics functions conducted by the firms. The focus of the part of the survey analyzed in this study is basically in the following areas:* logistics functions outsourced by Turkish firms;* the extent to which logistics functions in general and transportation functions in particular are outsourced by Turkish firms;* the criteria used to select and evaluate the performance of the outsourcing firms; and* the performance of the first three outsourcing firms currently used by Turkish firms.The responses were evaluated statistically using SPSS software. Factor and cluster analyses were utilized to determine the behavior of respondents against their logistics service providers and to categorize the respondents.\nResearch findings: General characteristics of the firms\nConclusions and further suggestions: Outsourcing activities have become one of the most important organizational functions in the 21st century. An efficient supply chain management requires optimization of the product's movement from raw material to finished good for customers. This optimization results in a need for professional experts in coordinating logistics services. It is profitable to outsource logistics activities because they are non-value adding but they can not be eliminated and 3PL firms will perform the logistics in the right way. Besides this, a unit requiring resource allocation is eliminated by outsourcing.In developed countries, firms no longer undertake all the operations in the supply chain because they focus on their core business, which means outsourcing logistics activities in the first place, followed by other organizational functions.However, this study shows that the power of 3PL firms in Turkey is underestimated; outsourcing is accepted as synonymous with using a carrier for transportation. The firms that outsource their logistics activities in Turkey are 95 percent foreign capitalized. Turkish businessmen still think that they should do their business themselves and they are not aware of the benefits of outsourcing logistics activities. In fact, in selecting the transportation carrier, they consider different criteria but the general tendency is either to select the carrier that has a good reputation and/or the one which is easy to collaborate with.Initially, in the USA, 3PL firms were mostly used for transportation activities (Holcomb et al., 1998). 3PL firms performed those tasks which were not basic and which were monotonous and required investments (Sink and Langley, 1997). In the past, 3PL firms were expected to cover routine logistics functions but now they are supposed to function in information systems, inventory management and customer order fulfilling, tasks which in fact require deep strategic knowledge and specialization (Boyson et al., 1999). It can be said that the trend of outsourcing in Turkish firms is similar to that of US and European firms (Schary and Skjott-Larsen, 2001). The difference is that these firms are at different stages of development, and it can be said that Turkish firms are at the initial stage. However, their level of commitment to the utilization of 3PLs is not discouraging. Turkish firms should be encouraged to work with a few number of 3PL firms and sustain complete integration among them. Their outsourcing should not solely be based on transportation but also on other logistics activities, such as warehousing. However, the use of outsourcing for logistics activities other than transportation requires extreme information sharing and can only be successful when a collaboration based on mutual confidence can be settled. The firms should see the 3PL firm as their own logistics department. Performance evaluation must be held on a regular basis with feedbacks. With this philosophy; the firms should improve their relations with the 3PLs and force them to catch up with modern technologies.The conducted survey contains useful information, to the logistics executives considering outsourcing as well as to the 3PL service providers who are considering relationships with firms planning to enter into the Turkish market. In fact, Turkey is at the epicenter of transport corridors connecting Europe to the Caucasus and Asia, as well as to the Middle East. This is important not only for Turkey's foreign trade relations and economic development but also for regional and interregional economic cooperation. In the aftermath of the cold war, Turkey has moved from the periphery of Europe to the edge of a new political and economic reality called Eurasia. This region, broadly defined as including Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Black Sea countries, attracts increasing attention not only because it constitutes one of the world's most potentially important energy-producing regions, but because it is also a crucial trade and transport corridor linking East and West. While there is still a high percentage of firms which have not outsourced their logistics activities, the conducted survey shows that 3PL services in Turkey have potential for further development and the vision of developing Turkey into a logistics hub in the region will further enhance the use of the 3PLs in the years to come.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This research aims to determine the current situation of outsourcing logistics activities in Turkey, a country which has a great potential for logistics activities among the surrounding continents because of its geographical location.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Survey analysis was conducted with 250 of the top 500 Turkish firms specified by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce for the year 2001. These firms are selected based on the firms' total sales volume, profitability, and other financial performance indicators. The responses were evaluated statistically using SPSS software. Factor and cluster analyses were utilized to determine the behavior of respondents against their logistics service providers and to categorize the respondents.\nFindings: - The focus of the part of the survey is basically in the following areas: logistics functions outsourced by Turkish firms; the extent to which logistics functions in general and transportation functions in particular are outsourced by Turkish firms; and the criteria used to select and evaluate the performance of the outsourcing firms. The performance of the first three outsourcing firms currently used by Turkish firms.\nOriginality/value: - This study shows that the power of third party logistics (3PL) firms in Turkey is underestimated. The firms that outsource their logistics activities in Turkey are 95 percent foreign capitalized. Turkish businessmen think that they should do their business themselves and they are not aware of the benefits of outsourcing logistics activities. In fact, in selecting the transportation carrier, they consider different criteria but the general tendency is either to select the carrier that has a good reputation and/or the one which is easy to collaborate with.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
E-commerce and graduate education: Is educational quality taking a nose dive?	[ "Electronic commerce", "Education", "Graduates", "Computer based learning", "Quality", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since the mid-1990s, we have seen an increasingly rapid entry of the \"new economy\" (e-commerce) into the hitherto cloistered domain of education. According to Boehle et al. (2000) approximately 54,000 online courses were available in the USA in 1998, with 1.6 million students enrolled - a 70 per cent increase relative to 1995. Despite the number of institutions introducing online education, many institutions believe that the cost and effort required to meet quality objectives for programmes offered online often exceeds available resources (Phoha, 1999; White, 1999). Other educational institutions declare exactly the opposite (Boehle et al., 2000; Greco, 1999). Whichever group may be correct, this area certainly remains a controversial topic, the principal issue being quality standards and control (Greco, 1999). Even corporate training departments are now being influenced by access to online education, shifting their focus from instructional design to quality control. The literature also presents numerous opinions regarding quality in online learning, addressing education ranging from secondary through to postgraduate studies. As paying graduate distance education is one of the fastest growing areas of distance education and is one in which online learning has the potential to contribute significantly (Blotzer, 2000; Dobbs, 2000), this paper will focus on the impact of online learning on quality in this area.Whilst this mode of teaching has facilitated delivery in large education programmes such as undergraduate degrees, it has had a profound effect on the delivery of smaller fee paying graduate level programmes. The latest \"buzz-word\" is of course, online delivery. Everybody wants it or is rapidly trying to develop a capability to deliver it, but what is it really? Does it mean convenience at the expense of quality, or is it yet another medium of delivery, for which new systems of delivery and quality control must be developed? This paper provides a review of the current literature on this topic and presents the results of a survey, conducted at Deakin University to determine the effectiveness of a trial graduate online subject. The paper examines the various perspectives in the literature on what constitutes success in online delivery and the measures of quality that are appropriate to this process.This paper provides an overview of some of the most recent literature on the topic of online learning and then presents a case study relating to a trial of online learning at Deakin University in Australia. The case study was prepared from interviews with the academic responsible for the unit in which the test was carried out and incorporates the results of a survey, which formed part of the testing process. This paper concludes with a discussion of the findings of the case study in relation to the observations in the literature. In particular, the paper addresses the divergent views on what constitutes appropriate online delivery from the quality assurance perspective (such as the level of personal interaction necessary for \"quality\" learning and the capacity of technology to support the process) and the intriguing absence of negative student feedback regarding online graduate education in the literature (which possibly challenges the role of the customer in defining quality in this process).\nLiterature review: The literature identified a range of quality measures that apply to online learning for students studying by distance (off-campus; content and currency of the material presented, convenience for the student, response rate to student queries, impact of student feedback, humanisation of the process, skill acquisition, career development assurance, student-teacher relationship development, one-to-one and one-to-many static learning interactivity (causal progression of ideas), dynamic interactivity (development of new relationships during the learning process), effectiveness of critical technology, suitability of writing style, rate of information availability (relative to traditional teaching), overall course quality assurance and institutional (university) commitment to the programme.Interestingly, most of these measures have built-in elements of bias (either anti- or pro online learning) and some are also more generally applicable to distance education, of which online learning can form a part. As yet, the application of e-commerce to graduate education appears to be viewed in a subjective manner by both participants and non-participants in the process. The following discusses some of these in relation to the evidence presented in the literature.The intimacy of the learning process is vital and is one measure of quality in which the academics believe that online learning is at a natural disadvantage (Boehle et al., 2000; Daniels and Rubin, 1998). Pritchard (1998), contends, however, that a virtual classroom is far more intimate than a traditional classroom because the participants expect more personalized responses, personal attention, and individualised experience.Written dialogues often produce more thoughtful contributions from students than oral discussions (Boehle et al., 2000; Carpenter, 1998). Greco (1999) claimed that some institutions believe face-to-face interaction to be essential if intimate communications are to be established in the learning process in the learning process, whilst other institutions are of the opinion that the increased accessibility of staff possible through computer mediated conferencing creates a greater feeling of intimacy for students studying online, than for those who attend a class for a brief period, once per week. Dumont (1996) suggested that one of the principal benefits of online learning is, in fact, that the learning process is more active and the collaboration more interactive.Phoha (1999) suggest that online learning cannot provide good academic/student interaction because the learning process is a dynamic one and cannot be conducted asynchronously. On the other hand, Carpenter (1998) claimed that a major online MBA provider, Athabasca, finds that students claim that the asynchronous communication actually increases the quality of the information conveyed and provides a more equitable environment for interaction. Pritchard (1998) identified the fact that as the instructor plays an important role as a mentor in the learning process, they must adopt techniques suitable for the environment in which they teach.By 2001, 35 per cent of Motorola's education must be carried out via the internet. By 2002 they plan for that to be 50 per cent. KPMG conducts 70 per cent of its training primarily online (Dobbs, 2000). Graduate students generally want to pursue their course work on their own schedules (Greco, 1999). Many students still do not have logistically acceptable access to quality graduate programmes, such as MBAs (Carpenter, 1998). It has been suggested that, in fact, the traditional structure of education no longer meets the needs of students who are viewing education as a part of a lifelong process, who require a just-in-time perspective to their education and those with competing pressures including full-time employment. They suggested that the availability and flexibility of online learning are important features of a pedagogy for learning in the twenty-first century. From an equity perspective, the internet provides a levelling influence over social structure, which is relevant to education.The integration of emerging technologies such as multimedia, groupware and the internet is enabling significant innovations in education, possibly more so than any other profession (Angehrn and Nabeth, 1997). One of the current benefits of online learning is that student interactions are usually recorded as part of the learning process, thus making assessment and feedback more equitable (Dumont, 1996). This also relies on the organisation and academics to build suitable skills to enable them to respond using the capabilities of the technology, at a reasonable response rate (Clarke, 1996).\nCase study: Trial of online delivery at Deakin University\nDiscussion: This paper has referred to online and off-campus learning, as though these were almost synonymous. This is naturally not the case, however, the level of demand for off-campus education worldwide has made the online delivery of such education an important consideration. Despite this, however, the tool should not be confused with a pedagogy (Angehrn and Nabeth, 1997). Online learning may not perform adequately in all the measures of quality that apply to the pedagogy for off-campus education that the institution selects (Phoha, 1999). Consequently, the appropriate tool to deliver the learning must be adopted for the pedagogy selected to establish a process that can potentially reach satisfactory quality levels (Pritchard, 1998). The tool should not be selected first and then a pedagogy adopted to meet the capabilities of that tool. The literature and case above demonstrate that a learning environment which is perceived to be strong in quality of education measures such as intimacy, relevance, customer focus and interaction is one in which the online learning technologies are very carefully managed (Greco, 1999).This observation brings into question the potential quality performance of distance education provided in a CML only learning environment. This is a significant question as many institutions are now considering adopting this off-campus pedagogy through posting their learning materials on the world wide web. It could be postulated that this delivery mode is tantamount to correspondence education, which is identified in the literature to have a range of significant weaknesses (Greco, 1999). Whilst such a learning environment may be suitable for some learning objectives, it is unlikely to meet all of the quality measures that might apply to graduate fee-paying education. Feedback from other surveys of students studying in Deakin's virtual campus indicate that two-way interaction and, in many cases, face-to-face interaction are still perceived to be important elements of the learning process.One of the most important findings to result from testing the CML learning environment was identifying the elements of the selected learning pedagogy before determining how to deliver it. It is very easy to be influenced by the apparent \"features\" of online learning technologies and not consider their role in the learning pedagogy that the institution wishes to adopt.\nConclusion: The conclusion of the test of the implementation of a total online learning environment for a graduate unit at Deakin was that, at this stage, the value of CML learning via online learning is limited. In addition it was found that, for Deakin students at least, a better learning environment is currently achievable through a combination of print based learning materials and CMC. In fact, it is safe to say that a blend of both of these media is the most appropriate environment. In addition, the research has confirmed that there is no effort to be saved through the implementation of online teaching technologies if equivalent quality performance in the learning process is to be achieved. This observation is identified even in the literature that is strongly in favour of online education (e.g. Carpenter, 1998).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Online education has been growing rapidly, but has not had the benefit of the extensive teaching pedagogy development of traditional face-to-face teaching. This paper aims to provide a review of the current literature and present the results of a survey, conducted to determine the effectiveness of a graduate online subject.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The literature was reviewed to identify measures of success and quality in online education delivery. These measures were then considered in relation to their application in practice via a case study based around a survey conducted at Deakin University in Australia.\nFindings: - A total of 16 relevant measures of teaching quality were identified in the literature. Most measures had elements of bias and some were more generally applicable to online learning. The case study suggested that the value of computer mediated learning in an online environment was limited and that a combination of print and computer mediated conferencing performed better in more of the identified quality matrices.\nPractice implications: - Online learning does not save teaching resources if standards of quality are maintained. It can be used to provide a remote teaching facility, provided it is backed up by resources such as printed study guides. For the subject evaluated, online mediated learning did not the provide the same quality of education.\nOriginality/value: - Whilst some research has been conducted in this area, no substantive grounded theory has been applied to postgraduate or fee-paying online education regimes. As a result, case studies of such applications can be very helpful in the design of future teaching systems.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Effects of knowledge management on client-vendor relationship quality: the mediating role of global mindset	[ "India", "Relationship management", "Knowledge management", "Global mindset", "International outsourcing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The role of client-vendor relationships has been identified as a critical factor in influencing the performance of firms in general and for service providers in particular. This is because effective relationships allow business partners to leverage each other's resources and learn from each other (Chadee et al., 2016; Kale et al., 2000; Mathews, 2006). The development and maintenance of effective relationships is more critical in the services sector because of the intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity and perishability of services (Zeithaml et al., 1985). The very nature of the tasks involved in services means that service providers and their clients work closely with each other and share sensitive information about their businesses. Inevitably, service providers often become integral parts of the value chain of their clients, where the success of a client and its service provider are intertwined because the latter's failure is likely to affect the client adversely. Good quality relationships between service providers and their clients greatly reduce the risks of failure in the delivery of high-quality customised services to clients (Kedia and Lahiri, 2007; Leal-Millan et al., 2016; Raman et al., 2013). Thus, a critical element of success for service providers is their ability to manage knowledge from their clients effectively by developing and maintaining high-quality relationships with them.\nLiterature review and conceptual model: The three constructs of interest in this study, namely, KM, GM and CVRs are dynamic capabilities of ISPs. These capabilities can be developed, integrated, reconfigured and redeployed to meet the changing and diverse business environments in which ISPs operate (Teece, 2014). ISPs that have successfully developed and leveraged these dynamic capabilities are more competitive in responding to changes in their global business environments. In this study, we offer more nuanced explanations on how KM enhances CVR through the mediating role of GM.\nMethodology: Sample and data collection\nResults and discussion: This study tests hypotheses H1 to H4 using the PLS approach to structural equation modelling (SEM). PLS-based SEM is suitable when the sample size and the numbers of indicators and latent variables are not large enough for covariance-based modelling. The current study has met the guidelines in using PLS recommended by Marcoulides and Saunders (2006) in terms of PLS estimation after taking into account the main objective of the study (i.e. estimating relationships rather than predictive modelling), the sample size of 68 firms, 15 indicators, 3 latent variables, factor loadings (minimum of 0.70) and factor inter-correlations (minimum of 0.42) to develop and test a PLS-based structural model with acceptable statistical power.\nConclusion: Research on CVR management in the context of ISPs remains underdeveloped. This is despite the fact that the past decade has experienced rapid growth in ISPs, particularly from emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (Klafke et al., 2016). Furthermore, ISPs operate in diverse and complex environments and often have to deal with multiple languages, cultures and general business environments at any given time. ISPs enter projects with knowledge and people only to become integral parts of their clients' businesses such that their failures and successes are intertwined. ISPs work closely with their clients in the design and delivery of highly specialised and customised services on a global scale. The nature of the services rendered by ISPs means that they rely on their clients to gain deep knowledge of their business, resources and future needs. Clients possess valuable tacit knowledge of their businesses, the sharing of which with ISPs become critical for the successful delivery of customised services which meet clients' needs. In this respect, the capability of ISPs in managing knowledge is critical in ensuring their success. Thus, an interesting question arises as to how ISPs, particularly those from emerging economies which operate in diverse global business environments, can manage knowledge effectively in order to enhance their CVR?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study argues that knowledge management (KM) by itself has only limited effects on client-vendor relationship (CVR) of global providers of highly customised services. Rather, it is the ability of top management to properly evaluate and utilise a vast array of complex knowledge which allows global firms to develop and maintain superior CVR. The paper tests the proposition that global mindset (GM) of top management mediates the effects of KM on CVR quality.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses survey data from a sample of 68 international service providers (ISPs) in the information technology sector in India and partial least squares approach to structural equation modelling to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: The results show that both KM and GM have positive and statistically significant effects on the quality of CVRs. The results also confirm that the GM of top management has significant and substantive mediation effects on the relationship between KM and CVR quality.\nResearch limitations/implications: The small size of the sample and the focus on ISPs in a single country constitute the main limitations of the study. Future research should ideally draw from a larger sample of ISPs from multiple countries and sectors in order to allow for greater generalisation of the findings.\nPractical implications: ISPs will benefit from developing the GM of their top management teams to enhance their CVRs.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides new insights into how, in an international context, firms can transform their KM into superior CVR quality through the development of GM.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Modelling advances in gatekeeping theory for academic libraries	[ "Selection", "Information management", "Theory", "Modelling", "Academic libraries", "Gatekeeping theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Gatekeeping is a well-developed theory in the field of journalism and communications, and scholars of Library and Information Science (LIS) have long recognized its potential to model information flow in libraries. However, although terms like \"gatekeeping\" and \"gatekeeper\" are readily recognized in LIS discourse, that discourse has not yet exploited recent developments of the theory in journalism and communications, sometimes employing them detached from the theory or cursorily referencing foundational studies such as Lewin (1947, 1951). Gatekeeping theory within journalism and communications has become more sophisticated, especially in the last 15 years, so a reexamination of gatekeeping as a model for information flows in libraries promises to provide a useful framework for understanding the increasingly fluid information landscape of twenty-first century libraries. The purpose of this study, then, is to identify a current sophisticated instance of gatekeeping theory within the field of journalism and communication, and model how it could be a useful framework for understanding information flows in libraries. First, the background literature will be reviewed, particularly to exemplify the current uses of gatekeeping concepts in LIS discourse and their limitations, to identify an appropriate formulation of gatekeeping theory in the literature of journalism and communications to serve as the basis to update the LIS model of gatekeeping, and to identify topics in the LIS literature where gatekeeping theory could elucidate problems or suggest solutions. Next, research questions that arise from this review will be identified. Further, the method of conceptual analysis is introduced and its appropriateness to the application of gatekeeping theory to LIS is explained. Then the model available in journalism and communications is examined in detail and its applicability to the library environment is explored. Finally, the gains of applying the model and avenues for future research are discussed.\nProblem statement: Several applications of gatekeeping theory have arisen in LIS, particularly examining the information behavior of ethnic groups from a sociological viewpoint, and in online communities. These studies are firmly grounded in particular instances of gatekeeping theory. However, the broader discourse in LIS sometimes uses concepts from gatekeeping theory, particularly the terms \"gatekeeper\" and \"gatekeeping function\" without reference to the theoretical background. This usage points to an opportunity to extend the framework provided by gatekeeping theory to library information flows and to exploit the fuller range of concepts in gatekeeping theory, such as channels, forces at the gates and feedback loops. Further, studies that do situate their usage of concepts from gatekeeping theory tend to look to early statements of the theory in journalism and communications, and have not always kept abreast of the development of gatekeeping theory in that field. In particular, gatekeeping theory in journalism and communications has developed substantially since the early 2000s, especially in response to developments in internet media and social media; since parallel developments impact library information flows, LIS would benefit by revisiting the discourse of gatekeeping in journalism and communications. Finally, while being able to frame how information passes through libraries with greater theoretical sophistication is satisfying in itself, a renewed investigation of gatekeeping theory seems likely to provide a frame within which it will be possible to approach issues such as open access and library neutrality with greater sophistication.\nLiterature review: In reviewing the literature, three broad areas appear as relevant: previous applications of gatekeeping theory within LIS, the synthesis of gatekeeping theory and its recent development in journalism and communication, and identification of current issues in LIS that a revised application of gatekeeping theory could help explicate.\nResearch questions: Arising from this review, the following research questions can be identified:\nMethods: This study employs several methods appropriate to theoretical discourse. The primary method employed is conceptual analysis, that is, the identification of the concept of interest, in this case the gatekeeping model of Shoemaker and Vos, and its analysis into its component parts so that they may be evaluated for their relevance or usefulness to LIS. This is a common approach for building theory in LIS, and, in particular, this study looks to the models of Hjorland (2004) who argues for the applicability of the model of philosophical realism to LIS, Mai (2001) who applies semiotics to indexing practice, and Feinberg (2007) who uses Haraway's model of situated knowledge to probe bias in information systems. The secondary method employed is the thought-experiment, that is, imaginatively applying a model in a concrete situation to test where it complements our intuitive or common-sense understanding of the situation and where it produces counter-intuitive results. The thought experiment is a less common methodology in LIS, being more typical of philosophical discourse. This is a useful technique in theory building; thought experiments reduce the complexity of real-world phenomena to focus on the variables that are of interest, that is, they help us refine our idea of \"what is at stake\" in specific dilemmas. Additionally, they allow us to sidestep conventional wisdom and accepted approaches to intractable problems, that is, they allow us to ask, \"What if we've been looking at this backwards? What questions would we ask if we assumed this was the center of the issue, not that?\" (Sorensen, 1992, pp. 8-11). In particular this study takes inspiration from the examples of Floridi's (2013, esp. pp. 79-82)writing on information ethics where imagined situations (vandalism, cloning and disrespect of corpses) are used to elicit intuitive responses, which are used to identify gaps in standard ethical theories (here, that the entities in question are not persons makes moral evaluation of their mistreatment problematic). More broadly, such imaginative explorations have proven useful in exploring the potential impacts of emerging practices and technologies, which, by their emerging nature, are not yet subject to empirical validation, for example, in the discussion over \"soundness only\" peer review (Neylon, 2011; Spezi et al., 2017, 2018).\nConceptual analysis: The first part of the study, then, is an examination of gatekeeping theory in journalism and communications, with a view to identifying elements with explanatory power for issues in LIS. Shoemaker and Vos (2009) will be the primary model for contemporary gatekeeping theory in journalism and communications. It is understood that this model is not necessarily coextensive with the discourse on gatekeeping in journalism and communications, and, where helpful for clarity, it will be augmented with additional discussions, but, as it provides an accessible and centrist synthesis of that discourse, it will be a useful starting point for connecting that discourse with issues in LIS. Shoemaker and Vos (2009) identify three overarching topics: concepts, levels of analysis and theory; this study will examine each of these in turn.\nModel application: In the previous section concepts in gatekeeping theory as developed in journalism and communications were identified and analyzed as to whether they would be useful in understanding gatekeeping in LIS. A number of concepts appear to be salient to understanding information flows in LIS, but this analysis remains at a high level of abstraction. The following section, then, imaginatively applies the concepts identified above to a familiar gatekeeping situation in LIS with the objective of evaluating their utility for real-world application. As noted above, the thought experiment typically reduces the complexity of real-world situations to focus on a smaller number of factors, which may more clearly reveal their relationships and bring to light unarticulated assumptions. Thus, in this section, the study will imaginatively examine a simplified gatekeeping situation in the library information flow in terms of the gatekeeping concepts identified above, to see what they reveal about the internal logic of the situation, and to see how they prompt new questions or perspectives. The gatekeeping situation for this model application will be that of a selector choosing a resource to add to the library collection; in keeping with the method of reducing complicating factors, the focus will be on print resources in an academic library. The method of evaluation is to probe along the following lines: Does this formulation of gatekeeping theory prompt us to ask new questions about the situation? Are such questions able to be investigated? Provided it is possible to collect data towards an answer to such questions, what kind of impact would they have on theory or practice in LIS?\nConclusions: While the language of gatekeeping theory, such as \"gatekeeper,\" \"source,\" \"channel\" and the like, have been adopted by LIS scholars, primarily from the development of the theory in journalism and communications, that language is often untethered from its original theoretical base. Such usage can sometimes produce the misleading notion that gatekeeping of information does not occur, for example, on the open web. Moreover, with some important exceptions, use of gatekeeping theory in LIS discourse does not look to more recent developments of the theory in journalism and communications. This study addresses these gaps in a preliminary manner, using conceptual analysis to identify what developments in gatekeeping theory in journalism and communication are particularly relevant to information flows in library contexts, and further exploring what kinds of questions the theory prompts in the specific case of monograph selection in an academic library.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the appropriateness of gatekeeping theory, particularly its recent elaboration in journalism and communication studies for the investigation of information flows in academic libraries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper uses the methods of conceptual analysis and thought experiment.\nFindings: This paper finds that current elaborations of gatekeeping theory are useful for modeling library information flows, particularly identifying and evaluating influences on those flows. It is able to reframe intransigent issues around library neutrality and open access so that more nuanced approaches can be constructed.\nOriginality/value: Gatekeeping theory as elaborated by Shoemaker and Vos for journalism and communication studies, while occasionally referenced the library and information science (LIS) literature, has not been previously evaluated as a framework for library information flows. This is the first paper to assess the potential of aspects of the theory such as levels of analysis and multiplicity of channels to reframe issues in LIS.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The relationship of personal innovativeness, quality of digital resources and generic usability with users' satisfaction: A Pakistani perspective	[ "Digital libraries", "Users satisfaction", "Adoption theories", "Evaluative study", "Innovations and technologies", "Users studies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: While the dynamic nature of technologies has become a potential challenge for librarians, still its innovations such as a digital library (DL) are supportive of the overall learning processes and research activities. Realizing the worth of DL, the Government of Pakistan in 2002 established a National Digital Library under the supervision of Higher Education Commission (HEC) to augment learning and research (Khan and Qutab, 2016). Since that HEC has substantially invested in its overall developments, infrastructure, human capital, digital resources and accessibility matters. Nevertheless, the worth of technological innovations in terms of learning and research productivity can be recognized if users, for example, university students satisfactorily adopt digital libraries (DL).\nConceptual framework and hypotheses: The intended study examines the relationships of PI, quality of DL resources and generic usability of DL with users' satisfaction in the context of National Digital library of Pakistan. The following sections will provide discussions on these constructs to be integrated into the research framework and the hypothesized relationships between them.\nThe conceptual framework of the study: The conceptual framework of this study was guided by the preceding discussions and related literature review on adoption of innovations. Such theories have established that adoption is not simply influenced by instrumental factors but also theoretical beliefs such as users' satisfaction, quality of services and resources and usability. Hence, the study of the adoption of DL is important in terms of personal traits, satisfaction, quality of DL resources and generic usability. After evaluating different models such as TAM (Davis, 1989), Information Systems Success Model (Delone and McLean, 1992) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (Venkatesh et al., 2012), we constructed our own model of the study shown in Figure 1. This model theorizes that users' satisfaction with DL is a strong predictor of its adoption. It is further elaborated that this users' satisfaction is directly impacted by the PI, quality of DL resources and generic usability of DL. To this end, our assumption states that individual traits, usability and quality are the positive and significant determinants of adoption of HEC DL. The review of the related of this study revealed an adequate amount of studies on the moderation effect of PI in diverse context. However, research on the direct influence of PI especially in the context of HEC DL of Pakistan is limited. As a response to the gap this study planned to examine the direct relationship of PI with users' satisfaction in the context of HEC DL of Pakistan. Additionally, to empirically support the test of proposed direct impact of PI on users' satisfaction, this study identified several other studies that have examined such association in other context. Few of these studies are Boyle and Ruppel (2006), Rosen (1996), Rouibah and Abbas (2010), Lu (2014) and Wijesundara and Xixiang (2017).\nResearch methodology: Population, sampling and data collection\nFindings: Demographic profile\nDiscussion: The proposed model of this study was strongly supported by the data collected for this research. The positive result on H1 quality of digital resources of HEC DL has a direct impact on the users' satisfaction, strongly support the findings of Delone and McLean (1992) and Chang (2013). From the results, it is inferred that the quality of resources of DL significantly influences users' satisfaction.\nConclusion: This study examined the effects of PI, quality of digital resources and generic usability of DL on users' satisfaction and was found positive and significant. The study constructs may play a significant role in the successful adoption of DL. It is suggested that librarians should focus on these constructs not only from users' perspectives but also from professional standpoints. Besides users, librarians should be innovative and must be willing towards the adoption of innovations which is mandatory for attracting users towards DL. Additionally, the generic usability of DL can be improved if users are provided with valuable digital resources and easy-to-use system interfaces. Likewise, if innovative users are satisfied with the overall use of DL and its quality of digital resources, they perhaps inform potential users that definitely boost the generic usability of DL.\nContributions, implications and limitations: Besides, a response to the gaps in literature this study in the context of DL has numerous contributions through confirming positive and significant relationships between PI, the generic usability of DL, quality of digital resources and users' satisfaction. Theoretically, this study broadens our understanding of PI, quality of DL resources, usage and users' satisfaction. It confirmed that users' satisfaction should be equally interpreted in terms of pre-adoption intention. The findings of this study also supported the previous theories of adoption of innovations. Further, construction of the integrated theoretical model of this study was adapted from the previous models and theories of adoption of innovations such as Rogers' theory of innovation and TAMs. Supporting the past findings, this study suggests incorporation of PI as a predictor of users' satisfaction in the existing models of adoption of innovations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In addition to instrumental assumptions, behavioural researchers suggest the study of individual traits such as personal innovativeness (PI), users' satisfaction and other theoretical beliefs for example quality and general usage patterns as the latent determinants of early and post-adoptions of technological innovations. In the context of Higher Education Commission digital library of Pakistan, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of PI, quality of digital resources and generic usability of digital libraries (DL) with users' satisfaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To guide the conceptual model of this study, five hypothesized relationships were formulated. Adopting a quantitative approach, snowball sampling techniques were used. A total of 464 users of DL enrolled in different programs of study in the universities of Pakistan participated and responded to the survey. For data analyses, partial least squares, a method in the structural equation modeling was used.\nFindings: Analyses reveal positive and strong relationships of PI, quality of digital resources and generic usability of DL with users' satisfaction. Thus, the findings of this study established personal traits as the significant determinants of intention to adopt DL.\nResearch limitations/implications: The decision of effective adoption is manipulated by the extent of users' willing (PI), level of satisfaction, the image of quality and users' past experience with the use of related innovations. Thus, librarians in addition to the system features should also focus on individual characteristics and quality of resources that probably influence adequate adoption of DL.\nOriginality/value: In the Pakistani context, this study is the first attempt that examined the relationship of PI, the usability of DL and quality of digital resources with users' satisfaction. Research model of this study can be used in future research. Also, this study extended the scope of theories of adoption towards DL.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Just how far can healthy schools go?	[ "Schools", "Health education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: The National Healthy Schools Programme is jointly sponsored by the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Health, and has an accredited local healthy schools programme operating in all areas of England. The overall aims of the Programme are to help reduce health inequalities, help raise pupil achievement and help promote social inclusion. At present, just over 7,000 of the 23,000 state schools in England have achieved a national healthy school status - with another 7,000 working towards it.In the UK, the Five Year Strategy of the Department for Education and Skills and the Government's Public Health White Paper Choosing Health, both of which came out in 2004, have considerably strengthened the position of the National Healthy Schools Programme. At the same time, the Children Act of November 2004 has brought into law measures outlined in the Government's discussion paper Every Child Matters. This will mean a wholesale change towards integrated services for children at the local level and that all services, including schools, will soon be judged on their contribution towards the five national outcomes for children stated by the Act. The five national outcomes for children are:1. Being healthy.2. Staying safe.3. Enjoying and achieving.4. Making a positive contribution.5. Schieving economic well-being.The Government has a vision of all schools in England becoming healthy schools by 2009, and has indicated that all health-related initiatives in schools should be through the healthy school process. The definition of a healthy school is also being widened, strengthened and made more rigorous. Schools will have to address and achieve performance criteria relating to healthy eating, physical activity and emotional health and well-being - as well as a comprehensive Personal, Social and Health Education curriculum that includes drugs education (including alcohol and tobacco) and sex and relationships education. The fact that the government has decided to use the National Healthy Schools Programme as its major school-based strategy to tackle obesity is a testimony to the growing impact of the local healthy school programmes operating in all LEA and PCT areas (see www.wiredforhealth.gov.uk/evidenceofimpact).The other gratifying development is the enormous interest shown by a welter of government departments and agencies in the National Healthy School Programme's national schools database. Populated locally by healthy school programmes, the database offers users information about all schools in England across a wide spectrum of healthy school achievement and activity, and is organised so that it can be interrogated at Primary Care Trust, Strategic Health Authority, Local Education Authority, Government Office and national level. The database tells us that over 14,000 schools are already involved with their local healthy schools programme and 7,016 have achieved national healthy schools status. Research tells us that of the schools not yet involved (about 9,000) 83 per cent intend to join their local programme.\n\"Fix it\", or the whole school approach: So, with greater strategic investment, enormous interest from schools, greater accountability and monitoring - and the reasonable supposition of increased resources to deliver on a more exacting agenda - how far can the National Healthy School Programme go? What could it deliver?One of the possible dangers of being recognised as a \"deliverer\" of a pre-ordained provision that constitutes a healthy school (e.g. breakfast club, circle time, peer-mentoring, a good sex and relationships education curriculum - and a whole host of other very good, well-evidenced strategies) is that an efficient school manager who is time-poor and relatively resource-rich may find it very tempting to just do it - access those regeneration funds, re-model the workforce, tick all the action boxes that constitute a healthy school. It would mean quick wins, possibly impress inspectors, especially if the actions could be tied to the five outcomes for children in the Government's Every Child Matters agenda, and may even gain plaudits from the local education authority and primary care trust.However, taking this approach should not mean that the school would axiomatically gain national healthy school status and be recorded on the national school database, because under such an approach the vital \"whole school approach\" (which attempts to integrate healthy school activities into the totality of the life of the school and for all staff and pupils, for example by working through the curriculum, management, policies, and relationships with parents and the community) would be forgotten or played down. We are not convinced that a school that has ignored the whole school approach is really changing anything. We do not want a one-size-fits-all healthy school award - because the needs of school communities differ. Unless there is real participation and partnership with the whole school population and its wider community(ies) the new strategies introduced by our efficient school manager are once again being done to pupils, not being developed with them. For example, we do not know that a breakfast club is appropriate for any school community unless we work with them to determine their needs. There will be no ownership, negligible understanding and little pride in healthy school developments unless we involve the school community in the journey. If we want to mainstream healthy schools so that they are indistinguishable from other necessities of learning, we have to consider issues of sustainability and continuity. This is why national healthy school status demands evidence of the whole school approach and why we must protect this criterion.\nHealthy schools as agents of change: It has been said that, at its best, a healthy school is subversive. It undermines the old order in school; it helps to cede responsibility - and some authority - to pupils, parents/carers and the local community; it heralds a new way of doing things and a \"can do\" culture; it is an agent of change when many had supposed it was merely promoting skipping and denigrating chips. We cannot afford to dismiss the chips'n'skipping issues - they are a vital part of what a healthy school is about and they are what many parents/carers and politicians initially think about when they hear the phrase \"healthy school\" - but \"health\" is its widest, holistic sense is also about emotional, social and community health, not just the physical. As schools use the National Healthy School Standard \"whole school\" approach and process, many see how it can be applied to any area or priority that it needs to change.So how much might healthy schools achieve? It may presently be fanciful to suppose that it can achieve a wholesale cultural change in every school, but thinking is already moving. The arguments for greater investment in \"physical health\" at school have been largely won. Most schools want to address these issues properly if they are not already doing so, but many have moved on from that. In the vanguard are those schools that are taking the healthy school process and whole school approach to other areas of school life, and seeing how they can be used in, for example, their approach to establishing extended services for the school community. In time, as healthy schools work is \"mainstreamed\", there is likely to be a coalescence between healthy schools and extended schools (another government programme that has a vision of the school being a hub of community services) and the healthy schools way will be the way is which school managers achieve change. That's how far healthy schools can go; to the point where the \"healthy\" is dropped as its inclusion would be tautological.Please see www.lhsp.org for the contact of local healthy schools programme coordinators and www.wiredforhealth.gov.uk for a wide variety of information about the National Healthy Schools Programme as well as health-related information for pupils and teachers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To explore the current development of the Healthy Schools movement in England, and to suggest some ways forward.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The editorial suggests that the Healthy Schools movement is now well established in England, and used by the UK government as the vehicle to transmit health-related initiatives, e.g. the drive against obesity. It is intended to be in all schools by 2009.\nFindings: - It is important that this movement does not turn into a \"one size fits all/checklist\" approach, but that the whole school approach is maintained, which gives schools the ability to tailor their project to their own circumstances and achieve widespread ownership. It is also important that the health that is promoted is not just physical, but includes emotional, social and community health. In time it may make radical changes to the nature and purpose of schooling, especially if it joins with the extended school movement to bring about community change.\nPractical implications: - Useful reminders to those developing healthy school/health-promoting school approaches to bear in mind the key principles of taking a whole school perspective, ensuring ownership and responsiveness to particular needs, looking at mental and social as well as physical health, and including the role of the school in its community.\nOriginality/value: - Learning some key principles from a country which has gone a long way to develop its healthy school approach.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The moral bases of consumer ethnocentrism and consumer cosmopolitanism as purchase dispositions	[ "Consumer ethnocentrism", "Consumer psychology", "Consumer ethics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Moral foundations has inspired a rich literature stream in social psychology during the past two decades (Haidt, 2001; Haidt and Joseph, 2004; Haidt and Graham, 2009; Haidt and Kesebir, 2010):\nLiterature review: Dispositions\nMethodology: Participants and procedure\nResults: We tested the relationships shown in Figure 1 as a structural equation model (SEM) using partial least squares (PLS). We used this approach to measure whether and the extent to which moral foundation dimensions (loyalty, authority and sanctity) and consumer dispositions (CE and CC) were related and whether these consumer dispositions helped predict PJs. We used the SmartPLS 3 software, a composite-based approach to the use of SEM.\nDiscussion: Our study provides evidence of direct influences of three moral foundations on two consumer dispositions that have thus far remained under-researched in consumer behavior contexts. Although there have been calls for additional research on moral values into diverse aspects of consumer behavior (for instance, Winterich et al., 2009 and 2012), progress in this research stream has been slow. Our findings add to this emerging research avenue. Our findings that revealed that moral foundations can exert a significant influence on consumer dispositions and product judgments should advance our understanding of why particular strategies, such as positioning strategies and promotional themes, will or will not work in various product marketing settings.\nConclusion: The moral foundation theory (Haidt, 2001) in its basic form describes that there are five dimensions that define the morality of an individual:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to develop a model that explains the moral bases of consumer ethnocentrism and consumer cosmopolitanism as purchase dispositions. The authors build their work on moral foundations theory and the social theories of Emile Durkheim.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Theory-building from general theories of motivation is grounded in cultural norms, and empirical research is conducted to test theoretical propositions.\nFindings: The focus is on the theoretical implications of binding or individualism morals of consumers within social groups. Consequently, variables in the model relate to ethical themes of community, autonomy and divinity. This theory posits that, for a variety of considerations, loyalty has a direct and positive effect on consumer ethnocentrism and on consumer cosmopolitanism. Serendipitously, other moral foundations have negative effects. The authors theorize that negative relationships exist between authority and consumer cosmopolitanism, and between sanctity and consumer ethnocentrism. This model also illustrates that consumer ethnocentrism positively predisposes favorable domestic product judgments.\nResearch limitations/implications: New ethical factors in consumer dispositions affecting product purchase decisions are explored. Hypotheses can be empirically replicated and moderated in future research.\nPractical implications: Marketers can use the variables of personal values, moral foundations and gender role identity to fashion marketing communications and to target selective consumer segments.\nSocial implications: The persuasion process of social marketing will be enhanced by understanding relevant motives.\nOriginality/value: The use of the fine-grained moral foundation antecedents to predict consumer predispositions of ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism is without precedent.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Employee-workplace alignment: Employee characteristics and perceived workplace requirements	[ "Workplace", "User satisfaction", "Productivity", "Individual behaviour", "Environmental psychology", "Workplace psychology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: According to Person-Environment Fit theory, workplace stress arises as a result of misalignment between the needs of the employee and the characteristics of the environment (Edwards et al., 1998). The \"environment\" here has typically been defined in terms of psychosocial characteristics, but it is becoming increasingly recognised that misalignment can also occur with the physical workplace environment (Gerdenitsch et al., 2018; Haynes, 2012; Vischer, 2007). Specifically, Haynes (2012) has stressed the need for the characteristics of the office environment to be aligned to both the working patterns and psychological characteristics of the office occupants.\nNon-uniformity in workplace requirements: Workspace segregation\nMethod: Participants\nResults: Main analyses\nDiscussion: Workspace segregation\nWorkspace territoriality: The results confirmed three of the four propositions within H2, that higher workspace territoriality requirements would be associated with being female, lower internal mobility, and less positive perceptions regarding the impact of flexible working on work effectiveness. There was also a small effect, marginally above the criteria for statistical significance, to indicate that higher workspace territoriality requirements were associated with less positive perceptions regarding the importance of flexible working. As such, H2 was supported.\nIndividual environmental control: The results supported three of the four original propositions in H3. As expected, requirements for higher individual environmental control were associated with being female, with lower internal mobility, and with less positive perceptions regarding the impact of flexible working on work effectiveness. However, there was no evidence to suggest that individual environmental control requirements were associated with perceptions regarding the importance of flexible working. Thus, H3 was mostly supported.\nAesthetic quality: Due to the paucity of past research, H4 made no specific predictions regarding the influence of individual differences on requirements for aesthetic quality, and a more exploratory approach was adopted. The results indicated that two employee characteristics were associated with aesthetic quality requirements. There was a strong effect to suggest that individuals with higher aesthetic sensitivity tend to ascribe more importance to the look and feel of the workplace. This is perhaps an intuitive and unsurprising finding, but nonetheless demonstrates that the perceived importance of aesthetic quality differs between employees.\nLimitations: The most notable limitation of the present study was the poor internal consistency of the items originally intended to measure need for concentration, location-dependency, and sensory processing sensitivity. Regarding need for concentration and location-dependency, the original items we used actually transpired to be relatively independent of one another. Similarly, recent research (published after our data collection) confirmed that the measure we used for sensory processing sensitivity actually captures multiple factors (Ershova et al., 2018). In all three cases, we were able to re-interpret the precise meaning of each item and enter the items into the analysis separately. However, in future research it will be necessary to more tightly operationalise the characteristics under consideration, using previously validated scales where possible.\nPractical implications: The most important practical implication of the present findings is that employees have considerably non-uniform workplace requirements, and so the strategies required for aligning the workplace to the needs of the occupants may be very different at different organisations. Based on the characteristics of the workforce, the exact same office environment could be perceived as perfect or highly stress-inducing. As such, it is crucial to perform a thorough consultation of the workplace end users prior to any workplace renovation or relocation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to identify the employee characteristics which are most strongly associated with perceived requirements for different aspects of the workplace environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was completed by 364 employees from a large private-sector organisation. Respondents were surveyed on different work-related, personality and demographic characteristics. They then completed a series of items measuring perceived requirements for four aspects of the workplace environment (workspace segregation, workspace territoriality, individual environmental control and aesthetic quality). Associations between employee characteristics and perceived workplace requirements were explored using multiple regression analyses.\nFindings: Numerous significant associations emerged. For example, the requirement for more segregated workspaces was associated with higher susceptibility to distraction, and the requirement for higher workspace territoriality was associated with less positive perceptions regarding the impact of flexible working on work effectiveness.\nOriginality/value: The individual difference factors which moderate satisfaction with the workplace environment have received relatively little attention in past research. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by including a wider range of employee characteristics and comprehensively investigating which of these most strongly predict differences in perceived requirements for the workplace.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
School technology leadership vision and challenges: Perspectives from American school administrators	[ "Sustainability", "Technology", "Leadership", "Negotiation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In the past decade, there has been a global initiative to integrate computers in the classrooms in the form of laptops (Warschauer and Ames, 2010). The rise of this initiative was due in part to the promise of helping students attain twenty-first century skills while improving state-mandated assessment results (US Department of Education, 2017; Lei and Zhao, 2008). Schools are not only bringing laptops to the classroom, but also putting them in the hands of each student. Such schools are typically described as one-to-one laptop schools with an aim to personalize and meet the educational needs of all students. Schools that have implemented one-to-one laptop initiatives have demonstrated an increase in student learning (Penuel, 2006), student engagement (Lei and Zhao, 2008; Dawson et al., 2008) and student motivation (Bebell, 2005). Research has also noted the academic improvement in literacy skills (Robinson, 2016; Suhr et al., 2010) math (Bebell and Kay, 2010; Gulek and Demirtas, 2005) and science (Kennedy et al., 2016; Dunleavy and Heinecke, 2008) in one-to-one laptop schools. Although research has indicated the overall improvements one-to-one laptops have had on student academic success, there is minimal research which examines the experiences of school administrators in implementing and leading such initiatives (Pautz and Sadera, 2017; Dexter, 2011).\nPurpose of study: There is a minimal literature pertaining to school technology leadership, especially as it relates to school administrators implementing a one-to-one laptop initiative. To gain a better understanding of challenges and opportunities when implementing one-to-one laptop initiatives, research must entail school leaders roles and responsibilities that describe experiences leading such change. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the leadership practices of school leaders in implementing one-to-one laptop initiatives. Potential findings of the study are likely to inform new perspectives and practices or confirm existing literature in technology leadership in the USA. This case study sought to answer the following questions:\nTheoretical framework: This study is grounded in the conceptual framework of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards for school administrators. The ISTE (2018) standards for school administrators are used as a guideline to reengineer schools, teaching and learning for the digital age. These standards also provide school administrators guidance on specific indicators which identify the technical skills, knowledge and disposition for successful school technology integration (ISTE, 2018; Thomas and Knezek, 2008). The following are the ISTE (2018) standards for school administrators:\nMethods: The methodology employed for this research was a case study approach to explore the challenges school administrators encountered leading a one-to-one laptop school as well as understanding their vision for its use. Case studies are designed to develop an in-depth analysis of an activity or process of an individual or group (Merriam, 2009). The setting of this case study took place in an urban school district in the Western region of the USA. The target group for this study was school principals and district administrators.\nFindings: School administrators expressed several significant challenges. The data analysis revealed two shared challenges school administrators encountered: internal budgeting and acquiring external funding to sustain the one-to-one laptop initiative; and negotiating and setting expectations or norms for one-to-one laptop instructional use (Figure 2).\nDiscussion: The responses of the challenges encountered and school vision expressed by the school administrators appeared to associate with the school administrator framework outlined in the ISTE (2018). The data revealed school leaders practices were concentrated on the following ISTE (2018) standards: Empowering Leader, System Designer, Visionary Planner and Connected Leader. The data did not conclude any themes associated with Equity and Citizenship Advocate standard. However, school administrators seemed to heavily reveal practices that centered around Visionary Planner and System Designer Standards. This was evident by their proactive efforts to sustain one-to-one laptop resources while negotiating norms and expectations for technology instructional practices.\nRecommendations: There are several recommendations that can be made from this case study examination. Richardson et al. (2013) observed that although the ISTE standards for school leaders provides guidelines for effective technology school leadership, educational leadership preparation programs have not been able to create coursework and experiences which combine technology and school administration in ways which will allow aspiring school administrators to develop and master these standards. It is recommended that educational leadership preparation programs provide authentic opportunities for aspiring school leaders to observe and intern at one-to-one laptop schools. Fieldwork experience and assignments is such programs should also be aligned with ISTE standards.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the significant challenges school administrators encountered leading a one-to-one laptop school and what vision school administrators have for one-to-one laptop use in the classroom.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The methodology for this study was a case study approach. In total, 15 school administrators were interviewed from the Western region of the USA.\nFindings: Results from the study indicated that significant challenges for school administrators were budgeting and sustaining the initiative, and negotiating and setting expectations for instructional use with teachers. School administrators also envisioned one-to-one laptop use as a mean to enhance student-centered learning and inquiry.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further research is needed which examines how school administrators make financial decisions in regards to sustaining one-on-one laptop initiatives and how they manage conflict with teachers in respect to one-to-one laptop instruction.\nOriginality/value: Minimal literature exists which examines the challenges and vision of school technology leaders. Policy-makers and school administrators can use the findings to recreate teacher evaluation forms, develop conflict management strategies and teaching standards that are aligned and conducive to one-to-one laptop schools.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Tensions in learning to teach English	[ "Uncertainty", "English teaching", "Authority", "Curriculum English", "Teacher beliefs" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A common question in the field of English language arts (ELA) is how best to prepare ELA preservice teachers (hereafter PSTs) to teach (Rush and Scherff, 2011). This question is filled with many sub-questions: what does the field of ELA believe new teachers should learn about teaching (Brass, 2014)? How do PSTs best learn to teach (Hallman and Burdick, 2011)? How should teacher preparation best teach teachers to teach (Grossman et al., 2008)? In what context do teachers best learn to teach (Smagorinsky and Barnes, 2014)? Which sources - course instruction, field placements or their own schooling - most influence PST teaching practices and beliefs (Barnes and Smagorinsky, 2016)? Which is more influential on PST teaching - learning-specific practices or developing particular teaching dispositions, or some combination of the two (Grossman et al., 2009)?\nTeacher beliefs and learning to teach: According to Pajares (1992, p. 309), the literature on teacher beliefs uses several terms to define the construct:\nMethod: This study of tensions in PSTs' beliefs draws from a larger study on PSTs' beliefs in which we administered surveys to 56 preservice English teachers at three universities: a large state university in the Midwest, a private Catholic school in the Midwest and a large state university in the Mid-Atlantic. The survey measured PSTs' beliefs about curriculum, authority and competition in schools, informed by Metz's (1978) continuum of teacher perspectives on authority from developmental (student-centered) to incorporative (teacher-centered). In Metz's typology, the incorporative approach is characterized by efficient and orderly coverage of teacher-led content. In contrast, the developmental perspective first emphasizes student interest, concentration and effort in the context of often self-directed, if not maximally efficient or orderly, activity. In addition to Metz' typology, the survey items referenced are related to beliefs about competition in the classroom and traditional knowledge, dimensions of Connell et al.'s (1982) \"hegemonic curriculum\". Further, several items pertained specifically to expressions of authority in classroom discourse (Langer, 2011).\nFindings: Out of 30 experiences coded as containing expressions of tension, we found 19 where PSTs moved back and forth between two answers, 9 where they stated they were unsure about how to respond and 2 where their stated belief did not align with the experience they shared to explain their belief.\nDiscussion: Our findings are optimistic in showing the potential for teacher education and practice-based learning to shape and expand teacher beliefs. PSTs in this study draw from a variety of experiences when forming beliefs about teaching, confirming previous research (Grossman, 1990; Smagorinsky and Barnes, 2014; Barnes and Smagorinsky, 2016). This study also extends prior work establishing that English teachers experience tension as a result of competing paradigms (Macaluso et al., 2016) or stakeholders (Smagorinsky et al., 2008) by pointing to particular classroom scenarios in which PSTs indicated that they were unsure of how they would proceed with teaching decisions. PSTs in this study revealed how pulls between the needs of the whole class or individual, the teacher or students' responsibility for learning, and progressive teaching methods and restraints resulted in tensions for them. These particular tensions could serve as entry points for teacher educators to discuss with PSTs how they can acknowledge and address these tensions. This move would both acknowledge the complexity of teaching and encourage PSTs to think about how their beliefs about issues of authority, curriculum, and competition play out in their explanations for curricular decisions they make or hypothesize they would make, thus bridging conversations about beliefs with practice without oversimplifying or reducing down the real choices teachers face in classrooms.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report findings from a study of preservice teacher (PST) beliefs about teaching English language arts (ELA).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was administered to 56 preservice secondary ELA teachers at three universities to measure their beliefs about curriculum, authority and competition in schools. This study explores the beliefs of 17 of these PSTs who participated in an additional interview following up on six of the survey responses.\nFindings: Although the survey forced a choice between various levels of agreeing and disagreeing, interview responses revealed that PSTs wrestled with tensions in what they believed about instructional and curricular choices. When describing situations that influenced their beliefs, they referenced situations from field placements, coursework and their own experiences as students. These tensions reflected the PSTs' internally conflicting beliefs across their perceived binaries of teaching English.\nOriginality/value: This study suggests that these beliefs are formed in part by experiences in teacher preparation programs, particularly in field placements. However, even though PSTs recognized their internally conflicting beliefs, they understood them and their subsequent actions as dichotomous, rather than on a continuum. This study has implications for teacher educators; by understanding PSTs' tendencies to understand their beliefs in binaries, teacher educators can provide reflective opportunities for PSTs to problematize these dichotomies and look for teaching identities and practices that are more nuanced.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Organizational pride and its positive effects on employee behavior	[ "Emotional organizational pride", "Attitudinal organizational pride", "Affective events theory (AET)", "Commitment to customer service", "Creativity", "Turnover intention", "Employee behaviour", "Employee attitudes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since numerous services are generated through the interaction between service employee and customers, long-term relationships of the company depend greatly on the company's personnel (Bowen and Lawler, 1992) and its corresponding service orientation toward the customers (Arnett et al., 2002). A high level of service orientation does not merely result from the ability to offer a premium service; the company's employees must be willing and able to engage in service quality improvement to demonstrate their commitment to customer service (Peccei and Rosenthal, 1997). Employees need to be creative to identify innovative solutions and ideas on how to overcome the challenges within a particular service encounter. The longer service employees stay with an organization, the more familiar they become with the business and the better they can serve customers; thus, they become more valuable to the company (Reichheld, 1993). Service management must identify those drivers that optimally stimulate the employee commitment to customer service and creativity in the long-run. A central driver of these positive work behaviors and a key differentiator from competition is employee pride (Katzenbach, 2003a). Employee pride positively influences the decision to stay with a particular company and negatively affects turnover intention (Appleberg, 2005).Although several companies already attribute a large degree of their sustained success to high levels of employee pride (Katzenbach and Santamaria, 1999), the construct of \"pride\" is a widely neglected factor in economic behavior (Decrop and Derbaix, 2009; Lea and Webley, 1997); this construct has not yet gained widespread scientific attention. Many statements concerning pride are based on intuition rather than supported by empirical findings (see as exceptions Appleberg, 2005; Arnett et al., 2002; Lea and Webley, 1997; Verbeke et al., 2004). Furthermore, pride seems to be too complex to be considered a single concept (Ekman, 2003).According to several studies grounded in psychological research, pride is characterized predominantly as a positive, performance-related emotion. Its occurrence is triggered by specific events such as the perceived success of a personal deed (Decrop and Derbaix, 2009; Grandey et al., 2002; Lea and Webley, 1997; Tracy and Robins, 2007). Performance-related pride emotions accompany an individual's evaluative capacity to reflect upon his/her achievements and to ascribe successful achievements to internal causes such as personality, ability, or effort. This kind of ascription is called internal attribution (Weiner, 1985).Evaluation of one's own performance need not alone cause pride emotions. Employees can experience pride emotions based on the performance of close reference persons or objects (Tracy et al., 2010). Employees can also experience pride emotions triggered by events such as successful achievements of the organization that are not due to their own contributions. A prerequisite for this emotional organizational pride is the individual's strong need for affiliation toward the organization (Gold, 1982). According to attribution theory, the phenomenon of being proud of a company's achievement, as distinct originator, is called external attribution (Weiner, 1985).Besides the emotional perspective of employee pride, there is also a second research stream, which relies on organizational studies. In this case, pride is an attitude and presents a psychological tendency based on the overall evaluation of a person or an object (Eagly and Chaiken, 1998). In contrast to emotional pride, this kind of attitudinal pride is stable and not dependent on single events (Ajzen, 2001). Since individuals have certain attitudes toward a variety of objects, it is possible for them to develop a stable inner pride attitude toward their own job (\"job pride\") or toward the organization for which they work (\"attitudinal organizational pride\") (CHA, 2004).To date, there have been no attempts to analyze this relationship between the emotional and the attitudinal facets of organizational pride, particularly not empirically. In the case of organizational pride, research primarily characterizes it as an attitude (Arnett et al., 2002; Mischkind, 1998; Zander and Armstrong, 1972).Therefore, the research focus of this paper lies on these two types of organizational pride. Even though they are distinct, it is assumed that the two types of organizational pride of service employees are neither contrary nor mutually exclusive concepts. Instead, both perspectives are closely connected. The fact that emotions have consequences for attitudes downstream serves as basis for this assumption (Elfenbein, 2007).The main contribution of this paper is to capture emotional and attitudinal organizational pride in a single model and demonstrate their impact on commitment to customer service, creativity, and turnover intention of service employees. In the following sections, the concepts of emotional and attitudinal organizational pride are first examined individually and then combined in a single model to highlight their interconnection and expected effects. To obtain a more in-depth understanding of the two main constructs, we conducted an exploratory pre-study, in which we inquired 53 customer consultants concerning their impressions of organizational pride. Then, an empirical study based on a sample of 733 respondents enabled us to verify the hypotheses regarding the effect of emotional and attitudinal organizational pride on behavioral outcomes. Implications and the limitations of the study are discussed.\nEmotional and attitudinal organizational pride: Emotional organizational pride\nHypotheses: Relationship between emotional and attitudinal organizational pride\nMethod and results: Exploratory pre-study\nDiscussion: Current research on general and organizational pride focuses either on emotional or attitudinal facets. The concepts of emotional and attitudinal organizational pride are often treated synonymously (Elfenbein, 2007). This paper contributes to the elucidation of the relationship between the two types of organizational pride. Second, this paper demonstrates the direct effects of emotional organizational pride on employee affective behavioral outcomes and the direct effects of attitudinal organizational pride on employee cognitive behavioral outcomes. Third, according to the results, both emotional organizational pride and employee commitment to customer service are drivers of creativity. Finally, according to the modified AET, we suggest that attitudinal organizational pride has a direct positive effect on employee commitment to customer service and an indirect positive effect on employee creativity. Taken together, organizational pride of service employees presents an important construct that contributes to organizational competitiveness.Implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Organizational pride of service employees presents a vital, but mostly unexplored, factor for business success. In detail, two kinds of organizational pride exist. First, service employees can experience short, persistent affective emotions of pride based on the perception of a successful event related to the organization. Second, employees can have a cognitive and durable attitude of pride resulting from the general perception of the organization. Prior research neglects not only to analyze empirically the relationship between emotional organizational pride and attitudinal organizational pride, but also to examine positive effects from them. The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship and the effects of the two kinds of organizational pride with commitment to customer service, creativity and turnover intention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The first study is an exploratory pre-study and deals with spontaneous impressions of 53 customer consultants regarding their emotional and attitudinal organizational pride. Data used for the main study were collected through an online panel provider. A sample of 733 service employees was generated and structural equation modeling was applied to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: - Results from the main study suggest that there is a strong relationship between emotional organizational pride and attitudinal organizational pride. Whereas the former has a direct, positive effect on commitment to customer service and creativity, the latter directly influences commitment to customer service and turnover intention. An indirect effect on creativity was also found.\nResearch limitations/implications: - To reduce the complexity of the model, no moderating variables were integrated. In a subsequent step, it is important to analyze empirically the drivers and conduct a longitudinal analysis to test the relationship between the two kinds of organizational pride and their effects over time.\nPractical implications: - The measurement and management of organizational pride are vital sources for improving service behaviors; they represent new challenges for service-oriented human resource management.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is novel for three reasons. First, the affective events theory (AET) is advanced by additional substantial relationships. Second, links between the two kinds of organizational pride are analyzed for the first time. Finally, the paper suggests empirical evidence for the positive effects of the two kinds of organizational pride.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
F.W. Taylor's lecture on management, June 4, 1907: an introduction	[ "Management history", "Management styles", "Scientific management", "Taylorism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: On June 4, 1907, Frederick W. Taylor delivered a lecture on his system of management at his home, \"Boxly\", in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This lecture was recorded by stenographers for Taylor's friend, Morris L. Cooke, as part of Cooke's plan both to improve Taylor's lecture and as the source of information for a book Cooke was planning on the Taylor system of management. Cooke (1907-1909) did use this lecture as the basis for Chapter 2 of a book he prepared in 1907-1909, called Industrial Management. Cooke's Chapter 2 eventually became Chapter 2 in Taylor's (1911), Principles of Scientific Management. Taylor's 1907 lecture is reproduced here (pp. 4-7) in its entirety for the first time.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to introduce Frederick W. Taylor's lecture on his \"task\" system of management, given at his home in \"Boxley\" in 1907.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper summarizes the lecture's contents, and details its background.\nFindings: - The paper emphasizes the critical importance of primary sources to the work of management scholars, not just management history.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides further evidence of the import that needs to be attached to sound historical method as a basis for scholarship in management in general, and management history, in particular.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"It's a new game out there": e-commerce in internationalising retail SMEs	[ "E-commerce", "Small- and medium-sized enterprises", "International retailing", "Online sales" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Advances in information technologies (IT) and electronic commerce (e-commerce) have facilitated shifts in the strategy and structure of firms that are active in international markets (Kim et al., 2018). These shifts create new opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that want to compete in international markets (Knight and Kim, 2009).\nConceptual framework: Digitalization and the internationalisation of SMEs\nMethod: Research design and case selection\nThe case study: DD Design\nDiscussion: In this research, we use Peng et al.'s (2009) strategy tripod - that is to say, competition-specific factors, institution-specific factors and resource-specific factors - to investigate how a specific market situation shapes the international strategies of an online retailer (see Table IV).\nConclusions: The purpose of this study is to explore how market factors (pertaining to institutions, competition and resources) shape the international strategies of an online retailer. The analysis of the case findings highlights the ways in which various business models provide different conditions in the three dimensions, competition, institutions and resources. The variations of conditions provide a number of strategic incentives, which internationalising SME retailers must consider.\nManagerial implications: The results of this research reveal the same rules do not apply for e-commerce and other business ventures. E-commerce platforms do not remove all information asymmetries related to cross-border transactions. As a result, managers in retail SMEs need to carefully assess variations in market dynamics to develop appropriate strategies related to international expansion.\nLimitations and suggestions for further research: In general, the case study approach can produce results with a high level of validity from which generalisations can be drawn. The narrow scope of this study - investigating a single case from one country - does not permit broad generalisations. The propositions that are suggested in this study, however, can be transformed into testable hypotheses; these can be investigated in future studies. More studies are needed in international marketing research about how digitalised learning and the exploitation of marketing analytics shape internationalisation processes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how market factors (pertaining to institutions, competition and resources) shape the international strategies of an online retailer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A single qualitative case study research design is employed to conduct in-depth analyses of a Swedish internationalising small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in the retail business.\nFindings: The findings show that online retailers can use partnerships to tackle industry dynamics and break into foreign markets. This type of \"piggy-back internationalisation\" can be an effective strategy of handling foreign market dynamics in the entry phase: that is to say, the short term. Reliance upon relationships, however, may paradoxically inhibit retailers' abilities to stay competitive in the post-entry phase (i.e. the long term) since they become cut-off from the first-hand market learning.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors provide propositions based upon the findings to support further research in the international marketing and international retailing literature.\nPractical implications: The findings enhance the understanding of how electronic commerce affects SME internationalisation. They also generate new insights into the use of possible international expansion strategies for managers in retail SMEs.\nOriginality/value: This study introduces a new theoretical perspective to build upon international retail research and contributes to the international retail literature with relevant insights into both advantages and disadvantages of using partnerships to overcome challenges related to international online retailing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Acquisition and retention of learning: use of stories in executive development program	[ "Storytelling", "Learning", "Management development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Stories (narratives, anecdotes, fables, proverbs, sagas, or allegories) lay the foundation of how people communicate; they paint pictures in the minds of the audience. Stories are recognized as a powerful means for information retention and transfer of learning. Researchers report that storytelling makes the listener more engaged, their attention and interest are fostered, and information is more quickly and accurately remembered (Conger, 1991; Kouzes and Posner, 2012).\nResearch gaps and objective of the study: Having seen the utility of stories in executive development program, we thought to examine whether stories have greater retention value and whether they have lower memory decay. Most of the studies that argue about greater retention value of learning with storytelling have been conducted in classroom settings - in which students were asked to recall a concept a few days after it was discussed in the class using stories. Extant literature has not captured the retention of learning over a longer period and nor looked at adult learners over 25 years of age. Also, there is no study that compares decay in memory between stories and the concepts in two time frames - a time lapse of six to nine months (1) and one of 9-15 months (2). This paper attempts to fill this research gap.\nMethodology: The study. was conducted on participants of EDP in a business school in India between April 2014 and March 2015. Participants who had attended a session on leadership conducted by the author, as a part of their EDP, were selected for the study. The most recent respondents were those who had attended the program at least three months before their responses were sought. A total of 370 participants from 15 programs were sent an e-mail and were asked to:\nDiscussion and conclusion: It can be seen that 75 per cent of participants were able to recall two or more stories even after a gap of more than three months, whereas only 50 per cent of the respondents could recall two or more issues (Tables I and II). While 9 per cent of respondents could not recall any of the four issues, only 5 per cent could not recall any story at all (Tables I and II); 95 per cent could identify one story and its linkage with the issue discussed (Table II). Because we asked the respondents to list only one story and connect it with the issue, it was a kind of forced choice for them to pick the one they found was the best fit. The personal story of Mr Kalam, the former President of India, and its linkage with the issue had the maximum recall score of 35 per cent (Table II). The possible reason for this could be that the story was authentic. A comparative study of decay in memory in recalling issues over stories in two time frames reveals that decay in issues ranged from 12 to 16 per cent, whereas decay was between 4 to 6 per cent in the case of stories. Thus, decay in issues was between two and four times that of stories (Table III). This strengthens the argument that stories have greater retention value and is in line with the observations of Wayne and McCann (2007) who said that this improvement occurs because rehearsal helps to transfer information into long-term memory. We mentioned in our introduction that participants often repeat stories narrated in the EDP with their fellow participants or with their colleagues in the work place. Barrouillet et al. (2004) also opined that, in mature individuals, decay is counteracted by processes that refresh the representation, thereby preventing duration-based forgetting. We conclude that stories result in memory consolidation and this reduces the possibility of time-based forgetting. However, a more convincing argument would be possible if a comparative study was conducted of two sessions on the same theme, one with and one without the use of a story. Further research into whether improved recall translates into any change in behavior would also be useful.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to examine the role of stories in the acquisition and retention of learning over a longer period in case of adult learners over 25 years in age. It compares recall of stories over concepts in two time frames and thus tries to measure the decay in memory.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study was conducted on the participants of executive development programs (EDP) conducted by a premier business school of India between April 2014 and March 2015. Participants who have attended a session on leadership conducted by the author, as a part of their EDP, were selected for the study. A total of 259 participants responded, of which 105 belonged to time frame 1 having attended the program between three and nine months, and 154 belonged to time frame 2 having attended the program more than nine months but less than 15 months of the date of data collection.\nFindings: Even after a gap of more than three months, 75 per cent of participants were able to recall two or more stories, whereas only 50 per cent of the respondents could recall two or more issues; 95 per cent of them could identify one story and its clear linkage with the issue discussed. A comparative study of decay in memory in recalling issues over stories in two time frames reveals that decay in issues was between two and four times of stories.\nResearch limitations/implications: To argue about greater retention value of learning, a comparative study of sessions conducted on the same theme with the use of story and without the use of story would be useful. A further research would also be useful to study whether improved recall translates into any change in behavior.\nPractical implications: The study is useful for trainers, as well as for corporate.\nOriginality/value: The study for the first time has captured the retention of learning over a longer period and in case of adult learners over 25 years in age. No study has captured decay of memory in recalling stories over issues in two time frames.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How does labour market history influence the access to hiring interviews?	[ "France", "Unemployment", "Discrimination", "Discrimination in employment", "Part-time workers", "Hiring", "Labour market history", "Part-time job", "C51", "C93", "J16", "J24", "J71" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008, the French labour market has been deeply transformed. Between the first semester of 2008 and the third semester of 2015, the number of unemployed people has increased by 54.3 per cent. The unemployment rate reached 10.2 per cent of the active population (Beck and Vidalenc, 2017). In the same time, the duration of unemployment has approximately doubled: the average number of days in unemployment has risen from 237 to 472 days (De Visme, 2017). As a consequence, atypical employment positions have developed (Barlet et al., 2014). These facts question the ability of both the unemployed people and the people who were on atypical job contracts to reintegrate the labour market.\n2. Experiment: We wish to evaluate the answer that an applicant gets with his characteristics and the answer he would have got with other characteristics. The most convenient way to collect such data is to perform an experiment. We construct a set of applications with similar characteristics except for the history in the labour market.\n3. Model: We can summarise the success probabilities of the candidates by the following system. The letter L refers to the offers of LTCs. The subscript i refers to the job post. It is useful to point up the post-level unobservable heterogeneity uL,i. For each job post i, we have the following callback probabilities:\n4. Method: The method both solves an overidentification issue and provides a minimum variance estimator. The problem was originally created by the need to separate the posts on short- and long-run contracts. It had for consequence to provide two estimators for the parameters dU, dL, and dP. We fix this problem by first testing the equality of the different estimators and, since the test is conclusive in our application, we provide the minimum variance estimates of the discrimination parameters.\n5. Results: The raw call-back rates are reported in Table AI. The ALS results are presented in Table II. We proceed by backward elimination, suppressing sequentially the parameter which has the smallest t-statistic. However, this method has different implications with ALS than with the OLS method for the following reason. When a parameter is not significant, it means that candidates from different groups have the same success probability. Therefore, we should regroup them and estimate a global probability in order to increase the efficiency of the estimation. Interestingly, if we regroup two sets of candidates, we double the number of observations and this diminishes the standard errors of our estimates. The backward selection mechanism in our study is therefore very different from the standard regression case. We give a full account of the backward elimination process for this reason.\n6. Conclusion: Labour market history has an impact on the current probability to be invited to a hiring interview. Workers with a profile of PTC have a significantly lower probability to be invited in both accountant and sales assistant jobs. This effect can be reasonably attributed to signalling. The workers who have chosen this type of job could be reputed to be less able or less willing to get involved in a full-time job. It could be related to health, like in Baert et al. (2016). For the sales assistant jobs, we find that the success probability is also smaller with a history of STCs. We also interpret it as a signalling effect. This result is in line with previous research (Biewen and Steffes, 2010) which accounts for a stigma effect of part-time work.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence of the effect of labour market status on the current probability to be invited to a hiring interview. The authors compare the effect of periods of unemployment, part-time job and short-term contracts (STCs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Correspondence tests were conducted for accountants and sales assistants. The authors estimate the discrimination components from the response rate of each candidate by the asymptotic least squares method.\nFindings: The authors find that men with a part-time profile suffer discrimination in both professions. Other differences of treatment are specific: for accountants, the authors find that the probability of success decreases with the time spent in unemployment, while for sales assistants the probability of success is smaller with a history of STCs.\nOriginality/value: This study compares the effect of different dimensions of career history (part-time versus full-time, permanent versus short-term, unemployment versus employment) for experienced job candidates. It also proposes an alternative way to exploit the design of a correspondence experiment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gender differences and wellbeing values in adolescent online shopping	[ "Hedonic value", "Well-being", "Adolescents", "Online shopping", "Utilitarian value", "Gender differences" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the ever-growing impact of the internet on the lifestyles of consumers, the internet has been becoming both a tool and a segment of cyberculture (Macek, 2004), but also a more and more significant marketing medium. Internet users make up an active group in their shopping behavior where they compare the best value and price in the shopping process (Hall and Towers, 2017). It is especially important for the current Generation Z (born after 1991) who use the online shopping to express their independence and identity (Gunter and Furnham, 1998; Hartman et al., 2004). Adolescents are often daydreaming and have active imaginations, which is important for their psychological well-beingwell-being (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson, 1984). Understanding the online shopping behavior of teens who \"represent an important financial power\" (Muratore, 2016, p. 1166) may help the marketing specialists in making decisions and suggestions for tailoring the websites (Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2001), in increasing the value of their shopping (Smith and Whitlark, 2001), in segmenting the market (Dzupina, 2016), as well as in predicting and affecting their online behavior (Rodgers and Sheldon, 2002).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Concept of human needs, values, motivations and well-being\n3. Research design: 3.1 Aims of research\n4. Results: With the multilevel regression analyses of five utilitarian values and five hedonic values, we found out that the effect of gender on utilitarian values achieved 14 percent of variance (R2=0.138) and the effect of gender on hedonic values achieved 6 percent of variance (R2=0.057). The effect of age was not found in their online shopping motivations. The measures of the R2 showed that the model could predict the internet shopping motivation of Slovak adolescents. The findings showed that the values in the adolescent motivation structure associated with online shopping are gender-dependent (t=-2.819, p=0.005). Both genders, boys and girls, had both utilitarian and hedonistic data over the average of the five-point scale (AM=2.5). This suggests that their motivation for online shopping is an expression of well-being.\n5. Discussion: The Slovak Republic is now a part of the European Union and the global market. However, its integration into this community has been a rather slow process. Slovakia was formed after the fall of the communist political system in 1989 after the Czechoslovak Republic was divided into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in 1993. This specificity determines, among other things, the late arrival of the internet into the country and the adults' mistrust of online shopping. Consequently, Slovakia showcases different features for online shopping compared to other advanced countries.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the gender differentiation of adolescents in their online shopping motivation based on utilitarian and hedonic values as an expression of well-being. It is necessary to find out whether and to what extent utilitarian and hedonic values act as motivations in online shopping. The aim was to find whether boys and girls differ in their average individual values representing motivators in a specific, individual online shopping behavior, while assuming that a higher frequency of occurrence of the value areas represents a higher level of well-being.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research focused on finding if individual motivational areas of online shopping, in which utilitarian and hedonic values are applied, are differently represented by Slovak boys and girls. The research sample comprised of the Slovak adolescents (n=420, AM age=16.75). A modified questionnaire investigated the motivation for online shopping.\nFindings: Research findings pointed to a higher degree of well-being in adolescents' online shopping motivational structures based on utilitarian and hedonic motivations. The research study indicated different motivational structure based on utilitarian and hedonic values which are associated with online shopping behavior of the adolescents in relation to their gender. The outcomes showed that there was a larger representation of the utilitarian values related to online shopping by adolescent boys. The adolescent boys more often appreciated choice, availability of information, lack of sociality and cost savings. Adolescent boys and girls had equal hedonistic value motivations.\nPractical implications: At the time of the digital marketing boom, the knowledge of adolescents' behavior in the online shopping environment is important for marketing communication. Adolescents will represent a strong segment of buyers in the digital market in the near future. Thus, aiming for the improvement in well-being by respecting the gender differentiation, retailers could create a more effective marketing communication design that would be targeted at the current Generation Z. The findings are important for the preparation and creation of the design of the online-activities marketing in individual cultural regions.\nOriginality/value: There is a notable absence in the monitoring of the well-being values in adolescent online shopping in Europe, especially in the post-communist EU countries. The Slovak Republic is one of the dynamically developing post-communist countries of the EU. Its position in the OECD which measures subjective well-being is very low. The research can become a starting point for forming the theory of online shopping behavior, assuming gender unification in the areas of hedonic values and motivations not only for the Generation Z but for all online shopping consumers in the second decade of the twenty-first century. The presented research is thus practical in order to adequately set up the online communication and the research use of a diagnostic tool in the European space. The authors see the research as a pilot study, which gives the opportunity for subsequent intercultural comparison. Knowledge of gender differences and indicators of well-being tendencies in the motivational structure of adolescents may be applicable for supporting and regulating the online shopping behavior of adolescents, as well as for the explanation and theoretical modeling of this behavior.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of social responsibility disclosure and governance on financial analysts' information environment	[ "Analyst following", "Analyst forecasts", "Corporate governance", "Environmental disclosure", "Social disclosure" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Corporate disclosure is a key source of information for financial analysts. Previous studies provide empirical evidence that both voluntary disclosure and effective governance attract financial analysts, leads to more accurate analyst earnings forecasts and to less dispersion in analyst forecasts.\nBackground and hypotheses: Extensive disclosure helps financial analysts produce valuable new information, such as more precise forecasts and buy/sell recommendations, thereby increasing demand on their services (Healy and Palepu, 2001). Lang and Lundholm (1996) provide evidence that firms with more informative disclosures have a larger analyst following, more accurate analyst earnings forecasts and less dispersion in analyst forecasts.\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion and conclusion: In this paper, we build on prior literature on voluntary disclosure and corporate governance by investigating simultaneous relationships between analyst forecast precision and social and environmental disclosures considering corporate governance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure, corporate governance and financial analysts' information environment, as proxied by their ability to forecast a firm's earnings. Hence, we extend prior voluntary disclosure research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Our paper considers that the determination of CSR disclosure, corporate governance and financial analyst forecasting work are closely intertwined. Therefore, we rely on simultaneous equations to explore these relations.\nFindings: Findings show that there is a direct relation between both CSR disclosure and corporate governance and financial analysts' information environment: more disclosure and better governance translate into a tighter consensus in earnings forecasts as well as less dispersion. However, corporate governance substitutes for CSR disclosure in improving analyst forecast precision, thus supporting a comprehensive view of corporate governance that encompasses disclosure. Finally, results also suggest that CSR disclosure, through its effect on governance and analyst following, has an indirect influence on analyst forecast precision. Overall, it appears that both CSR disclosure and good corporate governance attract analysts and improve their ability to forecast earnings.\nOriginality/value: To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to investigate the joint effect of corporate governance and CSR disclosure on analyst forecast precision.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determinants of dividend payout ratios in Ghana	[ "Dividends", "Determinants", "Finance and accounting", "Ghana" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Successful companies earn income. This income can be invested in operating assets, used to acquire securities, used to retire debt, or distributed to shareholders. The income distributed to shareholders is the dividend. Issues that arise if a company decides to distribute its income to shareholders include the proportion to which such income would be distributed to shareholders; whether the distribution should be as cash dividends, or the cash be passed on to shareholders by buying back some shares; and how stable the distribution should be. Much controversy surrounds dividends policy. Black (1976) observed that \"the harder we look at the dividends picture, the more it seems like a puzzle, with pieces that just do not fit together\". Since then, the amount of theoretical and empirical research on dividend policy has increased dramatically (Baker, 1999).Many reasons exist why companies should pay or not to pay dividends. Yet figuring out why companies pay dividends and investors pay attention to dividend- that is the \"dividend puzzle\" is still problematic. Bernstein (1996), and Aivazian and Booth (2003) revisited the dividend puzzle and noted that some important questions remained unanswered. Thus setting corporate dividend policy remains controversial and involves judgment by decision makers. There has been emerging consensus that there is no single explanation of dividends. According to Brook et al. (1998) there is no reason to believe that corporate dividend policy is driven by a single goal.Previous empirical studies have focused mainly on developed economies. This study examines the relationship between determinants of dividend payout ratios from the context of a developing country. The study looks at the issue from a developing country perspective by focusing specifically on firms listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). This study defines the dividend payout ratio as the percentage of profits paid as dividend. It uses the percentage of institutional holdings of a firm's common stock as a proxy for agency cost. Growth in sales and market-to-book value are also used as proxies for future prospects and investment opportunities. Other variables include profitability, risk, cash flow, and corporate tax. The results show statistically significant and positive relationships between dividend payout and profitability, cash flow and tax. The results also indicate negative associations between dividend payout and risk, institutional holding, growth and market value but it shows insignificant relationships in the case of risk and institutional holding.The rest of the article is organized as follows. The next section gives a review of the extant literature on the subject. Section three discusses the methodology. Section four presents and discusses the results of the empirical analysis. Finally, section five concludes the discussion.\nTheoretical overview: The theoretical principles underlying the dividend policy of firms can be described either in terms of information asymmetries, the tax-adjusted theory, or behavioral factors. The information asymmetries encompass several aspects, including the signaling models, agency cost, and the free cash flow hypothesis. Akerlof (1970) defines signaling effect as a unique and specific signaling equilibrium in which a job seeker signals his/her quality to a prospective employer. Though the scenario developed is used in labor market, researchers have used it in financial decisions. The signaling theories suggest that corporate dividend policy used as a means of putting quality message across has a lower cost than other alternatives. This means that the use of dividends as signals implies that alternatives methods of signaling are not perfect substitutes (see Bhattacharya, 1980; Talmor, 1981; Miller and Rock, 1985; Asquith and Mullins, 1986; Ofer and Thakor, 1987; Rodriguez, 1992).Agency theory seeks to explain corporate capital structure as a result of attempts to minimize the cost associated with the separation of ownership and control. Agency costs are lower in firms with high managerial ownership stakes because of better alignment of shareholder and managerial control (Jensen and Meckling, 1976) and also in firms with large block shareholders that are better able to monitor managerial activities (Shleifer and Vishney, 1986). A potential wealth transfer from bondholders to stockholders is another agency issue associated with information asymmetries. The potential shareholders and bondholders conflict can be mitigated by covenants governing claim priority. According to Fama and Jensen (1983) the conflict can be circumvented by large dividend payment to stockholders. Debt covenants to minimize dividend payments are necessary to prevent bondholder wealth transfers to shareholders (John and Kalay, 1982). Another way dividend policy affects agency costs is the reduction of agency cost through increased monitoring by capital market.With free cash flow hypothesis, Jensen (1986) asserts that funds remaining after financing all positive net present value projects cause conflicts of interest between managers and shareholders. Dividends and debt interest payment decrease the free cash flow available to managers to invest in marginal net present value projects and manager perquisite consumption.Tax-adjusted models presume that investors require and secure higher expected returns on shares of dividend-paying stocks. The consequence of tax-adjusted theory is the division of investors into dividend tax clientele. Modigliani (1982) argues that the clientele effect is responsible for the alterations in portfolio composition. On their part, Masulis and Trueman (1988) model predicts that investors with differing tax liabilities will not be uniform in their ideal firm dividend policy. They conclude that as tax liability increases (decreases), the dividend payment decreases (increases) while earnings reinvestment increases (decreases). Tax-adjusted model also assumes that investors maximize after-tax income. According to Farrar and Selwyn (1967), in a partial equilibrium framework, individual investors choose the amount of personal and corporate leverage and also whether to receive corporate distributions as dividends or capital gain. Auerbach (1979) develops a discrete-time, infinite-horizon model in which shareholders maximize their wealth. Auerbach explains that if a capital gain or dividend tax differential exists, wealth maximization no longer implies firm market value maximization.The tax-adjusted theory has been criticized in that it is not compatible with rational behavior. Dividend payouts could be viewed as the socioeconomic repercussion of corporate evolution. Frankfurter and Lane (1992) reveal that the information asymmetries between managers and shareholders cause dividends to be paid to increase the attractiveness of equity issues. According to Michel (1979), the systematic relation between industry type and dividend policy implies that managers are influenced by the actions of executives from competitive firms when determining dividend payout levels. Managers may increase or pay dividends to appease investors if they realized that shareholders desire for dividends. Frankfurter and Lane (1992) maintain that dividends payments are partially a tradition and partially a method to dispel investor anxiety. The payments of dividends to shareholders should serve as a reminder of the managerial and owner relationship and would therefore help in increasing the stability of the company.\nEmpirical literature: The extant literature on dividend payout ratios provides firms with no generally accepted prescription for the level of dividend payment that will maximize share value. Black (1976) in his study concluded with this question: \"What should the corporation do about dividend policy? We don't know.\" It has been argued that dividend policy has no effect on either the price of a firm's share or its cost of capital. If dividend policy has no significant effects, then it would be irrelevant. Miller and Modigliani (1961) argued that the firm's value is determined only by its basic earning power and its business risk. A number of factors have been identified in previous empirical studies to influence the dividend payout ratios of firms including profitability, risk, cash flow, agency cost, and growth (see Higgins, 1981; Rozeff, 1982; Lloyd et al., 1985; Pruitt and Gitman, 1991; Jensen et al., 1992; Alli et al., 1993; Collins et al., 1996; D'Souza, 1999).Profits have long been regarded as the primary indicator of a firm's capacity to pay dividends. Pruitt and Gitman (1991), in their study report that, current and past years' profits are important factors in influencing dividend payments. Baker et al. (1985) also find that a major determinant of dividend payment was the anticipated level of future earnings.Pruitt and Gitman (1991) find that risk (year-to-year variability of earnings) also determines firms' dividend policy. A firm that has relatively stable earnings is often able to predict approximately what its future earnings will be. Such a firm is therefore more likely to pay out a higher percentage of its earnings than a firm with fluctuating earnings. In other studies, Rozeff (1982), Lloyd et al. (1985), and Collins et al. (1996) used beta value of a firm as an indicator of its market risk. They found statistically significant and negative relationship between beta and the dividend payout. Their findings suggest that firms having a higher level of market risk will pay out dividends at lower rate. D'Souza (1999) also finds statistically significant and negative relationship between beta and dividend payout.The liquidity or cash-flow position is also an important determinant of dividend payouts. A poor liquidity position means less generous dividend due to shortage of cash. Alli et al. (1993) reveal that dividend payments depend more on cash flows, which reflect the company's ability to pay dividends, than on current earnings, which are less heavily influenced by accounting practices. They claim current earnings do not really reflect the firm's ability to pay dividends.Jensen and Meckling (1976) advanced the agency theory to explain the dividend relevance. They show that agency costs arise if management serves its own interests and not those of outside shareholders. Rozeff (1982), Easterbrook (1984), and Collins et al. (1996) also extended the theory by providing the agency-cost explanation of dividend policy, which is based on the observation that firms pay dividend and raise capital simultaneously. Easterbrook (1984) argues that increasing dividends raises the probability that additional capital will have to be raised externally on a periodic basis and consequently, the firm will be subject to constant monitoring by experts and outside suppliers in the capital market. Monitoring by outside suppliers of capital also helps to ensure that managers act in the best interest of outside shareholders. Thus dividend payments may serve as a means of monitoring or bonding management performance. Rozeff (1982) presents evidence that dividend payout level is negatively related to its level of insider holdings. Jensen et al. (1992) and Collins et al. (1996) confirm that the relationship between dividend payout and insider holding is negatively related. D'Souza (1999) however found statistically significant and negative relationship between institutional shareholding and dividend payout.Green et al. (1993) questioned the irrelevance argument and investigated the relationship between the dividends and investment and financing decisions. Their study showed that dividend payout levels are not totally decided after a firm's investment and financing decisions have been made. Dividend decision is taken along investment and financing decisions. Their results however, do not support the views of Miller and Modigliani (1961). Partington (1983) revealed that firms' use of target payout ratios, firms motives for paying dividends, and extent to which dividends are determined are independent of investment policy. Higgins (1981) indicates a direct link between growth and financing needs: rapidly growing firms have external financing needs because working capital needs normally exceed the incremental cash flows from new sales. Higgins (1972) shows that payout ratio is negatively related to a firm's need for funds to finance growth opportunities. Rozeff (1982), Lloyd et al. (1985), and Collins et al. (1996) all show a significantly negative relationship between historical sales growth and dividend payout. D'Souza (1999) however shows a positive but insignificant relationship in the case of growth and negative but insignificant relationship in the case of market-to-book value.\nData and empirical methods: This study examines the determinants of dividend payout ratios of listed firms in Ghana. A sample of firms that have been listed on the GSE during the recent six-year period 1998-2003 was considered. In all, 22 firms qualified for this study. This number represents 76 percent of listed firms in Ghana. We limited the sample to the twenty firms because they have been listed during the period under investigation and also have financial information for that period. Data was derived from the annual reports of the selected listed firms and the GSE Fact Books during the six-year period, 1998-2003. The dividend payout ratio, which is the dependent variable, is defined as the dividend per share divided by earnings per share. The explanatory variables include profitability (PROF), risk (RISK), cash flow (CASH), corporate tax (TAX), institutional holdings (INSH), sales growth (GROW), and market-to-book value (MTBV).The panel character of the data allows for the use of panel data methodology. Panel data involves the pooling of observations on a cross-section of units over several time periods and provides results that are simply not detectable in pure cross-sections or pure time-series studies. The panel regression equation differs from a regular time-series or cross section regression by the double subscript attached to each variable. The general form of the panel data model can be specified more compactly as: Equation 1 with the subscript i denoting the cross-sectional dimension and t representing the time-series dimension. In this equation, Yi,t represents the dependent variable in the model, which is the firm's dividend payout ratio; Xi,t contains the set of explanatory variables in the estimation model; and ai is taken to be constant over time t and specific to the individual cross-sectional unit i. If ai is taken to be the same across units, then Ordinary Least Square (OLS) provides a consistent and efficient estimate of a and b.The model for this study follows the one used by D'Souza (1999) to explain the relationships between dividend payout ratios and the determinants. This takes the form: Equation 2 where:PAYOUTi,t =dividend per share/earnings per share for firm i in period t,\nEmpirical results: Summary statistics\nConclusions: This study examines the determinants of dividend payout ratios of listed companies in Ghana. The analyses are performed using data derived from the financial statements of firms listed on the GSE during a six-year period. Ordinary Least Squares model is used to estimate the regression equation. The results show positive relationships between dividend payout and profitability, cash flow, and tax. The results suggest that, profitable firms tend to pay high dividend. A good liquidity position increases a firm's ability to pay dividend. The results also show negative associations between dividend payout and risk, institutional shareholding, growth and market-to-book value. Firms experiencing earning volatility find it difficult to pay dividend, such firms would therefore pay less or no dividend. The higher the institutional holding the lower the dividend payout ratio, meaning firms pay dividends in order to reduce the cost associated with agency problems. The results again suggest that, growing firms require more funds in order to finance their growth and therefore would typically retain greater proportion of their earnings by paying low dividend. Also, firms with higher market-to-book value tend to have good investment opportunities and would therefore pay lower dividends. The results of this study generally support previous empirical studies. The implication of this article is that dividend payout policy decision of Ghanaian listed firms is influenced by the profitability, cash-flow position, growth prospects, and investment opportunities of the firms.Following from these findings, it would be useful to also consider the following directions for future research:* What determines the decision to pay or not to pay dividends in listed firms?* What determines dividend payout ratios of unquoted firms in Ghana?* What determines dividend policy decisions of unquoted companies in Ghana?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study seeks to examine the determinants of dividend payout ratios of listed companies in Ghana.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The analyses are performed using data derived from the financial statements of firms listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange during a six-year period. Ordinary Least Squares model is used to estimate the regression equation. Institutional holding is used as a proxy for agency cost. Growth in sales and market-to-book value are also used as proxies for investment opportunities.\nFindings: - The results show positive relationships between dividend payout ratios and profitability, cash flow, and tax. The results also show negative associations between dividend payout and risk, institutional holding, growth and market-to-book value. However, the significant variables in the results are profitability, cash flow, sale growth and market-to-book value.\nOriginality/value: - The main value of this study is the identification of the factors that influence the dividend payout policy decisions of listed firms in Ghana.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Training costs fall by 80 percent at Northumberland County Council: Learning-management system improves access, efficiency and course quality	[ "Training", "Online learning", "Value analysis", "Councils" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Northumberland Council has reduced training costs by 80 percent for its 6,000-plus employees through online learning and the introduction of a new learning-management system.\nSpecific list of requirements: Paul Brooks, learning and organizational-development manager, had a specific list of requirements to help to improve learning and development in the council along with the vision of meeting the same requirements of external partners.\nThe entire culture of the council has shifted: Since implementation, the entire culture of the council has shifted. The Northumberland team will be able to engage with employees and meet the challenge of securing the talent needed to do more with less - all with the added benefit of a highly motivated workforce. Among the other benefits are:\nThe council can provide even more staff training: \"Almost all initiatives are accompanied by a Learning Pool course. Training in the council is a far more efficient and positive experience. In one year, Northumberland County Council has revolutionized its approach to learning and development and has reduced the cost of delivery by a staggering 80 percent,\" Paul Brooks continued.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Explains how Northumberland County Council in England cut its training costs by 80 percent.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Describes how a new learning-management system has improved efficiency, access and course quality and opened up new opportunities for the future.\nFindings: Charts the benefits as: a new online-appraisal process that will link individual performance objectives with individual and team learning and development plans; the future development of 360-degree feedback tools that will provide employees with the ability to seek and receive objective feedback on their performance and how their managers, peers and customers feel that they demonstrate the competencies and behavioral-success factors espoused by the council; having one central place for learning and improving consistency of delivery that will meet the needs of the council and its partners; savings in time and money from delivering training more quickly than with a traditional classroom approach; effective management of programs and the ability to avoid costly licensing fees; swift updates to learning, saving time and money; and extensive support offered by Learning Pool, the team that installed the learning-management system.\nPractical implications: Demonstrates how savings have been achieved through a combination of: online training in place of more than 10,000 hours of classroom delivery; self-service functionality for course bookings, which has saved more than 1,200 hours of administration time; the creation of more than 20 hours of bespoke content; and a reduction in CO2 omissions and fuel savings, all while improving consistency and scalability.\nOriginality/value: Provides the inside story of how a 6,000-plus employee council revolutionized its training delivery and made significant savings into the bargain.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Ownership structure and the choice of SEO issue method in the UK	[ "Market timing", "Ownership structure", "Seasoned equity offerings", "Issue method" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, there has been increased academic interest in the link between ownership structure and seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). Chemmanur et al. (2009) find that institutional owners appear to be better at identifying above-average SEOs, since evidence shows increased share allocation for institutional shareholdings in SEOs with better long-term market performance, indicating a possible information advantage. This evidence is corroborated by Demiralp et al. (2011), who find a positive relation between institutional ownership and long-run stock price performance. They also provide evidence of great improvements in the operating performance of SEOs with higher institutional ownership, further supporting the positive role of monitoring in the context of SEOs. As theory suggests, the monitoring of management can constrain potential opportunism in corporate policy decision making (managerial entrenchment).\n2. Theoretical background and development of hypotheses: In practice, UK firms making a seasoned equity offer can choose from four flotation methods: ROs, PLs, OOs, and PLOOs. Both ROs and OOs give existing shareholders pre-emption rights to purchase new shares in proportion to their existing holdings. However, unlike the case of OOs where the entitlement (pre-emption right) is not tradable and therefore available only to existing shareholders, an RO allows existing shareholders to sell these rights to other investors if they do not want to exercise any or just part of their pre-emption rights. This pre-emption right in an RO and an OO aims to protect existing shareholders' wealth and control. Alternatively, in a PL, the lead underwriter or broker commits to buy all of the new shares from the issuing firm at a given price and then places the shares directly with outside investors, primarily institutions. Therefore, a placing can induce a major ownership change, while ownership structure after a rights issue will be relatively unaltered. Most open offers in the UK are made in conjunction with a conditional placing, which is called a PLOO. Typically, in this type of offer, the shares are placed by an underwriter or directly with institutions or other investors, subject to recall for 21 days by shareholders that exercise their pre-emption rights[5].\n3. Data and methodology: 3.1 The sample\n4. Empirical results: To analyse the probability of a firm choosing various SEO issue methods, we conducted the logistic regressions shown in Table III. We modelled the decision to issue an RO, PL, OO, or PLOO and the results are reported in Panels A to D, respectively. The dependent variable is defined as a binary variable that takes the value of 1 if the firm chooses one of the methods over the others and of 0 otherwise.\n5. Conclusions: This paper extends the existing knowledge of SEOs' issue methods along the following three lines: the probability of the choices of alternative SEO methods, SEO price setting, and market reactions to SEO announcements. We focussed on the influence of firm ownership structure on these issues by constructing two measures, namely, managerial share ownership and institutional ownership. Using a sample of UK SEOs, we examined how and why firms choose one issue method over another in SEO issuance, differentiating between four major methods, namely, ROs, PLs, OOs, and PLOOs. Our results provide reliable evidence to strongly support the argument that the use of placings can strengthen managerial control (Barclay et al., 2007). Our results also suggest that firms with higher managerial ownership are most likely to choose a placing, consistent with the findings of Barnes and Walker (2006). Institutional ownership, as a proxy for monitoring effects, is negatively associated with the probability of conducting an SEO by means of a PL. Given that a PL can improve the monitoring of management, firms that already have monitors are less likely to implement a placing.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of ownership characteristics in a firm's choice of alternative seasoned equity offering (SEO) methods, offer price discounts, and market reactions to such announcements within the UK setting.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study examines 697 SEO events of firms traded in the UK during the period 1998 to 2012 using multivariate and binomial logistic regression models. Ordinary least square models are also used to examine how ownership variables affect offer price discounts and stock market performance during the announcement of such corporate events.\nFindings: The authors show that placings and open offers (OOs) are the preferred methods for issuing equity by firms with higher managerial ownership. Thus, the evidence strongly supports the prediction of the entrenched management hypothesis. Moreover, the probability of choosing a combination of placings and OOs is also found to be significantly related to issue size, offer discount, leverage, and previous stock performance. The results show that pre-issue market conditions have a significant effect on the choice of issue method with rights offers (ROs) and the combination of placings and OOs primarily utilised by firms for issuing equity during hot market periods.\nOriginality/value: Unlike prior SEOs' studies in the UK that predominantly concentrate on the use of ROs and placings, this study examines, for the first time, the link between OOs and the combination of placings and OOs with ownership concentration. The authors also investigate how offer price discounts are related to the firms' ownership structure, various company micro-characteristics and the wider market conditions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Marketing practices in wine clusters: insights from Chile	[ "Business‐to‐business marketing", "Industry clusters", "Marketing strategy", "Wine industry", "Chile", "Wines" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The purpose of this research is to investigate cooperative strategies within the Chilean wine cluster, in particular the factors that influence the development of inter-firm marketing cooperation.The literature in economic geography and strategic management does not provide a single definition of a regional cluster. The cluster concept defined by Porter (1990) however, has stimulated discussion about regional clusters that goes beyond traditional explanations of agglomeration in economic geography (Delgado et al., 2010). Porter (2000, p. 254) defines a cluster as \"a geographically proximate group of inter-connected companies and associated institutions in a particular field, linked by commonalities and complementarities\". According to this definition, clusters share a physical geography, although the geographic scope of a cluster can range from a single city or state to a country or even a group of neighboring countries. The definition also introduces the issue of inter-connectedness and the potential for collaboration among firms by virtue of \"commonalities and complementarities\".There is conflicting evidence from previous studies of the benefits of clusters in creating positive externalities of firms. Acknowledging the effect of co-location on marketing externalities Brown et al. (2010) stated that limited research exists to indicate the degree of impact that clustering has on marketing activities in domestic and international contexts. The current study addresses some of these issues and has two objectives:1. to better understand the business-to-business (B2B) relationships of regional clusters in terms of geographical co-location and the development of inter-firm marketing cooperation; and2. to explore what kind of inter-firm marketing cooperation is generated as a result of co-location of clustered firms.The above issues are grounded in the extant literature of inter-organization relations. The role of inter-organizational collaboration and inter-personal networks in industrial clusters is not new. Research by Chetty and Agndal (2008) shows that despite initial reluctance of firms to collaborate in industrial districts, organizations learn to maintain a balance between competition and cooperation. They achieve this through formal and informal relations between actors at the organizational and individual level.There is some agreement in the literature that clusters provide benefits to firms, especially value chain inputs and in general aspects of the production process (Malmberg et al., 1996; Stopper, 1996; Olsen, 2002; MacKinnon et al., 2002, 2004). The benefits from cooperative strategies among firms have been a key research topic within the industrial marketing and purchasing group (IMP) literature (Hakansson et al., 2006). Some recent studies (Hervas-Oliver and Albors-Garrigos, 2007; Frisillo, 2007; Perry, 2007; Porter, 2008; Delgado et al., 2010) found that co-location, as part of the unique set of a cluster's resources, influences a cluster's performance, to the extent that \"clusters are not automatically a win-win opportunity for all participants\" (Perry, 2007, p. 21). However other studies found that the effect of co-location on performance may be less important than generally thought (Kahn and McDonough, 1997; Rafii, 1995).In their research of the effect of geographic proximity on new product development Ganesan et al. (2005, p. 46) argued that \"to date, the cluster literature is largely silent on the relationship between geographic proximity and alternative modes of communication (such as fax, e-mail, and electronic discussion groups). Intuitively, there is no reason to expect that physical closeness should enhance these other forms of communication, because most of them have been developed to overcome physical distance\". However, Pels et al. (2004) argued that in less developed economies, face-to face communication still holds in marketing practices. This conflicting evidence from previous studies suggests further research is required.We investigate firm-to-firm relations categorized by Johannisson et al. (2002) as first-order embeddedness, which focuses on the localized business networks built on relationships, rather than second-order embeddedness (firm relationships with social and economic institutions). The study seeks to identify the perceived benefits of co-location for marketing cooperation and determine if geographical co-location is the key issue for developing inter-firm cooperation in marketing activities.To address the above issues, the results and insights of a 2011 census of the most important wine cluster in the southern hemisphere, in terms of its export orientation and focus on international markets are presented. Our study highlights strategic implications for managers and policy makers in natural resource based industries. Given the strategic importance of the wine cluster to the Chilean economy, lessons are learnt for similar clusters in other emerging economies. Finally, this study contributes to our understanding of B2B cluster dynamics and resultant regional and national economic benefits.Given this background, we now review the literature related to geographic co-location in the light of inter-firm cooperation in marketing. The research methods and industry selection are then presented, highlighting the relevance of the specific industry cluster chosen. Finally, the results, discussion and conclusions are presented.\n2. Theory development: 2.1 Theoretical perspectives on industrial clusters\n3. Industry context: the wine cluster in Chile: Natural resource-based industries, agriculture and fisheries are major economic sectors in Chile, representing almost 25 percent of the gross national product. In the last few decades the country has experienced spectacular growth in the production of fruits, wine and salmon, among other products. This achievement can be explained by highly favorable natural conditions, the incorporation of science and technology in the production chain and a stable political and economic environment.Chile is the world's eighth largest wine producer and the fifth largest exporter (and the most important in Latin America). In 2010, Chile enjoyed a market share of 8 percent of volume of the international wine market. Most importantly, Chile exports about 75 percent of its wine production, making it the world's most export dependent wine industry (see Figure 1). With 150 destination countries and 1.5 billion consumers per year, Chilean wines are positioned as the country's most symbolic international product. The major export markets in terms of volume are the UK, US, Germany, and Canada, which together represent 50 percent of the total exports. The figure below shows a drop of 15 percent in the domestic market over the last decade as companies further divert sales from the internal market toward new emerging markets such as China and Brazil.Chilean wines face very high levels of competition in different markets from many regions and brands, resulting in its average prices being substantially lower than those of its competitors. As a consequence, the industry's present profitability levels are low, and there is an urgent need to elevate to premium positioning and higher average prices in international markets to achieve a sustainable return in the long term (Felzensztein, 2011).Chile aims to be recognized, by 2020, as the most successful producer and exporter of wine from an emerging market. To achieve this goal the country and industry leaders are planning to export about US$3000 million bottles of wine in that year (La Tercera, 2010). The goal is high, considering that strong competition is coming from other new world wine producing countries such as Australia and Argentina.Within the country, it is easy to identify three important wine regions:1. Colchagua,2. Casablanca, and3. Maule.The Conchagua valley is the second most planted region in Chile and arguably produces the highest quantities of quality wines in the country. On the other hand, Casablanca is a relatively young valley, with very little planting of grapes until the early 1990s. The Maule region is a traditional wine area though lately it has been working towards fostering differentiation and more entrepreneurial strategies.Chile has 13 clearly identified wine regions located in a range of 1,000 km (600 miles), from north to south (Knowles and Sharples, 2002). However, the majority of Chile's premium wines are made in the wine regions of Maule, Maipo, Aconcagua, Cachapoal and Colchagua, which are close to Santiago, Chile's capital city. Regional agglomeration is thus relevant in the industry. However, marketing, administrative, strategic decision-making and representation functions of the larger wine producers are concentrated in Santiago (Visser and de Langen, 2006). This city also accommodates the national wine business associations, two of the three specialized university R&D institutes, most of the graduates in wine specialized degrees, public agencies involved in the development of the wine industry, as well as specialized information brokers. Although Santiago is the strategic center of the wine industry, production is regionally clustered in the 13 valleys.Structurally, the Chilean wine industry is more concentrated than in continental Europe, but less so than in other New World wine producers such as Australia and New Zealand. In 2005, the four largest wineries in Chile accounted for 42 percent of the country's wine export revenue.Most of the suppliers are either foreign firms that established subsidiaries attracted by the growing Chilean industry, or local firms that import foreign products. Industry associations, e.g. Vinas de Chile and Chilevid, were created or revitalized in the late 1990s when the industry consolidated its development.There were important tacit knowledge transfers as many foreign firms chose to establish in Chile through joint venture agreements oriented to the production and commercialization of high price wines, a segment of the market where the Chilean wine industry was weak. These joint ventures controlled 30 percent of the premium price segment. The effects were most obvious through an increase in exports as Chilean wineries with foreign involvement were the first to export to a wide range of premium price market segments.An additional effect of the arrival of foreign firms was the access to distribution channels in the major markets and the improvement of the Chilean wine image (Bjork, 2005). Therefore, cooperation through alliances or networking with a foreign winery was very beneficial for Chilean wineries especially for transmitting knowledge related to upgrading production functions such as grape growing, wine making and wine marketing (Kunc, 2008). Another example of cooperation is the link between domestic firms and importers or distributors. Since small and medium size firms rely on the marketing knowledge and capacity of overseas distributors as well as importers to manage their wineries' wine brand(s), lessons learned from foreign firms about successful cooperation between importers and distributors with small and medium size wineries was important in the development of the Chilean wine industry (Kunc, 2008).\n4. Methodology: There are a range of tools and techniques available to market researchers. All options were carefully considered by the authors and on balance, the most effective approach, given time, financial and geographic restrictions, was an online survey. The questionnaire recipients were either general managers or marketing managers of their firms and therefore had good insights and understanding of the conditions in which their firms operate and function (Kahn and McDonough, 1997). An e-mail invitation was sent to the total population of companies in the main wine valleys of Chile (n=120) inviting them to go online and complete the questionnaire. To increase the response rate, two follow-up e-mails were sent with a follow up telephone call between the two mailings. This resulted in an effective 33 percent response rate (n=40) and is considered good in a country that does not traditionally respond well to questionnaires. Additionally, the industry is over-surveyed by academics, government officials and students. Where possible, existing measures, questions and constructs from previous studies (Felzensztein and Gimmon, 2007; Felzensztein et al., 2010a, b) were used and adapted. The questionnaire was designed and set out in English, then translated into Spanish for the purpose of data collection in Chile. It was pre-tested by a group of ten worldwide academic experts and eight managing directors/practitioners from Chile and abroad to assess clarity of instructions, style, length and scale items. Following, Felzensztein and Gimmon (2007), Felzensztein et al. (2010a, b), Brown et al. (2010), the usefulness of geographical co-location was measured on a five-point Likert scale, where 1=not at all useful and 5=extremely useful.\n5. Results: To determine the critical issues regarding inter-firm marketing collaboration and benefits, an exploratory analysis of data was conducted.Location benefits\n6. Conclusions: 6.1 Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This research aims to investigate cooperative strategies within the Chilean wine cluster, in particular the factors that influence the development of inter-firm marketing cooperation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A 2011 census of the Chilean wine cluster was undertaken. A 30 per cent response rate was obtained and the results are presented.\nFindings: - The results highlight that location benefits of collaboration and access to information and technologies are important to success. Previous research has tended to focus on the issue of terroir. Results also provide evidence of cooperation between firms located close to the focal firm, in particular those directly involved in its value chain. There is also evidence of firms cooperating in marketing activities designed to attract new customers and to strengthen the resulting B2B relationship.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The findings shed light on strategies for the enhancement of formal and informal business networks as a facilitator of effective inter-firm cooperation in marketing, particularly within SMEs. This study will also be of interest to local authorities and industry bodies seeking to enhance cooperation between local clustered firms.\nOriginality/value: - This study contributes to the understanding and definition of traditional and marketing externalities that cluster \"members\" accrue as a result of co-location.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Corporate social responsibility: reviewed, rated, revised	[ "Ethics", "Corporate social responsibility", "Impact", "Literature review", "CSR" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become ubiquitous in the hospitality and tourism industry and the academic literature. The industry itself is fraught with contradictions, from the simple \"carbon offsetting\" of budget flights to the plea from the Maldivian Government that their country will disappear with rising water levels whilst also building, in one year, at least seven additional airports to service their resort islands (Kundur, 2012). The academic literature is no better; the continually inconclusive or contradictory findings of financial impact studies (Inoue and Lee, 2011; Vlachos et al., 2009), often meaningless CSR reporting (de Grosbois, 2012) and consumer cynicism over perceived \"green-washing\" activities (Parguel et al., 2011; Pope and Waeraas, 2015) indicate clearly that it is time for a re-evaluation of CSR in both the hospitality literature and in management practice. CSR research must fundamentally debate the relevance and application of CSR to the sector and its relationship with external stakeholders, before trying to measure its internal benefit and financial impact. While the social sciences continue to engage in lively and productive debates about what CSR is, how it is used and the ways in which its socio-political value might be recuperated (Blowfield, 2005; Gjolberg, 2009; Sandoval, 2015), research into hospitality management continues to accept as fit and applicable the many definitions, models and measures found in general management scholarship. Our theoretical gap is this lack of critical engagement with conceptualisation, and our corresponding contextual gap is the industry application of CSR.\nThe development of CSR in general management: Described as the \"father\" of CSR by Carroll (1999), Bowen (1953) highlighted the impact of leading businesses on the lives of citizens and asked what responsibilities this impact placed upon them. For Bowen (1953), social responsibility was the obligation on business leaders to make decisions and pursue goals that followed actions desirable in the context of social objectives and values, an idea most famously challenged by Friedman (1970, p. 122), who claimed the social responsibility of the business is \"to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits [...] without deception or fraud\". Tempered by minimal adherence to legal regulations, Friedman's (1970) approach to CSR is updated by Henderson (2005), and represents the \"ethical\" approach to CSR, with Bowen's (1953) approach representing the opposite \"altruistic\" pole (Lantos, 2001, 2002). Somewhere between these, \"strategic\" CSR is commonly seen in attempts to maintain the so-called \"triple bottom line\" of financial, social/ethical and environmental concerns, emerging as theory from Carroll's (1979) earlier work (Lantos, 2001, 2002; van Marrewijk, 2003).\nMethodology: Towards a deeper understanding of CSR within hospitality, we conducted a systematic review of CSR literature published in top-ranked hospitality and tourism journals. This process demanded the identification of existing relevant studies, assessing their suitability to the current study, and sorting results and findings to generate logically formed conclusions (Denizci and Mohammed, 2015; Denyer and Tranfield, 2009). Guiding the literature search, the \"Tourism and Hospitality Management\" listing in the ABS Academic Journal Quality Guide 2010 allowed a range of variously ranked, but agreed base standard journals to be consulted through major online databases including ScienceDirect (Li, 2008), EBSCOhost (Denizci and Mohammed, 2015) and Google Scholar (Zeng and Ryan, 2012), as well as the respective authors' host university journal databases (Wearing and McGehee, 2013). Using the ABS list to guide the search was conducive for ensuring a focus on academic journal articles widely regarded as the most reliable source of knowledge in a research field (Denizci and Mohammed, 2015), owing to the increasingly crowded and segmented manifestations of CSR within broader management literature (Dahlsrud, 2008). Search terms were deliberately concise, including any combinations of \"Corporate Social Responsibility\" and \"CSR\". A search of titles, abstracts and keywords was performed and the results filtered to remove returns not substantially focused on CSR or not including original research, such as book reviews. Of the returned articles, emphasis was placed on including recent, currently relevant articles not superseded by subsequent findings, ensuring a contemporary compilation of related research (Denizci and Mohammed, 2015). Following Zeng and Ryan (2012), the data set of 81 relevant articles was compiled into a master table, in chronological order, allowing the authors to revisit the most pertinent full texts to establish trends and developments within CSR hospitality literature (Denizci and Mohammed, 2015). Aiding the analysis, reference details and the application of CSR in the article, benefits of CSR, drawbacks of CSR, specific sector of focus and the extent to which CSR was measured in the paper were delineated on the table. Despite applying a systematic approach, the literature search could not be entirely exhaustive, and was concluded in June 2014. Following reviewer responses, a secondary collection of literature was performed in August 2015 to update the sample.\nCSR in hospitality management: As Figure 1 shows, CSR research within hospitality management literature has increased in volume since 2004. Our findings suggest that the hospitality management literature has simply adopted the narrow, predominantly instrumental approach from the general management literature without due consideration to the specific challenges and opportunities of the industry.\nConclusion: This critical review of CSR research identifies widespread definitional uncertainty, a considerable imbalance towards measurements of financial impacts upon the firm, and a general ignorance of specific industrial, socio-political and cultural contextual factors. These limitations developed in the general management literature, before being replicated in the hospitality management literature. These financial studies are generally inconclusive, or inconsistent. The business-centric approach is useful insofar as it asserts the need for studies accounting for the local and national industrial nuances, but largely offers an uncritical, apolitical approach that sees the potential for gaining competitive advantage as the primary reason for undertaking CSR activities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper is a critical literature review of corporate social responsibility (CSR) research in both general management and hospitality management literature. This paper aims to discuss trends, commonalities and inconsistencies to better understand the state of contemporary scholarship, and it calls for a context-specific conceptual engagement with the phenomenon.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Systematic literature review, noting and critiquing a general tendency towards measurement of financial and other internal benefit impacts.\nFindings: Hospitality management is well-positioned to evaluate the opportunities and challenges of CSR; yet, research has uncritically adopted the instrumental emphasis on assessing processes, perceptions and private profitability from the general management literature, without engaging on a contextually specific and/or theoretical level.\nResearch limitations/implications: CSR research is abundant and therefore difficult to summarise in one paper. The primarily Anglo-American and Asian contextual bias is reflected in this review.\nPractical implications: Consistently inconsistent results challenge the portability of financial impact studies. Studies are needed to re-evaluate the concept of CSR, as it pertains to hospitality and measure the effectiveness of CSR activities relative to context and resource availability.\nSocial implications: Further research into the scope of CSR in hospitality management, with an emphasis on recuperating social value, would lead to widespread positive social implications.\nOriginality/value: This critical review offers a new perspective on CSR in the hospitality literature and industry, calling for a reconsideration of the concept in context, and formulates a working definition.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Crossover effects of Leader's resilience: a multilevel mediation approach	[ "Employee resilience", "Job burnout", "Organizational citizenship behaviors", "Crossover effects", "Multilevel analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Given the changing environment resulting from technology upgrades and fluctuating business markets, employees need to develop strong psychological resources to cope with work-related stress (Luthans and Youssef-Morgan, 2017; Robertson et al., 2015). Resilience, defined as \"the positive psychological capacity to rebound, to 'bounce back' from adversity, uncertainty, conflict, even positive change, progress and increased responsibility\" (Luthans, 2002, p. 702), has been recognized as one of the most promising psychological resources for coping with demanding pressures (Robertson et al., 2015).Specifically, resilience, including both personal adaptive capacities and contextually supportive resources (Britt et al., 2016), could help individuals to obtain, retain, and foster valuable resources (Hobfoll, 1989; Wright et al., 2013). Resilient individuals can cope with adversities using their protective resources, such as positive intrinsic motivation and effective emotional regulation (Masten, 2001; Wright et al., 2013). They can maintain a positive self-view and emotional stability, preserving their psychological well-being and working effectivity (Bandura, 2000; Fredrickson, 2001). Furthermore, resilient individuals can also build strong social connections and benefit from close relationships (Coyne, 1976), such as social support and interpersonal attachment (Luthans, 2002; Masten, 2001). This extends their resources beyond their limited personal domain, thus preventing the depletion of personal resources and offsetting external adversities (Hobfoll et al., 1990). Finally, resilience contributes to various employee outcomes, such as mental health, subjective well-being, and productivity (Robertson et al., 2015).Existing research has focused only on the intrapersonal effects of resilience, emphasizing the positive relationship between an individual's resilience and his or her attitudes, sentiments, and behaviors (Robertson et al., 2015). Instead, the interpersonal effects through which a resilient individual can benefit others have been largely neglected (Agneessens and Wittek, 2008). Considering that (1) crossover effects of psychological resources within the same social or organizational context (Chen et al., 2015), and (2) the state-like nature of resilience indicates that it is a developmental capacity rather than a dispositional characteristic (Luthans, 2002), resilience, intended as a kind of positive psychological capacity, can develop not only through internal self-experiences but also through interactions with the external environment (Britt et al., 2016).Given their asymmetrical status within organizations, followers often have limited resources (Luo et al., 2016), whereas the top-down effects of the leader on followers are more pervasive, powerful, and immediate (Chen and Kanfer, 2006; Day and Harrison, 2007). Therefore, the leader can influence followers through daily interactions, such as allocating resources, providing feedback, and evaluating performance (Volmer, 2012). Limited but insightful research has confirmed that certain leadership styles can improve followers' resilience (Ahern, 2015; Maclntyre et al., 2013).Focusing on resilience beyond the individual level (Bonanno et al., 2015), the primary purpose of this research was to test (1) the crossover effect of leader's resilience on average followers' resilience [1]; and (2) whether such effect could extend to benefit followers by preventing them from losing resources, or by prompting them to invest for resource gains. Therefore, two endogenous variables were selected from a conservation of resources (COR) perspective. First, job burnout, defined as \"a psychological syndrome in response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job\" (Maslach et al., 2001, p. 399), indicates the extent to which an individual experiences the loss or insufficient return of work-related resources (Halbesleben and Buckley, 2004; Hobfoll and Shirom, 2001). Second, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), defined as \"employee behaviors that, although not critical to the task or job, serve to facilitate organizational functioning\" (Lee and Allen, 2002, p. 132), indicates the extent to which an individual is capable of investing sufficient personal resources to build reciprocal ties, thus achieving resource gains (Halbesleben and Wheeler, 2015). Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual model.Although prior research illustrated the significant effects of resilience on burnout and OCB from an intrapersonal perspective (e.g. Meng et al., 2019; Paul et al., 2019), the interpersonal effects of resilience on these employees' outcomes are still unknown. Therefore, this research contributes to existing resilience literature in the following ways. First, by testing the crossover effects of resilience from a top-down perspective, this research provides empirical evidence of the application of the crossover model to the psychological resource field, which indicates that valuable resources not only contribute to the welfare of the possessor (e.g. resilient individuals) but can also transfer and then produce resource gains for other people, thus allowing recipients to build their own resource pools (Chen et al., 2015). Second, by exploring the potential mechanism through which resilience could contribute to others' psychological well-being, this research extends the research scope of resilience from an individual to an interpersonal level, which sheds light on the mechanisms of employees' resilience (Agneessens and Wittek, 2008; Bonanno et al., 2015).\nTheories and hypotheses: Crossover effects of leader's resilience\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Confirmatory factor analyses\nDiscussion: Summary of the research findings\nConclusion: This research showed that the resilient leader could enhance followers' resilience through crossover processes, thereby allowing followers to experience less burnout, and engage in more citizenship behaviors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This research tested the crossover effects of a leader's resilience on followers' outcomes via followers' resilience.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data from 87 leaders with 309 followers, collected in two waves in China, were used to test the multilevel mediation hypotheses.\nFindings: The results indicated that (1) resilience could transfer from the leader to followers, and (2) leader's resilience could further contribute to alleviating followers' job burnout, and prompt citizenship behaviors by enhancing followers' resilience.\nOriginality/value: This study adopted a top-down perspective to test the crossover effects of resilience, thus expanding the resilience literature illustrating its distinct influential mechanism through a vertically interpersonal perspective.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Evaluation of information leaflets for flexible cystoscopy	[ "Urinary system", "Medical treatment", "Medical informatics", "Information media", "Leaflets", "Patient care" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Flexible cystoscopy is a common diagnostic procedure that is undertaken for diagnostic and bladder cancer surveillance purposes in urology. It is performed using a local anaesthetic gel that is inserted into the urethra. It is, however, an invasive procedure that can cause anxiety to patients.Patient information leaflets are an important adjunct to the verbal exchange between doctors and patients. Their value is dependent upon whether they contain useful information from the viewpoint of the patient and are easily understood.There are several reasons why leaflets should be used. First, the Patient's Charter states that the patient has a right to be as informed as they wish, and that the NHS should be able to communicate with everyone in today's society (DoH, 1991). Patients also want to know about the benefits of their treatments, the risks and the uncertainties involved (Meredith et al., 1995). Patient information leaflets are believed to save time in the medical consultation (Roland and Dixon, 1989), relieve medical staff boredom (Hobbs et al., 1977) and have been proposed as a possible source of medico-legal advantage (MDU, 1993). Another reason for using leaflets is that it is well known that patients forget or misunderstand much of what is discussed during a consultation. One study has shown that, on average, patients had forgotten 50 per cent of what the doctor had told them within 5 minutes of leaving the consultation. In general, people retain only 20 per cent of what they hear, although this may increase by 50 per cent if there is additional visual or written information provided Kenny et al., 1998). There is also evidence that a well-informed patient is better prepared for a consultation with a doctor and is less anxious (Fallowfield et al., 1990).A flexible cystoscopy takes on average one minute to perform once the patient has been consented and positioned. During an average morning or afternoon list, up to 25 such procedures can be undertaken. The short contact time between a patient and the doctor in this setting is clearly insufficient to inform and prepare the patient. Hence, there is a demand for an accurate information leaflet that should be derived from the latest scientific evidence.This article evaluates currently available flexible cystoscopy leaflets in London hospitals.\nMethods: A total of 20 hospitals in London that carry out flexible cystoscopies as a day-case procedure participated in this study. Eight of the hospitals used the same generic leaflet produced by the suppliers of endoscopy equipment. The material from 13 leaflets was evaluated. A checklist of seven items was used as a framework for analysis. This list was adapted from The British Society of Gastroenterology (1999), which has produced a checklist of 15 items that should be included in any information sheet developed for patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures. No such list was available in the urology literature. The following list was thus prepared:* Directions to the endoscopy suite.* A clear description of the procedure.* A contact number for queries or concerns before or after the procedure.* Information about preparation for the procedure.* Information about regular medication.* Information on how to obtain the result of the flexible cystoscopy.* Follow-up arrangementsAdditionally, the leaflets were evaluated for diagrams to clarify the procedure and the anatomy, and sources of additional information, if required.\nResults: Directions to the endoscopy suite\nDiscussion: This study has shown that although there are a number of leaflets about flexible cystoscopy available to patients in our region, they vary in quality and the information they provide. This can cause ambiguity and confusion to patients for a procedure that takes less than a minute to perform.Six hospitals gave no information about fasting, which may have caused unnecessary discomfort to those patients who abstained from food and drink. The lack of information regarding regular medication is also worrying, as it is possible that many patients may omit their drugs. This can have dangerous consequences for diabetic patients. Perhaps involving patients in the development of such material may overcome many of these discrepancies.In the absence of a national public health information strategy or a body that systematically vets patient information materials, professionals should be aware of the accuracy of the leaflets they are using, and the limitations of what is available (Smith et al., 1998). Clinicians also need to be aware of what information is accessible by patients on the internet. For such a common procedure, perhaps the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) could issue guidelines, or indeed, a leaflet that can be used nationally, that should underpin any locally-developed leaflets.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to review patient information leaflets for flexible cystoscopies and to determine the quality of information available to patients.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Information leaflets from 20 hospitals in the region that carried out flexible cystoscopies as a day-case procedure were evaluated against a checklist of items for inclusion in the leaflets.\nFindings: - A total of 13 leaflets were received. There was a large variation in the information supplied between hospitals, and there was a lack of vital information in most of the leaflets. Only four leaflets provided a diagram of the urinary tract for clarity.\nOriginality/value: - Many of the leaflets evaluated fell below an adequate standard. This study shows the need for a better, more accurate and up-to-date leaflet for what is probably the most commonly performed urological procedure.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Expatriation management process: The challenges and impediments for the Western expatriates in the United Arab Emirates	[ "Expatriation management", "International assignment", "Multinational companies", "UAE" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the era of global competition, multinational corporations (MNCs) increasingly need to send their employees on assignments around the globe. Despite the slight dip in expatriate assignments following the 2008 worldwide financial crisis, there has been a continual increase in the number of international assignments (Brookfield Global Relocation Services, 2011). The fundamental job of an expatriate executive can be envisioned as that of a facilitator who can stimulate the transfer of knowledge, enrich cohesion and align coordination and control between the MNC practices and local demands. The degree to which an expatriate manager accomplishes his/her assignment depends on not only the skills and abilities of the expatriate manager but also the way the MNC manages the international expatriation process. In previous studies (Tahir, 2018), it has been reported that somewhere between 10 and 80 per cent of expatriate managers failed in their global assignment costing their companies approximately from US$40,000 to US$1m for each failed global assignment (Al Mazrouei and Pech, 2014). To advance and accelerate research on the expatriation management process, and to extend our understanding of this critical and relevant field, additional research is required, particularly from a setting which is non-western such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Most of the previous studies (Selmer, 2002) conducted on this subject have been undertaken in western countries or Japan, where the domestic conditions are very different from those in countries like the UAE.\nUAE relevance: The UAE is a tiny Middle Eastern Arab country situated on the Arab Peninsula and bordering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf of Oman, Oman and Persian (or Arabian) Gulf. Following the British pullout from the territory, the UAE came into being in 1971. It is composed of seven Emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Um Al Quwain. This small country is fortunate to have approximately 10 per cent of the planet's oil reserves and around 4 per cent of natural gas reserves (Al Mazrouei and Pech, 2014). Abu Dhabi, largest of the seven emirates, accounts for about 80 per cent of the land and produces 90-95 per cent of the UAE's petrochemical production. As a result of its petroleum wealth, Abu Dhabi is considered as one of the wealthiest cities on the globe and is also the capital city of the UAE. However, Dubai does not have oil wealth in such abundance, yet, it is better known and has transformed itself into a tourism and business hub for the whole world. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are seen as most wealthy and powerful partners within the seven emirates of the UAE. It can be stated without the fear of exaggeration that the UAE has gone through an immense transformation since the last quarter of the 20th century (Heard-Bey, 2004).\nLiterature review: Cultural differences between Anglo-Saxon nations and the UAE\nMethodology: The researchers began with Ozdemir and Cizel's (2007) process-based model for expatriate managers that identifies four processes associated with expatriate success: \"recruitment and selection, pre-departure preparation, foreign assignment, and repatriation\" (p. 170). The researchers developed items to measure these four stages based on Ozdemir and Cizel's (2007) paper and others (Avril and Magnini, 2007; Feitosa et al., 2014; Lee et al., 2013; Sims and Schraeder, 2004; Wang and Hinrichs, 2005). Where appropriate (e.g. language training), parallel items were written for the expatriate and for family members. Responses were on a seven-point Likert scale with 1= strongly disagree, 4 = no opinion, and 7 = strongly agree.\nResults: As the number of items for the individual scales used in the study varies, the scores for each section were calculated by adding the scores for the various items and dividing by the number of items in the scale. Thus, all scale scores are directly comparable, and scores can easily be interpreted. Any score below 4 indicates disagreement and any score above 4 indicates agreement with the statement.\nDiscussion: Expatriation, described as a voluntary, ephemeral relocation of an individual abroad for an assignment, with the expectation of return to the home country, is growing in importance for MNCs. Expatriates who can work effectively in different locations around the globe, and achieve their company's targets successfully, are increasingly sought as a source of competitive advantage for their companies. In the UAE only about 8 per cent of the private sector workforce is made up of UAE nationals. This creates many exciting jobs for expatriates in MNCs in the UAE. Hence, the expatriate number in the UAE has increased astonishingly to occupy these challenging and exciting positions.\nLimitations of the study and future research directions: This study is not without limitations. First, the sample size is rather modest. Out estimate of the Anglo-Saxon working expatriate population is approximately 3,500. To reduce the margin of error for the study to 5 per cent, we would require a sample of 346 but the study sample size is 104. Therefore, these results should be seen as indicative of the state of expatiate management for the UAE but the reader should consider the means and correlations provided as approximations rather than hard estimates. Additionally, there exists a general distrust of the motives of researchers in the UAE. This both limited the size of the research sample and required that researchers call upon known expatriates to participate in the study. Given the personal relationships between the researchers and the participants, we believe the quality of the data is very high despite the limited sample.\nImplications for practice: Companies that make use of expatriate managers should develop a systematic selection system that identifies the right person for each position. This selection process should consider the family in addition to the expatriate. Expatriates and their families should receive appropriate training prior to departing the home country. As part of this training, expatriates and their families should be given information about the host country's level of economic development, culture and climate. While this is unlikely to eliminate the culture shock that most expatriates experience during an overseas assignment, it should mitigate its effects.\nConclusions: Internationalization and global labor mobility have increased the opportunities for enterprising and talented individuals to work abroad. An increasing number of multinational companies are sending key employees to manage their subsidiaries in the UAE. However, the research into the expatriates in the UAE is still in its infancy. To the best of our knowledge this is first study that attempts to validate Ozdemir and Cizel's (2007) model of expatriate management and relate the model to the performance and commitment of Western expatriates in the UAE. The present study endeavors to contribute to the body of literature and extends our comprehension of the expatriation management process in multinational companies in the UAE. More precisely, we have slightly modified the framework developed initially by Ozdemir and Cizel (2007) and linked the four stages of the expatriation process with the performance and commitment of expatriate managers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to validate Ozdemir and Cizel's (2007) model of expatriate management. The researchers tested the framework developed initially by Ozdemir and Cizel (2007) by relating the four stages of the expatriation process with the performance and commitment of expatriate managers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research population consists of expatriate managers from five Anglo-Saxon countries. A total of 110 surveys were collected. However, due to missing data and internal inconsistencies (i.e. random answering), six surveys (5.5%) were deleted resulting in a sample size of 104.\nFindings: Ozdemir and Cizel's four-stage process model (2007) has been established as a valid, useful model for creating an expatriation management system. Few expats interviewed indicated their selection was systematized or that they received training in advance of the assignment. Families of these expats received even less consideration despite the fact that many expat failures result from family failure to adapt to the new culture. Very few companies managed the repatriation process at all. Given the substantial correlations between components of Ozdemir and Cizel's model and performance and commitment, these finding are no less than troubling.\nOriginality/value: As companies are becoming increasingly international, the number of expatriates working around the world is growing. While the management of expatriates has been studied extensively in North America and Europe, research into the expatriate process in the UAE is still in its infancy. The present study endeavors to begin to fill this research gap.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Multilevel latent class modeling to segment the microfinance market	[ "Microfinance", "Market segmentation", "Multilevel latent class models" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Microfinance has become an important tool for alleviating poverty (Chen et al., 2017; Shahriar et al., 2015; Jaiyeoba et al., 2018). It has existed as such since the eighteenth century (Armendariz and Morduch, 2010). It was also a part of centuries-old practices of informal and cooperative lending across various cultures, from Europe to East Asia (Chen et al., 2017). It only became popular, however, with Professor Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh (Dowla, 2006).\n2. Microfinance programs: The last 30 years have seen an increase in the number of participants and the amount of money used in microfinance operations. This has resulted in movements for around US$ 40bn in 2012, and the microfinance industry has become one of the largest development programs worldwide, both in financial terms and in the number of people involved (Garikipati, 2017; Van Rooyen et al., 2012).\n3. Segmentation in the financial market: The banking sector is one of the most important and competitive in the world (Niyagas et al., 2006; Bach et al., 2014). Since the main role of banks is to provide services, it is vital for them to formulate good strategies that distinguish them from their competitors (Asiedu, 2016). As Williams et al. (2012) put it, it is important for financial institutions to recognize the needs of individual customers, and to see whether these needs are all covered by their strategies, marketing mix and programs. But monitoring individual needs demands a high level of customization due the great diversity of clients' characteristics. Some papers on the potential benefits of customers' segmentation in the financial services market are present in the recent reference literature as, for example, Lees et al. (2016), Frimpong et al. (2017) and Bassi (2017).\n4. The CrediAmigo program: CrediAmigo is the largest Brazilian microcredit program. It belongs to the Banco do Nordeste do Brasil. The program works with individual lending and joint liability group lending schemes. It also offers entrepreneurs monitoring and guidance on the best application of their resources. A tax-free account is opened for each client. The program is self-supporting, receiving no donations or government subsidies. It operates separately from the Banco.\n5. The database: Data were obtained from the database of the CrediAmigo program. Our sample refers to 250,118 operations and 12,737 clients, covering the period from January 2003 to June 2017. The original database included 43 variables, but some of them were subsequently removed because they were redundant (e.g. date of birth and age). Other variables were not useful for our purposes because almost all the sample units gave the same answer (e.g. purpose of the loan), so these variables obviously could not distinguish between segments. After cleansing the data set for the above-mentioned reasons, 18 variables remained: 10 were used as indicators (to identify segments) and 8 as covariates (to describe segments). After estimating the model, another two variables were omitted because they revealed no significant effect in the model: one described the quality level of a business's accounts, as perceived by the program's agent (who visited clients for follow-up); the other concerned the payment terms in days. Two more variables were removed from the covariates because they too had no significant effect in the model: one concerned the fact of belonging to a joint liability group; the other whether or not the business was conducted at a fixed location. All covariates were imputed in the model as inactive, however. Table II shows the descriptive statistics for the 14 variables used in the analysis, with the means and standard deviations for continuous variables, and the relative frequencies (as percentages) for categorical variables.\n6. Method and estimation results: 6.1 Multilevel LC models\n7. Discussion: CrediAmigo is a microfinance program that has existed since 1997. The results of our multilevel LC analysis identify four different classes of clients and six clusters of operations. One of these clusters of operations no longer exists: it was characterized by operations conducted largely before 2009. The findings emerging from our MLLC also show that classes of clients can be associated with clusters of operations. Generally speaking, it is very important for banks to be able to profile clients in order to develop appropriate marketing strategies. But describing the clients themselves is not enough to shed light on the big picture of the microfinance consumer market. It is important for the bank to understand what types of operations they conduct in order to gain a clearer idea of who is being served what, and about the mechanisms through which financial services are delivered (Morduch, 2000; Newman et al., 2017).\n8. Limitations and future research: This paper focused on a microfinance program conducted in Brazil, exploiting a very rich data set on clients involved in multiple operations over a considerable period of time (from 2003 to 2017). A first potential limitation of our study lies in that our data refer only to a specific program and a specific country, although the method used and the implications deriving from the results could be extended to the assessment of other microfinance programs.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Microfinance has become an important way to alleviate poverty. Though four decades have passed since its introduction, its impact is still not entirely clear. What makes it difficult to ascertain its efficacy is the existence of diverse types of microfinance organizations and client profiles. Microfinance institutions must primarily pay more attention to the client, and to the mechanism through which financial services are delivered. The purpose of this paper is to identify the profiles of microfinance customers and the features of their operations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, multilevel latent class models were estimated to reveal clusters of operations and classes of clients.\nFindings: The results show that there are six clusters of operations and four classes of clients in the market, each with distinct profiles and needs. Different strategies are recommended for each cluster and class.\nOriginality/value: Numerous studies have focused on the importance of getting to know the clients of microfinance programs, but none as yet have used market segmentation as a way to do so. The goal is to generate better strategies to help clients improve their business results. Applying market segmentation to the microfinance market may point to different products for different groups of clients, taking the real needs of each of them into account.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cost assessment of multi-tenancy for a 5G broadband network in a dense urban area	[ "Cost", "Broadband", "5G", "Network sharing", "RAN" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: It is expected that future 5G networks will provide users with improved communications experience. Similar to the evolutionary steps from former system generations, 5G systems will further increase data throughput and network capacity. In addition, they will enable the offering of various innovative services, such as vertical industry-oriented services. Different services will be provided by means of infrastructure that enables a reduced end-to-end (E2E) latency, an improved reliability and better coverage. The expected benefit for the economy is the creation of new businesses (NGMN, 2015; Rendon Schneir et al., 2018). Overall, 5G has the potential to contribute to the economic growth of nations and regions when deployed (Australian Government, Department of Communications and the Arts, 2018; GSMA, 2018).\n2. Network sharing with multi-tenancy: A potential feature of 5G networks is multi-tenancy. This implies that multiple tenants, such as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) or industry customers, can provide end-users with services that run on a shared network infrastructure owned by one or several InPs. This concept has been studied in the European research project 5G NORMA (5G NORMA D3.3; 2017). Multi-tenancy in the 5G NORMA architecture means flexible sharing of infrastructure, equipment (processing and storage), inter-site connectivity and spectrum. This allows a MSP to implement E2E network slices for multiple tenants, each delivering their own target services over the network (NGMN, 2016; Samdanis et al., 2016). We refer to a network slice as a self-contained logical network independently operated and customized based on the requirements.\n3. Cost analysis approach: 3.1 Research methodology\n4. Baseline case results: Figure 6 shows the cost results of the baseline case. For the 2020-2030 period, we found a CAPEX and OPEX reduction of 15.7 and 12.9 per cent, respectively. The total cost of ownership (TCO) reduction, i.e. CAPEX and OPEX together, was of 13.6 per cent.\n5. Sensitivity analysis: The results of the sensitivity analysis, in terms of the TCO reduction of a single shared network made up of multiple InPs compared to that of the sum of various separate MNOs, are summarised in Table II.\n6. Evaluation of the results: 6.1 Overall analysis of the results\n7. Conclusions: In this study, we have investigated the cost of a 5G broadband network that uses a multi-tenancy design for network sharing and compared this with the cost of corresponding single-tenant network deployments. For the period 2020-2030, we found a TCO reduction of 13.6 per cent for the case of two typical legacy MNOs migrating to a multi-tenant strategy. The CAPEX and OPEX cost reductions were 15.7 and 12.9 per cent, respectively.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: 5G systems will enable an improved transmission performance and the delivery of advanced communication services. To meet the expected requirements, operators will need to invest in network modernisation, with the radio access network being the most expensive network component. One possible way for operators to reduce this investment would be via sharing of resources by means of a multi-tenancy concept. This implies that a mobile service provider may use the common infrastructure of one or various infrastructure providers, whereby it provides services to multiple tenants. This paper aims to study the expected cost savings in terms of capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operational expenditures (OPEX) that can be achieved when using a cloudified 5G multi-tenant network.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A cost model was used. The study period is 2020-2030 and the study area consists of three local districts in central London, UK.\nFindings: This paper describes that the total cost reduction achieved when using multi-tenancy for a 5G broadband network in comparison with the case where operators make the investment independently ranges from 5.2% to 15.5%.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further research is needed to assess the cost implications of network sharing for 5G on a regional or nationwide basis.\nOriginality/value: Very little quantitative research about the cost implications of network sharing under 5G networks has been published so far. This paper sheds light on the economic benefits of multi-tenancy in a 5G broadband network.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Testing the self-selection theory in high corruption environments: evidence from African SMEs	[ "Self-selection", "Cluster", "Networking", "Productivity", "Corruption", "Exports", "World Bank Enterprise survey", "African SMEs", "Outward-looking competences" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A variety of studies have validated the so-called self-selection theory; that more productive firms are more capable of exporting and competing in international markets (Aw et al., 2000; Melitz, 2003; Melitz and Ottaviano, 2008; Temouri et al., 2013). However, there are geographical contexts in which established managerial theories like self-selection have not been tested. In this study, we evaluate the application of self-selection theory in the context(s) of Africa. In so doing we respond to recent calls for contextualising international business research by testing the relevance of established theories in contexts such as Africa (Teagarden et al., 2018). Several studies investigating the effect of productivity on the exporting behaviour of firms (Temouri et al. (2013) for the UK, Germany and France, Cassiman and Golovko (2011) for Spain, Aw et al. (2000) for emerging economies like Taiwan and Clerides et al. (1998) for developing countries like Colombia and Morocco), provide evidence that firms with higher productivity levels are more likely to self-select themselves into export markets. However, other studies seem to demonstrate that exporting firms are more productive not because they self-select themselves but rather because they actually learn-by-exporting as they start interacting with more competitive foreign firms and more demanding customers and suppliers (Fernandes and Isgut, 2005; Van Biesebroeck, 2005; Martins and Yang, 2009; Love and Ganotakis, 2013; Salomon and Shaver, 2005).\nTheory and hypotheses: Self-selection theory and exports: applicability and acknowledged limitations\nAlternative explanations to the self-selection theory in high-corruption environments: The effect of cluster networks\nResearch methods: The context and its relevance\nResults: As a warm up exercise, we have compared labour productivity distributions for exporting and non-exporting firms. By doing this, we could test graphically whether the most productive firms are more likely to export. Interestingly, as it is shown in Figure 3, self-selection mechanisms (more productive firms are more likely to export) are observed only for the subsample of firms in low-corruption environments. In particular, according to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (Wilcox, 2005), productivity distribution is significantly different at 10 per cent for exporting and non-exporting firms in low-corruption environments, whereas this result washes away in high-corruption environments. From a visual interpretation of the figure, we can see that in high-corruption environments a high proportion of the most productive firms are non-exporters (see Figure 3).\nDiscussion and conclusions: Implications to theory\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Whilst substantial evidence from low-corruption, developed market environments supports the view that more productive firms are more likely to export, there has been little research into analysing the link between productivity and exports in high corruption, developing market environments. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to test the premise of self-selection theory whether the association between productivity and export is maintained in high-corruption environments, and second to identify other variables explaining export activity in high-corruption contexts, including cluster networks and firms' competences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors draw on the World Bank Enterprise survey to undertake a cross-section analysis including 1,233 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in nine African countries. The advantage of this database is that it contains information about the level of perceived corruption at firm level. Logistic regressions are performed for the full sample and for subsamples of firms in high- and low-corruption environments.\nFindings: The findings demonstrate that the self-selection theory only applies to low-corruption environments, whereas in high-corruption environments, alternative factors such as cluster networks and outward-looking competences (OLC) exert a stronger influence on the exporting activity of African SMEs.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research contributes to the theory as it provides evidence that contradicts the validity of self-selection theory in high-corruption environments. The findings would benefit from further longitudinal investigation.\nPractical implications: African SMEs need to consider cluster networks and OLC as important strategic factors that might enhance their international competitiveness.\nOriginality/value: The criticism of the self-selection theory is distinctive in the literature and has important implications for future research. The authors show that the contextualisation of existing theories matters and this opens a research avenue for further more sensitive contextualisation of existing theories in developing economies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of consumer ethnocentrism, country image, and subjective knowledge in predicting intention to purchase imported functional foods	[ "Country image", "Consumer ethnocentrism", "Subjective knowledge", "Health consciousness", "Functional food image", "Imported foods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Growing health concerns have contributed to a developing functional foods market. Functional foods have beneficial effects not only on physiological functions but also on improving well-being, reducing the risk of disease. Functional food shave thus become increasingly popular (Hardy, 2000; Kaur and Singh, 2017). The international market for functional foods has grown continuously predicted to exceed US $305.4bn by 2020 (Bogue et al., 2017).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Consumer ethnocentrism\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data collection\n4. Results: 4.1 Demographics of respondents\n5. Discussion and conclusion: 5.1 Discussion\n6. Conclusion: This study examined the relationships among consumer ethnocentrism, country image of Korea, image of Korean functional foods, subjective knowledge, health consciousness, subjective norm, purchase attitude, PBC and consumer intention to purchase Korean functional foods. This study has proved the applicability of a well-established social psychological model of TPB as personal factor for examining consumer functional food purchase intention. Furthermore, considering the context of Chinese consumer intention to purchase imported Korean functional foods, this study combined social factors such as consumer ethnocentrism and country image. The result showed that consumer ethnocentrism had a negative effect on the purchase attitude, but the image of Korean functional foods, health consciousness, and subjective knowledge positively affected attitude toward purchasing Korean functional foods. Country image had a positive effect on the image of Korean functional foods. This finding implies that establishing a good product image and purchase attitude should begin with using a positive country image. For example, when selling Korean functional foods, Korean functional foods producers/marketers should emphasize the reliability and advanced aspects of Korean functional foods, which would reflect on the country's image. Also, they need to carefully position foreign products (e.g. Korean functional foods) with respect to Chinese consumers' ethnocentrism and country image of Korea. To increase the image of the reliability of Korean functional foods, China Food and Drug Administration certification is recommended. To increase subjective knowledge of Korean functional foods, advertising and promotions should focus on delivering information on each function and type of Korean functional foods at exhibitions, drug stores, or online (mobile) channels. In addition, public education like health seminars and health education campaigns can help increase subjective knowledge by evoking the positive effects of functional foods on healthy lifestyles.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of consumer ethnocentrism, country image, functional food image, subjective knowledge and health consciousness in predicting purchase intention of imported functional foods using the theory of planned behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 361 Chinese consumers from 20 to 60 year old who have purchased Korean functional foods participated in this study using an online survey. Structural equation modeling was performed to examine the hypotheses.\nFindings: Consumer ethnocentrism had a negative effect on the intention to purchase Korean functional food, but the image of Korean functional foods, subjective knowledge and health consciousness positively affected intention to purchase Korean functional foods. Country image had a positive effect on the image of Korean functional foods. Attitude and perceived behavioral control had a positive effect on the intention to purchase Korean functional foods.\nOriginality/value: This study combined social and personal factors to explain Chinese consumer intention to purchase imported Korean functional foods.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Healthcare quality improvement work: a professional employee perspective	[ "Relationships", "Employee engagement", "Quality improvement", "Institutional logics", "Professions", "Work structure" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Quality improvement (QI) work aiming to improve healthcare efficiency and productivity in healthcare has evolved into a major topic both in research and practice (Elg et al., 2011; Bergman et al., 2015). While healthcare development has always been core work, it has traditionally been based primarily on medical and/or technical innovations (Woolf and Johnson, 2005), and mainly driven by physicians based on medical logic (Scott et al., 2000). Contemporary public healthcare has seen an extensive increase in management-initiated and planned approaches to development and change (Campbell, 2008). This may in part follow new public management reforms that emphasize more hands-on-management (Hood, 1995), which requires QI work to be increasingly organization-related. However, traditional institutional patterns have not been eradicated, which has increased healthcare institutional complexity (Greenwood et al., 2011) and consequently healthcare QI work complexity as it involves different and often competing institutional logics (Reay and Hinings, 2009).\nEmployee engagement in healthcare QI work: professions, work structures and working relationships: An employee perspective involves understanding what influences their actions. Contemporary research, using healthcare institutional logics perspective, has highlighted professional and managerial logics as the most influential factors (Reay and Hinings, 2009). Professional logics are manifested through healthcare professions, stipulating that professional knowledge and judgements ought to steer and guide practice, and everyday work, while a managerial logic is manifested through bureaucratic roles and other formal work structures (Thornton et al., 2012) entailing that organizational, formal hierarchy is legitimate in prescribing action (Freidson, 2001). Previous QI research highlights working relationships as being vital for employees to involve themselves (Andreasson et al., 2016). Therefore, we briefly discuss relevant previous research that enables us to understand how professions, work structures and working relationships might influence how employees engage in QI work. We then present the theoretical departure point that a combined institutional logics and institutional work framework entails.\nInstitutional logics and institutional work as a theoretical framework: Recent development within the institutional logic theoretical framework (Thornton et al., 2012) and institutional work (Lawrence et al., 2013; Zilber, 2013) are both helpful for understanding how employees engage in healthcare QI work. The challenge when attempting to change healthcare practice is its institutionalized characteristics, which make it robust and hard to change (Scott et al., 2000). Institutional logic has multiple definitions, but the core is that institutional logics \"provide guidelines on how to interpret and function in social situations\" (Greenwood et al., 2011, p. 318). As such, institutional logics may explain robust healthcare practice, constituting the basis upon which people construct their individual experiences (Thornton et al., 2012) and their day-to-day practice. However, understanding changes in these robust practices requires a different concept - institutional work - which is defined as \"the purposive action of individuals and organizations aimed at creating, maintaining and disrupting institutions\" (Lawrence and Suddaby, 2006, p. 215). Institutional work focuses on how organizations and institutions change and how actors relate to and handle multiple institutional demands in everyday work and practice; an institutional aspect that so far has been understudied (Lawrence et al., 2013).\nMethod: We adopted a qualitative research strategy and used a case study design with two data collection methods: interviews and observations. Data collection began in December 2012 and ended in May 2014. The case study included management-initiated QI work, at a medium-sized Swedish hospital delivering paediatric and adolescent diabetes treatment and care. Interviews focussed on participants' on-going QI work perceptions, especially QI's perceived importance and role; QI method and tool perceptions; and approaches towards other professional employees and managers in their organization. Interviews (ranging from 30 to 100 minutes) with 18 team members, including: six nurses, five physicians, two counsellors, two dieticians, two play therapists, and one psychologist, were undertaken. Additionally, two managers and two process developers were interviewed. In total, 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Some individuals were interviewed multiple times to expand important topics and themes. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Additionally, more than 40 activity hours were observed (ten occurrences), which included meetings that team members had in relation to on-going practice and QI work. To document meetings, notes were made of interactions and conversations; some conversations were reported verbatim while other conversations and interactions were abridged. These observations enabled us to study behaviour, action and interactions, which helped us to understand organizational phenomena in its natural context. Observations also generated ideas for coming interviews, and provided inspiration for interpreting performed interviews (Alvesson and Skoldberg, 2009).\nResearch setting: One clinical measurement considered vital is glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), which is the marker for blood average glucose levels. Management-initiated QI work was started as a response to the high HbA1c levels (compared to other Swedish hospitals) amongst child and adolescent patients. The manager responsible for these patients appointed a physician to construct and implement a process-oriented treatment, which came to encompass the following: standardizing information for patients and their parents; minimizing the days that patients were hospitalized; and new routines for patient reception. Our focus here is professional's QI work perspectives.\nResults: Three interconnected conditions (presented separately) proved important for influencing how employees engage in healthcare QI work.\nConclusions: We took a professional employee perspective on healthcare QI work. We described the three main conditions that influence how workers engage in healthcare QI work: professions, work structures and working relationships. All three conditions appear to influence employee engagement, but in different ways. While professions and work structures tend to prevent employees from engaging, working relationships can often serve to bridge professions and work structures, thereby supporting employee engagement in healthcare QI work (Figure 1).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze conditions that influence how employees engage in healthcare quality improvement (QI) work.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Qualitative case study based on interviews (n=27) and observations (n=10).\nFindings: The main conditions that influence how employees engage in healthcare QI work are professions, work structures and working relationships. These conditions can both prevent and facilitate healthcare QI. Professions and work structures may cement existing institutional logics and thus prevent employees from engaging in healthcare QI work. However, attempts to align QI with professional logics, together with work structures that empower employees, can make these conditions increase employee engagement, which can be accomplished through positive working relationships that foster institutional work, which bridge different competing institutional logics, making it possible to overcome barriers that professions and work structures may constitute.\nPractical implications: Understanding the conditions that influence how employees engage in healthcare QI work will make initiatives more likely to succeed.\nOriginality/value: Healthcare QI has mainly been studied from an implementer perspective, and employees have either been neglected or seen as passive resisters. Weak employee perspectives make healthcare QI research incomplete. In our research, healthcare QI work is studied closely at the actor level to understand healthcare QI from an employee perspective.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Not by technology alone: sustaining winning strategies	[ "Management strategy", "Operations management", "Technology led strategy", "Profit" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Business strategies built upon single competencies are abundant in today's fast changing, information and technology driven environment. Yet, the most successful firms of the current decade and century are learning to become highly flexible, operationally integrated, and delivering value to customers, partners and alliances in revolutionary new ways that are not easily leap-frogged or imitated. These leading companies look very different from many high-tech companies of the past whose strategies were built upon foundations of product technology excellence. The traditional role of pioneering the important advances in our continually evolving information age will still be filled by the technologically dexterous in the future, but sustainable leadership will inevitably be found in companies that master the management, integration and development of all their available assets and opportunities around the globe. The enablers that make profitable operations possible over long periods of time will be internally integrated and networked across industries (Figure 1).\n1. The current model - an imperative for change: Business strategies with their basis in specific competencies such as product superiority or technology leadership can begin with stellar sales growth and fantastic profitability. In fact, a strategy that focuses an organization's energy along the single dimension of technology leadership is a natural entry approach for startup businesses or new product launches within large organizations. However, despite the widespread use of this model, initial success in the marketplace can be misleading and is increasingly short-lived because the enabling forces of strategy are changing. Weaknesses that undermine a sustainable strategy lie in compressed product lifecycles, unfavorable business dynamics, and intellectual property complications (Figure 2).1.1 Compressed product life cycles threaten sustainability\n2. Shifting to a new, sustainable strategic model: Clearly the forces that are aligned against the sustainability of the current strategic model are immense, but what can businesses do today to develop more sustainable business models? In developing sustainable business strategies, there must be both a change in philosophy and a change in action (Table I).The transformation and realignment of activities reflect these perspectives and establish the groundwork for developing sustainable strategies (Figure 6). Moreover, elements of current strategies that are proving to work in the technology sector mirror these principles.2.1 Organizational competencies\n3. A prescription for change: Too often companies consume their most valuable energy reacting to industry changes long after the forces of change have aligned in an unfavorable direction. Today, however, firms have an opportunity to proactively react to industry forces as they change, take preemptive action to benefit from those changes, and institutionalize flexible practices so that new strategies will sustain profitable growth for a longer time. A few firms are leading their peers by adopting many of the new practices, and many other firms are beginning to realize that operations should be integrated not only for a given point in time, but integrated over time across the lifecycle of the business.3.1 Develop integrated operations around product and service life cycles rather than product technologies\n4. Closure: New businesses and product launches begin when innovative ideas are brought together with the operations that bring those ideas to the marketplace. In the past, the associated business strategy has often been built from a narrow focus on exceptional product technology, unusually strong customer intimacy, or superior process techniques. For many years this method of developing and sustaining a business model has adequately met the needs of many business ventures. Although a rigorous product focus with keen attention to quality and timing will continue to be important to execute a successful strategy, a new focus on integrating and aligning all operations toward market leadership is increasingly required in successful strategies. Enterprises that integrate their operations with strategy both across functions and throughout entire product lifecycles will increasingly be rewarded by investors, applauded by customers, and envied by competitors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Business leaders can apply key messages as early as today to begin aligning business operations with business strategy to strengthen sustainability. Principles can be applied at all levels in any organization, from the entire enterprise down to discreet product or service offerings. The article emphasizes that the enablers of profitable operations over long periods of time will be internally integrated and networked across industries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Challenges with sustainability in many existing strategies are explained, and case studies that illustrate both success and failure are described to illustrate key principles. Once the viewpoints are developed and supported with specific cases and research findings, actionable recommendations are made in a prescription for change.\nFindings: - Achieving sustainable profitability and growth is increasingly difficult for many companies because of shorter product lifecycles, eroding intellectual property advantages, and other growing complexities from the broader business environment. When operations are integrated with business strategy, forces align to sustain profitability and the strategy is more difficult to imitate or leap-frog. Organizational competencies, cross-industry capabilities and stakeholder integration all play a role in integrated operations.\nOriginality/value: - The importance of integrating operational capabilities with business strategy is explained and the rewards are articulated using real-world cases, research and industry-accepted practices. The prescription set forth for change is evident in some of the world's most successful companies that have successfully sustained profitability and growth. Enterprises that integrate their operations with strategy both across functions and throughout entire product lifecycles will increasingly be rewarded by investors, applauded by customers, and envied by competitors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
BIM-enabled sustainability assessment of material supply decisions	[ "TOPSIS", "Life cycle assessment", "BIM", "Supply chain management", "Curtain wall", "Project constraints" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Two-fifth of the world materials flow belongs to building and construction industry (Augenbroe et al., 1998). Building materials account for more than 65 per cent of the total cost in a construction project (Scholman, 1997). The choice of materials can considerably affect the life cycle sustainability of the buildings, which requires achieving a balance between economic, environmental, and social impacts throughout the building's life cycle (Zhou et al., 2009; John et al., 2005; Calkins, 2009; Bunz et al., 2006; Sirisalee et al., 2004; Augenbroe et al., 1998). The type, and thus supply chain, of the material selected for a building can affect its up-stream impacts including the embodied energy, embodied carbon and effects on depletion of natural resources (Bunz et al., 2006; Calkins, 2009; Kibert, 2008; Kim and Rigdon, 1998). Furthermore, economic, environmental and social impacts associated with the operation phase of a building are influenced considerably by the choice of materials. This is mainly due to the direct effects of materials' type and quantity on the energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater use, and indoor air quality during operation phase (Augenbroe et al., 1998; Nematchoua et al., 2015). The type and quantity of materials have been also shown to affect the viability of the end-of-life strategies, such as reuse and recycling, applicable to a building and thus the end-of-life economic, environmental, and social impacts of the building (Asokan et al., 2009; Chen et al., 2010). In addition, material supply decisions including the location of supplier and mode of transportation may considerably affect the life cycle impacts of the material and thus the building. Local sourcing has been broadly promoted by environmental and social sustainability advocates due to its contribution to minimizing the transport emissions and promoting the local business and employment (Bunz et al., 2006). Furthermore, the life cycle impacts of the building may be also affected by technology used to produce the material. For instance, it has been debated that modularization and prefabrication may lead to cost and time savings as well as reduction in the construction waste (Chen et al., 2010).\nResearch background: Material supply decisions are governed by a diverse range of factors identified in the literature. These may be grouped into four main categories of cost, time, quality, and social and environmental sustainability factors, as shown in Table I. With the increasing attention towards sustainability challenges in the modern world, a shift in focus to factors that address sustainability concerns and long term impacts of the supply decisions is observed (Noh et al., 2014; Bank et al., 2011). Such considerations collectively have formed accredited practices through which people and organizations are guided to make decisions that best satisfy current and future needs of global community (ISO 14044).\nThe proposed framework: The proposed framework consists of four main components including criteria database, BIM, supply chain management system, and decision support system, as shown in Figure 1. The function of criteria database is to specify the selection criteria for assessment of the supply decisions and the importance weight associated with each criterion based on the client and organizational preferences. In this study, the client is considered as the party with the longest presence over the life cycle of a building and with capability to influence the supply decisions. Therefore, the proposed framework intends to primarily support the client's decision-making process. Nevertheless, professional insights from all project participants, including architects, engineers, and contractors should be essentially accommodated into the criteria selection and evaluation process.\nCase study: The application and advantages of the proposed framework is demonstrated using a case study involving selection of material and supply structure for curtain wall of a building, as a representative building component with considerable effects on sustainability of buildings in different phases of their life cycle. In other words, the framework proposed assists in deciding on aspects of the procurement system related to identification of the best material type, its best supplier, and the preferred logistics options. To finalize such parameters of the procurement system, the framework accounts for cost, time, quality, and environmental and social impacts of the alternatives associated with each type of supply chain structure.\nResults and discussions: The feasible material supply decisions for construction of the curtain wall required by the case building are listed in Table IV. A typical curtain wall may comprise a diverse range of components with different material options. However, for simplicity purposes, the focus of present illustrative study is placed only on supply decisions with regards to main components of the wall, i.e. frames material and infills material. As shown in Table IV, the material alternatives considered for the frame include aluminium and steel, whereas infills material can be selected from glass, fabric veneer, brick veneer, stone veneer, and concrete. The possible supply chain structures for each alternative material are also shown in Table IV.\nConclusions: A framework for assessment of material supply decisions by considering their life cycle impacts was proposed in this paper. The framework addresses the hierarchy of decisions in the material supply process, which consists of four levels including material type, source of supply, supply chain structure, and mode of transport. Following the identification of assessment criteria and appropriate measures for quantifying the performance of supply decision alternatives against these criteria, a computational approach is taken to rank the alternative decisions based on their relative life cycle performance. The computational method takes advantages of the capabilities of the state-of-the-art BIM in making available customized data on characteristics of the building elements, as required in estimating their life cycle impacts, as well as a number of available costs and environmental inventories to quantify the economic, environmental, and social impacts associated with various decision alternatives.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Enhancing sustainability of the supply process of construction materials is challenging and requires accounting for a variety of environmental and social impacts on top of the traditional, mostly economic, impacts associated with a particular decision involved in the management of the supply chain. The economic, environmental, and social impacts associated with various components of a typical supply chain are highly sensitive to project and market specific conditions. The purpose of this paper is to provide decision makers with a methodology to account for the systematic trade-offs between economic, environmental, and social impacts of supply decisions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper proposes a novel framework for sustainability assessment of construction material supply chain decisions by taking advantage of the information made available by customized building information models (BIM) and a number of different databases required for assessment of life cycle impacts.\nFindings: The framework addresses the hierarchy of decisions in the material supply process, which consists of four levels including material type, source of supply, supply chain structure, and mode of transport. The application is illustrated using a case study.\nPractical implications: The proposed framework provides users with a decision-making method to select the most sustainable material alternative available for a building component and, thus, may be of great value to different parties involved in design and construction of a building. The multi-dimensional approach in selection process based on various economic, environmental, and social indicators as well as the life cycle perspective implemented through the proposed methodology advocates the life cycle thinking and the triple bottom line approach in sustainability. The familiarity of the new generation of engineers, architects, and contractors with this approach and its applications is essential to achieve sustainability in construction.\nOriginality/value: A decision-making model for supply of materials is proposed by integrating the BIM-enabled life cycle assessment into supply chain and project constraints management. The integration is achieved through addition of a series of attributes to typical BIM. The framework is supplemented by a multi-attribute decision-making module based on the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution to account for the trade-offs between different economic and environmental impacts associated with the supply decisions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Organizational inclusion and academics' psychological contract: Can responsible leadership mediate the relationship?	[ "Academic staff", "Organizational inclusion", "Psychological contract", "Responsible leadership", "Egypt" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The challenges of the ageing population, immigration and demographic shifts around the world have expanded the discourse on inclusion than ever before. Stoermer et al. (2016) highlight that many international organizations, such as the US Census Bureau (2012) and DESTATIS (2013), have considered inclusion research as a strategic socio-cultural and organizational reality. Mousa and Puhakka (2019) assert that the discourse about equality/inequality, in-out group comparisons, intergroup relations and social justice constitutes the main features of today's social life. Furthermore, inclusion-related aspects have underscored a research opportunity for academic scholars across various academic disciplines (Holck et al., 2016). Moreover, the concept of inclusion appeared first in the USA and subsequently found a space in the academia of other western countries as a rebranding for the concepts of equality, equity and diversity management (Wrench, 2005; Ylostola, 2016). Noon (2007) points out that cultural diversity problems are a result of ineffective inclusion practices (e.g. discrimination in terms of age, gender, religion, political ideology, place of origin and others) organizations undertake. This may justify why Knights and Omanovic (2016) criticize those who think that cultural diversity practices are simply limited to effective workplace communication and intercultural training while neglecting the management of inequalities originating from differences in race, gender, religion and others.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Organizational inclusion\n3. Methodology: The conceptual framework of the present quantitative study was drawn from previous literature conducted separately on organizational inclusion, responsible leadership and the psychological contract. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the relationship between organizational inclusion, responsible leadership and the psychological contract has not been addressed before, particularly within the context of higher education. Obviously, the authors were motivated to deeply penetrate the Egyptian public business school setting when touching on the low level of quality these schools provide. According to the 2017 global competitiveness report, an annual world economic forum, the quality of Egyptian management schools is the worst worldwide (www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2016-2017/05FullReport/TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2016-2017_FINAL.pdf). Noticeably, management schools in Egypt are known as business schools or faculties of commerce and the total number of Egyptian public business schools is 24. The study was conducted in three Egyptian public business schools located in Upper Egypt, and the main reason for choosing these schools without paying attention to other public and private ones was one of authors' relationships with a number of assistant lecturers and lecturers who work there.\n4. Results: The purpose of this study is to understand how much variation in psychological contract types can be explained by organizational inclusion and responsible leadership. For this purpose, multiple regressions were used in order to understand the unique contribution of organizational inclusion with the mediation of responsible leadership in predicting psychological contract types (Table III).\n5. Discussion: The results showed that organizational inclusion positively impacts the transactional psychological contract through the moderation of responsible leadership. Although Rousseau (2000), De Meuse et al. (2001) and Raja et al. (2004) highlight that the transactional contract reflects short-term work arrangements and/or monetary exchanges between the employee and his employer, the authors of this paper think that the need for academics to be recognized, respected and treated equally should be realized and/or secured if it is accompanied by a kind of responsibility toward different stakeholders including academics. It is clear that the existence of responsible leadership entails in-out organizational (business schools in this case) communication and/or engagement in removing all structural barriers (e.g. preferential selection) and cultural clashes (e.g. workplace discrimination) that may hinder equal opportunities and sameness feelings for employees (academics in this case) (Maak, 2007). This is in line with King et al. (2011), who confirms the role of the local community surrounding the organization in alleviating in-organization exclusion and any sense of marginality individuals face. Consequently, and even if the employment contract is short term, during this short period of work, academics need to be treated equally and they be assured of securing equal opportunities if they experience an orientation toward stakeholder engagement and responsible practices on the part of their business school. Accordingly, organizational inclusion positively impacts the transactional psychological contract with academics in the context of responsible leadership.\n6. Conclusion and implications: The paper has filled a gap in both HR and higher education literature by exploring the relationship between organizational inclusion, responsible leadership and the psychological contract in the context of Egyptian public business schools. The results show that organizational inclusion can have a very positive statistical impact on the three types of psychological contract with academics through the mediation of responsible leadership.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on three Egyptian public business schools in an attempt to explore the impact of organizational inclusion on the psychological contract with academics through the mediating the role of responsible leadership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 330 academics were contacted and given a set of questionnaires. After three follow-ups, a total of 240 responses were collected with a response rate of 72.73 percent. Multiple regressions were employed to indicate the level of variation in the types of psychological contract can be explained by organizational inclusion and responsible leadership.\nFindings: The findings highlighted a positive impact for organizational inclusion on the psychological contract with academics through mediating responsible leadership or, in other words, the statistical analysis showed that responsible leadership has a role in mediating the relationship between the organizational inclusion of academics and their psychological contract type.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes by filling a gap in HR management and higher education literature in which empirical studies on the relationship between organizational inclusion, responsible leadership and the psychological contract with academics have been limited until now. This may create better research opportunities for cross-disciplinary papers by scholars of HR, higher education and leadership.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Many cheers make light the work: how social support triggers process gains in teams	[ "Team working", "Team performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Groups and teamwork1 are often implemented in work organisations because management hopes to leverage process gains in teams, i.e. performance that exceeds what can be expected based on the capabilities of the individual members alone. However, empirical and theoretical research is still rare that outlines the underlying processes of such process gains or \"synergy\" in teams. In the current paper, we argue that social support by fellow team partners is an important trigger factor for process gains in teams that has been largely neglected so far. We develop an overall model of social support in work teams that specifies the various mechanisms why and when social support from fellow team partners can trigger process gains in teams as compared to individual work. According to this model, we predict that affective support (i.e. social recognition and social encouragement) triggers motivation gains of team members, whereas task-related support (i.e. information and behavioural support) should lead to coordination gains. Moreover, under certain conditions coordination gains can also result from affective support and motivation gains from task-related support. Together, social support by fellow team members provides various means to increase both motivation and coordination within teams up and beyond what might be expected based on individual team members' capabilities alone.In this paper, we begin with a brief review of research on process gains in teams as a general framework for our approach. We then introduce our theoretical model of social support by fellow team members as a trigger of process gains in teams, including a distinction between support by fellow team members and managerial or organisational support. The model is discussed in light of empirical research that directly and indirectly relates to its assumptions. Moreover, testable hypotheses for empirical research are derived. We conclude with concrete suggestions how to foster social support and related process gains in teams both for staffing and team development.\nProcess gains in teams: Process gains in teams are conceptualized as an improvement in team performance over and above the simple combination or summation of individual members' skills and knowledge (e.g. Fiore et al., 2001). Such process gains are therefore a genuine benefit of teamwork as compared to individual work. In recent years, research has started to explicitly demonstrate process gains in teams as compared to individual work (e.g. Hertel et al., 2000; Laughlin et al., 2002, 2008; Stroebe et al., 1996; Tziner and Eden, 1985; Weber and Hertel, 2007; Williams and Karau, 1991). This development is especially crucial as applied psychologists (e.g. Erez and Somech, 1996) have warned that the strong focus of experimental psychologists on process losses in groups (e.g. Karau and Williams, 1993) might lead to an underestimation of the benefits of teamwork. In general, process gains in teams can be based both on higher effort exerted by individual members for the team goals, as well as on benefits due to the coordination of individual contributions to the team output (Steiner, 1972).Motivation gains in teams\nSocial support from fellow group members: According to Carson and colleagues, social support is conceptualized \"as the team members' efforts to provide emotional and psychological strength to one another\" (Carson et al., 2007; p. 1222). We assume furthermore, that team members not only support their team partners by encouraging individual contributions and recognizing team accomplishments (i.e. affective support; Carson et al., 2007) but also by providing tangible support such as advice or physical assistance (i.e. task-related support; Fenlason and Beehr, 1994).Moreover, although managers can be valuable sources of social support (e.g. Griffith, 1988), support by fellow team members is different from managerial or organisational support in several ways. First-of-all, supporting employees is usually part of the formal role of a supervisor, and is more strongly associated with potential disciplinary implications compared to team members' support. Second, even though evidence exists on the reciprocal character of the supervisor-employee relation (e.g. De Cremer and Van Dijk, 2008), existing power differences limit such reciprocity. Moreover, positive support from a formal team leader might be taken for granted because it is perceived as part of his or her formal duties. In contrast, support by fellow team partners is more likely to be seen as voluntary and therefore more likely to trigger voluntary reciprocation by other team members. Third, team partners compared to team managers are often more familiar with the specific task an individual team member is currently working on, and they often work more closely to the individual member. Team partners can thus provide very valid and timely help and assistance as true subject matter experts. Supervisors, in contrast, often do not have the time and information for such immediate and regular support of their employees. Thus, even though the importance of supportive behaviours from fellow team members might be underestimated by supervisors (e.g. Greller, 1980), it seems that this support can serve important functions that complement (and sometimes compensate for) team leaders' activities.The research literature provides only little empirical evidence for social support as trigger of process gains in teams. Some authors (e.g. Osca et al., 2005; Podsakoff et al., 1997) demonstrate a positive relation between social support from fellow team members and objective team performance. However, none of these field studies included appropriate baseline conditions (i.e. individual or nominal team conditions) that testify the existence of process gains instead of merely a lack of process losses in teams. Moreover, a recent meta-analysis on the impact of various work design features that included both individual work and teamwork in field settings (Humphrey et al., 2007) showed that both feedback and social support from others were positively related to self-report measures of performance. However, also this meta-analysis did not include appropriate baselines that unambiguously document process gains and not only the lack of process losses. Furthermore, no primary study in this meta-analysis included objective performance data.Clear evidence that social support can trigger performance gains can be found in experimental studies on individual work. In a study by Tardy (1992), participants were asked to solve a maximum number of anagrams in a limited time period. Supportive messages were manipulated as part of the written instructions before the task. Participants solved more anagrams when they had previously received a supportive message (Tardy, 1992). This general effect occurred regardless whether the supportive message included emotional support only, instrumental support only, or emotional and instrumental support combined. However, as the supportive messages in this study were part of the written instructions and not generated by a partner within a group context, the relevance of these results for teams is still to be shown.\nThe Model of Social Support within Teams (MSST): The Model of Social Support within Teams (MSST) distinguishes between affective support and task-related support as two basic forms of social support from fellow team members (see also Blau, 1981). Whereas affective support contains utterances of recognition and encouragement from fellow team members that are intended to heighten the affect and motivation of recipients, task-related support includes factual information and assistance from fellow team members. Next, we describe the two basic forms of social support in more detail (see also Figure 1).Affective support\nPotential moderators of social support: Although we expect that the described effects of social support on process gains in groups, should be strong and robust, there are a number of moderating factors that we expect to qualify the outlined mechanisms, both at the individual and at the team level. The following description is not exhaustive but rather illustrates examples that might be considered for both affective and task-related support.Personal dispositions\nDiscussion and practical implications: Social support from fellow team members has been recognized as a relevant organisational resource in different streams of research (e.g. Karasek et al., 1982; Osca et al., 2005). It has, however, been neglected as a potential source of process gains in teams. This theoretical contribution provides an initial comprehensive model of the different facets of social support within teams, and explicates when and why social support might evoke process gains in teams. In the Model of Social Support within Teams, we suggest that social recognition and social encouragement as two facets of affective support should elicit predominantly motivation gains among the recipients of this support. In contrast, information-related and behavioural support as two facets of task-related support from team partners is expected to enable mainly coordination gains in teams. However, examples of crossover effects, i.e. affective social support increasing coordination gains and task-related support increasing motivation gains in groups are also outlined.As a next step, studies are now needed that examine the model's hypotheses empirically and consider appropriate baselines in order to demonstrate not only effective teamwork but real process gains due to teamwork compared to appropriate baselines of non-teamwork (nominal groups, individual work, or the like). At this early stage, both experimental and field studies are equally important and desirable to demonstrate the causal relationships assumed in the model, and to establish the existence of the hypothesized effects in the daily context of working teams. Studies that focus on the individual, team, and organisational level separately as well as studies applying multi-level analyses would be highly useful. Apart from demonstrating overall process gains, studies are needed that address the specified mediating and moderating variables more specifically. All these different approaches can simultaneously contribute to the verification of the model's validity, allow for its revision and refinement, and advance our knowledge about a fascinating group of processes at the heart of teamwork.Social support within teams has the potential to serve important team, and organisational functions, even though supportive behaviour from fellow team members, might be underestimated by supervisors (e.g. Greller, 1980). However, these effects do not occur automatically but need specific managerial measures that can be derived from the MSST. Concerning the promotion of affective support in teams, a positive general team climate will certainly be helpful including norms of constructive and appreciating feedback (instead of overly criticism), commonly agreed ways of conflict management within the teams (e.g. Montoya-Weiss et al., 2001), and continuous efforts on team building. Moreover, the mechanisms of the MSST and the moderating personal dispositions outlined might be considered in personnel selection and team staffing. Persons differ broadly in their willingness to support others as well as to openly express social recognition (e.g. Kamdar and Van Dyne, 2007). In addition to the example of person-related moderators discussed previously, personality traits such as agreeableness and empathy might be considered here together with appropriate communication skills. Concerning the promotion of task-related support in teams, introducing or increasing task interdependence might be considered as previous research on supportive behaviour in organisations (e.g. Pearce and Gregersen, 1991) suggests that task interdependence both fosters information-related and behavioural task support. Moreover, task-related support is more likely the more team members are knowledgeable and prepared for the task. Therefore, in addition to individual training programs a thoughtful combination of team members with different skills and expertise should promote task-related support in exchange. In light of the current demographic change in many industrialized countries, age-diverse teams might be an interesting opportunity to implement (mutual) task-related support (e.g. Wegge et al., 2008), given that the team members appreciate this heterogeneity. Finally, it is essential that those team members who are anticipated to provide important task-related support receive both latitude to do so, as well as recognition for these extra efforts. Otherwise, these team members will either be not willing to provide the support needed, or neglect their main work.The systematic facilitation of social support in work teams has distinct implications at the individual, organisational, and societal level. As people benefit largely from a supportive climate and good social relationships at work, increased social support is expected to increase not only motivation and performance at work, but also well being, stress resilience, and long-term health management (Humphrey et al., 2007). At the organisational level, social support contributes both to improved overall performance and success of profit as well as non-profit organisations. Moreover, the development of a supportive climate within work organisations should improve the prevalence of context-related extra-role behaviour and OCB. Finally, society as a whole may benefit from increased social support in working teams, helping to foster cooperative norms of mutual helping and consideration in contrast to competition and ignorance. As many other norms and values in the workplace, such cooperative norms and values at the workplace might also be disseminated to private and public domains.\nFinal conclusion: The current paper introduces social support from team partners as a unique source of process gains within working teams that has been neglected by previous research. We introduce a theoretical model that suggests four main facets of social support as triggers of process gains that allow teams to accomplish better performances than a simple summation of the individual members' contributions. In general, the MSST predicts that social recognition and social encouragement lead to motivation gains, whereas information-related and behavioural task support lead to coordination gains. Moreover, specific and testable hypotheses are derived including specific mediating mechanisms of the four facets of social support. Finally, our analysis identified various moderators of social support in teams that are related to person, task, and team characteristics. Together, we hope that the current paper instigates future research on social support as a source of process gains in teams, and that the practical implications described will help managers to develop and optimize successful working teams.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Social support from fellow team members has been neglected as a unique source of process gains in teams. This paper seeks to introduce the Model of Social Support within Teams (MSST) that explicates testable hypotheses on effects of team partners' affective and task-related support on team performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A theoretical model is proposed that specifies the psychological mechanisms by which affective and task-related support from fellow team members evoke process gains in teams compared with individual work. Moreover, moderators and potential limits of these beneficial effects are described. The model integrates results from experimental research on behaviour in small groups with findings from field studies on organisational citizenship behaviour, team cognition, and efficacy beliefs at the individual and team level.\nFindings: - It is predicted that affective support predominantly increases individual members' motivation, while task-related support predominantly improves coordination within teams. Moreover, various moderators (team members' dispositions, task design, team characteristics) are considered.\nPractical implications: - According to this analysis, social support can be an effective measure to trigger process gains in teams, and thus to increase team performance and organisational success. Concrete interventions to foster social support in teams are derived from the model, among them task design, consideration of social attitudes in selection and staffing, and team training.\nOriginality/value: - This paper introduces a theoretical model explicating a previously neglected source of process gains in teams. In contrast with other sources of process gains, social support relates to the interaction among team members and integrates both motivation and coordination gains.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does a creative identity encourage innovative behaviour? Evidence from knowledge-intensive IT service firms	[ "Organizational culture", "Innovation", "Creativity", "Creative identity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The globalization of markets, shorter product-service life cycles and the technological revolution left business organizations with two mutually exclusive options, namely, innovate or die (Chatzoglou and Chatzoudes, 2018; Gisbert-Lopez et al., 2014; Stojcic et al., 2018). In pursuit of creativity and innovations in organizational contexts, employees play a pivotal role in bringing new ideas, products and services to meet their customers' expectations (Khalili, 2016; Leung and Lin, 2018). Therefore, creative and innovative employees are crucial because employees need to be sensitive and proactive to understand their customers' expectations and bring them superior services compared to those of competitors (Chatzoglou and Chatzoudes, 2018; Stojcic et al., 2018). While creativity refers to the generation of ideas and innovation refers to the applications of those ideas with real products, processes and services, the creativity-innovation relationship appears to be intertwined (Amabile and Pratt, 2016; Maqbool et al., 2019; Zhu et al., 2017). Turning creative ideas into innovative products and services is crucial for the competitive advantage and survival of organizations (Chatzoglou and Chatzoudes, 2018; Stojcic et al., 2018). In the creativity-innovation relationship, it is proven that without a creative mind set, innovative behaviour (IB) is unattainable (Amabile and Pratt, 2016; Backstrom and Bengtsson, 2019; Zhu et al., 2017).\nTheoretical background and conceptual framework: The study defines creativity as involvement in the creative process for the generation of ideas regarding an ill-defined problem domain, and innovation as the adoption of those ideas to solve a particular problem (Amabile, 1988, 1996). Hence, IB is seen as a complex work behaviour concerning the application of generalized ideas of processes, products or procedures in organizational settings to improve organizational effectiveness (Amabile and Pratt, 2016; Simon et al., 2018; Yidong and Xinxin, 2013). The study selected employees creative personal identity (CPI) as an antecedent of IB that represents a stable identity construct and applicable across situations and different environments at work (Farmer et al., 2003; Jaussi et al., 2007; Karwowski et al., 2013). In this research, a CPI is the social image that, along with the self-image, drives the self to behave or not to behave according to the role identities that are ascribed to the employees (Farmer et al., 2003; Wang and Cheng, 2010). The creative organizational climate is seen as the circumstance that promotes, nurses, and persists the generation, assimilation, synthesis, and application of new ideas or new ways of functioning (Cheng and Yang, 2019; Kamp et al., 2018; Stojcic et al., 2018). Studies show that an organization with a robust creative climate responds by providing the needed resources so that its employees engage in the creative process and generate the maximum IB (Craig, 2015; Sonmez and Yildirim, 2019).\nLiterature review and hypotheses development: Relationship between creative personal identity and innovative behaviour\nThe methodology of the study: Study design\nData analysis and findings: Table II shows the means, standard deviations and correlation coefficients of the variables that were considered in the study.\nModel evaluations: Measurement model fit and confirmatory factor analysis\nDiscussion: The existing literature shows that individuals' creative and innovation behaviour has significant impact on organizational innovation (Chatzoglou and Chatzoudes, 2018; Du et al., 2016; Stojcic et al., 2018; Tan et al., 2018). The present study added new insights by investigating the impact of both the self of the employee and the work climate on the CPE and IB in organizational contexts. Based on the tenet of the interactionism approach of creativity, we proposed a moderated mediation model in which IB results from the interactions of the direct and indirect actors in a knowledge-intensive IT business setting (Woodman et al., 1993; Woodman and Schoenfeldt, 1990). Developing an understanding from the studies of Petkus (1996) and Farmer et al. (2003), which were later extended by Karwowski et al. (2013), the current study hypothesized that a CPI has a significant influence on IB. The result of the regression analysis showed that CPI has a substantial influence (b=0.340; p<0.000) on employees IB. This result is consistent with the findings of Farmer et al. (2003), Jaussi et al. (2007) and Karwowski et al. (2013), thereby indicating that a CPI is a distinct antecedent of employees IB. The influence of individuals creative identify seems to boost up the self-confidents and commitment level and subsequently influence their persistence behaviour towards innovative pursuits of the organizations (Sica et al., 2018; Zhu et al., 2017).\nConclusion: Based on the interactionist approach to creativity and role identity theory, the present study attempted to uncover the influence of the role of the self and its context on an employee's CPE and IB. The findings of this study bring forth essential implications for understanding the mechanism of the moderated mediation effect on CPE and IB. First, although the nascent literature supports the importance of creative genius, there are inadequate studies concerning the impact of a CPI on CPE and IB. The current pursuit fills that void in the literature by providing insight into that gap. Second, CPE has been given little attention until recently. Thus, Harris et al. (2014), Tan et al. (2018) and Aslam (2017) have suggested studying the predictors of CPE in a multivariate model using moderators and mediators in a different context for the predictability and generalizability of the findings. In our opinion, the current study is one of the few that formulates a model that encompasses both moderators and mediators in a multi-level model. This study posits that a CPI rigorously contributes to IB through the moderated mediation of CPE and a creative climate. In a highly creative climate, those employees with a CPI tend to engage more in the creative process, which leads to IB. Third, prior studies have contended that creativity or innovation garners hope at the individual level when they are supported by the contextual interventions (Sigala and Kyriakidou, 2015; Woodman et al., 1993; Woodman and Schoenfeldt, 1990). The current moderated mediation model encompassing both the individual identity and the climatic support contributes to the enrichment of creative engagement and IB through an interactionist approach by providing an empirical piece of evidence. This evidence showed that a CPI alone is not sufficient. A CPI needs support from the creative climate to engage the employee in the creative process and for subsequent IB. Finally, there are ample studies on creativity and innovation in the Western context, yet there are inadequate studies from a non-Western framework, which limits the generalization of the findings (Gupta et al., 2017). Contrary to the few pieces of evidence from China, most developing and least developed countries lack studies on when and how a CPI leads to IB. This lack of empirical investigations warrants the replication of social science studies to revalidate the findings in other settings or contexts for the generalizability of findings (Asendorpf et al., 2013; Huffmeier et al., 2016).\nManagerial implications: Managing the professionals of ICT firms is overtly necessary because of the growing importance of organizational competitiveness. Notably, the employees of these firms need to be resilient and innovative, and they to strive to catch up with the changing dynamics in the market pace (Sigala and Kyriakidou, 2015). The present study has several implications for the practices of managers. The study identified that a CPI is necessary for realizing IB in two ways. First, the findings imply that if employees with a CPI are hired in these IT-related firms, they will feel obligation to contribute to the innovative results because of the creative images that have been shaped by the self and society (Simon et al., 2018). Second, the findings also demonstrate that employees with a CPI directly impact the display of IB. Employees with a CPI engage in the creative process by defining, developing and encoding the problems or issues, thereby generating a creative idea so that they can significantly contribute to the IB (Du et al., 2016; Rodriguez-Sanchez et al., 2017). These results imply that management needs to consciously attract, select and hire new employees with a high CPI, while also developing the sense of CPI among the existing professional employees in ICT firms. More importantly, the research framework provides insight for management and practitioners about when a CPI impacts CPE and IB. The findings contend that a CPI would better contribute to IB through CPE if the organization offers a pro-creative climate. Thus, the organization needs to indoctrinate and nurture a pro-creative organizational climate to foster IB among ICT professionals in SMEs.\nLimitation and directions for future: This study has taken several steps to ensure the minimization of the potential issues limiting the generalizability of the findings. Notably, we earnestly tried to abate those issues by taking into consideration measures of reliabilities, validities (face, convergent and discriminant), multi-collinearity concerns, method bias (ensuring respondents' anonymity) and sourcing response (both reports survey). Although the results are in line with those of developed theories, including role identity theory and the interactionism approach to creativity, this study has a few limitations that are recommended to be solved by future researchers. First, this study only uses ICT-related service firms. Thus, the findings are precluded from mass generalizability. Hence, the inclusion of multi-firms from other industries by future researchers may prevent the issue of the mass generalizability of the results. Second, we used cross-sectional data that failed to draw an inference on causality among the variables. The limitation of causal inference can be addressed through the utilization of longitudinal data that are collected over various points in time. Finally, the present study analysed the collected data at the individual level (e.g. CPI, CPE and innovative work behaviour) and the organizational level (for example, creative climate). There are relatively few studies that have used multi-level conceptualization that included the group level (Zennouche et al., 2014). Thus, it would be beneficial if future researchers could study the IB of employees by taking into account the individual (i.e. self-beliefs, personality, etc.), group (i.e. leadership, team efficacy, team climate, etc.) and organizational (i.e. support for innovation, task complexity, corporate culture, etc.) level influences.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of an employee's personal creative identity on their innovation behaviour in knowledge-intensive information technology (IT) service provider firms. It further investigates the mediating role of an employee's creative process engagement (CPE) and the moderating effects of the organizational creative climate on creative identity-innovative behaviour (IB) relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study follows a quantitative method. Using a multi-item survey instrument, a total of 316 questionnaires were collected from the employees of IT service provider firms in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The collected data were analysed using structural equation modelling, factor analysis and path analysis to test the hypotheses and to assess the moderating and mediating effects of the variables.\nFindings: The results revealed the significant influence of an employee's creative personal identity (CPI) on their IB. The mediation analysis revealed that CPE mediates the association between a CPI and IB. The study also found a significant moderating effect of a creative organizational climate between a CPI and CPE.\nResearch limitations/implications: Based on the premise of the interactionist approach of creativity and role identity theory, this study contributes to the creativity and innovation literature by providing empirical support for the relationship between a personal creative identity, organizational creative culture, CPE and IB in IT service organizations.\nOriginality/value: This study adopts a distinct model comprising four different variables to investigate an employee's IB from a multi-level perspective, i.e., a creative identity and CPE at the individual level and a creative climate and IB at the organizational level. This integrated model using predictors from multiple levels supports the theoretical assumption that IB results from the interaction of individual and organizational level factors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sourcing effective scenarios for use in business ethics training	[ "Business ethics", "Governance", "Human resource management", "Training", "Scenarios", "Ethical dilemmas" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Training is an essential element of a corporate ethics programme. Failing to train staff in the importance of ethical values and how to apply them leaves companies open to integrity risks and reputational damage. Yet, IBE research has found that only 62 per cent of UK employees report receiving any training on standards of ethical conduct, even though those businesses that train their staff to understand and implement codes of ethics were found over the long term to outperform financially those that do not. IBE compared two groups of businesses: those that have a code of ethics but provide no training to staff about it, and those that both had a code and provided training. Four measures of financial performance were analysed:1. return on capital employed (ROCE);2. return on assets (ROA);3. total return (TR); and4. market value added (MVA).The results showed that businesses that train their staff to understand and implement codes of ethics financially outperform those that do not by a significant margin (see Figure 1) (Ugoji et al., 2007).\nCase study: GSK encourages team leaders to develop scenarios for their teams: GSK, the multinational pharmaceutical company, helped mid-level leaders develop their own scenarios to share with their teams, with a primary focus of encouraging behaviour change.The 12,000 GSK leaders in the research and development environment were first led through two scenarios to help them think about their non-pharmaceutical based responsibilities, develop sensitivity to various topic areas, and develop their own scenarios for their own team. \"Safe\" topics were explored in order to encourage the leaders to get used to speaking about values and how they could be applied in their own work environments.The first scenario the leaders looked at was a BBC report on the 33 Chilean coalminers who were trapped for 69 days before being rescued[1]. After seeing the world come to the assistance of the miners, the emotions displayed, and the role of the media, the participants were asked to think of what brought everyone together and to consider what tools as leaders they could use to bring their teams together.The second case study was that of the crash of Aeroperu Flight 603[2]. The black box revealed that the crash was caused because the pilots had struggled to navigate the aircraft after the failure of all the plane's instruments. The cause of the instrument failure was a maintenance worker's failure to remove tape covering the static ports necessary to provide correct instrument data to the cockpit. Trainees considered who was at fault - the maintenance worker who failed to remove the tape? The pilot who didn't notice it at the pilot check? The designer of the plane? This discussion then led them to think of issues of responsibility in their own working environment.The participants were then asked to think of a recent situation in their environment where something had gone wrong, and then to develop that into a case study, incorporating their thoughts on responsibility and using the leadership tools they had considered during the two scenarios.These mid-level leaders then took the case studies they had developed back to their teams to use during routine team meetings. Because they were developed by the leaders they were very localised, using language real to the departments and localities. The exercise was designed to develop a different type of dialogue between leaders and teams, to encourage a speak-up culture, and this was successful. The leaders talked with openness about real issues and how they had been affected by them; this showed serious vulnerability, and modelled the behaviour of openness for the rest of the team.This approach has now been actively employed in other parts of the organisation. For example, representatives of the compliance team from different business units have come together to develop scenarios for anti-bribery and anti-corruption training that are used in both e-learning and face-to-face learning situations. This approach enables GSK to develop learning interventions that are relevant and engaging across its organisation.\nConclusion: One of the key benefits to using scenarios to communicate ethical values is their flexibility: they can be brief Q&As in a code of ethics, fictionalised case studies in a staff newsletter, printed on a pack of cards for team leaders to use throughout a business, serialised \"ethics soap operas\", dramatized performances at an away day, or used in group discussions as part of a dedicated ethics training workshop.Scenarios give employees practice at applying ethical frameworks and company standards to workplace situations. Scenario training is an opportunity for a \"dry run\" so that employees will know what to do when confronted with a real situation. Your organisation is full of stories - use them to communicate the importance of doing business ethically. Creating \"watercooler conversations\" out of fictional ethical dilemmas is one way to encourage staff to think about \"how business is done around here\".Connection is the key to creating the motivation to learn and to embedding the message of any training. To be effective, learning needs to fit with trainees' experience of the way their world operates, and be practical and applicable to their lives. Using scenarios in a learning situation supports these three elements - i.e. experience, practicality and application - and also adds a fourth dimension of participation. If the desired learning outcome of ethics training is ultimately to encourage personal responsibility for the ethical conduct of the organisation, it is imperative that trainees are engaged in the learning process. Scenarios can foster that engagement.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Ensuring that ethical values are embedded into day-to-day working practice is a challenge for multinational organisations. Training on the subject can be dull and can fail to engage staff in the issues, but using scenarios helps to convey ethical messages and gives staff the tools to identify and deal with ethical dilemmas. The purpose of this paper is to summarise the case for business ethics training and the role of scenarios. It seeks to suggest ways to develop effective scenarios and to describe a case study of how one company incorporated them into its training.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This article is based on the Institute of Business Ethics' experience of developing scenarios for its subscriber organisations.\nFindings: - The paper shows that scenarios give employees practice at applying ethical frameworks and company standards to workplace situations. Scenario training is an opportunity for a \"dry run\" so that employees will know what to do when confronted with a real situation.\nPractical implications: - This work assists organisations with the development of effective training and communications to support their commitment to high ethical standards.\nOriginality/value: - A more in-depth examination of the subject is published in the IBE's Good Practice Guide Developing and Using Business Ethics Scenarios (available from www.ibe.org.uk). The study draws on original research to incorporate good practice in this area.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Board diversity and quality of CSR disclosure: evidence from Pakistan	[ "Pakistan", "Board diversity", "QCSR disclosure", "RBV theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Growing national and global concern on the role of businesses in society attracted a considerable attention of regulators, boards and media. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure has become an important issue among firms and is used as a marketing tool to increase awareness (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001) so as to fulfill the increasing demand of various groups of stakeholders, particularly investors (Saleh et al., 2011), because of its attractive consequences reflected in corporate performance (Qiu et al., 2016), trust and reputation (El Ghoul et al., 2011), strong stakeholders relationship (Garcia-Sanchez et al., 2014), transparency and accountability (Boulouta, 2013), corporate legitimacy (Beddewela and Fairbrass, 2016) and lower cost of capital through better cash flow management (Jizi, 2017).\nLiterature review and hypotheses development: CG is focused on the principles of transparency, accountability, fairness and firm's management responsibilities (Ehikioya, 2009), which depend on the board of directors (Jamali et al., 2007), which is considered the foundation of the CG framework (Darko et al., 2016; Bueno et al., 2018). Among various factors that indicate different dimensions of the corporate board, board diversity is emerging as the most significant issue in the field of CG (Rhode and Packel, 2014; Ibrahim and Hanefah, 2016; McIntyre et al., 2007). Board diversity is the heterogeneity among board members (Ayuso and Argandona, 2009). It involves various categories such as diversity in age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, education, task, skill, expertise, experience, preferences (political and sexual preference) and religion (Van Knippenberg et al., 2004). Based on the resource-based view (RBV) theory, Kyaw et al. (2017) demonstrated that a more diverse board is capable of attracting more resources. Diverse boards improve the firm's strategic decision quality (Rathnayaka Mudiyanselageb, 2018; Michelon and Parbonetti, 2012), identify and fulfill stakeholder's requirements (de Jong and van der Meer, 2017) and improve the firm's reputation and performance (Makkonen et al., 2018; Arora and Sharma, 2016) and global existence (Butler, 2012). Diversity in board composition ensures that novel ideas are brought forward by the board and that a variety of values and behaviors are represented (Murphy and McIntyre, 2007). Homogeneous boards, on the other hand, with more similar perspectives, opinion and collectivism tend to increase conformity in a group dynamic (Jizi, 2017) that leads to a lower quality of board discussion, failure and weakened governance in general (Handajani et al., 2014).\nCorporate board age diversity: According to Darmadi (2011), board age diversity creates values and diverse views in the sense that each decade is unique, is special and has experienced different social, economic and political environments, which consequently increases board effectiveness. Demonstrating the basic concept of the RBV theory, Li et al. (2011) asserted that age diversity stimulates proficiency and innovation, which improve firms' competitive advantage. Existing literature reveals mixed results, such as a negative association between the age of board members and CSR performance was reported by Hafsi and Turgut (2013). Post et al. (2011) also reported a negative link between board age diversity and CSR reporting. McIntyre et al. (2007) found that a moderate level of age diversity improves firm performance. Katmon et al. (2017) demonstrated an insignificant relationship between age diversity and quality of CSR disclosure. However, Goergen et al. (2015) argued that a high level of age diversity on the board improves board effectiveness and firm's performance. Hence, it has been hypothesized that:\nCorporate board gender diversity: In recent years, gender is the most common diversity measure that has become the axis area of many research studies in the developed and developing markets (Hoang et al., 2018; Assenga et al., 2018; Garanina and Kaikova, 2016) and is equally essential in other fields such as politics, society and government (Barroso et al., 2011). In line with the RBV theory, Katmon et al. (2017) argued that sustainable competitive advantages and CSR initiatives could be improved by female membership in a board. Post et al. (2011) demonstrated that female representation on the board is closely connected with a higher level of CSR disclosure. Prior literature reveals mixed results; for example, Muttakin et al. (2015) and Shamil et al. (2014) found a negative link between board gender diversity and CSR disclosure. Whereas, Amran et al. (2014) found no relationship between gender diversity and CSR practices. However, most studies document a positive relationship between gender diversity and CSR reporting (Javaid Lone et al., 2016; Gul et al., 2017; Majeed et al., 2015; Ibrahim and Hanefah, 2016). Hence, it has been hypothesized that:\nCorporate board national diversity: Prior literature supports the positive aspects of national diversity in a boardroom (Makkonen et al., 2018; Ameer et al., 2010). Based on the ideas of the RBV theory, Hsu et al. (2013) argued that appointment of multinational directors on the board is one of the most valuable resources of any firm's improved CSR reporting. Appointments of directors on the board from different nations serve as the firm's valuable resource to improve board members' performance (Estelyi and Nisar, 2016). Therefore, their prior knowledge and experience on CSR issues in the international market are useful determinants to improve the CSR quality. Given that, multinational directors' representation on the board promotes CSR reporting on account of their international exposure, knowledge, skill and experience. Existing literature reveals mixed results; for example, Katmon et al. (2017) found a negative relationship between national diversity and CSR disclosure. Barako and Brown (2008) found an insignificant link between a nationally diverse board and CSR disclosure. Other studies such as those by Ibrahim and Hanefah (2016) and Muttakin et al. (2015) found a positive association between nationally diverse boards and social reporting. Thus, the following hypothesis has been designed:\nCorporate board ethnic diversity: In line with the RBV theory, racial or ''race ethnicity'' diversity in the board can be classified as one of the firm's valuable resources that have the potential to achieve a competitive edge (Fitzsimmons, 2013). Each culture is diverse with respect to norms, values, beliefs, behaviors and ethical rules that affect firms' strategic decisions (Zhang, 2012). Ethnically diverse boards might be able to understand different groups of stakeholders' needs from a CSR perspective (Miller and del Carmen Triana, 2009) and report more quality information on financial and non-financial aspects of the business than boards having members from the same racial groups (Butler, 2012; Carter et al., 2010). Prior literature documented mixed results; for example, Upadhyay and Zeng (2014) asserted a negative impact of racial diversity on firms' environmental disclosure. However, Shamil et al. (2014) reported an insignificant relationship between ethnic diversity and CSR disclosure. Zhang (2012) and Hafsi and Turgut (2013) documented a positive relationship between ethnicity and sustainability disclosure. Based on mixed results in the existing literature, the following hypothesis has been outlined:\nCorporate board educational level diversity: Alternative ideas have been generated on strategic issues like CSR disclosure when there is educational level diversity in a board (Katmon et al., 2017). Based on the RBV theory, educational level diversity is one of the major resources contributing to a firm's strategic performance (Barney, 1991). Board of directors with high-level and low-level education is a valuable resource for firm's performance, as it comprises board members with conscious mental ability, capability to process information and improved competence to realize new insights and abstractions (Hsu et al., 2013). Existing literature presents mixed results. Subramanian et al. (2016) contend that there is a negative association between educational level and innovation performance. However, Harjoto et al. (2015) documented a positive association between educational diversity and CSR performance. Katmon et al. (2017) also reported a positive relationship between educational level diversity and CSR disclosure. Looking into the mixed results in this area, we hypothesize that:\nCorporate board educational background diversity: In line with the RBV theory, Barroso-Castro et al. (2017) documented that diversity of educational background on the board is a valuable resource for strategic decision-making such as decision on CSR disclosure. Heterogeneous educational background indicates diverseness in individual mentality, intellect, cognitive ability and attitude, which results in an improvement in quality of CSR disclosure. Educational background diversity derives knowledge and improves board members' ability to generate and share new insights (Barroso-Castro et al., 2017) and enhances the strategic decision-making process (Clark and Maggitti, 2012). Vo and Phan (2013) argued that board effectiveness increases with board representatives from divergent disciplines. Therefore, to improve CSR disclosure, difference in educational background of board members is important to debate on financial, social, ethical, moral, environmental, legal and public welfare context before making strategic policies. Hence, based on the RBV theory, the following hypothesis has been developed:\nCorporate board tenure diversity: According to Shiah-Hou and Cheng (2012), tenure is the length of time for which a director holds the office of a director in an organization. Following the RBV theory, Barroso et al. (2011) contend that tenure heterogeneity improves firms' competitive advantage. Huang and Hilary (2018) stated that tenure heterogeneity in a firm's board is more important and results in better performance than boards with a homogeneous tenure. Boards with diverse-tenure directors better comprehend firm's operations (Harjoto et al., 2015), are more familiar about firm's regulation (Liu and Sun, 2010) and disclose symmetric information (Donoher et al., 2007). Existing literature reveals mixed results on tenure diversity; for example, Handajani et al. (2014) contend that longer service of board members lowers the CSR activities. Harjoto et al. (2015) found an insignificant influence of tenure diversity on CSR strength. Hafsi and Turgut (2013) also presented an insignificant relationship between tenure diversity and CSR performance. In contrast, McIntyre et al. (2007) found that a moderate level of tenure diversity improves firm's performance. Katmon et al. (2017) found a positive significant relationship between tenure diversity and quality of CSR disclosure. Based on mixed results, it is expected that:\nData and methodology: Data\nResults and discussion: Descriptive statistics\nConclusion and policy recommendations: A firm's poor governance structure may impose a negative impact on the social environment and group of stakeholders. This prepared us to investigate whether board composition contributes toward firms' social improvement. This study has examined the influence of board diversity on QCSR disclosure reported by Pakistani firms in their sustainability reports for the time span of 2010 to 2017 by applying the PRE model. The results support H2 and H3 of the study indicating that gender and national diversities have contributed to the improvement of QCSR disclosure in Pakistani firms. However, H1 (age diversity) was found to be negatively and significantly associated to QCSR disclosure. Additionally, ethnic, educational level, educational background and tenure diversities were found to be insignificant.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between board diversity and quality of corporate social responsibility (QCSR) disclosure.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study estimates seven dimensions of board diversity including age, gender, nation, ethnicity, educational level, educational background and tenure by applying Blau's index. The relationship between board diversity and QCSR disclosure from the perspective of the resource-based view theory is estimated by using panel random effects regression across 57 firms producing exclusive sustainability reports listed in the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2017. The robustness of the results has also been checked through alternative measurements of the variables under study.\nFindings: The regression results reveal that gender and national diversities are the firms' valuable resources, having the potential to promote QCSR disclosure. However, age diversity was found to be negatively associated to QCSR disclosure. Furthermore, educational level, educational background, ethnicity and tenure were insignificant on QCSR disclosure. The sensitivity analysis supports the findings of the baseline model.\nResearch limitations/implications: Pakistani firms need to improve the level of board diversity through encouragement of the inclusion of diverse forces of gender and nationality to enhance disclosure on CSR practices.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study on board diversity and QCSR in the case of Pakistan.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing the supply chain using in-store supplier employed merchandisers	[ "Merchandising", "DIY stores", "Timber", "Supply chain management", "United Kingdom" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Improving on-shelf availability has become something of a mantra within UK retailing. If the product is not on the shelf when the shopper arrives to make their selection, the sale (and potentially also the customer) may be lost to the store. Market research organisations and sector special interest groups regularly monitor and publish influential on-shelf availability performance data. Despite this level of industry attention, recent research has shown that on-shelf availability in many cases has actually worsened (Corsten and Gruen, 2003). Somehow, the challenges that lie behind the statistics remain unresolved.Recent initiatives, such as efficient consumer response have raised the profile of \"in-store merchandising\" as a possible solution. Within this concept, dealing with the problems of the \"last 50 yards\" of the supply chain has come under special scrutiny. Much existing work focuses on FMCG, where retail employees are assigned shelf-replenishment tasks. However, practices differ by sector and product categories. Within the still rapidly growing DIY retail sector, the diversity of product (in size, as well as quantity) make the challenges maintaining \"on-shelf\" availability all the more acute.This paper presents a case study of one supplier's actions to ameliorate the situation, through the deployment of roving in-store sales merchandisers to service retail customers' needs. As direct employees of the supplying company, Timberco sales merchandisers provided stores with a highly customised service, known in the US as \"rack jobbing\" (Buzzell and Ortmeyer, 1995) and as \"field merchandising\" in the UK.Organisational actors who transcend the boundaries of a discrete organisational unit have long commanded the attention of organisational researchers (Keller and Holland, 1975; Aldrich and Herker, 1977). Referred to as \"boundary spanning\" roles, these positions \"involve resource acquisition and disposal, political legitimacy\" and hegemony as well as \"social legitimacy and organisational image\" (Aldrich and Herker cited by Weatherly and Tansik, 1993, p. 4).There are also other issues: for example, the increase in the adoption and scope of boundary-spanning activity (Babin and Boles, 1998) suggest a shift from hierarchical forms of management towards process-orientated interdependency. The changing roles place different behavioural demands on managers and employees (Dyer and Singh, 1998; Hatten and Rosenthal, 1999).Other researchers have explored the psychological experiences and coping strategies of boundary-spanning employees. Problems such as \"role conflict\" and \"ambiguity\" (Rizzo et al., 1970), stress (Weatherly and Tansik, 1993; Ashill et al., 2001), and trust and autonomy (Palmer, 2000; Perrone et al., 2003) have been suggested as associated with boundary-spanning roles.Yet, within the supply chain management (SCM) literature to date, the management implications of employees engaged in process activities across organisation boundaries has received scant attention; indeed many accounts within the SCM field fail to separate conceptions of the physical supply chain from its management (Storey, 2002). The distinction between intra and inter-organisational management adds a further layer of complexity.What empirical studies exist, exploring, for example, the use of \"in plants\" within a green field, modular manufacturing environment (Pires, 1998), foreshadow the additional complexities of inter-organisational management initiatives. Material flow management, cross-organisational teamwork and quality assurance have been suggested as key managerial challenges but the practice of inter-organisational boundary spanning between suppliers and retailers has not been examined in any detail.This paper reports on research into the detailed practices and perceptions of Timberco's sales merchandisers as they work within the premises of two of the large DIY retailers in the UK. Additionally, the perspectives of retail store managers and employees along with the supplier-engaged merchandisers were surveyed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research techniques. This study illustrates the individual and management challenges that need to be addressed if inter-organisational supply chain innovations are to prove effective.Specifically, our research was designed to address three questions:1. How were sales merchandisers and their customers reacting to the way the job was enacted?2. How could the role be made more effective?3. What factors impeded a wider realisation of the role?The body of this paper is divided into three main sections. The first section describes the case context and traces the development of the sales merchandiser role within Timberco; and at the end of that section we describe our research methodology. The second section reports the quantitative and qualitative findings. The third section discusses these results in terms of the nature, scope, opportunities for improvement and barriers to further exploitation highlighted by this case. Finally, we conclude that the research reveals an innovative solution to merchandise management, the success of which was acknowledged by merchandisers, Timberco management and retail customers' alike. However, significant challenges remained. These findings belie the effortless construction of mutually beneficial, problem-free operational relationships taken as given within much existing, prescriptive SCM literature.\nThe case context: Timberco, the UK subsidiary of a 1,810 million euro parent, supplies into the UK DIY sector. Timberco manages UK customer logistics, sales and production operations. Shipped, rough-sawn timber is converted in the UK into skirting boards, garden decking and other similar product categories. Customer-facing operations are organised into discrete business streams serving particular market segments. Timberco's DIY retail sector practices provide the focus for this study.Timberco's DIY customer-base includes two very large format nationwide multiples, both of which are in the top 20 UK retailers (ranked by retail turnover Euromonitor, 2004). Each retailer stocks a wide range of Timberco product across their different store formats. Whilst average store size differed by a factor of 0.5, conversions and new store openings increasingly served to narrow the gap. The timber range in all stores was complex: even the relatively small stores carried over 100 Timberco SKU's. Over the past decade, Timberco has employed and developed teams of roving in-store sales merchandisers to service these retail customers' needs. Each retailer-focused team is responsible for the full and effective in-store display of Timberco's products. Sales merchandiser activities supplement (and sometimes virtually supplant) the operations carried out by the retail companies own employees.Merchandising timber demands particular technical expertise. As one merchandiser put it, \"there's more to the role than a glorified shelf-filler\". As a live material, wooden products could warp or be damaged during their shelf life: assessment required an experienced eye. Merchandisers were responsible for a mix of tasks relating to the in-store display of Timberco products. Working in one of two separate, retailer-focussed teams, each merchandiser was individually responsible for servicing approximately 20 stores.Background to the merchandisers' role\nMethodology: This study was designed to explore the motivations, interactions, practices and difficulties inherent to the role within the two teams of Timberco merchandisers each working within rival major retailers. Each team serviced a separate retail group, direct competitors within the UK DIY marketplace. As a consequence, teams were managed separately without operational movement or communication between them.Qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to explore, compare and interpret individual, team and store perceptions. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with logistics and merchandise management representatives from Timberco's management team. Overt, non-participant observation was conducted, over the full working day, with a number of Timberco merchandisers servicing the two different retail store groups. These visits included discussion of the sales merchandiser role with available store personnel (duty managers, section colleagues and team leaders). Substantive and analytic field notes were made during and immediately following this fieldwork. These observation periods were followed by semi-structured telephone interviews with the sales merchandisers concerned, each of which was recorded (with permission) and transcribed.The resulting qualitative data, together with findings from research identified during the review of the boundary-spanning literature, including unpublished practitioner studies from the FMCG sector, was used to develop and refine a self-administered survey questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to explore the relative influence of various theoretical predictors of job satisfaction. Rizzo et al.'s (1970) factor constructs of role ambiguity and conflict were used in order to explore job satisfaction levels within and between the two teams of merchandisers. Factor analysis of previous research had found these constructs explained variation in satisfaction within complex organisations. (Their theoretical development can be traced from violations of both the principle of chain of command and the principle of unity). Rizzo and his colleagues argued that these concepts, evident within classical organisational and role theory, were violated in complex organisational environments, as in this case.Comparative, standardised measures were included in questionnaires administered in two phases: firstly, to members of the sales merchandising teams and secondly, to the store manager of each UK retail store serviced. Individual anonymity and confidentiality of all respondents was assured. Data were collected over a 4-month period in 2003-2004. Firstly, the merchandiser-orientated questionnaire was sent by e-mail (via Timberco's merchandise managers) to each Timberco sales merchandiser (a total of 20 employees divided into two, retailer-focussed teams). Eighteen useable questionnaires were returned: a response rate of 90 per cent. Secondly, the survey was posted to 489 retail outlets within the UK. Seventy-one completed questionnaires were returned, an overall response rate of 14.5 per cent. Response rates by retail store group, coded Store Group 1 and Store Group 2, were 21 per cent (36 responses) and 11 per cent (35 responses), respectively.The questionnaire contained standardised measures of job satisfaction (16 items), perceived organisational support (4 items), perceived organisational recognition (4 items) and adequacy of training (5 items), as well as role ambiguity (6 items) and role conflict (8 items). Each item was measured on a seven-point scale from \"strongly disagree\" to \"strongly agree\" coded -3 through 0 to +3. Construct validity was ensured through use of validated standard measures for role ambiguity, role conflict (Rizzo et al., 1970), perceived organisational support and adequacy of training (Johlke et al., 2002). Measures of perceived organisational recognition were included on the basis of their face validity.The resulting quantitative data were analysed using SPSS 12.1 data analysis software. Open responses were office-coded using an anchored coding scheme which identified subjects' responses in the context of our specified research questions (Sapsford, 1999). Sample means of each standardised measurement scale were compared using independent sample t-tests to indicate potential differences between the two merchandising teams. Scale reliabilities were tested using Cronbach's a with unreliable measurement items eliminated. Ordinal regression techniques were employed to test theoretically-predicted associations between positive - negative dichotomies of job satisfaction and summed, multi-item measures of role ambiguity, training, perceived organisational support and recognition. Regression variable were screened for multicollinearity effects. Univariate analysis was used to explore statistically significant differences in these scales between merchandiser team and store group perspectives.\nFindings: Participant observation and telephone interviews\nDiscussion: This study explored theoretical predictors of job satisfaction and the similarities and differences in these role perceptions between the two teams of merchandisers and their respective store group customers. The study aimed to identify how merchandisers and their customers were reacting to the job scope so far, how the role could be made more effective and what factors impeded wider realisation of the role.Role theory and previous empirical studies (Rizzo et al. 1970; Weatherly and Tansik, 1993; Johlke et al., 2002) would suggest that there is a causal influence between job satisfaction levels and differences in perceived organisational support, role ambiguity and perceived organisation recognition in the merchandiser group. The differences between merchandiser and customer store group role perceptions are suggestive of institutional differences between the two teams and the retail environments within which they operate. This interpretation is elaborated upon below through consideration of the nature and scope of the merchandisers' role and barriers identified to greater effectiveness. These factors combine to shed light on the particular management and behavioural challenges faced when attempting to improve on-shelf availability through inter-organisational intervention. This section concludes with some thoughts on the limitations of this study.Nature and scope of the merchandisers' role\nConclusions: Previous research into on-shelf availability improvement has suggested that sustained improvement requires retailers and suppliers to work together to improve in-store out of stocks (Corsten and Gruen, 2003). This study explores one mature example of such cooperative working. Yet even in this innovative and successful relationship, our research highlights both behavioural and managerial challenges that inhibit further exploitation.Employees engaged in these activities find themselves with responsibilities that span organisational boundaries. Control over task specification and working environment is divided: retail store managers find routine tasks executed by individuals over whom they have no formal hierarchical control, whilst merchandisers carry out their prescribed daily routines within an alien organisational environment.This study exemplifies how differing inter-organisational attitudes to training, perceived organisational support and recognition compound particular behavioural effects of role ambiguity when managing boundary-spanning employees.We argue that greater attention needs to be paid to the behavioural implications of SCM practice, if such innovative, inter-organisational supply chain initiatives are to be effectively pursued. Specifically, practical steps need to taken to ensure responsibilities are clearly defined and understood, supporting organisational structures are in place and operating effectively, and that managers from both organisations are sensitive to the unique behavioural demands placed on boundary-spanning employees.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to investigate the managerial challenges arising from the deployment of cross-company boundary-spanning teams to improve on-shelf availability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study focuses on two supplier-employed teams, each merchandising their employers' timber-products within the stores of two leading UK DIY retail groups. Non-participant observation and self-administered questionnaires were used to investigate, first, the association between reported merchandiser job satisfaction and various theoretical predictors (role ambiguity, role conflict, perceived organisational support and recognition) and, second, differences in role perceptions between the two teams and their (retail store) customer representatives.\nFindings: - The study reveals differentiated perceptions of merchandising management practice within the UK DIY retail sector. Whilst perceived organisational recognition was found to be positively associated with merchandiser job satisfaction, there was a significant difference in the perception of organisational support reported by members of the two merchandising teams.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The small number of merchandisers within each team limits more complex statistical analyses and the identification of potential interaction effects of other variables: notably retail store size and format.\nPractical implications: - The findings from these cases suggest that practitioners need to attend to the behavioural aspects of boundary-spanning, inter-organisational supply chain activities, such as the deployment of supplier-employed, in-store merchandising teams, if these practices are to be effective.\nOriginality/value: - The behavioural aspects of inter-organisational supply chain practice have received little research attention to date, despite their acknowledged importance. This paper starts to redress this imbalance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does hotel cleanliness correlate with surfaces guests contact?	[ "ATP test", "Guest perception", "Hotel guestrooms", "Housekeeping" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since 1974, researchers have pointed to the importance of effective housekeeping systems. The large dollar investment in the hotel rooms themselves and the huge payroll expenses involved in cleaning these rooms necessitate the utmost in professional and profitable management of the housekeeping function (Steadmon, 1974). At the same time, a multitude of studies over several decades have demonstrated the importance of cleanliness to hotel guests (Callan, 1996; Kuhn, 2007; Lewis, 1987; Li et al., 2013; McCleary and Weaver, 1992; Mehta and Vera, 1990; Ramanathan and Ramanathan, 2011; Saleh and Ryan, 1992; Xie et al., 2014). The contribution of customer satisfaction from good housekeeping to customer loyalty and its effects on intention to repurchase and/or recommend has also been suggested (Kandampully and Suhartanto, 2003).\nLiterature reviews: Guest perception of hotel cleanliness\nMethodology: This study used two data collection methods. Guest perception was assessed in a survey with respondents using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). MTurk was selected because of its capability of accessing varied respondents from numerous locations and obtaining general perceptions. A minimum of 400 responses were sought to compare mean values between the two samples (at least 200 responses each) based on the consideration of the statistical power, an alpha level (0.05) and an effect size. The main focus of the survey was to identify the surfaces that they touched most frequently. Respondents were members of this online platform and were qualified to participate if they had at least one hotel stay in the past 12 months. Respondents were asked how much they touch or come into contact with hotel surfaces with their head, face or hands during hotel stays based on their previous hotel experience. Using results from several research studies (Boyce et al., 2009; Cheng et al., 2015; Huslage et al., 2010; Sexton et al., 2011; Smith et al., 2012; Zemke et al., 2015) and textbooks (Casado, 2011; Jones, 2007; Nitschke and Frye, 2008), potential contact surfaces (bed sheets, blanket, TV remote, lobby elevator buttons) were identified and categorized into two areas (guestrooms and public areas). The questionnaire used a six-point semantic differential scale ranging from 1 (very little contact) to 6 (very much contact).\nResults: The total number of valid responses was 412. In Table I, the descriptive results show that slightly more than half of the respondents were male and most were between the ages of 20 and 49 and were college educated. Most respondents had stayed in a hotel one-three times in the past 12 months.\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to strengthen implications about hotel cleaning outcomes by comparing guests' perception of the amount of contact they have with cleanliness of hotel surfaces.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used two data-collection methods, a survey and an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) test. Data were collected from recent hotel guests using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Guests were asked to identify hotel surfaces that they touch most frequently. Actual hotel cleanliness was measured using empirical data collected with ATP meters. The two data sets were used to compare guests' perceptions about the amount of contact they have with actual cleanliness measurements of those hotel surfaces.\nFindings: This study found that amount of guest contact was related to cleanliness of surfaces in guestrooms. Significant differences were found in guest perception between high- and low-touch areas and between guestrooms and hotel public areas. More high-touch areas and higher ATP readings were found in guestrooms than in hotel public areas.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge this study is the first to compare guest contact with hotel surfaces to a scientific measure of hotel cleanliness. In addition, this study is unique because it assesses guest contact and cleanliness of public areas to provide a holistic view of hotel-cleaning needs. The study offers industry empirically based results from guest perception and scientifically based data that can be used to improve hotel housekeeping programs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A holistic management tool for measuring internal marketing activities	[ "Higher education", "Internal marketing", "Tourism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Internal marketing programmes have gained momentum in services markets in recent years based on our understanding that internal marketing is a strategic weapon that can assist service marketers to achieve high quality service delivery and customer satisfaction (e.g. Bruhn and Georgi, 2000; Quester and Kelly, 1999). Since internal marketing was first defined (Berry et al., 1976) there has been a great deal of debate about the construct. The generally considered definition of internal marketing is that internal marketing is a cultural framework and an instrument to achieve strategic alignment between employees' actions and marketing's brand positioning in the target consumer's minds (Ahmed and Rafiq, 2003). For some, internal marketing is viewed as a collection of human resource policies and procedures that treat employees as members of an internal market that needs to be informed, educated, developed and motivated to serve clients more effectively (Gronroos, 1997; Bennett and Barkensjo, 2005) while others view internal marketing as an internal communication function. The literature contains a multitude of different measures, yet there have been few attempts to consolidate these measures.\nLiterature review: The concept of internal marketing has been studied for more than 30 years to understand how marketing principles can be directed towards employees (Berry et al., 1976) based on the understanding that the marketing success of a firm is partly determined by employees. Forty-three definitions spanning more than three decades have been offered by researchers. Definitions of internal marketing started with Berry et al. (1976) who defined \"employees as internal customer and jobs as products\". The most recent definition of internal marketing was put forward by Munir et al. (2015). Since internal marketing was first defined, there has been a great deal of debate about the construct. The crux of these discussions largely centre on identifying whether internal marketing is a human resource (Rafiq and Ahmed, 1993) and/or marketing (George and Gronroos, 1989) function and whether internal marketing is a philosophy or a set of initiatives and activities for implementation (see Table I).\nMethodology: Overview\nResults: The 2010 study\nDiscussion: The internal marketing practice scale synthesised from previous internal marketing studies draws together a wide range of work that has been undertaken over the past 30 years. A multitude of internal marketing definitions are present in the academic literature. These definitions have served to stimulate debate on the internal marketing construct, and as a result we understand that internal marketing crosses the organisational functions of marketing and human resource management and that internal marketing has previously taken both external and internal viewpoints. The current study is internally focussed with the activities and initiatives forming the focus of measures included in the current synthesis. The internal marketing practice scale tested in two services contexts with employees from culturally diverse backgrounds provides a succinct instrument that enables marketers to understand employee's perceptions of the extent that internal marketing is practised in an organisation. As such, the scale provides a measure that is actionable by marketers. Sixteen items involving three dimensions of internal marketing practice were identified in the current study. The results of the current study indicate that internal marketing practice may be considered as training, internal communication and internal market research. Additional research to extend upon the dimensions described in the current paper and to further validate the internal marketing practice scale is warranted.\nManagement implications: A reliable and valid measure of internal marketing practice that has been used consistently by researchers was not evident in our review of the literature. We sought to undertake a study to synthesise previous studies enabling a range of internal marketing dimensions to be identified. The present study provides a measure of internal marketing practice that is composed of 16 items across three dimensions, namely internal communication, training, and market research, all of which have been previously identified as part of the internal marketing function. This study provides both academics and practitioners with a measure that can be used to assess employee perceptions of the internal marketing function.\nLimitations and future research directions: A potential limitation of the 2010 Study is that the sample size (n = 205) was small. Furthermore, only one organisation was involved in the 2010 Study. As such, there is a limit on how far the study's findings can be generalised. The results of the 2010 Study cannot be generalised beyond the organisation and context considered. Ideally a random sample of sufficient size for statistical testing should be taken from all Australian higher education institutions (n = 38), and this offers an opportunity for future research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to synthesise internal marketing measures in two service settings across both Western and Eastern backgrounds. Well established views of internal marketing have emerged with more than 200 papers on the topic. To date, no clear accepted measure for the concept has emerged. The developed scale provides a new way of thinking drawing together a diverse range of measures to deliver a practical measure offering marketing managers a diagnostic tool to measure the degree that internal marketing has been applied (or not) inside their organisation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Conceptual and operational definitions of internal marketing were analysed to generate an item pool for testing. Generated items were then tested in one higher education organisation (n = 205) and in the tourism and hospitality industry with Australian and Taiwanese employees (n = 458) using both English and Traditional Chinese survey versions. The data were analysed with SPSS 19.0 and AMOS 19.0. Reliability analysis was first undertaken to assess the hypothesised internal marketing factor structure followed by confirmatory factor analysis.\nFindings: A 16-item, three-factor structure was obtained for internal marketing. This research suggests that internal marketing practice is a three-dimensional concept ideally consisting of internal market research, training and communication activities. The findings suggest that further research may be warranted to further expand academic definitions of internal marketing to encompass the varied activities undertaken by practising internal marketers.\nOriginality/value: This study provides a new measure of internal marketing practice for use in future that captures the majority of the activities undertaken by internal marketing practitioners.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Trade credit in times of crisis: evidence from European SMEs	[ "SMEs", "Financial crisis", "Intercompany financing", "Trade credit" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The economic role of trade credit has been widely analyzed in prior studies (Lee and Stowe, 1993; Mian and Smith, 1992; Long et al., 1993; Deloof and Jegers, 1996; Pike et al., 2005) and trade credit is considered to be an important source of short-term financing. Firms may be financially motivated to use trade credit because it can be substituted for bank financing when credit from financial institutions is constrained (Petersen and Rajan, 1997; Nilsen, 2002). However, as liquidity is reduced trade credit may also complement bank financing because trade partners are more likely to overcome problems related to moral hazard and information asymmetries (Burkart and Ellingsen, 2004) and may grant extended payment terms, which sends a signal to financial institutions regarding the creditworthiness of firms. Therefore, bank financing and trade credit may be perceived either as substitutes or complements. These options tend to be substitutes when access to capital markets is limited and firms use more trade credit but are complements when trade credit (obtained according to an assessment made by a credit provider with respect to the creditworthiness of the firm) enhances the reputation of creditors and allows them to obtain easy access to bank financing.\nLiterature review and research hypotheses: Trade credit results when suppliers grant deferred payments to customers. The use of trade credit occurs for multiple reasons, but can be traced to real and financial functions. The real functions are related to the supply of credit that supports sales policies. Trade credit is used to strengthen customer relationships, ensure product quality or allow price discrimination; ultimately, it may be a response to the variability in demand and a tool to improve the profitability of companies (Lee and Stowe, 1993; Long et al., 1993; Deloof and Jegers, 1996; Pike et al., 2005).\nModel and methodology: To verify the research hypotheses, the analysis starts from a baseline model (Equation (1)), where the use of trade credit for each firm (accounts payable, payabit) is a function of the lagged value of accounts payable (payabit-1); the probability of insolvency of the firm (piit); accounts receivable (receivit); and a number of firm-specific and country-specific controls (xit) that are generally recognized as crucial determinants of trade credit by prior studies. Equations (3) and (4) add, respectively, the probability of insolvency, receivitxpiit and the interaction between the probability of insolvency (piit) and a dummy variable that identifies the periods of financial crises, piitxcrisist, to the baseline model.\nSample and data: To estimate Models (1), (3) and (4), this study employs a panel of European firms from the Amadeus Bureau van Dijk data set. The analysis focuses on EU28, micro, small and medium, private limited non-financial companies, that are independent, not quoted and are observed over the period 2005-2013, a time span that includes the subprime crisis (2008) and the sovereign debt crisis (2010-2011).\nResults: The results of the estimation of models (1), (3) and (4) are provided in Table IV.\nConclusion: This study focuses on the relevance of financial motivations in the use of trade credit. Using firm-level data from European SMEs, over the period immediately before and after the outbreak of financial crises (2006-2013), this study tests conditions of substitutability between trade credit and other sources of funding. In addition, this study aims to verify whether trade receivables are positively related to accounts payable, which would support the matching hypothesis (Bastos and Pindado, 2013), and analyzes whether the matching hypothesis can be verified for small and weak firms in conditions of distress. Finally, this study tests the relevance of financial motivations during periods of crises and reveals new information regarding the consequences of financial crises on trade credit channels, which may have amplified the negative liquidity shocks that occurred because of the most recent financial crises in Europe.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of trade credit in a sample of small and medium enterprises in Europe, before and after the outbreak of the subprime financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis (2006-2013). This study aims to verify whether trade credit is an alternative source of funding compared to other sources of financing. In addition, it tests whether firms that grant extended payment terms to their customers demand delayed accounts payable terms from their suppliers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis is conducted on a sample of European SMEs that were observed over the period immediately before and after the outbreak of the subprime crisis (2008) and the sovereign debt crisis (2010-2011). A panel data analysis is conducted using the generalized method of moment.\nFindings: The results suggest that SMEs with a high probability of insolvency use trade credit more extensively. Distressed and weaker SMEs are less able to match accounts receivable to accounts payable. Finally, the evidence suggests that during the financial crises, the substitution hypothesis is weakened and liquidity shocks are propagated through trade credit channels.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the extant literature as very few studies have analyzed intercompany financing for European SMEs during periods of financial crisis. The results suggest that supporting trade credit channels, through timely injections of liquidity to companies, could reduce the impact of both financial and intercompany credit crunch on SMEs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Top management characteristics and intellectual capital performance in small Italian companies	[ "Corporate performance", "Accounting-based measures", "CEO characteristics", "Intellectual capital", "Top management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Researchers and professional bodies have shown growing interest in the performance of intellectual capital (IC) as companies' value creation currently relies on intangible resources (Kujansivu and Lonnqvist, 2007; Choong, 2008; Nadeem et al., 2018). Indeed, there is a common view that the group of intangible assets that constitutes a company's IC significantly increases the organisation's competitive advantage (Chen et al., 2005; Pew Tan et al., 2007). A number of studies have shown that IC is a key driver of companies' performance and reputation (Clarke et al., 2011; Ginesti et al., 2018) and is frequently used by scholars to explain the gap between the market and book values of companies (Lev and Zarowin, 1999). Moreover, literature has emphasised that some of IC dimensions are important to identify the ability of firm's innovation (Choong, 2008; Inkinen, 2015). As a consequence, in the current knowledge economy the stream of research on IC is evolving as a discipline that has achieved crucial relevance in both academic and professional community (Serenko and Bontis, 2013; Dzenopoljac et al., 2017; Roos, 2017).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses: 2.1 Intellectual capital performance\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data and sample selection\n4. Robustness tests: To increase the robustness of the analysis this study includes in Models (3) and (4) additional variables that may affect corporate IC performance. Specifically, the R&D_INT (Lin et al., 2011) is included in Model (3), and GROWTH is added in Model (4), since it is plausible that higher IC efficiency may be related to R&D investments and larger sales growth. As shown in Table V, the results obtained indicate that none of these additional variables affect IC performance, whereas our main results remain unaltered.\n5. Conclusion: Intellectual assets play a key role in the business decisions of companies and receive an increasing attention among scholars and policy makers. Building on the governance and IC literature, the present work developed three hypotheses on the relationship between top management-specific factors and IC performance. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 135 small companies meeting legal and ethical standards, which the literature suggested was a compelling field to investigate (Hasan et al., 2018). In this regard, an emerging strand of literature suggests a positive effect of anticorruption campaigns on corporate innovation (Gan and Xu, 2018).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to explore the relationship between top management characteristics and intellectual capital (IC) performance of small companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research offers an empirical investigation into a unique sample of 135 small Italian companies, which have been recognised as meeting legal values. This study uses a regression analysis to test whether CEO age, CEO connections and management team size affect IC performance.\nFindings: Companies managed by CEOs with higher levels of connections and with a greater number of managers exhibit improved IC performance. In addition, this study provides evidence that companies with older CEOs demonstrate better IC efficiency.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study does not consider all top management-specific factors and incentives that may affect IC performance and uses a limited sample of companies.\nPractical implications: This study suggests that increased network activity and larger management teams are beneficial for small companies to improve the efficiency of IC used.\nOriginality/value: The work offers novel empirical evidence to understand what governance and management-specific factors affect the efficiency in managing IC assets in small companies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Annual maintenance budget estimation for a plant system: Digraph model and matrix approach	[ "Annual maintenance budget", "Digraph model", "Matrix method", "Plant systems" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: British Standards. BS 3811 (1984) defines maintenance as: \"The combination of technical and associated administrative actions intended to retain an item in, or restore it, to a state in which it can perform its required function.\" Maintenance ensures that the physical assets of the organization are kept in their desired state. The management of assets needs optimum allocation of maintenance resources, such as manpower, spares, tools, equipment and support facilities, etc. Gulati and Smith (2009) indicate that for typical world class maintenance, the annual maintenance cost (AMC) as a percentage of asset replacement value (ARV) varies between 2.5 and 3.5 percent, while the best practice benchmark values lie in the range of 3-9 percent of ARV. However, this cannot be generalized, as it depends on innumerous variables.\n2. Variables affecting maintenance budget: The maintenance costs are direct and indirect (Duffuaa et al., 1999). AMB primarily concerns with the direct costs. The maintenance objective takes care of maximizing availability with optimum costs; safety of man, machines; and, protection of environment. It is desirable that majority of maintenance activities should be carried out in a planned way. Therefore, establishing a plant specific and optimum maintenance budget ensures that plant operations are profitable, with adequate safety. Budgeting of maintenance activities focusses on long-term objectives and comprises of several variables. Quantitative values of some of these have been benchmarked (Gulati and Smith, 2009). The variables as enumerated below are synthesized to evaluate the AMB for a plant system.\n3. Plant maintenance budget modelling: The variables, which characterize the maintenance budget, have been identified in the above section. Each variable has distinctive characteristics, which relate it to other variables. For example, stock-in rate of spares and materials strongly influences plant availability, as the waiting time for maintenance tasks will increase, in case of non-availability of such spares and materials. Similarly, the pair wise influence of variables helps in determination of mutual relationships among these.\n4. Matrix representation of plant maintenance budget digraph: Matrix representation of the budget digraph helps in carrying out its analysis and quantification of the plant maintenance budget estimate. One to one matrix for this digraph is called the plant system maintenance budget matrix and is given as matrix as follows (1):\n5. Quantification of PMBF: Evaluation of the PMBF needs quantitative or qualitative values of each element of the budget matrix, i.e. off-diagonal elements e\n6. Maintenance budget estimation using the PMBF: The PMBF defined in the above section is based on plant specific variables and their mutual influences. It is noted that all the terms of the PMBF are positive and, therefore, increase in the value of variables and their degree of mutual influence will increase the value of PMBF and make them closer to an ideal situation, wherein lower maintenance expenditure is expected.\n7. Case study: This section illustrates the procedure for evaluation of AMB for a plant system that operates with budget variables having their values as per world class standards. The objective of the case study is to demonstrate the use of PMBF for estimation of the AMB. The values of the budget variables as per their world class levels have been taken from the literature and these references are shown in the last column of Table XI. The quantitative values of these maintenance budget variables have been benchmarked in the literature, based on the best operational practices followed by organizations who have proved to be leaders in their respective businesses over a sustained period of time. These values have been substituted in the matrix Expression (5) to arrive at the matrix Expression (8). Table XI shows the world class values of the variables B\n8. Conclusion: The maintenance budget, which is a leading parameter and is envisaged ahead of the annual maintenance period, needs a correct assessment. The PMBF suggested in this paper helps in evaluating the AMB as a percentage of ARV by the use of digraph model and matrix approach. The methodology discussed in this paper enables the maintenance managers to rationally evaluate the AMB for maintenance tasks, based on plant specific variables that can vary from one plant to another, without resorting to general rules-of-thumb method of budgeting or resorting to expert judgment. It avoids over-estimation of maintenance resources, ensures maintenance effectiveness and enables the plant management to take timely financial decisions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology to evaluate the annual maintenance budget (AMB) for a plant system as a percentage of its asset replacement value (ARV).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Variables influencing the budget for the plant system are identified and modeled in terms of a plant maintenance Budget digraph. The nodes in the digraph represent the function of budget influencing variables and edges represent the degree of influence among these. The plant maintenance budget function is derived from the equivalent matrix of the plant maintenance budget digraph and is used to evaluate the AMB for the plant system as a percentage of its ARV. The presented model is illustrated with an example.\nFindings: The proposed methodology enables the maintenance managers and practicing engineers to evaluate the AMB for maintenance tasks based on plant specific variables that can vary from one plant to another, without resorting to general rules-of-thumb method of budgeting or to expert judgment.\nResearch limitations/implications: The methodology suggested does not claim to cover all aspects of budgeting and is confined to direct maintenance costs.\nPractical implications: A fair estimation of AMB for a plant system gives an appropriate direction to maintenance actions and ensures that the assets will be kept in healthy and reliable state. This is desirable because it will ensure that maintenance resources are appropriately benchmarked and the resources are utilized judiciously. This ensures maintenance effectiveness.\nOriginality/value: The paper presents a structural approach to budgeting for maintenance tasks. This approach is valuable for plant managers, with ease in implementation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Vision, applications and future challenges of Internet of Things: A bibliometric study of the recent literature	[ "Vision", "Internet of Things", "Bibliometrics", "Applications", "Network analytics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Recent years have witnessed the growing use of internet as billions of people browse the web to access multimedia content and services, send and receive electronic mails, play games, and perform various tasks. This use creates a global platform for machines and smart objects to communicate, dialogue, compute, and coordinate (Miorandi et al., 2012), which in turn builds up a strong connection among the users of smart devices worldwide. Apart from connecting the users to the internet, these devices play a crucial role in linking up the physical world with the cyber world (Conti et al., 2012). This has given birth to the next generation of embedded ICT systems, commonly known as cyber-physical systems (CPS) (Poovendran, 2010; Park et al., 2012), which integrate computational devices with the physical environment. CPS is composed of four technologies: automation of knowledge work, Internet of Things (IoT), advanced robotics, and autonomous/near-autonomous vehicles. Looking at the economic value generated by these technologies, it can be clearly observed that IoT, with an estimated value of 36 trillion of dollars, creates the highest economic impact (McKinsey Global Institute, 2013).\n2. Review of the literature on IoT: This section is broadly divided into two major areas of literature, that is, vision of IoT, and applications of IoT.\n3. Research methodology: Literature review maps and assesses the relevant literature in order to find out the possible research gaps which would be beneficial in further strengthening of the knowledge (Tranfield et al., 2003). In this paper we followed Saunders et al. (2009) and their conceptualisation of literature review as an adaptive cycle which involves the process of defining relevant keywords, conducting literature search and finally, performing analysis; the approach proposed by Rowley and Slack (2004): scanning documents, making notes, structuring the literature review, writing the literature review, and building the bibliography; and Fahimnia et al. (2015) and their review of green supply chain literature using bibliometric and network (citation and co-citation) analysis.\n4. Discussion: In this paper we conducted a bibliometric and network analytics study of the literature related to IoT. This study was triggered because of two facts: first, the IoT literature is growing exponentially, but, however, the literature surrounding IoT is still underdeveloped; and second, IoT has attracted significant attentions from both academics and industry. However, the majority of the literature stems from technology perspective. Research related to the adoption and applications of IoT in business - for instance in particular smart cities, hospitals, and supply chains - are still underdeveloped. In the subsections that follow, we outline our theoretical contribution and the managerial implications of our work.\n5. Conclusions, limitations, and future research: The study has reviewed and examined articles published over a period of 16 years (2000-2015) by using bibliometric and network analyses. The main objective of this study was to identify highly cited and co-cited works related to IoT offering future research directions to the IoT research community and implications for managers and decision makers. We have also proposed a five-cluster overview of research themes across IoT. Our results and five-cluster classification of IoT research illustrate the increasing importance of IoT, but on the other hand the studies that acknowledge the applications of IoT for organizations and supply chains and the wider socio-organizational context that needs to be considered; such studies are missing from the literature. Hence, the majority of the highly cited and co-cited works in the field are dominated by conceptualizations and there are few applications of IoT that include case studies, which would provide a more in-depth understanding of how IoT emerges, how it is adopted, and what the advantages and challenges from its use are. Furthermore, our findings highlight the need for alternative theories and lenses to be used in order to study IoT related phenomena. The findings of this study may help scholars in understanding the concept of IoT; the changing research trends in the field of IoT, and those articles that have been influential in shaping research in these years; and intellectual structure of the field.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The emergent field of Internet of Things (IoT) has been evolving rapidly with a geometric growth in the number of academic publications in this field. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature of IoT in past 16 years using rigorous bibliometric and network analysis tools, offering at the same time future directions for the IoT research community and implications for managers and decision makers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors adopted the techniques of bibliometric and network analysis. The paper reviewed the articles published on IoT from 2000 to 2015.\nFindings: This study identifies top contributing authors; key research topics related to the field; the most influential works based on citations and PageRank; and established and emerging research clusters. Scholars are encouraged to further explore this topic.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study focusses only on vision and applications of IoT. Scholars may explore various other aspects of this area of research.\nOriginality/value: To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study to review the literature on IoT by using bibliometric and network analysis techniques. The study is unique as it spans a long time period of 16 years (2000-2015). The study proposes a five-cluster classification of research themes that may inform current and future research in IoT.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Compulsive buying in a product specific context: clothing	[ "Garment industry", "Clothing", "Buying behaviour", "Personality", "Women" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumer behavior as it relates to the shopping for and purchasing of clothing has been the subject of numerous studies. An abnormal form of consumer behavior, known as compulsive buying, has captured the interest of scholars for approximately two decades. To date, scholars have mostly studied general compulsive buying as opposed to compulsive buying in specific product categories such as clothing.According to Edwards (1993), compulsive buying occurs when a consumer experiences powerful, uncontrollable urges to shop and purchase. The consumer then proceeds to act upon these urges. Compulsive consumers often engage in compulsive buying practices to compensate for unhappy events, and/or low self-esteem (O'Guinn and Faber, 1989). The act of buying may temporarily elevate the mood and self-esteem of a compulsive buyer, however it is often followed by feelings of shame or depression (McElroy et al., 1995). The repercussions of compulsive buying may lead to family and/or marital discord, anxiety, frustration, and financial debt (Christenson et al., 1994; O'Guinn and Faber, 1989).Compulsive buying and impulsive buying are sometimes confused with one another but are not synonymous constructs. Impulsive buying is motivated by an external trigger such as a product near the cash register. Compulsive buying is motivated by an internal trigger such as stress or anxiety, and shopping and spending is an escape from the internal trigger. Compulsive buying can develop into addictive buying when it becomes a need to continuously spend in order to alleviate stress and anxiety (DeSarbo and Edwards, 1996).Some researchers consider compulsive buying to be a dichotomous behavior (Faber and O'Guinn, 1992), meaning consumers are classified either as compulsive or non-compulsive. However, research by Edwards (1993) indicates that compulsive buying, like many other consumer behaviors, occurs on a continuum. She found that compulsive buying ranges from non-compulsive, to recreational, borderline compulsive, compulsive, and addicted buying. In other words, consumers can experience no compulsive consumption tendencies, some compulsive consumption tendencies, or chronic levels of this behavior.A number of variables have been found to be related to compulsive buying including low self esteem, depression, anxiety (Faber et al., 1995), materialism, excitement seeking, impulsiveness (DeSarbo and Edwards, 1996; Dittmar et al., 1996; Mowen and Spears, 1999; Yurchisin and Johnson, 2004), and low emotional stability/high neuroticism (Mowen and Spears, 1999). Compulsive buyers tend to be young females who began the behavior around the age of 18 or 19 (Christenson et al., 1994; Schlosser et al., 1994) and perceive buying to be related to social status (d'Astous, 1990; Elliott, 1994; Roberts, 1998; Roberts and Martinez, 1997; Yurchisin and Johnson, 2004).In addition, researchers have found that compulsive buyers frequently purchase clothing as well as other appearance management products such as jewelery, shoes, and cosmetics (Christenson et al., 1994; McElroy et al., 1995; O'Guinn and Faber, 1989; Schlosser et al., 1994). A study by Yurchisin and Johnson (2004) revealed that compulsive buyers have a high degree of apparel-product involvement. Similarly, compulsive buyers tend to be highly interested in fashion (Park and Burns, 2005) as well as their physical appearance and attractiveness (Christenson et al., 1994).Wicklund and Gollwitzer (1982) stated that people may use symbols to build or maintain a complete self definition as part of a commitment to a self defining goal. Consumers may compulsively buy products such as clothing to match their subjective perceptions of themselves with a socially desirable or required appearance as a self defining goal (Elliott, 1994). Yurchisin and Johnson (2004) added that clothing products are used as symbols of self completion because they may communicate an ideal self image or increase self confidence. O'Cass (2004) stated that clothing is a material possession that holds a significant position in society and can symbolize an individual's identity. Additionally, clothing is a product in which consumers are drawn into the fashion of the moment, due to clothing's continual, cyclical characteristics.Today's fashion marketplace may be particularly inviting to compulsive buyers. Consumer demand for continuous variety and newness in clothing products has prompted retailers to offer \"fast fashion\" merchandise that is produced within a compressed lead time (Doyle et al., 2006; Hayes and Jones, 2006). If a consumer already has compulsive buying tendencies, fast fashion retailers may be an irresistible lure because the compulsive consumer knows new clothing products will continuously be available.The purpose of the present study was to investigate compulsive consumption in a specific context: compulsive buying of clothing. Researchers have found that consumer behaviors (e.g. innovativeness) may not be general or global; but instead can be product specific (Gatignon and Robertson, 1985). Measuring a general or global consumer behavior may be of little value to researchers interested in a specific domain/product category (Goldsmith and Hofacker, 1991).Despite the fact that previous studies have found that compulsive buyers tend to purchase products within the same product categories (e.g. appearance management products), most research continues to examine compulsive buying in a general, or global, context. In the field of fashion marketing and management it is reasonable to assume that scholars would be interested in studying consumer behaviors that are clothing specific. The present research is expected to contribute to the fashion marketing and management field by examining compulsive clothing buying in relation to some variables that have been found to be associated with general compulsive buying: the personality trait of neuroticism, materialism, and fashion interest.\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: A hierarchical approach to compulsive clothing buying\nMethod: Measuring compulsive clothing buying\nSample and data collection: The present study utilized female college students attending a university in the Midwestern United States as subjects. Mowen and Spears (1999) stated that college students were a justifiable population to study in relation to compulsive buying because it is legitimate to investigate the generalized urge to buy found in normal consumer populations. According to Park et al. (2006), college students are an important segment of consumers in the USA because they have considerable purchasing power and shopping for clothing is a major activity. In addition, previous research found that younger females tend to be compulsive buyers (Christenson et al., 1994).Subjects were asked to complete two questionnaires in a classroom setting during class time. The first questionnaire was the NEO-FFI (Costa and McCrae, 1992) which includes a scale to measure the neuroticism personality trait. The second questionnaire included the 13 item compulsive clothing buying scale, the fashion orientation scale which has a five item fashion interest subscale (Gutman and Mills, 1982) the nine item short form Material Values Scale (Richins, 2004) to measure materialism, and demographic items. There were 234 subjects who participated in the study. Four of the subjects were male, and two subjects did not complete the NEO-FFI and therefore were excluded from analysis. The final sample size was 228 female subjects. The mean age of the subjects was 21 years and they were represented by 12 majors or areas of study.\nResults: Scale assessment\nDiscussion and conclusion: The present study proposed a variation of a model developed by Mowen and Spears (1999) which examined causal relationships of variables associated with compulsive clothing buying in a hierarchical manner. This research yielded results that are both similar and different to what previous researchers have found in relation to general compulsive buying. These results provide several contributions relevant to the fashion marketing and management field:* confirmation of a measurement for compulsive clothing buying;* four supported hypotheses;* potential ramifications regarding a surprisingly unsupported hypothesis; and* implications for future research.Prior research indicated that there was a strong relationship between compulsive buying and the purchase of clothing-related items (Christenson et al., 1994; McElroy et al., 1995; O'Guinn and Faber, 1989; Schlosser et al., 1994). If this is the case, then creating a compulsive clothing buying scale was a necessary and beneficial first step to analyzing a specific compulsive consumption behavior. Findings of the present study indicate that the modified scale is a valid and reliable measure of compulsive clothing buying. Development of a compulsive clothing buying scale allows for a potential new area of research for fashion marketing and management scholars. Researchers can investigate other variables to determine whether they are associated with compulsive clothing buying. Similar to the work of Flynn et al. (1996), the compulsive buying scale should also be tested to determine whether it can be modified into a valid and reliable measure for other product categories of appearance management products such as cosmetics or shoes. It may also be of interest to investigate whether or not consumers who compulsively buy cosmetics or shoes have the same characteristics as consumers who compulsively buy clothing.Four hypotheses were supported in the present study and are supported by research on general compulsive buying (Mowen and Spears, 1999; Faber et al., 1995; Park and Burns, 2005; Sharpe and Ramanaiah, 1999). The results of the present study make a unique contribution to the literature concerning fashion interest by identifying a significant path between materialism and fashion interest, fashion interest and compulsive clothing buying; and a non-significant path between materialism and compulsive clothing buying. These results provide evidence that fashion interest may be an important mediating variable between materialism and compulsive clothing buying. It can therefore be concluded that there is an indirect, as opposed to a direct, relationship between materialism and compulsive clothing buying.There may be challenges in understanding compulsive clothing buying and the causal variables associated with it in the present study (neuroticism and fashion interest). An important factor to consider when studying compulsive clothing buying is how much consumers think about shopping/purchasing clothing and how much consumers think about clothing in general. As stated previously, O'Cass (2004) noted the material symbolism clothing has in society and that consumers are drawn into the fashion of the moment, due to clothing's continual, cyclical characteristics. Given the present study found that compulsive clothing buyers tend to have a strong interest in fashion, it can be assumed that these consumers are drawn to clothing/fashion and spend considerable time thinking about it.Understanding compulsive clothing buying also extends to consumer traits associated with compulsive clothing buying. The present study revealed that compulsive clothing buyers are neurotic, meaning they worry and experience anxiety. There was also a direct relationship between neuroticism and fashion interest, and fashion interest and compulsive clothing buying. This may imply that while neurotic people worry and experience anxiety in general, compulsive clothing buyers may worry and experience anxiety about fashion clothing and their desire to go shopping for and purchase fashion clothing. This, again, may imply that compulsive clothing buyers spend considerable time thinking about shopping for and purchasing clothing, and therefore, experience the anxiety which leads to their behaviors.The present study examined the compulsive buying of a specific product, however, it may be valuable to study populations other than college students to determine whether or not young female compulsive clothing buyers continue the behavior as they age, or potentially, begin compulsively buying products other than clothing. As a female college student becomes an adult she may be attracted to different products, such as home fashions. Additionally, it would be interesting to research this topic in countries that do not have a long history with a market economy such as those in Eastern Europe. It should again be noted that Edwards' (1993) original scale was designed to measure compulsive buying ranging from non-compulsive, to recreational, borderline compulsive, compulsive, and addicted. The present study did not examine compulsive clothing consumption in these categories. Future researchers may find an analysis of these categories to be useful in compulsive clothing buying research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the present study is to investigate compulsive consumption within a product specific context (compulsive buying of clothing) using a hierarchical model adapted from Mowen and Spears.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Previous researchers found that compulsive buyers tend to be young females who purchase clothing. Edwards' general compulsive buying scale was modified to measure compulsive clothing buying. The scale was then pre-tested for reliability and validity. Following the pre-test, data were collected from 228 undergraduate females to assess the relationships between compulsive clothing buying and several variables previously found to be associated with general compulsive buying: neuroticism, materialism, and fashion interest.\nFindings: - Path analysis results revealed significant relationships between neuroticism and materialism, neuroticism and compulsive clothing buying, materialism and fashion interest, and fashion interest and compulsive clothing buying. The path between materialism and compulsive clothing buying was not significant.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The present study examined the compulsive buying of a specific product, therefore it may be valuable to study other populations to determine whether young female compulsive clothing buyers continue the behavior as they age, or potentially, begin compulsively buying products other than clothing.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first known study to examine compulsive buying in a product specific context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Conventional futures: derivatives in Islamic law of contract	[ "Derivatives", "Futures contract", "Gharar", "Islamic law of contract", "Maysir", "Speculation", "Sale of debt" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Conventional futures are derivatives, values of which derive from other financial products. A futures contract is essentially a standardised forward contract, is an agreement between a buyer and seller to deliver a specified asset at a certain time in the future for a certain price. Trading volume of futures contracts is often much larger than underlying assets, and this is due to the presence of the elements of speculating activities and maysir or games of chance in derivatives. Some researchers asserted that those who participate in futures contracts do not enter into them for risk protecting, rather for speculating and in fact, hardly 1 or 2 per cent of traded derivatives instruments are settled by actual delivery of the underlying assets, while the rest were ended through cash settlement, not including real sale.\n2. Conventional futures: concepts and scopes as derivative instruments: Derivatives are financial assets whose values are dependent on underlying asset or known variables. One of the key derivative instruments is futures contract. A futures contract which is essentially a standardised forward contract (Hull, 2007), is an agreement between a buyer and seller to deliver a specified asset at a certain time in the future for a certain consideration or price (Saunders and Cornett, 2007). The price is competitively determined by \"open outcry\" on the trading floor or through a computer-based market. The contract, if taken to maturity, is fulfilled by a cash payment of price and actual delivery of the item on the delivery date based on the settlement price for that date.\n3. General principles of contract in Shari'ah: Islam is a rules-based religion (Askari et al., 2015). The Qur'an and the Sunnah are the sources of all rules required for every sphere of human life, from cradle to death. The Qur'an mentions the following verse in several places \"Obey Allah and His Messenger\" [1]. In Islamic law and jurisprudence, contracts are the backbones of everyday human transactions, civil, commercial or of any sort. Consequently, the underlying principles of contracts are derived from the Qur'an and the Sunnah about the Qur'an sates about fulfilling the contract and covenants (`qd) in numerous places. For example, \"O you who believe! Fulfil (your) obligations\" (Al-Maidah, 1); \"And fulfil (every) covenant. Verily, the covenant will be questioned about\" (Al-Isra, 34);\n4. `Aqd and the fundamental pillars of Islamic law of contract: The discussion of the theory of contract constitutes the cornerstone of Islamic commercial law. Contract is the essential mode of acquisition of ownership transferred from a party to another. Therefore, it deals with the types of contracts to effect the transfer and their legal impact with the function of meeting the needs of the society with regard to dealings and transactions (Securities Commission Malaysia, 2009).\n5. Arguments against conventional futures in Islamic law of contract: 5.1 Sale of that which is not owned\n6. Arguments in favour of futures contracts: Futures contracts have important role in risk management and hedging. Contrary to mainstream view of majority Muslim jurists regarding the impressibility of futures and forwards contracts some contemporary Muslim jurists such as Kamali (2007) and El-Gari opine that futures contracts are permissible if they do not violate a decisive principle, and void of riba and gambling, and do not include the elements of excessive gharar. In the subsequent section, major arguments in favour of futures contracts are discussed.\n7. Conclusion, policy implication and recommendations: Conventional futures contracts are widely used financial derivatives around the world for hedging purposes. Researchers argue that only 1 or 2 per cent of traded derivatives instruments are settled by actual delivery of the underlying assets, while the rest were ended through cash settlement, not including real sale. The speculation and gambling pictures in futures contracts are also reflected in the huge trading volume of derivatives relative to the real GDP. Nevertheless, certain features of futures contract raise questions whether it is permissible under Islamic law of contract. Islam is a complete code of life and every sphere of a believer's life is dominated by rules and principles referred in the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) of which financial transactions are not an exception. One of the fundamental concepts in financial transactions from Islamic legal perspective is contract. Contracting is the connection of an offer with an acceptance in a lawful manner which marks its effect on the subject of that connection. It is further explained that as a result of this connection, both parties are under a legal obligation to one another. There are generally accepted principles in Shariah for contract being valid. For instance, contract must be devoid of riba, gharar, qimar, maysir, jahala, fraud and cheating. Most importantly, contract must not contradict with maqasidal-Shariah. In addition to the above given general principles, all contract must have three fundamental pillars, namely, two contracting parties, subject matter and offer and acceptance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to compare and contrast the concept of conventional futures contract from the Islamic law of contract perspectives. The underlying theory and practice of Islamic finance is based on the principles of Islamic law of contract. Although the necessity of derivative instruments such as the case with futures contract is essential for developments in Islamic finance, the permissibility of using these instruments still remains a debatable issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper discusses arguments for and against using derivative instruments as in futures, for example, in light with the Qur'an and Sunnah (the Prophet's traditions), as well as the views of classical scholars, jurists and contemporary researchers. Arguments for and against are analysed systematically to derive a logical conclusion.\nFindings: The study finds that majority scholars consider futures contracts as non-compliant with the Islamic law due to the fact that selling something that does not exist, deferment in the both counter values, gharar or ambiguity and excessive risk taking, pure speculation and sale of one debt for another.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study focuses narrowly on conventional futures contract. Analysing other financial derivative contracts could be a future research endeavour.\nPractical implications: The study has so far found the verdict of impermissibility of conventional futures contract in its current form as has been argued by majority scholars in the premise that they do not comply with the Islamic law. Policymakers and industry practitioners need to take this opinion of majority scholars while developing new Islamic financial derivatives.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the author's knowledge, the present research is the first attempt so far that explained the validity of conventional futures by analysing arguments of classical and contemporary jurists, scholars and researchers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Modeling consumer satisfaction and word-of-mouth: restaurant patronage in Korea	[ "Hotel and catering industry", "Customer service management", "Customer satisfaction", "Service industries", "South Korea" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is little doubt that consumer behavior is shaped in part by an exchange between a customer and the retail environment. The research presented here focuses on that issue, presenting a model incorporating service quality, customer affect, and perceived shopping value and relates these to consumer satisfaction and intention to engage in word-of-mouth activity. The model is then tested with a sample of South Korean consumers based on an actual restaurant experience.Previous research in retailing (see Donovan and Rossiter, 1982; Babin and Darden, 1995; Hui et al., 1997), has clearly illustrated that shopping environments can alter consumer emotions. These emotions, combined with the acquisition of goods, explain the relative amounts of perceived \"personal shopping value\" (PSV) (Babin et al., 1994). In this process, a consumer weighs the total costs and benefits to determine the utilitarian and hedonic value of an experience. Furthermore, this value shapes important consumption outcomes that ultimately determine marketing success. In the current study, we propose and test a model relating service quality and service environment affect to \"Customer Service Value\" (CSV) - the utilitarian and hedonic value received from a service experience. Subsequently, these constructs are used to predict customer satisfaction and a further relational outcome, consumer intentions to spread positive word-of-mouth (WOM).Retailing research has devoted considerable attention to developing and testing theory explaining how an environment generates affective changes that are further associated with systematic variation in key marketing outcomes such as sales, value, and satisfaction (Turley and Chebat, 2002). In comparison, service researchers (outside of the retail area) have given relatively little attention to experiential aspects including the role of emotion (Chebat and Slusarczyk, 2003). Thus, one contribution of the current study is the examination of the role emotional reactions play in a service context.Consumer theory on emotions is also limited in that it has focused largely on Western consumer cultures. The development of both theoretical relationships among constructs and the measurement scales used to assess those constructs has largely taken place in North America and Western Europe. As the marketing function has become progressively more global in orientation, the importance of testing our measurement and theory regarding key concepts in other cultures is apparent. Thus, a second contribution of comes from our test of a model of service environment within a communal consumer culture.Several general consumer trends add additional relevance to this research. These include what some consider the \"commoditization\" of consumer goods and services (Chebat and Dube, 2000) and a tendency for consumers to increasingly \"cocoon\" inside their homes. Certainly another key - and perhaps related - trend is the rapid growth in the availability of electronic commerce. The internet has truly become the \"world wide web\" and is experiencing tremendous growth around the globe. In fact, the country with the highest proportion of consumers with household, high-speed internet service in the world is not in North America or Europe, but rather South Korea (see Ihlwan, 2001). To combat the explosion in e-commerce, traditional retailers and service providers may use the physical environment to create added customer value and greater motivation to seek out and spend time and money in their stores.In sum, the current research allows us to examine the applicability of the perceived service value concept to a core service context that is arguably more involving than the many retail environments and to do so among Korean consumers. The model also allows a comparison of the relative effects of affective or experiential qualities versus the more functional or core service qualities. We begin with a brief overview of the key constructs and the consumption context.\nConceptual overview: Figure 1 displays the hypothesized model explaining Korean restaurant consumers' satisfaction and WOM. The relationships are based predominantly on existing retail and service theory. Relationships are included or not included based on the logical association between the two and the body of previous empirical work. The end result is a model offering an explanation of Korean service consumers' WOM. While WOM is a critically important variable in any context, it is particularly vital given the personal nature of the service studied here (full service restaurants) and the communal nature of Korean culture, which places an increased emphasis on inter-personal communication.Affective and functional quality\nResearch methods: Data were obtained from consumers at family-style chain dinner houses (e.g. Outback Steakhouse, Tony Roma's, Marche) in a large metropolitan area in South Korea. We contacted chief executive officers of the restaurants to introduce the study and requested permission to collect data. A total of nine graduate students from a private university in Seoul were recruited and trained to serve as data collectors. Respondents were approached as they finished the dining experience but before they left their table. They were informed that this survey was for educational purposes, and that their responses would be completely anonymous. If the customer agreed to participate, they were provided a survey to complete, which was collected before they left the restaurant. Six hundred diners were contacted and 334 agreed to participate; 276 respondents completed all the necessary items to be included in all data analyses reported below (a usable response rate of 46 percent). Respondent incentives included discount coupons and pens. The diners represented a wide demographic background across a wide degree of meal-specific situations (lunch/dinner, size of group, occasion, etc.).Multiple item measures were used to represent the latent constructs comprising the theoretical model depicted in Figure 1. Item measures used in testing the model and the correlations among these measures are described in Table I.Three exogenous measures are included. The affect measures were taken from Mehrabian and Russell's (1974) PAD framework. Four items each are used to capture both positive affect (excited, energetic, happy, and satisfied) and negative affect (bored, sleepy, annoyed, and angry). Service quality is measured with three 7-point semantic differential scales based upon whether the overall quality of the restaurant during the visit was poor-excellent, inferior-superior, and represented low-high standards. The intent is to capture beliefs about global service quality rather than specific service dimensions. Coefficient a for each scale is 0.90, 0.89 and 0.90, respectively.Perceived service value items were adopted from the perceived shopping value (PSV) scale (Babin et al., 1994). The PSV scale consists of 15 items representing perceived hedonic and utilitarian value. Items were translated and back-translated by separate bilingual speakers. Thus, translational equivalence was established and, given that no comparisons are drawn between cultures, there was no need to establish further equivalency standards (Griffin et al., 2000). In the development of the CSV scale, some of the original PSV items were deemed inappropriate for a restaurant experience (e.g. I felt adventure ...) and several more were dropped during item purification due to high residuals. Following this procedure, the final CSV scale consists of six items representing perceived hedonic value of the dining experience and two items reflecting perceived utilitarian value. Coefficient a is 0.90 for the hedonic value scale and 0.76 for utilitarian value (r=0.61).Satisfaction was measured with four items across multiple scale types (see Babin and Griffin 1998). The items included two 7-point \"satisfaction\" rating scales. One assessed a respondent's agreement (1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree) with the statement, \"I feel satisfied with my decision to dine in this restaurant.\" A second item simply asked how much satisfaction he/she felt with the restaurant. A semantic differential scale assessed how good he/she felt about the restaurant (1=very bad to 7=very good) and the fourth item assessed how much satisfaction he/she felt based on the overall appraisal of the experience on a 100-point percentage scale. Coefficient a for the satisfaction items is 0.89.Finally, word-of-mouth intentions (WOM) were assessed using three items. The items measured agreement using a 7-point Likert scale with statements concerning intentions to say positive things to others, recommend the restaurant to another consumer, and encourage friends and relatives to visit the restaurant. Coefficient a for this measure is 0.90.\nResults: Measurement model\nDiscussion: We believe this research contributes to marketing theory in several ways. First, the research extends the idea of perceived value in two areas, from traditional retail domains into a more \"pure\" core service domain; and from Western cultures to the relatively communal Korean consumer culture. Second, the research better delineates the role of retail service environments. More specifically, it gives an indication of the relative role of positive and negative affect. Finally, the research distinguishes effects based on functional qualities of the restaurant atmosphere (core service components) and those due to its affective qualities (relational service components) (Darden and Babin, 1994).CSV\nLimitations: Measurement of latent constructs is a major concern in all marketing research, but takes on added importance in cross-cultural studies. In this case, scales developed in a Western culture were modified and applied in an Eastern culture. While careful attention was paid to translational equivalence (Mullen, 1995), recent studies have shown that satisfaction and service quality scales may be culturally sensitive (see Furrer et al., 2000; Ueltschy and Krampf, 2001). Thus, the results here should be interpreted with that caveat.\nImplications and future research: Service marketing success is often described in terms of a service-profit chain (Heskett et al., 1994). Thus, managerial actions affect service, which in turn affects profit. Consumer satisfaction and WOM are important marketing outcomes affecting the profitability of the service enterprise. Our results suggest that service firms should focus not only on providing functional service quality, but they should also make sure that the environment provides high levels of positive affect and hedonic value. Future researchers investigating service outcomes in Korea should consider capturing both hedonic and utilitarian service value as a parsimonious representation of the overall results of the service experience.In addition, future research should examine factors related to the limitations of the current study. First, more rigorous and detailed testing of measurement scales in South Korea would further our knowledge of cross-cultural measurement issues. It is possible that some scales developed in Western culture may not be suitable for the South Korean culture. Second, and related, our results do not directly address cross-cultural differences between Korean consumers and Western consumers. Researchers considering potential differences in core cultural values in greater detail may lead to specific hypotheses testing the moderating effect of culture on the relationships presented here. This research would require matching data from multiple cultures as well as a more rigorous examination of the cross-validity of PSV/CSV items between cultures.Third, the role of moderators of the relationships examined here can benefit from considerably more attention. Here, we focused on mid-to-upper range restaurant experiences (family-style dinner houses). Perhaps the prestige level of the service provider would moderate these relationships. That is, more prestigious and expensive restaurants may exaggerate the role of positive affect and hedonic value. Likewise, more functionally oriented service providers, such as buffet-style restaurants, may emphasize the role of utilitarian value. Similarly, numerous other contextual factors (time of day, dining partners, etc.) may moderate the relationships examined. Other potential moderators including service expectations, ambient mood, and a variety of personality and demographic variables, might also be investigated. Clearly, there is much to be learned about how consumers interact with physical service environments around the world.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The research seeks to extend the notions of utilitarian and hedonic value to account for outcomes of consumer service encounters.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research question is examined using a sample of Korean restaurant consumers who used a structured questionnaire to evaluate their dining experience. Structural equations analysis is used to test various research hypotheses and examine the extent to which consumer service value mediates the effect of the environment on customer satisfaction and future intentions.\nFindings: - Key findings include the ability of the consumer service value scale to account for utilitarian and hedonic value, the role of functional and affective service environment components in shaping consumer satisfaction and future patronage intentions and the relative diagnosticity of positive affect.\nResearch limitations/implications: - There is a need to extend the results to a diverse range of cultures.\nPractical implications: - Restaurant managers should place increased emphasis on the physical environment as it clearly plays a role in creating positive consumer outcomes and building strong customer relationships.\nOriginality/value: - The use of the consumer value scale (CSV) - particularly in a novel service context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implementing disaster preparedness education in New Zealand primary schools	[ "Education", "Disaster preparedness", "Disasters", "Schools", "New Zealand", "Evaluation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In 2006, the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management (MCDEM) developed What's the Plan, Stan?, a curriculum-based resource for teaching disaster science and preparedness to students in Years 1-8 in New Zealand primary schools (Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management, 2006a). Disaster preparedness is a significant policy focus in New Zealand, particularly due to the impacts of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, which resulted in 185 deaths and significant damage (GNS Science, 2011). Like New Zealand, many national governments and local emergency management agencies are attempting to implement disaster education for children in response to the increasing threats and community impacts of disasters and climate change. In 2005, 168 Member States of the United Nations endorsed the 2005-2015 Hyogo Framework For Action (HFA), agreeing to five priority actions to reduce disaster risks globally, including Priority for Action No. 3: Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels (UNISDR, 2005, p. 18). The integration of disaster risk reduction education in school curricula is one of four Core Indicators of progress toward the HFA Priority for Action #3 (UNISDR, 2007, p. 24). That and the goals of the 2005-2014 UN Decade for Education and Sustainable Development[1] have been the impetus for a sustained policy focus on the introduction of school-based disaster education (Wisner, 2006).\nMethodology: The Johnson study used a mixed methods design. Focus groups were planned in seven regions across New Zealand including Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wellington, Nelson-Tasman, and Southland (Johnson, 2011). For each focus group, local CDEM staff in the eight jurisdictions were asked to choose an opportunity sample of five to 15 local primary schools that represented a mix of small, medium and large schools that were likely to respond to the invitation. Use of What's the Plan, Stan? was not a requirement for participation. Ultimately, 31 schools chose to participate, providing 49 teachers and principals for the focus groups. Also, 12 teachers from the focus groups who indicated they had used the resource in their classroom completed an online follow-up survey. Individual and group interviews with one or more local CDEM staff were also conducted in the seven focus group jurisdictions.\nResults: Each subsection below provides a summary of the findings relating to the intervening, facilitating and deterrent factors of the implementation theory followed by additional details from each study and illustrative excerpts from the studies' participants. Figure 2 provides a summary of facilitating and deterrent factors to resource use. The discussion following provides recommendations for increasing uptake of the resource and improving the integration of disaster education in New Zealand primary schools.\nDiscussion: Although there are several cases studies of innovative approaches to integrating disaster education in schools (e.g. Selby and Kagawa, 2012; Shiwaku and Fernandez, 2011; Mulyasari et al., 2011), there is very little empirical research on the implementation of these initiatives. The results and comparisons of qualitative focus group data and survey data on the uptake and use of What's the Plan, Stan? in New Zealand provide useful insights on the benefits and challenges to integrating disaster education through the distribution of a voluntary teaching resource.\nConclusion: Use of What's the Plan, Stan? nationally is low and varies by region. School teachers who have used the resource are satisfied with the materials and many teachers desire opportunities to use it in their classrooms. However, the dissemination of well-designed teaching materials is not a whole solution to integrating disaster education in schools. Ongoing promotion and evaluation of the resource, meaningful relationships among schools and local CDEM staff, and leadership at the national and school level to drive school-wide implementation are necessary to establish a successful national disaster education program for children in New Zealand. These lessons are also valuable for other countries developing a voluntary teaching resource as a national strategy for curriculum integration of disaster preparedness education.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the national implementation of disaster preparedness education in New Zealand primary schools through the dissemination of What's the Plan, Stan?, a voluntary, curriculum-based teaching resource.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Results and findings from a focus group study with school teachers and local civil defence staff in 2011 and a nationally representative survey of schools in 2012 were analyzed to identify intervening, facilitating and deterrent factors of uptake and use of the resource.\nFindings: The main intervening factors between resource promotion and school teachers' awareness of the resource are word of mouth among school teachers and teachers' proactive lesson plan research. The strongest facilitating factor was school-wide use of the resource. Lack of awareness of the resource and the perceived need for teacher training are the greatest deterrents to use of the resource.\nPractical implications: Based on the findings, several recommendations are provided for increasing use of the resource including use of web-based technology for teacher training, integration of disaster preparedness messaging into other children's programs, ongoing evaluation and curriculum requirements.\nOriginality/value: An evaluation of the implementation of What's the Plan, Stan? adds to the limited body of knowledge on the benefits and challenges to distributing a voluntary teaching resource as a national strategy for curriculum integration of disaster education. The findings and lessons are relevant for nations meeting the Core Indicators of progress toward the 2005-2015 Hyogo Framework For Action.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Place-based inquiry in a university course abroad: lessons about education for sustainability in the urban outdoors	[ "Teaching and learning", "Outdoor education", "Teacher education", "Education for sustainable development", "Place-based education", "International comparative education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: This paper presents the case of a university course that used outdoor urban settings to extend classroom lessons about environmental sustainability. Increasingly, observers wonder about a disconnect between the work on which public schools are focused and the authentic challenges that society faces. In what ways might students' academic work be geared toward addressing the immediate problems that confront their communities? One approach, place-based inquiry, builds authentic student investigations, pointing classrooms toward roles as stewards in the community and as local agents connected to larger, global systems. Place-based inquiry can introduce students to sustainable practices on the planet, and much of the learning that students do in this regard can begin outdoors.\nA rationale for lessons about place in the outdoors: Certainly, a variety of factors influence the ways that teachers incorporate lessons to connect students to the outdoors. In many cases, the established, intended curriculum itself does not naturally invite instruction that carries students outside. Higgins et al. (2006) noted, for example, that the Scottish national curricular standards permit teachers to point younger students toward activity in the outdoors, while older students are held to a more stringent curriculum that constrains opportunities for outdoor learning (with the exception of specialized subjects such as geography and biology) (pp. 18-19). Further, in university settings, a disconnect between students and the outdoors may be multiplied yet again. During a typical undergraduate's experience on campus, most higher education settings eschew any programmatic oversight of students' course selection, oversight that might ensure outdoor experiences throughout their collegiate study.\nPrinciples of place-based education: Attention to the significance of place in a person's identity has held a spot in philosophical thought since humans first stepped across the landscape (Casey, 1997). Because the study of place is not merely a snapshot of a static location, but because each location is suffused with meanings attached to human activity, many stories about human action and decision-making layer each locale (Ingold, 2005, p. 507). A deeper understanding about the vital functions of unique natural settings and the benefits and challenges that exist in these environments (Hirsch, 2004) can also emerge from examination of a locality. However, the 21st century thus far has been marked by pocket-ready access to digital devices and limitless information, snatching device user's awareness away from his/her physical location to a sterile, non-unique \"placeless place\" (Casey, 1997, p. xiii) in the ether each time he/she picks up her digital device. Thus, connecting students to their physical locations through place-based study can indeed be perceived as a swim against the prevailing device-driven experiential current, but the pursuit is a significant one to guide learners to understand the roles of individuals in a community and the wider world.\nAn international comparative perspective: Not surprisingly, campanilismo can also connect negative connotations to a focus on one locality - connotations of provincialism or of a limited perspective. With any local examination, then, the place-based educator should fortify lessons about one place to include comparisons with other locations across the globe or across time. Significantly, the Italian setting brought with it an international comparative perspective for the course as students' temporary home in Florence became the international location to which the group compared its \"foreign\" home: the USA. It is the intentional international comparison that gives depth to an understanding of the place that the observer is studying. Gruenewald and Smith (2008) call this action helping students to identify \"local diversity, the diversity within places, and the diversity between places\" (p. xxi). Comparing internationally or across history, a deeper examination of the local phenomenon occurs that carries the student to deeper levels of understanding.\nThe potential of place-based education in university courses: Many scholars (Christie et al., 2012; Lugg, 2007; Zencey, 1996) identify institutions of higher education as potential incubators for place-based pedagogies. Harkavy contends that colleges and universities - with their long-standing residencies in distinct communities - are by their very nature place-based institutions. Therefore, he believes these institutions hold a particular duty to help improve the quality of life in the communities that host them. By making use of their formidable resources, universities can initiate productive collaborations with their localities, engaging faculty and students in authentic problem-solving (Lester, 2010). For institutions that train teachers, the ripple effect of experiencing place-based learning models is vital for underscoring the great potential of ESD lessons and opportunities to teach outdoors.\nPlace-based education in teacher preparation: Using place-based lessons during the training of teachers can provide significant models for their potential in K-12 settings. Place-based approaches in the training of preservice teachers can provide opportunities for applying lessons outdoors and for promoting classroom applications of ESD. However, place-based advocates find little to cheer about regarding the implementation of place-based approaches in teacher training (Greenwood, 2010; Risinger, 2002; Smith, 2007). Efforts to infuse sustainability into teacher training are equally ignominious. Greenwood (2010) asks:\nThe course: Civic Florence: The principles of place-based education that came together in Civic Florence provided multiple opportunities for learning about sustainability in outdoor settings. The city became the object of study as the group addressed broad systems at work and contemplated ways the setting itself might enhance the subjects that teachers address in K-12 classrooms. While the students in this course were not pursuing degrees in education, their academic majors informed the topics that the group applied to its study of local and global systems. With one student majoring in health studies and the other in hospitality management, the course's inquiry into particular systems would spark interests that the university students shared.\nThe final projects: For the Civic Florence final project, university students each selected one system to study from the many that could be regarded as part of The Commons. They were to examine their selected issue to understand how the system operates both in Florence and at their home in the USA. In addition, students were each to select an outdoor location at which they could illustrate the system at work. These sites were required to be unique to the locality, accessible on foot to enable a teacher in Florence to travel there with students and instructive in an application of classroom lessons to the outdoor site.\nConclusion: place-based principles at work: The LO framework (Beames, et al., 2012) provides great potential for developing lessons that connect K-12 learners with concepts related to sustainability. In Civic Florence, place-based principles applied in nearby outdoor spaces through the LO framework yielded important pedagogical opportunities, including the following:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to present the case of a semester-long study-abroad education class in Italy. This course explored place-based methods that classroom teachers (K-12) might use to connect students' outdoor surroundings to extend the lessons they learn in school about environmental sustainability. The experience of the university instructor and students outlined in this paper highlights the promise of place-based education to provide a potent approach for conveying principles of education for sustainable development (ESD).\nDesign/methodology/approach: An American university course enacted the approaches of place-based education and learning outdoors (harnessing student curiosity, building community partnerships, etc.) to investigate the natural and civic systems at work in the city of Florence. The participants deepened their understanding about the natural environment, economic health and well-being of inhabitants and compared the findings about local sustainable resource management to international settings. Through a deliberate practice framework, the students designed classroom lessons.\nFindings: This discussion of university students' work in an education course illuminates the possibilities for place-based applications in elementary and secondary schools. The pedagogical principles applied in this course also highlight the multidisciplinary strengths of ESD.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides an inside look at choices educators must make to provide relevance in classrooms, to connect the curriculum content that is standardized by governments with the systemic dilemmas that challenge communities. The author details the pedestrian topics that the university students examined during the semester. These lessons show that place-based inquiry situated in the outdoors can present clear lessons about sustainable development. An international comparative perspective can enhance learners' perspectives about local surroundings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
FIZ AutoDoc - a comprehensive solution for access to documents via corporate intranets and web portals	[ "Document supply", "Information systems", "Open systems", "Customization", "Intranets" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The efficient design of managed information access through corporate and campus intranets requires collaboration between networked systems and the integration of information resources. FIZ AutoDoc, a complete service-oriented document supply information system, strives towards meeting this vision by extending its services, their visibility, accessibility and interoperability by means of standardised interfaces. FIZ AutoDoc offers a single point of access to a vast variety of full-text resources available across libraries, publishers and content producers throughout the world. In addition to the standard document supply capabilities such as rapid resource location, retrieval and delivery, FIZ AutoDoc provides significant flexibility that allows its corporate customers to adapt the process workflow and make it correspond to their desired requirements. The service-oriented aspect of FIZ AutoDoc, through its collection of client interfaces, makes it able to be easily plugged into other information systems such as web portals or intranets. It can therefore be loosely coupled with external corporate entities, even those that use incompatible system technologies, to either create composite services, or gain access to its individual functional components. The purpose of this paper is to present FIZ AutoDoc, highlight its highly customisable workflow, as well as address the system's architectural model and the set of interfaces it provides that facilitate its integration with other existing information systems and services.\nFIZ AutoDoc: FIZ AutoDoc offers access to a wide range of conventional and non-conventional full-text literature from all fields of science and technology, published worldwide. It partners with international full-text suppliers and content producers in order to fulfil document supply requests of any kind, ranging from journal articles to patent literature as well as other publications such as reports, books, conference proceedings, etc. (Detemple et al., 2005).FIZ AutoDoc offers a number of delivery formats, ranging from online digital formats to offline hard print copies. Digital formats include:* standard PDF immediately available for download or delivered via e-mail; and* other copyright-secure, digital rights management system compatible formats such as SDD[1] or SED[2].Offline hardcopy deliveries range from standard printed copies to clean copies, enhanced (printed) colour copies or faxes. In addition, it offers three levels of servicing - standard, rush and super rush, fulfilled within 48 hours, 24 hours and three hours, respectively[3].The FIZ AutoDoc process (see Figure 1) is highly automated. Full-text orders are acknowledged and forwarded promptly to the potential supplier for completion. In cases where automatic processing falls short due to incomplete or inconsistent bibliographic data, ambiguous literature, rough citations that led to manual orders, or simply offline order requests, FIZ AutoDoc has a competent service team to provide the required assistance. The team of bibliographic experts interacts directly with the customer to handle these issues effectively and fulfil the customer's requests.Upon receipt, all full-text order requests are assigned an order number. This systematic unique identifier tracks the order through the system. The order's data, its status, its supplier as well as details related to the shipping entity can be tracked at any stage. Additional external identifiers and references can be defined. This feature is of great benefit to corporate customers, who assign cost centres or other (free-text) references to their corporate end-users and require that these identifiers are automatically passed and attached to order requests. These identifiers also remain viewable, traceable and searchable throughout the system.FIZ AutoDoc for corporate customers has far more to offer. The corporate solution provides for a seamless transition from corporate domains to FIZ AutoDoc through well-specified interfaces based on international standards such as OpenURL or SOAP for Web Services. It can also add a corporate identity to the system's look and feel, administering corporate end-users, setting and customising the order workflow in several ways such as incorporating local libraries or open-linking to third parties.Furthermore, the service provides customers with a convenient billing service with a single monthly collective bill that covers all documents supplied during the corresponding accounting period, independent of the suppliers fulfilling individual orders. On top of that, FIZ AutoDoc corporate customers have access to sophisticated and thorough billing and order statistics.The billing statistics cover complete pricing details attached to individual closed orders that have been billed during previous accounting periods, detailed order and requester data, as well as individual cost centres attached to orders at the time of submission. On the other hand, the order statistics do not relate to billing data, and aim to give an overview of all order requests, including open ones, their status, types and requester related data.\nSystem architecture: The FIZ AutoDoc application is sound, transactional, multi-user, secured, scaleable, and portable, with much of the security, speed and reliability being drawn from the robust server-side technology. The system is based on a J2EE multi-tiered architecture with the intention to facilitate and standardize the development, deployment, and assembly of the application components[4]. Each of the layers that constitute the overall architecture encapsulates a specific set of functionalities.Figure 2 shows the overall application architecture. The front-end presentation and interface layer is responsible for providing the interface to the application. FIZ AutoDoc provides different forms of interfaces, the most common of which being the browser's interface for a web or a portal application that runs remotely and accesses the application via standard HTTP or HTTPS. The enterprise middleware layer houses the business process components running on a multi threaded application server. Finally, the back-end layer, sitting on an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, customised to meet FIZ AutoDoc's best business practices, includes the core low-level business logic components, the basic application data sets, metadata and enterprise resources.The underlying ERP system is the host to large supplier catalogues as well as publisher document metadata that accurately describe a document's availability and accessibility. These data are constantly updated, in a semi-automated manner through specific supplier-to-system interfaces.The ERP system is also responsible for the real time storage of order request data. It interacts with document suppliers, through an HTTP/SMTP interface layer. This layer defines a channel of communication through which order data are forwarded to the selected supplier on one hand, and on the other hand, order-related updates are absorbed from the supplier's feedback and reflected on the system. The ERP system keeps track of the status and change history, together with relevant customer data, such as shipping details, cost centres and/or any order specific reference numbers. It is also the billing platform that handles all accounting operations that concern suppliers, publishers and the corporate customers.\nThe account model: FIZ AutoDoc adopts an account model that adheres to a number of principles. First, a corporate customer can have any number of accounts. Second, the approach in which a set of corporate user-identities will be grouped together into a single account is entirely the choice of the corporate customer. An account can correspond to a particular physical site or location, or it can be a virtual definition of a group of users following a given criterion, such as responsibility or area of interest. Third, an account describes a billing entity, i.e. invoicing and all corresponding billing operations such as the billing statistics that are performed at account level. Last but not least, an account defines a level of application workflow customisation; all customising options take effect at account level and therefore affect those corporate end users belonging to the respective account.Users within an account are assigned roles that are compatible with their level of access. Although the majority of users will be corporate end-users, we distinguish two sets of users to whom access to extra functionality is granted:1. administrators; and2. supervisors.Administrators take charge of customising the application by setting account-level preferences, activating or deactivating customisable features, incorporating predefined functional modules and maintaining related corporate data sets. Supervisors, on the other hand, are more concerned with the responsibility of monitoring and managing all account-level orders.\nIdentity management and authentication: Users may authenticate into FIZ AutoDoc in many different ways. The approach by which the system is accessed decides the criteria on whether the user requires prior registration into the system. The system supports both explicit and implicit authentication. The former requires a prior explicit registration, whereas the latter is an implicit federated identity based authentication process.The service provides an interactive form-based end-user registration tool. Corporate customers to whom a unique identity token is assigned are able to upload predefined registration data, including organisation entities and cost centre assignment rules. Corporate end-users can therefore comfortably register on the system with minimum effort, and cost centres are automatically retrieved, stored and assigned to the user and attached to their future order requests. With this form of registration, end-users are required to choose a login ID and password that will be used to grant them access.Two-factor authentication that combines the above login ID and password approach with an IP-based validation is also an option. This requires the corporate organisation to have a fixed IP address or range of IP addresses through which FIZ AutoDoc is accessed by its end-users.IP-based authentication alone can also be the choice when corporate end-users need service access, but not necessarily under a unique identity. This has the implication that no user personal data such as shipping address, personal default application settings or cost centres are permanently stored in the system, and consequently, the user is asked to provide this data on access.When integrated within web portals, intranets or other information systems where users are already authenticated within their organisation of origin, FIZ AutoDoc adopts and puts in place mechanisms to support the concept of identity federation. This means that authentication at the external trusted corporate entity will suffice to identify users and grant them seamless access without them having to re-authenticate explicitly. This provides three key benefits. For the user, it makes the transition to accessing FIZ AutoDoc services as transparent as accessing any local resources. It also frees both the user and system from the overhead of managing multiple virtual identities and authentication information. Finally, the user's data is centrally maintained at the corporate organisation of origin, avoiding the necessity for FIZ AutoDoc to track back any changes related to that data.One illustration of a federated identity type authentication is the OpenURL interface that will be described later. FIZ AutoDoc aims to extend this mechanism by incorporating the open-source Shibboleth architecture, a common infrastructure to service providers and identity providers, used to achieve cross-domain single sign-on[5].\nStandard workflow: In its simplest fashion, FIZ AutoDoc operates as follows: users, upon successful authentication to the system, place full-text order requests either explicitly by specifying the relevant bibliographic data, or implicitly by exporting these data via one of the system's available interfaces (see Figure 3). In addition to bibliographic data, users choose their desired delivery speed and document format. An automatic bibliographic consistency check follows. For article orders, this includes checking the input against the ISSN register and making any subsequent corrections[6]. The system then automatically searches for a suitable supplier that could fulfil the request as given, and looks up for any immediate download availabilities, also known as \"pay per view\", at selected publisher sites. Consequently, users will be shown details of the availability, including order and shipping data, pricing and copyright information as well as the chosen supplier which they can confirm to submit their request.Alternatives are offered in case the order delivery requirements cannot be met. The option to place manual order requests, which will be handled by the FIZ AutoDoc team of experts, is available at all stages if users are experiencing difficulties, have incomplete bibliographic data to hand, or wish to give orders a free-text input.Automated orders are forwarded promptly to the selected supplier. The mechanism of supplier selection considers a number of parameters to ensure that the most appropriate supplier, following specified criteria, is always chosen. For instance, suppliers who can fulfil the order with lower charges, or those who are local to the customer, will certainly have an increased likelihood of selection over other potential suppliers.\nCorporate customising options: The modular nature of the FIZ AutoDoc application allows for a high level of customisation by corporate customers. The application modules correspond to autonomous functional entities that can be activated or deactivated to tailor the application's workflow according to the corporate customer requirements. The customising operations are privileged and are therefore reserved to corporate account administrators.eJournal linking\nInterfaces: FIZ AutoDoc offers a set of interfaces that allow the convenient transfer of document information and/or user data from remote systems such as intranets, portals, intranet databases, document management systems and other corporate applications. Two interfaces, relying on international standards, are distinguished: OpenURL and Web Services (see Figure 4). They are based on the already existing and well-known HTTP protocol, making them very developer friendly. While their common aim is to achieve seamless integration of FIZ AutoDoc services into remote entities, their approaches are entirely different, offering corporate customers different choices to assess alongside their requirements. OpenURL offers the possibility to couple two different systems at a user-interface level, whereas the Web Services interface allows remote systems to interact directly with the application's core functional components. FIZ AutoDoc also defines a proprietary e-mail interface that will be described later.OpenURL interface\nSummary/outlook: This paper presented FIZ AutoDoc's extensive capabilities beyond that of a simple document supply service. It focussed on the system's flexibility, customisability as well as interoperability that makes it a comprehensive, service-oriented corporate solution.FIZ AutoDoc has always been developed in close co-operation with key corporate customers. It evolves on many fronts in order to meet the stringent demands of today's e-businesses. First, it keeps up with new proven technologies to strengthen its robust enterprise-class infrastructure and provide high levels of security, management, and quality of service. Second, it adopts and supports international standards to achieve a sophisticated scale of interoperability. Last but not least, FIZ AutoDoc continually strives to meet new emerging needs, improve service value and achieve high customer satisfaction.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the paper is to explain in detail the service for document supply offered by FIZ Karlsruhe, the options available for its customisation and the interfaces that facilitate its integration into corporate intranets and web portals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The service offered by FIZ Karlsruhe is described in detail.\nFindings: - FIZ AutoDoc is a comprehensive solution for document access and supply.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides a detailed description of a system that is distinguished by its flexibility in the modern and complex document supply environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Uncovering the relationship between whistleblowing and organizational identity: Some preliminary evidence from Italian publicly owned universities	[ "Whistleblowing", "Higher education", "Organizational identity", "Organizational integrity", "Organizational wrongdoings" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction and study rationale: In the last few years, the challenges faced by public sector organizations increased in size and urgency (Van Dooren et al., 2015). Inter alia, the growing constraints on public finances have raised doubts and concerns about the sustainability of traditional management models rooted in the public realm (Barbera et al., 2016). The so-said \"[...] managerialistic enlightenment\" (Diefenbach, 2009, p. 892) has been proposed as an approach to deal with this critical situation: it has deeply reshaped the way public sector entities are organized and managed, introducing business-like models in handling public affairs (Hyndman and Lapsley, 2016).\n2. Conceptual background: 2.1 An overview of organizational identity\n3. Methods: 3.1 Research strategy and design\n4. Findings: In the first step of our empirical study, we performed a binary regression analysis listing the occurrence of whistleblowing as the dependent variable and several institutional dimensions - i.e. organizational longevity, geographical location, mapping of organizational processes and integration of internal control processes - as the independent variables. The output of this preliminary analysis is summarized in Table III. The integration of control processes for the purpose of organizational wrongdoings' prevention positively and significantly influenced the whistleblowing intentions of academic employees. Conversely, neither geographical location nor organizational longevity was found to affect the academics' willingness to blow the whistle. Similarly, the mapping of organizational processes did not significantly influence the willingness of employees to report organizational wrongdoings.\n5. Discussion: Acknowledging the limitations which affected this research allows us to better contextualize the study findings. First, only Italian universities and higher education institutions were involved in this research; hence, it is not possible to argue for the international generalizability of the study results. Second, while the whole population of Italian publicly owned universities and higher institutions was involved in the analysis, the modest number of entities participating in this research affected the dependability of the findings reported above. Third, since most of the units of analysis started implementing formal whistleblowing procedures in the last few years, there is the risk that the evidence obtained was influenced by the low confidence of academic employees with these procedures. Fourth, the use of secondary data did not permit us to tailor the process of data collection to the specific purposes of this research. Notwithstanding, the data included in the annual reports arranged by the supervisors for the prevention of corruption and the promotion of transparency turned out to be a useful source of information to develop a tentative answer to our research questions. Fifth, and lastly, whistleblowing should be understood as only one of the available tools to detect organizational wrongdoings. Being an act of disloyalty, whistleblowing is likely to generate distrust and hostility among employees, with drawbacks at both the individual and the group levels (MacDougall, 2016). From this standpoint, even though whistleblowing generally performs as an effective alarm bell to denounce organizational wrongdoings, ethically healthy organizations should design and implement less formal approaches to address misbehaviours and, consequently, prevent the occurrence whistleblowing, thus avoiding its side effects on employees' interpersonal relationships (Arszulowicz and Gasparski, 2010). In fact, whistleblowing could be improperly used by employees, who may maliciously report false misbehaviours to illegitimately obtain advantages over their peers (Vandekerckhove, 2018). In spite of these limitations, the study results provided some intriguing insights into the research questions that inspired this paper.\n6. Conclusions: The implications of this paper are threefold. Form a conceptual angle, the paper indirectly suggests the existence of a relationship between the pluralism of organizational identity and the academic employees' willingness to blow the whistle when they detect organizational wrongdoing. The research findings pointed out that the more heterogeneous the faculty of Italian universities and higher education institutions, the greater the propensity of academic employees to denounce misconducts; otherwise, hegemonic organizational identities are expected to constrain the employees' willingness to use whistleblowing procedures. Obviously, further developments are needed to fully disentangle the relationship between organizational identity and employees' whistleblowing intentions. More specifically, the negative effects of homogeneous organizational identities on academic employees' perceptions of the consequences that could be associated with the use of whistleblowing procedures deserve attention.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Whistleblowing - i.e. the employees' decision to report illegal, immoral and/or illegitimate practices performed by peers, supervisors and/or subordinates - involves a contestation of the existing organizational power. Therefore, it challenges the whistleblower's identification with the organization. Nevertheless, whistleblowing has been rarely related to organizational identity. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap, investigating employees' whistleblowing intentions in the context of higher education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantitative, exploratory analysis concerning the whistleblowing episodes that occurred in the whole population of Italian publicly owned universities and higher education institutions was performed (n=69). Secondary data about whistleblowing were retrieved from the annual reports arranged by the supervisor for the prevention of corruption and the promotion of transparency.\nFindings: Most of Italian publicly owned higher education institutions did not experience whistleblowing. Conversely, less than a quarter of the sample reported at least ones whistleblowing procedure. The homogeneity of organizational identity seemed to discourage the willingness of academic employees to report organizational wrongdoings. ICT-based and anonymized whistleblowing systems were found to support the propensity of academics to blow the whistle.\nPractical implications: Tailored interventions are needed to address the interplay between organizational identity and academic employees' whistleblowing intentions. The culture of silence predominating in institutions characterized by a hegemonic organizational identity should be overwhelmed. Prevention measures intended to guarantee the whistleblower's anonymity through the use of ICT-based platforms are useful to support the academic employees' willingness to blow the whistle in case of organizational misconduct.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the first attempts to investigate the interplay between organizational identity and whistleblowing in public sector organizations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Community tobacco use prevention coalitions: director and staff opinions	[ "Coalitions", "Tobacco", "Community relations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Community coalitions, which are organizations working together for a common purpose (Himmelman, 2001), involve representatives of diverse institutions focusing on issues in a local community. Originally developed to address cardiovascular disease, the community-based collaborative approach has been extended to diverse health problems including cancer, HIV infection, violence, substance abuse, and teenage pregnancy (Mayer et al., 1998). For example, a community coalition might work in a local community to educate citizens, change attitudes, and modify their behavior, toward the goal of tobacco control.Coalition personnel occupy one of three roles: directors who oversee the operations and financial dealings of the coalition, support staff who assist with coalition directives and concentrate primarily on coalition daily functioning, and coalition members who actually work in community agencies but who coordinate their agency efforts in conjunction with coalition directives. For example, a coalition director might aim to educate young people about the harmful effects of any tobacco use, change attitudes in the community toward tobacco, reduce youth tobacco use, and reduce secondary exposure to cigarette smoke for everyone in the community. One activity for this director might be to meet periodically with her coalition members, one of whom might be the director of the local Boys and Girls Club, where one of the activities might be working with attendees to educate them about the dangers of smoking and promote their ability to resist peer pressure to use tobacco.Though serving a much-needed purpose, coalitions are sometimes hard to understand. Members' diverse interests, history, and power levels mean that community coalitions are more complex than other types of community organizations (Chavis, 1995, 2001). In interviews with coalition directors in the metropolitan New York/New Jersey area, most rated their coalition as successful in achieving goals and gaining recognition, support, and public consciousness (Mizrahi and Rosenthal, 2001). Also, in a community health education initiative in Pennsylvania in the northeastern United States, coalition attitudes and knowledge improved after training (Feinberg et al., 2002). Despite their complexity, coalitions are often comprised of people who are optimistic about their efforts and responsive to training.However, coalitions are variable in how well they achieve their goals. In one assessment of substance abuse prevention coalitions in Rhode Island in the northeastern United States, coalition impact correlated with member skills, organizational climate, and coalition linkages (Florin et al., 2000). In another assessment of coalition functioning in California in the western United States, personnel and members rated as most successful the coalitions that were well organized and managed and that delineated clear responsibilities to all personnel. All agreed that directors, support staff, and members require open, easy communication to reach coalition directives (Rogers et al., 1993). Likewise, a focus group of 24 public health administrators in the United States believed that communication is a critical skill for people in their position (Boedigheimer and and Gebbie, 2001). The limited research on community coalitions places a high premium on communication, but has thus far focused on directors or members.However, directors have different roles and perspectives than support staff, and may have different attitudes. In that internal functioning of the coalition is a fundamental aspect of its ultimate effectiveness (Feinberg et al., 2004), understanding the differences between directors and support staff can limit weaknesses, ease personnel tensions, and reduce burnout (Gottlieb et al., 1993). Therefore, the present purpose was to examine director and staff perspectives on the nature and functioning of their tobacco use prevention coalitions.\nMethod: Respondents\nResults: Directors and support staff were significantly different (Bonferroni corrected) on 1 of 12 subscales, Member-Personnel Communication, F(1, 34)=10.12, p=0.003. Directors viewed communication as somewhat awkward (M=2.90); whereas support staff were neutral about communication (M=4.42). Overall, present respondents were slightly negative on both Member-Personnel Communication (M=3.28, SD=1.40) and Member-Member Communication (M=3.36, SD=1.17). See Table I.Respondents were positive about their coalition having formal rules (M=1.12, SD=0.19), good management (M=6.17, SD=0.70), ability to reduce tobacco use (M=5.70, SD=1.26), and benefits to their region (M=5.76, SD=0.87). Respondents were also positive about personnel, rating high their personal ownership of the coalition (M=6.63, SD=0.62), personnel expertise (M=6.18, SD=0.59), and member expertise (M=5.50, SD=1.02). In contrast, respondents were neutral on their own satisfaction with coalition operations and accomplishments (M=4.26, SD=0.77), and slightly negative about the difficulties managing their coalition (M=3.79, SD=1.58).Both directors and support staff reported that they would accept funding from tobacco companies for themselves or their coalition (M=1.73, SD=1.04). They were not significantly different on this scale. See Table I.\nDiscussion: Present directors and support staff, who on average had worked at their present tobacco use prevention coalition a little over one year in one rural state in the southeastern United States, rated their coalition highly, except for three points. One less than sterling evaluation was of communication, where everyone was neutral to negative, with directors significantly more negative than support staff. The other less than sterling evaluations were on coalition functioning and management, where both directors and support staff were neutral. In the views of present tobacco use coalition personnel, their coalition was functioning well for the most part, although there was room for improvement in terms of communication, management difficulties, and satisfaction. Improved communication may also improve functioning and management.The fact that present directors rated communication more negatively than support staff rated communication could have occurred because directors were more correct, because directors were more in touch with the difficulties in communicating with people about tobacco use, because directors focused on different aspects of communication than did support staff, or because directors felt more personally responsible for communication, thus were more frustrated than support staff when communication difficulties occurred. In that the highest levels of coalition infighting are associated with projects that are implemented most poorly (Feinberg et al., 2004), present results suggests that improving coalition directors' ratings of communication could increase coalition effectiveness and thereby improve the overall health level of the community. Learning more of the specifics of communication problems for community tobacco use prevention coalitions would be an important step toward this goal.Most of the present coalition personnel reported that their coalitions possessed formal rules, including a mission statement, by-laws, and goals. Rogers et al. (1993) reported no means, but their description suggests that most of their coalition members in California agreed with these items as well, though their reactions appear to be more mixed and less positive than the reactions of present respondents. It is possible that present coalitions, which were ten years newer, functioned at a higher level in the campaign to educate the public about the dangers of tobacco use, change attitudes toward tobacco, and modify tobacco-related behavior than the California coalitions Rogers et al. (1993) studied in the early 1990s. Alternatively, personnel such as present respondents who work daily in coalitions may know about formal rules and effective management more than members such as in Rogers et al. (1993) who met monthly and had other missions in addition to tobacco use prevention.Present coalition personnel reported that their efforts benefited their region and reduced youth tobacco use. Further, present personnel reported a high sense of coalition ownership, perhaps because they believed themselves to be working effectively in their local community at a goal that they strongly endorsed. Note that effectiveness was limited to only one question. Consequently, expanding this item to include different aspects of effectiveness would provide a chance to calculate internal consistency, thereby improving the present battery of questions.Present personnel rated highly their own expertise (M=6.18) and moderately the expertise of present tobacco use prevention coalition members (M=5.50). In contrast, California coalition personnel rated moderately their own expertise (M=5.50) and were neutral to mildly positive about the expertise of their coalition members (M=4.6; Rogers et al., 1993). It could be that present tobacco use prevention coalition personnel were more adept in fighting against tobacco use than were coalition personnel in California, or that public awareness of the negative ramifications of tobacco use has increased in the past ten years so that all those involved in health promotion have more expertise than was true in 1993. Note, all ratings of expertise in the present study were mildly to highly positive on average.More so than adolescents attending a tobacco use prevention workshop in the southeastern United States (M=2.83; Carver et al., 2003), present adult tobacco use prevention coalition personnel agreed with accepting tobacco-related money for themselves or their coalition (M=1.73). Unlike adolescents who can be more idealistic, present adult coalition personnel saw little difference in accepting funds targeted to reduce tobacco use, regardless of whether the funds came from a court settlement against the tobacco industry or from tobacco corporations directly. This result is consistent with how, through corporate philanthropy, Philip Morris gained entree to the market of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered (LGBT) without appearing gay friendly. Thirsty for recognition and funding from mainstream corporations, many LGBT organizations welcomed Philip Morris's overtures without considering the health hazards of tobacco (Offen et al., 2003). Apparently, present coalition personnel would welcome funding from tobacco corporations without considering the implications of accepting this funding.Note that the morality questions omitted some aspects of morality, especially in that the statement \"Tobacco is a morality issue\" loaded separately from other items. Morality questions might be more meaningful if they stated directly that accepting tobacco industry money benefited the tobacco industry in some way. Nevertheless, an implication of present results is that health education should include some exploration of the ethical implications of accepting funding from tobacco industry sources.A strong point of the present study was the extensive questionnaire completed by people who actually work with a tobacco use prevention coalition. The minor adaptations to fit it to the present circumstances did not hamper the questionnaire's internal consistency, which was very similar to that reported by Rogers et al. (1993). This questionnaire could be useful in exploring other kinds of coalitions as well, and in teaching health professionals to be prepared to work within a coalition toward important health goals.A limitation of the present study was that only 44 participants completed the 10 page questionnaire. Other surveys involved 151 California tobacco use prevention coalition personnel (Rogers et al., 1993) and 65 Utah personnel (Kumpfer et al., 1993). Further, present respondents had worked in their current tobacco use prevention position only a little over a year. It is possible that those with more experience might see the functioning of themselves and their coalition differently. Also, the self-report format might be biased. Adding a social desirability measure might help researchers understand the extent of the self-report bias. In addition, other formats such as outside evaluators (i.e. Reinert et al., 2005), would be a useful way to study tobacco use prevention coalitions. Still another recommendation would be to add information about smoking incidence or youth sales rates to future studies of tobacco use prevention coalitions. Finally, the present design focused on directors and staff, but another important consideration is coalition members.In the present survey, tobacco use prevention directors and support staff mostly agreed, and were in general quite positive about their tobacco use prevention coalition. With regard to the ideals of their cause, present participants were quite positive. However, with regard to the practical aspects of implementing these ideals, present participants were neutral. In particular they rated communication less positively than other aspects of their coalition functioning, with directors more negative than support staff. Rather than the functioning of their coalition or the expertise of individuals working with the coalition, communication is where there is room for improvement in present tobacco use prevention coalitions. Improvements in communication between members and personnel, and between personnel and other personnel, might also increase the satisfaction level of both directors and support staff. Presently, those actually working in a tobacco use prevention coalition were still idealistic, but the frustrations of communication may dampen their enthusiasm in the future.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research is to assess whether differences occurred between directors and staff in community tobacco use prevention coalitions in Mississippi. Community coalitions, which are organizations working together for a common purpose involve representatives of diverse institutions focusing on issues in a local community. Because of their different roles, directors and support staff may view their coalition differently.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Thirty directors and 14 support staff of tobacco use prevention coalitions anonymously answered a lengthy questionnaire about their coalition personnel and functioning.\nFindings: - Both coalition directors and support staff agreed that their coalition had formal rules and effective management, reduced tobacco use, and benefited their region. In addition, directors and support staff reported high ownership, and positive opinions of member and personnel expertise. Further, directors and support staff favored taking tobacco industry money for themselves or their coalition. However, directors and support staff were neutral in satisfaction and in difficulty managing their coalition, and slightly negative in ratings of member-member and member-personnel communication, directors more negative than support staff on member-personnel communication.\nPractical implications: - Strengthening communication seems to be a place where there is room for improvement in the present tobacco use prevention coalitions.\nOriginality/value: - Presently, those actually working in a tobacco use prevention coalition were still idealistic about their efforts, but continued frustrations with communication may dampen their enthusiasm in the future.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Learning from the past to envision the future: a five-year review 2005-2009	[ "Social responsibility", "Industrial relations", "Quality", "Historical research", "Management history", "Taylorism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The period 2005-2009 was an exciting time in the history of the Journal of Management History (JMH) as it emerged from the aegis of the journal Management Decision. In 2005, the journal Management Decision, which had hosted JMH for several years, offered a special issue on Management History. It focused on the \"legitimacy, ownership and control\" of the managerial profession and education (Lamond, 2005) and questioned the value of management research and education, observing that major innovations emerge from the applied business sector and not academics (Spender, 2005). The Management Decision special edition on management history may be viewed both as a farewell to and support of JMH's mission as it resumed its status as an independent publication.\nOrganization of this paper: Topics are mainly reviewed by year to be consistent with other review articles in the JMH special edition. Themes specific to a particular year are labeled with headings. A chart is included at the end of this article which classifies articles into the main categories of person, event and/or topic Table I. There is also some commentary about the content of the over 100 articles reviewed and how they complement and diverge from each other.\n2005: Growth of organizations, historical authorities, systematic management and quality: The 2005 edition saw the transition from of JMH from within Management Decision and, therefore, this section of the five-year review includes the nine articles from the Management Decision's special edition on management history. The value of human connections in organizations as social systems is addressed on a more macro level in 2005 than in later years, with a focus on improving the quality of organizing, producing and the work itself. Other aspects of total quality management (TQM) such as continuous improvement (CI), standardization, systems and leadership are included. There is also interest in strategy in various contexts. Although management \"greats\" widely as well as less commonly known are subjects of this year, there is less attention to leadership and international issues in 2005 than in later years.\n2006: origins and value of management thought: In 2006, JMH resumed publishing as a dedicated journal and expanded its reach to a more comprehensive set of topics. The 2006 issues offered reflections about how and what we study, the value of management history and how we learn about management history. In comparison with the others years, 2006 offers greater study of conditions and actions which effect employees in terms of union membership, working conditions, dual careers and motivation. International applications of managerial concepts, the context of strategy and managerial assumptions in decision-making and interdisciplinary and social approaches to marketing can all be found in these issues.\n2007: the responsible corporation, ethics and quality: The prime topical areas in the 2007 issues were excellence and its relation to quality and ethics as postulated by historical greats. In 2007, there were two special editions. One is on business ethics which reflects its increasing importance to academics and business practitioners. Articles on this topic range from a discussion of a novel about values conflict to the religious origins of harmony-of-interest doctrine and the development of capitalism. The historical origins of codes of ethics, corporate views of social responsibility, integrity from personal and moral and organizational perspectives are explored. The second 2007 special edition on \"Dreams of Excellence\" traces the origins of the models of excellence in various settings. Included in this edition are quality and stakeholder management as a means to sustainability as well as international applications of management principles. Two cases were included, one on leadership and the other on academic mentoring.\n2008: historical value, strategy and leadership: The 2008 editions of JMH took a different turn than the previous years. There is considerable interest in examining the value and methods of studying the past. In this year, there is further examination of corporate social responsibility, strategic management and leadership. Four themes emerge. One was continued interest in people who write about management, well-known or lesser known. The second is a global perspective on the subjects of socio-technical systems, subcontracting and labor disputes. The third focuses on the context of business decision-making within eras. The fourth offers guidance on how to research and write about management history and strategic management.\n2009: the context of management and management \"greats\": The first two issues of the 2009 volume continued with writings on the various contexts in which history occurred and is studied. Other papers in this year support our interest in management \"greats\" as well as our growing attention to spirituality at work. The last two special issues examine in greater depth the contributions of two more recent management \"greats\", Alfred Chandler and Peter Drucker. These two special editions are filled with new insights, some directly from these trailblazers who discussed the times in which they wrote and the evolution of their own thinking. Additional articles highlight people such celebrated historians as well as decision-makers including a Supreme Court Justice and union leader. Also included is the study of international applications of management principles in a range of settings.\nManagement greats (outside the special editions in this volume): A series of other articles in 2009 reveal the wealth of knowledge created by iconic contributors. The Gilbreths' work in time and motion, skills and human physical and psychological needs are credited as the origins of contemporary process improvement systems such as TQM, Six Sigma and Lean manufacturing. They found the underlying component for success in each of these areas is human development and cooperation, still often overlooked in implementing improvement systems (Mousa and Lemak, 2009). The Gilbreths applied their principles to raising their 12 children as documented in the book (and later movie) Cheaper by the Dozen and were invited to participate in a study of gifted children (Bedeian and Taylor, 2009).\nAlfred D. Chandler: The third issue of 2009 is devoted to the works of Alfred D. Chandler, the major historian of strategy. In his autobiography, Chandler (2009) describes his lifelong interest in history and how he came to study business and organizations. He cites three reasons:\nPeter F. Drucker: The second special JMH 2009 issue examined the prolific career of Peter Drucker who described himself as a \"social ecologist\". The authors in this edition take a long-term perspective in describing Drucker's deliberations of the role of business and managers in society over decades of environmental changes in technology, economies and globalization. Drucker's first well-known work in 1946 posited that a business organization is part of the social fabric of a society. Managerial leadership is responsible for creating worker dignity, human development and working for the common good, themes consistent in his subsequent writings.\nCommentary: The 2005-2009 articles are enlightening in the breadth and depth of topics, both new and old. We have respect and admiration for management \"greats\" whom we continue to analyze for overlooked points such as Barnard's reflections on influence and power in organizations; Taylor's recruiting \"high-price\" men to build initiative; and Follett's insights into justice and fairness. We know \"the greats\" as real people by reading their original reprinted works. Taylor delivers lectures from his home in his later years. Chandler explains how he came to study large business organizations. Drucker reevaluates his thinking about organizations and work over the course of six decades. We see them as people dedicated to understanding the organizations of their time, struggling just as all researchers and thinkers do.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the topics published in the journal in the five-year period from 2005 to 2009.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative examination of content by year identifies prevalent themes.\nFindings: The beginning and ending of the time period demonstrate continued interest in major figures of our field and the context of their thinking. Quality, excellence and continuous improvement were recurrent topics as were those of business in society, ethics and social responsibility. The value of historical analysis with suggested methodologies for further study was included.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper is limited to the topical papers within this five-year timeframe and a qualitative analysis of themes. Fewer than expected papers were published on leadership and international subjects given their important to the field.\nPractical implications: Aspiring authors may find the historical background for the current topics of entrepreneurship, quality, ethics and social responsibility convenient. Helpful advice from experts about how to study management history is highlighted. Cross-cultural and international historical linkages on themes and concepts are identified as areas in need of additional research.\nSocial implications: The social construction of studying and teaching history is discussed. The context in which major writers lived and events occurred is recognized as a major factor in interpreting situations.\nOriginality/value: The paper reviews over 100 articles to categorize the historical origins of current and recurring topics into major themes. Papers are organized by topic, person or event into a chart by year.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A study of social media users' perceptional typologies and relationships to self-identity and personality	[ "Relationship", "Communication technologies", "SNS", "Social media", "Communication", "Personality", "Social networks", "Psychology", "Computer users", "Extraversion", "Perceptional typology", "Self-identity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Today, social networking sites (SNSs) are among the most popular internet services. With billions of users in the world, SNSs play a central role in everyday life. This is because SNSs offer several benefits such as maintaining social relationships, sharing information, and providing entertainment. Using SNSs, people socialize with their friends and acquaintances, share information with interested others, and can both see posts and be seen on such sites. Although the types of social media platforms that we use are ever growing, evolving, and changing, the popularity of SNSs has been maintained while the way we communicate has changed dramatically. Given the growing popularity of SNSs in recent years, numerous scholars have started to explore what it has brought to our lives (e.g. Boyd and Ellison, 2007). Nonetheless, understanding why, how, and to what degree SNSs affect people's lives remains a major challenge for researchers. It is therefore crucial to further our understanding of SNS behavior (Dienlin and Trepte, 2015).\nLiterature review: SNSs are web-based platforms through which users can create personal profiles, link up with other users of the site(s), and share their activities and opinions with those in their networks (Boyd and Ellison, 2007). SNSs support different types of interaction on various platforms. Some popular SNSs include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, among others. The functionality of these sites is not limited to merely providing avenues to meet new people, reconnecting with old friends, and maintaining existing relationships; they also afford numerous types of public and private communication exchanges. Given the extended literature review in this domain, the following topics regarding users' perception or attitudes have been identified for the present paper: motivations or needs of SNS use; privacy, self-disclosure, and social comparison; self-identity and self-presentation; and social compensation and personality.\nMethods: Research questions\nFindings: In order to analyze SNS typologies, QUANL was performed on the 46 completed Q-sorts. The aim of the analysis is to identify a few typical Q-sorts that point out common attributes of several individual Q-sorts. QUANL facilitates data input, statistically analyzes the data, and automatically generates an initial by-person correlation matrix. The statistical analysis involves the sequential application of three sets of statistical procedures to the Q-sorts - factor analysis, correlation, and the computation of factor scores (McKeown and Thomas, 1988). Then we decided which factors should be selected for interpretation as types for this study selecting only those factors with an eigenvalue in excess of 1.00. As a result of QUANL of 46 Q-sorts, respondents in the P sample were divided into four types.\nConclusion and discussion: This study explored different viewpoints on SNSs by utilizing Q-methodology to identify users' perspectives and categorize them into perceptional types. As a result, four groups were sorted and given the following descriptive labels: Impression Management Type, Lurker Type, SNS Enjoyer & Relationship Focus Type, and Social Value Orientation Type. There were also some common shared beliefs among the four types. The perceptions that these four types of users had in common were as follows: \"Q11. I feel more frank and more comfortable in online communication than face-to-face communication (Strongly disagreed)\" and \"Q14. I am more active in making friends and communicating with them on SNSs than in my real life (Strongly disagreed).\" The four types believe that face-to-face communication is more comfortable. With these common views, the different perspectives of four types of users are presented in Figure 1.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe different viewpoints on the use of social networking sites (SNSs). It analyzes perceptional typologies of SNS users and the characteristics of each type, which has similarities and differences. It also examined possible relationships among different perceptional types, users' self-identities, and their personality.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study utilized Q-methodology in order to identify diverse explanations of SNS users' perspectives. Q-methodology requires participants (referred to as P sample) to sort a series of items (Q-statements). After completing a questionnaire including demographics, self-identity, etc., each respondent performed the Q-sorting work. This task involves sorting well-composed statements about SNSs (Q-sample). In all, 46 SNS users from a university in Korea were chosen as participants. Once the P sample had finished Q-sorting, participants had in-depth interviews. When all interviews were finalized, analysis of the Q-sorts was done with the help of QUNAL program.\nFindings: Consequently, four types of SNS users were identified and given the following descriptive labels: Impression Management Type, Lurker Type, SNS Enjoyer and Relationship Focus Type, and Social Value Orientation Type. Further, there was a significant difference in \"Relational Identity\" among user types. Regarding personality, the extraversion of Type III appeared to be the highest, and the extraversion of Type II appeared to be the lowest.\nOriginality/value: Combining aspects of both qualitative and quantitative research to study the subjectivity, the findings of this study provide insight for further research regarding an audience study or an examination of the media behaviors of SNSs. It also suggests theoretical and practical implications.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Training approaches in manufacturing SMEs: Measuring the influence of ownership, structure and markets	[ "Training methods", "Small to medium‐sized enterprises", "Business policy", "United Kingdom" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Within SME research there are a number of studies examining the association of organizational characteristics with strategies, decisions, approaches to management and performance (see, for example, Carlson et al., 2006; Kotey and Slade, 2005; Chen and Lin, 2004; Mole et al., 2004; Simons and Thompson, 1998). In terms of training and development, however, empirical evidence to support or reject this association is scarce. Although in the large firm literature there is a great deal of consistent advice as to what managers should consider in the design and delivery of training interventions, there is less agreement as to what approaches can, and should, be adopted to ensure training success in SMEs. While some authors believe that measurement problems and methodological inadequacies are key to the inconclusive results from existing research (Centre for Enterprise, 1999; Mukhtar and Redman, 2001; Patton and Marlow, 2002; Storey, 2004), others stress the importance of considering a wide range of broad, often subtle, influences and antecedents to explain the case (Patton and Marlow, 2002; Thomson and Gray, 1999; Mabey and Thomson, 1994; Jayawarna et al., 2007). For example, a recent study confirmed size is a contingent variable that moderates the choice of management development options made within SMEs (Jayawarna et al., 2006), but the same study notes a range of other factors were likely to be equally influential, including product choice, market conditions and management roles.Whilst much of the research on SME training has focused on the relationship between training and firm performance, how the wider context and other contingent factors might influence the relationship is rarely discussed (Bryan, 2006). Where contingent factors are suggested, the effects of these on development activity are rarely explored in comprehensive empirical studies. Researchers have generally analysed discrete characteristics or organizational dimensions. Reid and Harris (2002), for example, analyse the association between training and organizational characteristics, and others examine the linkage between the amount of effort (budget/time allocation) put on training and performance (Huang, 2001; Patton et al., 2000), and on management style (Sadler-Smith, 2004). Although these are complementary, none of the research establishes these relationships within a multivariate framework. Thus, building on previous findings mentioned above and a recent study that highlighted the influence of a range of contingent factors which moderated the approaches to training in SMEs (Jayawarna et al., 2007), we note that issues of firm contextual characteristics, product/market and leadership are likely to be influential in training investment decisions and the training approach chosen. Using these three factors, we explore the literature below before providing a conceptual framework and hypotheses which are tested using data from a survey of 198 manufacturing SMEs. Policy implications of our findings are discussed.\nFactors influencing the training and development approach: Studies have identified that training support for SMEs needs to address specific challenges which SME managers face if it is to be successful (Perren et al., 1999; Patton and Marlow, 2002; Cassell et al., 2002). However, what may also be important is an understanding of how particular firm circumstances or characteristics might moderate the choice of training approach. So, for example, a firm manufacturing a highly specialized product may require, or adopt, a different training strategy to one working within general manufacturing, including the level of formality and the number of training interventions undertaken. In providing policy support, this would be valuable information in order to target bespoke and appropriate initiatives at different types of firms. Consequently, understanding the needs of firms in different contexts will be vital if policy support is to become less supply-driven and more demand-led (Jayawarna et al., 2007).Previous research has suggested that a number of factors may influence the approach to training in small firms including leadership roles, sector and business ownership (Hannon, 1999) and staff numbers, responsibilities and previous experience of training (Westhead and Storey, 1997). Other SME literature has identified how particular situational factors such as production techniques, market and industry conditions and product type might also influence an SME's approach to organization (Cagliano and Spina, 2002; Corso et al., 2003; Young et al., 2003). As such, these types of factors are also likely to impact the type and intensity training adopted within firms. Thus, theses studies, and a recent study by Jayawarna et al., 2007, suggest that the influences on training approach adopted by SMEs are likely to be influenced by specific firm characteristics (such as size), by product factors and market conditions (such as technology), and by the way responsibilities and management roles were apportioned (such as organizational structures). This is represented in Figure 1, and appropriate literature is reviewed below to construct hypotheses and to further develop a conceptual framework of influences on training approaches and training intensity.Firm characteristics\nMethodology: Sample and design\nDiscussion: the influence of ownership, structure and markets: The conceptual framework and hypotheses proposed attempted to define a range of moderators that might influence training decisions in SMEs. In particular, we suggest that there will be times when a firm might be more likely to invest in training, and suggests that there is a key distinction between the preferences for formal or informal training. In Table VI, the results are summarized and the table outlines the types of relationships we have found. With regard to firm characteristics, we note that only size is a significant variable on both training provision and the approach to training chosen. Small firm support mechanisms must recognize the diversity of practices associated with various firm sizes (Kotey and Slade, 2005), but this is not the only factor that influences the investment and approach of training in SMEs.What is interesting is the evidence that identifies it is those firms that are manufacturing innovative products that are investing more time and effort in training (whether formal or informal). This suggests that the increase in training is closely linked to the particular business needs of the enterprise. Product diversity or innovation and the technological sophistication of the manufacturing process clearly drive the need to invest in training and influence the adoption of more formal approaches. In addition, it is noted that those who predominantly work within the supply chain of a larger company, also adopt more intense and more formal approaches to training. In regard to the later point, the more formally structured firm with standardised processes and devolved management and training functions all adopt more formal training approaches. Moreover, while this formalization of processes may be linked to the need to control and standardise practice in a growing firm, it does provide an indication that particular types of manufacturing firms are more likely to welcome and adopt structured training and development for their staff.With regard to the latter point, researchers frequently note that informal development takes priority over formal development within smaller organizations because it is firm specific, \"on-the-job\" and it is perceived as more useful (Blackburn and Hankinson, 1989; Johnson and Gubbins, 1992; Hill and Stewart, 2000; Kitching and Blackburn, 2002). There may be a number of reasons for this, but the reasons most often put forward are the cost (in terms of time and resources), flexibility, and formal training's lack of relevance to specific needs (Storey, 2004). However, most studies do not examine moderators that might influence training decisions to provide a more detailed understanding of the issues involved. It is clear from this study that size, innovation, production, market and organizational conditions must all be considered, and that blanket generalizations about training practices in smaller firms are not tenable.Madonald et al.'s (2007) analysis of government funded support schemes concluded that the universities providing education and training services benefited from the schemes, rather than the participating SMEs. Moreover, Holden et al. (2006) claim that their study show despite the policy rhetoric to move to a demand-led policy support system, fundamental \"systemic\" weaknesses appear to remain stubbornly in place, undermining this entirely laudable aspect of public policy. It may be that the types of firms recruited for these types of initiatives lack the level of structure, innovation and market conditions that make them prime candidates for the receipt of training. However, there is also a concern that if training support is targeted only at those types of firms identified in this study most likely to implement formal training then those in need of support to help them grow in size and to embed formal systems of management would be left to flounder. This would be particularly concerning since a review of the literature shows that, on balance, management development programmes, for example, are effective for small firms (Fuller-Love, 2006). The main benefits appear to be survival and growth, reduction in failure and improvement in performance. The skills required, it is suggested, include leadership and management, developing management systems and techniques and team building. It is exactly these types of practices that are more likely to be present in larger, more innovative, technologically sophisticated and structured small firms. Thus, there is a dichotomy evident here; it is those firms that may benefit most from training interventions that may be the ones least likely to adopt the types of formal approach provided in generic business support programmes through universities or business support agencies. Small, owner-managed firms producing generic products are more likely to adopt informal, ad hoc training. The challenge will be to understand specific organizational conditions, and to target the right type of intervention at a particular small firm based on its specific characteristics and needs. This will require a deeper understanding of the context and issues facing a specific firm and generic support policies are unlikely to be effective.\nConclusion: The findings of this study suggest that there will be times when formal training is appropriate for SMEs. Dependent on size, product, market and organizational structures, formal training will be both required and/or encouraged by SME management. It is possible that training is undertaken in these firms as a tactical solution to a problem (Cassell et al., 2002; Hendry et al., 1991) and the demand for training is explicitly related to improving the way the business is operated (Patton and Marlow, 2002). Nevertheless, formal training may still be appropriate to address specific skills or development needs. This will require an understanding of the unique problems that the SME managers face. Therefore, it is not only the type of training that will be important. Training support for SMEs requires targeted interventions that address specific problems that SME managers need to resolve, and will require an in-depth understanding of the organization's context and conditions (Perren et al., 1999; Cassell et al., 2002; Patton and Marlow, 2002). Consequently, \"when thinking about SMEs, addressing the pertinent HR issues that emerge from current business priorities should be a key theme\" (Cassell et al., 2002, p. 690), particularly since different styles of learning may be appropriate in different situations and dependent on organizational conditions. While it is increasingly acknowledged that flexible support systems are needed to meet the diverse needs of the small business sector (Small Business Skill Assessment, 2004), the nature of this diversity is not well understood. This study provides information that will allow a more targeted approach to the support of both formal and informal training in the SME sector, and will therefore be an important contribution to policy development.This study also identifies that the research, management, and policy development of training in the SME sector needs to be more open and flexible in order to address the idiosyncratic nature of SME requirements. HRM practices in small firms vary greatly and using static models to define the management training and advice needs of small firms is not tenable (Kotey and Slade, 2005). Research, management and policy instruments of training support will need to interact with, and be responsive to, the subtle distinctions of context that will moderate what is more appropriate, and more likely to be welcomed, in the small business sector. Thus, this study is a start and provides an important contribution towards an understanding of the complexities involved in developing and sustaining effective small business support that is more demand-led rather than supply driven. As Storey (2004) notes, this is important not least because of the vast amount of money spent by Government on small business support, and the lack of convincing evidence that traditional formal approaches to development advocated by business support agencies provide performance improvements. The empirical analysis and the tentative conceptual framework, provide an important contribution towards a demand-led policy framework in the area of development and training support for SMEs. Future research should develop this model with particular consideration for broadening the influencing conditions and into SMEs in other sectors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study aims to investigate the influence of a range of contingent factors that moderate the approaches to training in manufacturing SMEs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study is based on a regression analysis of data from a survey of 198 manufacturing SMEs.\nFindings: - The findings suggest that there will be times when formal training is appropriate for SMEs. Dependent on size, product, market and organizational structures, formal training will be both required and/or encouraged by SME management. The challenge will be to understand specific organizational conditions, and to target the right type of intervention at a particular small firm based on its specific characteristics and needs. This will require a deeper understanding of the context and issues facing a specific firm.\nPractical implications: - Because of the diversity of small firms' structures, product and market conditions and leadership and management approaches, generic support policies are unlikely to be effective. Research, management and policy instruments of training support will need to interact with, and be responsive to, the subtle distinctions of context that will moderate what is more appropriate, and more likely to be welcomed, in the small business sector. There does appear to be a demand for formal training in certain types of firms, but other learning initiatives will have to be supported where formal training is not appropriate or not welcome.\nOriginality/value: - The empirical analysis and the tentative conceptual framework make an important contribution towards a demand-led policy framework in the area of development and training support for SMEs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Workplace violence prevention standardization using lean principles across a healthcare network	[ "Six sigma", "Health and safety", "Lean thinking", "Medicine", "PDSA" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper discusses the process used to standardize a workplace violence prevention program (WVPP) within a five-hospital healthcare system in Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Pursuant to The Joint Commission (TJC) guidelines, US Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines, and other directly relevant regulatory and policy requirements, the Ohio Veterans Integrated Service Network (henceforth referred to as Ohio Network) decided to leverage the increased scrutiny on preventing violence in the workplace as an opportunity to standardize the WVPP across all five healthcare facilities. Healthcare facilities within Ohio Network include a trauma center, high intensity hospital, Moderate intensity Hospital, a long-term rural hospital and large ambulatory care setting. In addition there are multiple free standing clinics associated with each site. In FY2015 Ohio Network saw 204,749 unique patients across the five sites with 1,375 disruptive incidents reported.\nBackground: Workplace violence is a persistent endemic problem representing both significant financial and human cost within healthcare systems (Hutton, 2006; US Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2015). In the past, workplace violence in healthcare was shown to cost 4.2 billion dollars annually and it is estimated that less than 30 percent of workplace violence in healthcare is reported (Emergency Nurses Association, 2011; Kinney and Johnson, 1993). Even more significant than the financial cost of workplace violence is the human cost. Healthcare workers exposed to workplace violence have repeatedly been shown to have higher rates of medical errors as well as lower satisfaction and greater intentions to change jobs (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006; Hutton and Gates, 2008; Rogers et al., 2004; Sofield and Salmond, 2003;). In combination, these data represent a real and present crisis within healthcare.\nMethod: Lean methodology is a process improvement model that is focused on standardization of work flows and removal of waste (both time and money) within a system. As part of the model there are many different tools which can be used. These tools include, but are not limited to:\nResults: There were significant positive results from this standardization effort. Figure 2 presents the dashboard for the hospital as of October 1, 2015.\nDiscussion: VHA is leading the way in inter- and multidisciplinary assessment and management of workplace violence. However, VHA, like all large healthcare systems, has significant competing demands on staff, time and resources. To that end, the efforts within Ohio Network to streamline and standardize processes in such a way that frees up clinician time for other responsibilities, while simultaneously improving internal and external customer satisfaction, represents a major step forward in workplace violence prevention. Additionally, it is of note that the proximity to the incident impacted the type of change modality used. For example, because education is employed for staff to use at the point of the incident, the change modalities required for the education arm of the WVPP were different than the change modalities required for the TA arm. Because the TA arm is a more static process, being removed both geographically and temporally, from the actual violence incident, changes such as standardization of forms, evaluation processes, and appeals processes were effective. However, the education arm required asynchronous education as well as human capital to implement standardization and change within their part of the WVPP. The last significant point of discussion is that while neither new nor inventive, communicating in a way that is most meaningful to those people who carry out the change is key for buy-in from staff and successful implementation.\nLessons learned: Several critical lessons were learned as part of this project. The first major lesson learned was that the committee should have requested the VOC earlier than it did. Had the process started with targeting issues identified by the facility staff, it would have increased staff buy-in with other initiatives. The second important lesson learned was the need to embrace technology as well as human availability when implementing the education programs. That is to say that the videos, which were significantly more effective than screenshots, proved to be a great way to provide on-demand education; additionally, coordinators at the sites seemed to embrace tracking education in the computerized system once they had the availability of subject matter experts to help them through the process. If a similar issue arose again, a key point to remember is that adults tend to learn best when building from existing knowledge coupled with multimodal learning opportunities at the point the education.\nLimitations: There are significant limitations to this project. The first major limitation is that the changes were implemented in a dynamic power structure; this is to say that it is impossible to differentiate if changes were implemented due to the organizational hierarchy directing it, or if they were implemented because it helps improve processes and save clinician time. The second major limitation is that compliance with the change process is reported by the site, and while there were no external review findings, there is no real-time way to check compliance across all five sites. It is assumed through the positive metrics noted above the change has occurred and improved processes, however this is not certain. The last major limitation related to the sustainability of the change in light of changing Ohio Network-level leadership, including both the Executive Sponsor and the Lean Expert who also chaired the WVPP committee. Only over the next few years will it be possible to assess if these changes were embedded into the DNA of the sites, or if they were dependent on individuals.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the process used to standardize a Workplace Violence Prevention Program (WVPP) within a five-hospital healthcare system in Veterans Health Administration (VHA).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A description of the lean process improvement principles, used to bring the WVPP into compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other agencies through streamlining/standardizing processes.\nFindings: There was significant standardization in both the threat assessment and education arms of the WVPP. Compliance with all major US Department of Labor OSHA requirements, as well as substantial time savings, were realized as part of this process improvement.\nOriginality/value: VHA is leading the way in inter/multidisciplinary assessment and mitigation of workplace violence, however, there are significant competing demands on staff time. This first ever use of lean principles to streamline processes around workplace violence prevention freed up clinician time for care while improving internal and external customer satisfaction, representing a major step forward in workplace violence risk mitigation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

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