Split (2)

train · 145k rows

title stringlengths 6 301	keywords listlengths 0 23	messages listlengths 2 2
Tips to use partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in knowledge management	[ "Partial least squares (PLS)", "Knowledge management (KM)", "Structural equation modelling (SEM)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years there has been a growing interest in knowledge management (KM), which has resulted in an exponential growth of almost 50 per cent per year in KM publications (Bontis and Serenko, 2009). Gaining control over management structures plays an important role in the KM domain. It can be noted that control in KM is chiefly obtained measuring unobserved variables and the aggregation of the different indicators of the unobserved construct. In fact, recent publications from Knowledge and Process Management (KPM), Knowledge Management Research and Practice (KMRP) and Journal of Knowledge Management (JKM) show how managerial issues affecting the performance of the entire organisation can only be operationalised in terms of unobserved variables (Cegarra-Navarro et al., 2012; Cegarra-Navarro and Moya, 2005; Wang and Byrd, 2017).\n2. Partial least squares structural equation modelling studies and themes in knowledge management: 2.1 Reasons for using partial least squares structural equation modelling\n3. Partial least squares structural equation modelling recommendations for reporting in knowledge management: Once reviewing the PLS-SEM application on KM, we want to establish some minimum guidelines to report PLS-SEM analyses in KM. In fact, it is important for that the sound PLS-SEM application is reported adequately. As several PLS-SEM guidelines have been reported in the recent literature (Benitez et al., 2016; Chin, 1998; Henseler et al., 2016; Sarstedt et al., 2016b), it has not been the goal for this paper developing a new guideline. This study proposes a few aspects that are often missed mainly in the PLS-SEM report and sometimes in the own PLS-SEM analysis. In doing so, we are going to focus on nine aspects to be considered on PLS-SEM report. They are:\n4. Discussion: Broadly speaking, KM researchers have operationalised knowledge structures by the adoption of enablers versus outputs. While the utilisation of enablers may show how and to what extent indicators have to be combined to shape the construct itself, the presence of outputs may show how and to what extent the indicators happen as a result of the latent variable. From the point of view of KM researchers, it is also important to differentiate between factor and composites. On this regard, Rigdon (2016) provides nonetheless an interesting perspective about factors and composites measurement. In a multiple indicator model to treat his constructs as factors or composites based on the conceptual variables that they represent, he represents a conceptual variable like \"satisfaction\" being \"formed out of\" a set of observed variables, or we think of a common factor as \"causing\" variation in a set of observed variables. He concludes that both notions are absurd. In the first case, the set of observed variables form a representation or image of the conceptual variable, not the conceptual variable itself. In the second case, variation in the indicators is caused by actual conceptual variables (almost certainly more than one), while the factor is only an image with no causal power.\n5. Conclusion: This study contributes to the vast KM literature by documenting the problems and misconceptions related to PLS-SEM. Findings show that KM researchers have not fully exploited PLS-SEM potential regarding advanced analysis techniques. There were two problems arising from the purposes of PLS-SEM analysis. First, researchers must declare the purposes of the PLS-SEM mainly because the report is different depending on the purpose of PLS-SEM analysis. Second, researchers must declare one purpose and carry out analysis and a report consistent with such a purpose. For example, as the report of exploratory analysis can be almost similar to explanatory, and even, confirmatory, KM researchers should offer a different interpretation. With a confirmatory and/or explanatory study, there is one model, one research design, one data set, one analysis, and a set of results and, therefore the uncertainty is captured only in the standard errors. However, in an exploratory situation this uncertainty may be linked to different aspects such as two or more models, different research design, multiple model test, and so on. Determining specific guidelines for each PLS-SEM purpose is an issue still uncovered, mainly for exploratory and descriptive PLS-SEM studies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Structural equation modelling (SEM) has been defined as the combination of latent variables and structural relationships. The partial least squares SEM (PLS-SEM) is used to estimate complex cause-effect relationship models with latent variables as the most salient research methods across a variety of disciplines, including knowledge management (KM). Following the path initiated by different domains in business research, this paper aims to examine how PLS-SEM has been applied in KM research, also providing some new guidelines how to improve PLS-SEM report analysis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To ensure an objective way to analyse relevant works in the field of KM, this study conducted a systematic literature review of 63 publications in three SSCI-indexed and specific KM journals between 2015 and 2017.\nFindings: Our results show that over the past three years, a significant amount of KM works has empirically used PLS-SEM. The findings also suggest that in light of recent developments of PLS-SEM reporting, some common misconceptions among KM researchers occurred mainly related to the reasons for using PLS-SEM, the purposes of PLS-SEM analysis, data characteristics, model characteristics and the evaluation of the structural models.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to that vast KM literature by documenting the PLS-SEM-related problems and misconceptions. Therefore, it will shed light for better reports in PLS-SEM studies in the KM field.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The integration of green chemistry experiments with sustainable development concepts in pre-service teachers' curriculum: Experiences from Malaysia	[ "Higher education", "Teachers", "Sustainable development", "Chemicals" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The definition given for the sustainable development (SD) is generic and keeps evolving. However, the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) in our common future defined SD as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. The three pillars of SD are environment, economic, and society. In practical term, SD means, before starting any economically profitable activities, the consequences of the activities on human and environment should be considered. The three pillars of SD are interrelated and interdependent. From the perspective of SD, the whole ecosystem is unified. In making decisions, one must give serious consideration to the ecosystem including all components of planet Earth. However, to this end, the consequences derive from individual, communities and governmental activities are detached from local and global environment. Daily routines are perceived to have no effect on the environment as the effects are not immediate. For instance, people still prefer to use polystyrene (PS) to keep food although it is known to be carcinogenic and the environmental impact is tremendous. PS clogs drains, obstructs waterways and leads to flooding irrespective to volume of rain.Accumulation of solid waste in drains is the prime cause for the recent flash flood that happened in the state of Johor, in the southern part of Malaysia (The Star, 2006). The Star reported that rubbish piled up in the drains and rivers, which dammed high volume water resulted from localized thunderstorms and heavy rain. PS also kills living organisms when it ends up in the sea. Alternately, some people dispose PS by burning, although it is known that burning of PS will release greenhouse gases. Despite these effects, since PS is light, looks clean, comes in all shapes and most importantly, is cheap, people continue to use PS to store food. General awareness of the consequences of using PS is known. However, consumers are not willing to refrain from using it and opt for an alternative. Presumably, since the consequences derive from using PS are experienced collectively, people feel that they are not individually responsible and that others are to be blamed. Similar rationalizations apply to other issues as well. Therefore, it is imperative for the concept of SD to be practised in order to secure a prosperous and healthy livelihood for the present and future generations. Through realisation of sustainability, the environment and other living and non-living things are considered an integral part of human life.What would be an effective way to adopt SD? SD not only focuses on general crowd but also embodies the professionals. Therefore, it is important to embed SD into the expertise field of the professionals. The interconnectedness of the three pillars of SD needs to be addressed explicitly through the training and education the professionals receive. Accordingly, the course integrated with SD concepts (SDCs) teaches professionals to carry out activities and reconcile the resulting social, economic, and environmental consequences. With this in mind, future projects proposed by professionals will be governed fundamentally by the three pillars of SD. However, to this end education system only focuses on producing multiple work forces to fulfil the future need of industries. Education with this purpose emphasis on individual specialisation in particular field. As asserted by Toffler (1980), in the agricultural era (first wave) people are capable of performing multiple tasks that appear near their homes. However, evolution towards the industrial era (second wave) requires specialists who do one repetitive task, in order to be effective in terms monetary gain and time management. Toffler (1980) further claimed that:Next to life and liberty, we consider education the greatest blessing bestowed upon mankind. Nevertheless, Second Wave (industrial era) schools and higher education institute machined generation after generation of young people into a pliable, regimented work force of the type required by electromechanical technology and the assembly line (Toffler, 1980, p. 29).Specialisation deliberately deepens the economic development and omits the environmental and societal derivatives. Climate change, global warming, and floods are a few examples of the aftermath of specialisation that jeopardises planet Earth. For instance, fossil fuels are extracted and used for energy without considering the effects on the environment and the impacts on future and present generations. Practices that harness unsustainable behaviors such as excessive exploitation of natural resources will counteract processes leading towards sustainability. Accordingly, for professionals to practice sustainable behaviors, they should be inculcated with appropriate values, taught and trained, respectively. As Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) proposed through Theory of Planned Behaviour, knowledge and values influence the intended behavior and ultimately determine the final behavior to be performed. Palmer (1993) asserted that biggest period of value change occurs during the higher education process. Hence, education, mainly higher education, plays a significant role as it is responsible to train and educate the professionals and is regarded as an imperative tool to deliver SD.Teacher education and ESD\nMethodology: Chemistry teaching methods course is a compulsory course taken by students of science education degree program. A total of 110 students taking the course were involved in this study. These students were in second or third year of science education degree program. Upon completing their degree program they will be appointed as chemistry teachers, teaching chemistry for form 4 or 5 students in secondary schools. A module consist of ten green chemistry experiments integrated with SDCs was prepared. The experiments were obtained elsewhere (Cann and Connelly, 2000; Doxsee and Hutchison, 2004; GEMs Database, 2005), and tailored to Malaysian curriculum. A questionnaire on environmental knowledge was used to evaluate the understanding of environmental knowledge. The original version of the questionnaire was obtained from Yencken et al. (2000) and consisted of 12 items; eight items evaluated the understanding on TEC and four items on SDCs. However, modified version consisted of 19 items: 12 on TEC and 7 on SDC. Prior to this research, a pilot study was conducted to validate the questionnaire items. The a Crobanch value of 0.8856 was obtained, indicating that the items in the questionnaire are highly reliable. The study employs repeated measure design. Accordingly, the questionnaire was administered trice: 1st at the being of semester (1st week), second time after completing five green chemistry experiments in the module (6th week) and finally after completing another five green chemistry experiments (13th week). The experiments were conducted during tutorial sessions. SPSS was used to analyze the collected data. One way repeated measure ANOVA was performed.Interviews were conducted to further establish the findings from quantitative data and to get the students' feedback on the course content. A total of 25 students were involved in the interviews. Three sets of interviews were conducted. The interviews were conducted after each session students complete answering the questionnaire. The interviews were semi structured and lasted about 1 h. The first interview question were geared towards the awareness and understanding of TECs and SDCs and ideas of integrating environmental issues in teaching chemistry. The second interview discussed the experiences the students gained from the current course and thoughts on the things they were learning now. The final interview required the students to reflect upon the meanings of the experiences and how it affected the participants. In all three interviews, participants were asked about environmental concepts and the impact of the course was having on them. The interview data were transcribed and analyzed.\nResults and discussions: Traditional environmental concepts (TECs)\nConclusion: Earlier studies of Dale and Newman (2005) and Shephard (2008) have reported on the features of ESD. Moore (2005) has proposed recommendation for ESD. Wooliams et al. (2005) and Richardson and Lynes (2007) have suggested alternative approaches or activities that could be carried out beyond the curriculum content as an approach to address ESD. Wooliams et al. (2005) reported on the road to sustainability, Harvard University involved in greening of laboratories through reporting on cultures and behaviors that governs the usage of fume hoods. Recognizing the impact of global warming due to the rising of CO2 emission resulted from growing number of student populations at Institutions of Higher Education in Canada, Richardson and Lynes (2007) has investigated on the barriers and opportunities in constructing \"green building\" at University of Waterloo. Some studies have also proposed on introducing new courses on ESD, which will further burden the students with overwhelming amount of content. At Francis Marion University, Pike et al. (2003) reported that a biology honors course using recycling as project base learning was implemented in order to put ideas on sustainability into action. However, this paper introduces green chemistry experiments integrated with SDCs as an alternative approach to teach the existing course in environmentally responsible manner while taking into consideration the societal and economic aspects. This paper proposes green chemistry as new philosophy of teaching existing chemistry.Introduction of green chemistry as laboratory-based pedagogy is important as teachers' play a key role in developing environmental literacy and to overcome the claims made that teacher training course provides insufficient training ground for the student teachers to learn to integrate environmental issues in teaching process. Teacher education is noted to be most appropriate to address sustainability as this program has the potential to train many future teachers. Additionally, introduction of green chemistry integrated with SDCs in chemistry teaching methods course also contributes to the sustainability efforts of the faculty. Upon recognizing the importance to develop, transfer and adopt sustainable behaviors, higher education institutes are highly recommended to implement approaches that strives for strengthening sustainable behaviors and values in addition to understanding of the discipline. This paper proposes an approach that deeply concern about the discipline as well as strives for strengthening the behavioral and value change. Green chemistry integrated with SDCs is an effective and highly feasible approach to be adopted by higher education institutions locally and globally.Green chemistry integrated with SDCs accomplishes the necessary skills and knowledge that ascribes sustainability literate graduate as claimed by Higher Education Academy (2006). According to Kagawa (2007) generic understanding of SD results in existence of non-homogeneous with various belief, values, and practices of SD. Owing to this many academician struggle to propose a framework or conceptualize SD and sustainability. However, SD or sustainability is conceptualized and a scaffold for SD is suggested through implementation of green chemistry integrated with SDCs. Green chemistry with SDCs is a solution for the evolving notions of SD. There are no recognized boundaries in implementation of green chemistry integrated with SDCs. Despite teacher education program, it is highly appropriate to infuse green chemistry integrated with SDCs into science base courses and engineering courses offered at higher education institutions. There is high possibility of obtaining findings as in this research.In addition to the benefiting nature of green chemistry and SDCs, implementation of green chemistry integrated with SDCs also contributes to the university's sustainability endeavors. University Sains Malaysia through Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) has deliberatively involved in sustainability activities. One of the perceived goals of RCE is to move higher education institution to spearhead ESD activities and awareness in the region. One of the approaches in materializing this goal is through developing and promoting SD training opportunities for school teachers and teacher educators. Green chemistry integrated with SDCs would assist in bringing this goal into practice. Implementation of green chemistry with SDCs adds on to the current sustainability activities at the university. Sustainability activities currently in practice are training and research in renewable energy and energy efficiency, recycling of waste, USM Going Green Project which bans the use of PS containers as well as other non-reusable containers.Interview results illustrates that the pre-service teachers benefited from learning green chemistry as laboratory-based pedagogy. It provides opportunity for them to integrate environmental issues while teaching chemistry. Green chemistry is a pedagogy that combines the cognitive and affective aspect. SDCs which are less discipline specific and more SD related allow the students to look beyond the scientific framework. Additionally, the SDCs also help to facilitate developing higher order cognitive skills such as critical thinking, decision-making and problem solving. These skills are vital in order to inculcate sustainable values and behaviors. From the interview results it can be concluded that the green chemistry with SDCs to certain extend has lead to behavioral change. The student teachers have developed self-efficacy beliefs over this laboratory-based pedagogy. The student teachers believe that green chemistry with SDCs is an effective pedagogy to bring behavioral changes in line with sustainable life style as they themselves have experienced the changes. Green chemistry by its nature aimed at preventing pollution and sustaining the environment. As such it is possible for green chemistry to deliver TECs. In addition to TECs, results of this study strongly indicate that green chemistry experiment is one of the right mean to deliver SDCs. TECs are essential to develop awareness and concern about the environment. Understanding of SDCs permits students to act over their awareness. A common purpose of science education and environmental education is to educate students to be responsible citizens and stewards of this earth. Perhaps, this purpose could be accomplished with green chemistry and SD concepts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to introduce green chemistry experiments as laboratory-based pedagogy and to evaluate effectiveness of green chemistry experiments in delivering sustainable development concepts (SDCs) and traditional environmental concepts (TECs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Repeated measure design was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of green chemistry experiments in delivering SDCs and TECs. Structured interviews were conducted to gather the students' feedback on the course content and course structure.\nFindings: - Green chemistry have enhanced students' understanding of both TECs and SDCs. However, students understanding of SDCs are significantly higher than the TECs. During the interview sessions, students described that the course content as interesting and timely accurate. The course also succeeded in changing students' values and behaviors. Green chemistry was noted as a teaching pedagogy that the student teachers will implement in their future teaching. The course has also provided a space for them to improve their skills in communication, problem solving, and decision making.\nPractical implications: - This paper outlines a new teaching strategy and will be a good source for student teachers engaged in science education program. This new teaching strategy embeds scientific concepts grounded in economic, environmental, and societal imperatives.\nOriginality/value: - The paper highlights the importance of education for SD (ESD) in higher education, with particular focus in teacher education. The paper proposes green chemistry experiments integrated with SDCs as laboratory-based pedagogy in a teacher education program as an effort to green the existing curriculum and ultimately addresses the ESD.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Typologies for co-working spaces in Finland - what and how?	[ "Workplace", "Facilities management", "Knowledge workers", "Teleworking", "Office", "Flexible working" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the past, knowledge work used to be carried out mainly in offices. However, globalization and advancements in information and communication technologies (ICT) have changed the content of work. New ways of working have been referred to as mobile, multi-locational, remote, flexible, distributed and virtual. These terms, while distinct, share common traits relating to the location of a worker who is on the move and separated by a distance and the central role of ICTs (Lonnblad and Vartiainen, 2012). Today, as van Meel and Vos (2001) forecasted, knowledge workers have freedom and flexibility when choosing their working time and location. This has resulted in a considerable shift in workplace management and operations.\n2. Co-working space phenomena: The state-of-art literature review was conducted to develop the framework for typology, which then could be validated by data. The major perspectives in the literature review focused on co-working offer: what, how and to whom.\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample\n4. Results: 4.1 Co-working space typologies\n5. Conclusions: The co-working space typologies clarify the diversity of co-working spaces in terms of business logic and affordance. The need to provide diverse solutions for co-working is explicit both by profit and non-profit business models. This indicates the capability to offer built environment more as a service than as a place. The fundamental classification of accessibility for users in terms of public, semi-public and private zones can help to identify diversity and compactness of user segments. The drivers of new ways of work and mobility need to be taken into account. Additionally the analysis of the characteristics of the co-working spaces introduced in this research provides ideas about the possible features that can be implemented when designing co-working spaces. The challenge is to provide and manage co-working spaces and services with new practices, which are more typical to hospitality industry with diverse customers than traditional workplace management within one client organization with diverse users.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to categorize the typologies of co-working spaces and describe their main characteristics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The aim is reached by means of analyzing 15 co-working spaces located in the capital area of Finland. The data used consist of interviews, websites, event presentations and brochures.\nFindings: As a result, six co-working space typologies were identified: public offices, third places, collaboration hubs, co-working hotels, incubators and shared studios. The categorization was made by using two axes: business model (for profit and non-profit) and level of user access (public, semi-private and private).\nResearch limitations/implications: The results provide a viewpoint on how co-working spaces can be categorized.\nPractical implications: In practise, the results can be applied by all stakeholders who are working with alternative workplace solutions to respond to the needs of new ways of working, especially via workplace services for multi-locational and flexible working, including facilities managers, corporate real estate executives and designers.\nOriginality/value: This research builds on the previous academic literature on co-working spaces by making the phenomena more explicit for researchers and practitioners who are facing the challenges of developing new alternative workplace offerings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How public-private partnership projects impact infrastructure industry for economic growth	[ "Management", "Social economy", "Developing countries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The aim of the present study is not to analyze the determinants of the economic growth but to examine the statistical causal relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and a broad group of infrastructure. Infrastructure is easier to recognize than to define. Investment in infrastructure is thought to provide \"basic services to industry and households,\" \"key inputs to the economy,\" and \"a crucial input to economic activity and growth\" although what is \"basic,\" \"key\" and \"crucial\" varies from country to country and from time to time (Senjur, 1996; Grimsey and Lewis, 2002). Recently, the activities in energy, transport, water, telecommunications and social infrastructure sections have been regarded as infrastructure investment (Shen et al., 2006).\n2. PPPs: A PPP agreement is defined as a long-term contractual relationship between a public body and a private partner (or a consortium of private firms) for the construction and operation of infrastructure (Tang et al., 2010). The private partner will be responsible for building, managing and asset maintenance, service provision and financing the investment, in exchange of regular payments by the government and/or user charges. Under a PPP scheme the asset is typically owned by the private sector, but there are usually provisions for transferring the legal property to the public sector at the end of the contract (Ke et al., 2010). There are several definitions for this concept depending on the allocation of various risks to the public and private partners, but almost all PPPs include both the building and the operating of a facility.\n3. Modeling causality of PPPs for economic growth: In a large-scale project, applying a causal-effect modeling technique such as statistics causality to model economical interdependencies may be more appropriate than the spreadsheet used in current practices for consequences estimates. Economic growth is the increase of GDP per capita or other measures of aggregate income, typically reported as the annual rate of change in real GDP (Yoo and Ku, 2009). Economic growth is primarily driven by improvements in productivity, which involves producing more goods and services with the same labor, capital, energy and materials inputs. Economists distinguish the short-term economic stabilization from the long-term economic growth. The economic growth is primarily a long run concern. The short-run variation of economic growth is called the business cycle. The long-run path of economic growth is one of the central questions of economics; regardless of some measurement problems, increase in GDP of a country greater than population growth generally means an increase in the living standard of the inhabitants (Kleimeier and Versteeg, 2010). On the other hand, value for money (VFM) is a core objective in conducting PPP projects that is defined as the optimal combination of the whole costs and benefits of the project to meet user requirements. The PPP infrastructure projects are generally very complex and have highly dynamic interdependent risks and uncertainties that occur over the life cycle of a project. Experts transfer and allocate risks to the party who is most capable of managing them in a cost effective manner using PPP arrangements (Mahalingam, 2010). This requires the optimization of the risk allocation between the public and private sectors in order to achieve the best VFM.\n4. Opportunities for developing countries: According to the previous section, PPPs can positively influence a nation's GDP. Infrastructure PPPs can be a significant force for powering economic growth and development. PPPs have proven effective means of bridging the gaps between demand and resources, quality and accessibility, and risk and benefit. The ability to share risk with the private sector, tap external financial resources, and profit from private-sector investments and intellectual capital gives public-sector policy makers greater flexibility in allocating both human and financial resources. Rapidly economic growth, especially in developing countries, may be realized by infrastructure PPPs.\n5. Conclusion: In this paper, statistical methods and the three selected countries (Brazil, China, and India) aggregate infrastructure capital series from 1990 to 2009 based on statistics causality are used to explore how PPPs in infrastructure industry affects GDP as economic growth. Dynamic condition is probably the principal focus of the most areas of economic analysis. It is therefore likely that integration into a dynamic framework frequently enhances the usefulness of an economic model. Recent developments in software mean that statistics causality offers a readily accessible methodology for making this principle operational. This paper has demonstrated how it is possible to embed a simple static economic model within a dynamic framework using the statistics causality methodology. In the absence of adequate data, several assumptions had to be made. Indeed its strength is that it readily permits a wide range of alternative models and scenarios to be examined. This approach is illustrated using the relation between PPPs and GDP.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Public-private partnership (PPP) is mutually beneficial relationships that are formed between the public and private sectors. The private-sector partner typically makes a substantial equity investment, and in return the public sector gains access to new or improved services. When properly vetted and structured, PPP allocate risk to the party best suited to handle it. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the scale and nature of the PPP's contribution as a driver of the economic growth and gross domestic product (GDP).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using statistics causality modeling and relevant statistical techniques, the dynamic interactions and interdependencies over PPP and economic growth were addressed and quantified.\nFindings: Although PPP can free up government resources for other public priorities, three key factors enable PPP to stimulate a country's economic growth: the number of PPP projects under way, the value of PPP projects, and the ideal type of PPP contracts in use.\nOriginality/value: The number, value, and type of PPP, combined with supportive policies, power economic growth. Governments with well-established and enforced policies against corruption, combined with low business transaction costs, a transparent legislative system, and exchange rate and monetary stability are far more attractive to the private sector.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Web 2.0 integration into the graduate classroom: An appreciative inquiry into prospective school administrator strengths and leadership experiences	[ "Appreciative inquiry", "Web 2.0", "Blogs", "School administrator", "Preparation programs", "Learning environment", "United States of America", "Educational administration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and purpose: Integrating Web 2.0 applications into the classroom preparation of prospective educational administrators may be one way to advance the recognition and development of prospective educational administrators' leadership qualities. I frame this paper in the context of educational administration preparation programs and focus on the higher education classroom instructional environment where prospective educational administrators gain the requisite knowledge base for practice as school administrators.I propose that the philosophy that undergirds the evolving technologies associated with Web 2.0 may advance prospective educational administrators' leadership development. This is crucial since the infrastructure underlying Web 2.0 and its applications provide an opportunity for educational administration programs to increase social capital among students and create a learning community based on their strengths and successful leadership experiences - to date, the pedagogical implications of a Web 2.0 approach are barely explored (Hemmi et al., 2009).Flowing out of Web 2.0 and an AI theoretical perspective, classroom instruction may be viewed as a socially constructed phenomenon and, as such, reconstructed to incorporate the social communication technologies supporting human needs and values (Zhang, 2008). As some suggest, this paradigm shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 is resulting in powerful social engagement, cognitive, and learning styles as well as new literacies (Dede, 2007). In doing so, the application of Web 2.0 technologies shows promise to advance prospective educational administrators' learning.Web 2.0 is an important consideration since the emerging generation of students possess an information-age mindset, and may be considered Millennials or the Net Generation (Net Gen) (Dede, 2005). Net Gen students live in a connected, social networked world. They see themselves having global networks of friends, accessing instantaneous information, learning by doing, and engaging in learning activities that encourage and support social interactions such as blogging, Wikis, Facebook, and Twitter (Oblinger and Oblinger, 2005). Net Gen students view existing technologies such as MP3s, cell phones, and PDAs, instant messaging, text messaging, and blogs as commonplace. They use various technologies to communicate with each other, even if they are in the same room. They do not remember a time without computers or without access to the digital world (Hartman et al., 2005).Higher education is now engaged in how to understand and apply Web 2.0 to a new generation of students (Lorenzo and Dziuban, 2006). Using Web 2.0 technologies to advance learning may transform the learning experience for prospective educational administrators. There is evidence that social communication occurring through the application of these technologies is freely embraced by students and leads to a greater level of sharing than might typically occur in the traditional classroom (Dede, 2005).Web 2.0 technologies cover a range of social application technologies within the higher education learning environment: online discussions, blogs, wikis, social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, virtual environments such as second life, and distant collaboration efforts in terms of classes, webinars, or web meetings. When these technologies are blended with face-to-face instruction, it is referred to as hybrid or blended learning (Ackerman, 2008).One Web 2.0 technology that may integrate the role of higher education institutions as knowledge providers with the evolving learning styles of Net Gen students is weblogs commonly referred to as blogs. Blogs are a global means of \"flattening the world\" and are easy to use and relatively inexpensive (Loving et al., 2007). Blogging provides Net Gen students with the capability for interacting in a public venue to share thoughts, ideas, interpretations, hopes, and fears with others (Brescia and Miller, 2006).Blogging is seen by some as a means of social construction, sharing of ideas, and developing communities of practice (Oravec, 2005). Blogging is a form of self-expression that has rapidly grown with over 57 million people in the US professing to read and/or respond to blogs. Consequently, blogging has a hidden social power to affect the opinion and perceptions of a wide audience; many blogs are the result of self-organizing to share common ideas and join in common causes (Avital et al., 2006; Wei, 2009). As such, blogging may have distinct instructional advantages to advance student learning.Some researchers suggest that incorporating blogging into the instructional environment increases the opportunity for students to add to their knowledge base, heighten interest and ownership in learning, increase participation in the learning environment, and provide context for diverse viewpoints (Ferdig and Trammell, 2004). When applied effectively, blogging may provide an instructional component-extending student learning through social construction of knowledge promoting reflection and constructive responses in a safe environment (Brescia and Miller, 2006). Currently, blogging is most widely used in higher education as an instructional tool to promote reflection, improve writing, and dissolve traditional barriers among students, teachers, and researchers (Grover et al., 2009).The instructional use of blogging framed in an appreciative inquiry (AI) perspective provides a venue for students to discover, share, and communicate their positive core of strengths and leadership experiences through guided blog contributions. When students view themselves through their strengths, they become conscious of their history of successful experiences, thus, enhancing their sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness - all of which are essential to emotional well-being (Reis et al., 2000). Discovering students' rich history of successful actions is an untapped source for generative conversations for advancing their practice as educational administrators and spark their imagination to create a transformational and hope-filled future (Adams et al., 2004; Cooperrider and Whitney, 2005).Consequently, the identification and sharing of personal strengths and successful leadership experiences may occur more readily in a Web 2.0 environment through the lens of AI and may add value to the instructional process as well as creating a learning climate where students increase their skills and knowledge base.Appreciative inquiry is analogous to the open philosophy associated with Web 2.0 technologies. It embodies a social constructionist philosophy focused on collective action to discover the best, good, and true in an organization when it is or was at its healthiest. When organizational members focus on their collective history of successful experiences, they begin to generate positive images of an optimistic and high-achieving future - where the present requires action as if the positive images of the future were already present (Adams et al., 2004).Appreciative inquiry has its genesis in the work of Cooperrider and Srivastva (1987b) developed in the later part of twentieth century. AI emerged from the traditions of humanistic psychology, mind/body research, organizational psychology, and metaphysical concerns (Cooperrider and Srivastva, 1987a). The majority of published research on AI reports its use as a change methodology in venues such as:* nursing and adjacent professions (Lewis et al., 2006; Moody et al., 2007);* mentoring (Truschel, 2007);* program evaluation (Calabrese et al., 2007); and* the use of technologies to improve educational administrator preparation programs (Calabrese et al., 2008).Appreciative inquiry is juxtaposed to traditional forms of inquiry that focus first on problems. Instead, AI seeks to discover the best in people and the world around them. It affirms past and present strengths, potentials, and possibilities. It seeks to discover what gives life to living systems when they are most effective and capable (Cooperrider et al., 2003). My inquiry led me to examine if AI coupled with Web 2.0 technologies might advance prospective educational administrators' perceptions of their personal strengths and leadership experiences.\nPurpose of the study: The purpose of this study was to advance the preparation of prospective school administrators by extending the Web 2.0 application of blogging to discover their strengths and successful leadership experiences. During the blogging process, prospective educational administrators reflected on and responded to appreciative inquiry (AI) blog posts that encouraged reflective responses highlighting and identifying their inherent leadership strengths and successful leadership experiences.\nMethodology: I used a qualitative case study model (Yin, 2003) to explore the reflective blog contributions of prospective school administrators to discover patterns in the blogging data by grounding the study in an AI theoretical research perspective. Being grounded in an AI perspective meant that the direction of all inquiry was to discover and affirm strengths and successful leadership experiences of those participating in the blog conversations (Calabrese, 2006). I also applied the concept of a bounded case study (Merriam, 2001) to this research by delimiting the study to participants who were:* masters or doctoral students in a school administration preparation program at a large Midwestern research extensive university; and* enrolled in four classes I taught using reflective blogging over three instructional quarters.My belief that students have a history of strengths and successful leadership experiences drove my research and yielded the following overarching question: how can the use of a Web 2.0 technology such as blogging support the design principles of increasing the prospective educational administrators' sense of competence and relatedness? From this overarching question, the following research questions guided my inquiry:RQ1. How do prospective school administrators describe their experience of difference makers who served as exemplars in their lives?RQ2. How do prospective school administrators describe their strengths and successful leadership experiences where they overcame challenges?I conducted this inquiry guided by three propositions:P1. All students come to class with a blended set of experiences and knowledge that positively contributes to the learning environment.P2. The use of a theoretical research perspective that seeks to facilitate the identification of student strengths and successful leadership experiences can be embedded in blogging.P3. The public sharing of highpoint stories describing strengths and successful leadership experiences positively affects the classroom-learning environment.I recognize two limitations to this study:1. The generalizability of the results of this study is limited and left for interpretation by the reader.2. The nature of the appreciative exploration that guided this study focused solely on student strengths and successful leadership experiences.Throughout the remainder of this paper, I use the term appreciative blogs to signify the direction of conversations encouraged by the blog postings. I framed the appreciative blogs with two broad themes: reflections on self and reflections on another. The following is an example of the type of AI questions guiding the students on personal reflection.Taking an AI perspective, recall a time when YOU overcame a significant challenge and turned adversity around on its heel. What were the circumstances? Who was involved? What did you learn from your experience? How can you apply what you learned to your work context?The following is an example of the type of AI questions guiding the students on reflection on the responses of another:Can you recall a person from your personal or professional experience who persisted in spite of obstacles? What were the challenges this person faced? How did s/he overcome these challenges? What examples did this person set for you and others?Data sources\nFindings: I identified four findings. I list the four findings and discuss each finding supported by rich, thick, and descriptive quotations from the blog postings. As I report the results of the study, I refer to participants as students. I used pseudonyms for all student names in reporting my study. The four findings follow:1. Appreciative blogging confirms personal strengths and successful leadership experiences.2. Appreciative blogging bolsters a supportive learning environment.3. Appreciative blogging confirms the students' history of successful leadership experiences.4. Appreciative blogging increases social capital among students.Appreciative blogging confirms personal strengths and successful leadership experiences\nConclusions and future directions: This study extended the Web 2.0 application of blogging to appreciative blogging. Appreciative blogging advanced the preparation of prospective school administrators by using an AI theoretical research perspective to assist them in discovering inherent strengths and successful leadership experiences. Appreciative blogging also generated positive outcomes at several different levels: adult student learners in this study tapped into positive, highpoint experiences to discover they already possessed the capacity for leadership. These prospective educational administrators' helped to create a learning community buttressed by mutual respect and increased levels of social capital. They recognized that differences in appearance, gender, race, and ethnicity evaporated as their shared appreciative blogging posts expanded the common ground graduate students typically share.Appreciative blogging played a part in balancing traditional forms of critical inquiry commonly experienced by these students in other class settings by providing them with an alternative perspective. Applications of appreciative blogging provided an opportunity for students to gain experience in building communities of practice based on the re-discovery of strengths and the powerful use of mutual affirmation. In doing so, students discovered they have a history of successful leadership experiences. They also discovered that their successful leadership experiences afforded opportunities to apply new knowledge to create new theory about learning and leading in the digital age in educational settings.The students imagined new possibilities for Web 2.0 applications: using appreciative blogs in the school setting to build social capital among students and teachers; using appreciative blogging to create exemplars among faculty as mentors; and using appreciative blogging to move from deficit thinking to hope-filled thinking. The use of social software facilitated the connection of student-to-student, student to instructor, and generated higher levels of trust - essential to social capital.As such, this research supported the work of Jackson et al. (2007) who had similar findings of blogging acting as a community-building vehicle. The importance of integrating Web 2.0 applications into graduate student education in general and more specifically into educational administrator preparation programs is critical in an age where elementary and secondary school students live in a Web 2.0 world and build social networks with peers throughout the globe. Moreover, the evolving global workplace demands fluency in Web 2.0 applications (Albion, 2008).The prospective educational administrators' in this study had all the perquisites for successful school leadership. Their lived experiences contained multiple examples of leadership that may be translated into leadership in any organizational setting. They have the capacity to be a force for good in the world of education.Future directions using for research using AI in Web 2.0 applications will find fertile ground in this emerging field, especially how Web 2.0 influences the preparation of school administrators, preparing them to lead schools in an evolving digital world. Another research opportunity may examine how AI, using Web 2.0 application - blogging, contributes to changing personal perceptions of contemporary deficit views of schooling to what is possible in light of the strengths of the stakeholders involved in the schooling process.Research may offer an opportunity to compare and contrast students preparing for educational leadership positions in traditional formats to the format presented in this research.Longitudinal research could be undertaken to understand the impact of how Web 2.0 applications blend critical perspectives with an appreciative perspective to advance the preparation of educational administrators. As research grows using Web 2.0 applications and appreciative inquiry, I believe the future is brighter than it has ever been for school leadership.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to advance the preparation of prospective school administrator students by extending the Web 2.0 application of blogging to discover students' strengths and successful leadership experiences. During the blogging process, students reflected on and responded to appreciative inquiry (AI) blog posts that encouraged reflective responses highlighting and identifying their inherent leadership strengths and successful leadership experiences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A qualitative case study model was used to explore the reflective blog contributions of prospective school administrators to discover patterns in the blogging data by grounding the study in an AI theoretical research perspective. A bounded case study delimited the scope of the study to participants who were: masters or doctoral students in a school administration preparation program at a large Midwestern United States research extensive university; and enrolled in four graduate administrative preparation classes taught using reflective blogging over three instructional quarters.\nFindings: - The Web 2.0 application of appreciative inquiry blogging: confirmed personal strengths and successful leadership experiences; bolstered a supportive learning environment; confirmed the students' history of successful leadership experiences; and increased social capital among students.\nSocial implications: - Future research using AI in Web 2.0 applications can influence the positive preparation of school administrators by preparing them to lead schools in an evolving digital world. Researchers may examine how an AI blogging Web 2.0 application contributes to changing personal perceptions of contemporary deficit views of schooling to what is possible in light of stakeholders' strengths.\nOriginality/value: - The importance of integrating Web 2.0 applications into educational administrator preparation programs is critical in an age where elementary and secondary school students live in a Web 2.0 world and build social networks with peers throughout the globe. Moreover, the evolving global workplace demands fluency in Web 2.0 applications.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Merger control in the telecom industry: a landscape transformed	[ "Business models", "Business model innovation", "Sustainable competitive advantage", "AT&T/Time Warner", "Converged telecoms", "Fixed/mobile and content integration", "Liberty global/ Ziggo", "Merger control", "Merger remedies", "Over-the-top services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Convergence in telecommunications and the accompanying regulatory changes prompted a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the sector. Companies introduced devices to perform multiple functions that previously required several devices, a development termed convergence by industry commentators. Smart phones, for example, can be used to communicate, for internet access and for watching programmes, as just a few options. The first wave of mergers occurred in the 1990s and the second in the early 2000s. The third wave, which is occurring at the present time, is the result of three developments: convergence, deregulation and over-the-top (OTT) services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. The rapid rise of the OTT services has resonated its way into strategy and business model innovation, leading incumbent traditional media companies to reconsider their strategic assessment of the market. The recent merger between AT&T and Time Warner and the transformed business model of the merged entity, for instance, is a direct consequence of this transforming landscape where the \"spray and pray approach\" of the traditional pay-TV operators seems completely misplaced against the \"digital, big data-led\" algorithmic approach of the OTTs.\n2. Technological innovations, deregulation and mergers and acquisitions in the converged telecoms sector: Technological advancements, convergence in telecoms and the accompanying regulatory reforms in the USA and the EU led to the deregulation and privatization of the sector. As fixed-line and mobile penetration reached almost 100 per cent and the average revenue per user started to flatten, it did not take the mobile network operators and the content creators long to realize that a voice-only strategy or content-only strategy could no longer be the differentiating factor. A voice-only strategy led to the prisoner's dilemma where network operators compete on price, with a race to the bottom in terms of revenue earned per user. Similarly, the digitization of content followed by other innovations such as peer-to-peer sharing and emergence of OTT shook the very foundation of the media sector. Consider, for instance, the US market where the number of OTT users is expected to rise from 153 million (46.9 per cent of the total population) in 2017 to over 197.7mn (58.2 per cent) by 2022 (eMarketer PRO, 2018). Emergence of the OTT thus led to \"chord-shaving\" and \"thinning\" that put the traditional cable provider's \"gatekeeper position\" under significant threat. Chord shaving means a consumer completely stops subscribing to pay-TV, whereas chord thinning refers to a consumer switching from high value to relatively inexpensive pay-TV subscription. Gatekeeper effects refer to the traditional distribution advantages of the incumbent cable operators that in turn create substantial barriers to market entry for potential new entrants in the market for content delivery. Technological developments in convergence and the dominance of smartphones and high-speed internet offered unparalleled mobility to content (Peppard and Rylander, 2006, p. 2).\n3. Business model innovation in the converged telecoms sector: A business model is the story of how an enterprise operates, whereas a competitive strategy explains how a given enterprise functions better and more successfully than others (Magretta, 2002). Strategy is the key decision about the choice of a business model through which the firm decides to compete, and tactics are the residual set of choices available to the firm (Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart, 2010).\n4. Recent fixed/mobile/content mergers: In this section, I discuss some recent mergers between the fixed, mobile and content players across Europe and the USA. The principal idea is to appreciate how emerging players in the market can strategically benefit from the opportunities offered by the conditional clearance decisions of the US and the European competition authorities. This utilization of business opportunities aligns well with the objective of these authorities, considering that the principle reason why they attach conditions in the first place (technically called merger remedies) is because they want to ensure that following the departure of an important player, new competitors enter and safeguard the competitiveness of the market.\n5. Summary and recommendations: At the outset, this paper distinguished between three key (and often confused) concepts - strategy, business models and tactics (Section 3). This distinction underlies my key argument in this paper. First, I argue that it is changes in the technological, political and legal factors in the political, economic, social and technological (PEST) framework (Hooley, 1998) that have prompted business model innovation, which I identify as a dimension of \"creative destruction\". Second, to the extent the M&As in the converged telecoms sector enhance the welfare of all the stakeholders - consumers and producers - it is a positive development that needs to be welcomed by the US and the European competition authorities. Changes in business models create opportunities for strategic behaviour and the opportunity to engage in \"tactics\" that should draw the attention of policymakers, and if required, may necessitate the design of appropriate remedies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to underscore how the digitization of content and the convergence in the telecommunications sector has prompted a wave of consolidation between telecom and content players.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using interdisciplinary insights from competition policy and business strategy, the paper draws attention to the interplay between business model innovation and merger control in the converged telecoms sector.\nFindings: Technological innovation and business model innovation led to the emergence of over-the-top (OTT) services. This innovation in turn led to two key effects, first, successful commercialization of content and the emergence of the \"smart pipes\" that in turn has led to the second effect, which is increased mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the converged telecommunications sector. Emergence of OTT with big data as a key advantage challenged the strategy and business models of the more established players, such as the AT&T, Time Warner, Liberty Global and Fox, which in turn led to the current trend of M&As in the sector.\nOriginality/value: This paper makes the following key contributions to the literature on M&As between the fixed/mobile and content players. First, it elucidates how the existing market players can benefit from competition policy, such as merger remedies to enter new and related markets. Second, it advocates that the US and the European competition authorities while assessing these M&As, take due account of innovation in business models, as business model innovation not only promotes innovation in the market but also enhances consumer welfare, considering that it offers the merged firm economies of scale and scope to offer better-quality goods and services at subsidized prices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Translating sustainability: the role of the retail store	[ "Sensemaking", "Retail store", "Sustainable consumption" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Retailers' dominant position in the food supply-chain (Dobson and Waterson, 1999; Harris and Ogbonna, 2001) has caught the eyes of those assessing ways to make food consumption in Europe more sustainable (Bonini and Oppenheim, 2008; Jones et al., 2009; Sustainable Development Commission, 2005, 2007). It is argued that retailers are in a crucial position between food production and consumption and have considerable power over the workings of the food supply-chain (Ogle et al., 2004). The European Commission (2010, p. 13) attests retailers \"enormous power to raise awareness and influence shopping choices\". Retailers increasingly try to live up to this expectation and a growing number of major retailers claims to be integrating sustainability into their business strategy (Jones et al., 2005, 2011a).\nLiterature review: Making sense of sustainable consumption\nResearch design: This paper builds on qualitative data. It draws from 22 interviews with retail representatives (seven from headquarters (HQs), 15 with stores) and 13 store observations (see Table I). The interviews and observations cover all major actors in the Swedish market (ICA, Coop, Hemkop, Willy's, Citygross, Lidl and Netto). However, the retailers ICA and Coop are overrepresented in the empirical focus of this study due to their significantly higher market share (together 71.3 per cent in 2012)[1] and resulting influence on the Swedish market as a whole. Particularly ICA must be assessed in a different light than the rest of the Swedish market because of its market share of almost half of the entire Swedish market. All interviewees represent \"change agents\"[2] within the retail organisation.\nResults: How HQs engage in the sensemaking process of sustainable consumption\nAnalysis: What these results point at is that sustainability is dealt with on multiple levels in the retail organisation (see Figure 1). Interviews suggested that the way Swedish retailers approach sustainable consumption is pragmatic, searching for those topics that satisfy their stakeholders and connect to their customers. To satisfy both these parts simultaneously appears to be difficult, though. Interestingly, Swedish retailers seem to be willing to forgo short-term benefits to achieve long-term results. Which topics retailers choose to focus on seems to be the result of their internal expertise[4], the societal discourse[5], media attention, consumer preferences and competitors' actions. Some of these parameters affect all retailers equally, while others are more specific to an individual retailer. For the Swedish market this has led to many similarities across retailers. For example, organic agriculture is a dominating theme on the market and is generally accepted by retailers, consumers and other stakeholders alike as representing sustainable consumption. Therefore it is offered and promoted by all major retail chains[6]. However, even though it became clear in this study that all major Swedish retailers cover many of the same sustainable consumption issues in one way or another, there are differences in the details of how sustainability is presented to customers. This materialises, for example, in differences in which aspects of sustainability are emphasised and how these are communicated.\nDiscussion: The literature review of this paper argues that successfully creating a \"habitat\" (Peattie, 2001) for sustainable consumption means much work and engagement with the societal debate and \"translating\" it into simple behavioural recommendations. It further suggests that the retail-internal sensemaking process is a crucial component in the successfulness of such a process.\nConclusion: This paper starts with the argument that for retailers promoting sustainable consumption is a process of finding ways to bring together the societal discourse with their supply-chain and market demand. Furthermore, it states that retailers never engage with all aspects of the sustainability discourse. Instead they choose a subset of possible focus areas, which fit their customer base and their business model. This implies taking up dominant aspects of the societal discourse and reducing them to market actions that can be enacted in existing structures and that can find sufficient support (or at least acceptance) among consumers to remain economically feasible. How this process happens depends on internal sensemaking. Such sensemaking happens on multiple levels within the retail organisation, but the influence these levels have on the outcome of the translational process depends on how much attention and responsibility is given to different levels within the retail organisation (i.e. HQ vs store). Where retailers are able to capture sensemaking on multiple levels within the organisation, the process of aligning stakeholder pressures and market demand should be more successful.\nLimitations: The empirical focus of this study only represents a small part of the entire retail organisation. Other parts of a large retail organisation (e.g. purchasing, marketing and HR departments) and how they influence a retailer's sustainability work have not received attention in this study.\nFuture research: Further research is necessary to make qualified statements about the phenomenon described in this study. In particular, three research directions can be proposed:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Retailers are facing pressure to promote sustainable consumption. Building on literature about the role of retailers as \"translators\" of the sustainability discourse, this paper studies how retailers cope with this pressure. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study focuses on the Swedish retail sector. In 22 interviews with retail representatives and 13 store observations it explores the way food retailers approach sustainable consumption, particularly focusing on the role retail stores receive in operationalising sustainable consumption.\nFindings: The retail store is identified as important organisational layer within retailers to operationalise sustainable consumption. However, retailers do not acknowledge this potential sufficiently. An idealised model of multi-layered sensemaking to successfully promote sustainable consumption is presented.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study results only cover a small part of the entire retail organisation and only provide a snapshot in time of their working. Future research should study how the internal process of translating sustainability to the market develops over time and how it is connected to different parts of the retail organisation (e.g. marketing, HR). More research is also necessary to specify the division of responsibilities between headquarters (HQs) and stores.\nPractical implications: This paper proposes a divide of responsibilities between HQs and the individual store to better deal with societal pressures and market demand.\nOriginality/value: The results of this study add depth to the theoretical notions of \"translation\" and \"sensemaking\" in retailers' efforts to promote sustainable consumption. A model for how this process works is provided.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How high-tech entrepreneurs bricole the evolution of business process management for their activities	[ "Business process modelling", "Entrepreneurship", "Discourse analysis", "Bricolage", "Strategy as practice" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Business process modelling (BPM) is the subject of growing attention from the management sciences. The BPM approach is increasingly used to guide large companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises in establishing successful and efficient innovation processes (Le Loarne and Blanco, 2009) and particularly for developing radical or incremental innovations (Scozzi et al., 2005). This interest appears all the more relevant because studies have shown that many large companies facing a technological breakthrough are unable to react and change their BPM to either adopt the new technology or to employ it to make themselves more competitive (Hill and Rothaermel, 2003). However, despite the recent claim that the ideal BPM for developing innovations has been identified, studies focusing on the impact of radical innovations on companies' existing BPM remain underdeveloped. The aim of this study is to partly fill this gap by studying how a business model emerges in the early phases of a high-tech new venture when the entrepreneur lacks a valid template to form a conceptual representation of the firm's business processes. To answer this question, we ground our approach on the research stream called \"strategy as practice\" (Golsorkhi et al., 2010). This approach considers the strategy of a company to be mostly a matter of individuals who may create a vision thanks to tools, roadmaps and modelling systems but who then interact with other individuals and use the resources they have at hand to create their strategy and act. Based on this research approach, we assume that the high-tech entrepreneur, as CEO and creator of the company, creates the BPM for his emerging activity step-by-step, using as many resources as he can capture. Therefore, to answer the research question, we will analyse how the high-tech entrepreneur creates and anticipates the BPM of his business activity by using the concept of bricolage as a theoretical grid (Levis-Strauss, 1966) and to apply it to the discourses of 20 high-tech entrepreneurs who developed a radical innovation and 20 additional entrepreneurs who created a business activity based on an incremental innovation. Based on this comparison, we propose a description of the process by which high-tech entrepreneurs shape the initial BPM of their activity and make it evolve to develop incremental innovations. More specifically, we highlight the following results of our study: entrepreneurs who develop a new activity based on a radical or incremental innovation primarily base the BPM of their company and the evolution of this process on existing models. However, these business process models generally differ depending on the nature of the innovation. Entrepreneurs who develop a new activity based on a radical innovation do not design a single BPM for their company but typically design a portfolio of BPMs. The process by which they develop such a portfolio generally uses a step-by-step and iterative approach, utilising \"whatever is at hand\" (Levis-Strauss, 1966).\nI. Literature review: I.1. The \"making of\" of BPM: the missing link\nII. Research design: II.1. Epistemological positioning\nIII. Results: Based on our coding, we were able to characterise the bricolage process conducted by the different entrepreneurs to model the business process for their activities. We gathered the cases that presented similarities and found that the \"high-tech\" variable strongly determines the nature of the BPM process. Following the advice of Langley (1999) for studying processes, we present the results of our data analysis by employing a longitudinal perspective. First, we present our results on BPM in high-tech companies and second in low-tech companies. To summarise, we note that the high-tech entrepreneur creates the BPM for the activity over time through trial and error. Beginning from a family-based bricolage approach, the entrepreneur uses knowledge gained from his first clients to structure the business process of the activity. Conversely, in the low-tech sectors, the entrepreneur immediately begins his business, obtaining the inspiration for defining the business process from what he observes and from the advice he obtains from consultants or other business partners.\nIV. Conclusion: discussion, contribution and further research: The contribution of these research results to the BPM theory can be discussed on three main levels.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on how entrepreneurs anticipate and change their company's business process management after developing a radical innovation. The paper is based on a critical approach to business process modelling (BPM) that posits that - in spite of all the claims, guides and tools that companies employ to help them modelise their processes - business processes are developed and improved (or at least changed) by individuals who negotiate, anticipate and compromise to make these changes occur. Thus, BPM is more a matter of \"bricolage\" (Levi-Strauss) than an established and defined plan. Based on this position, the paper analyses how a business process model emerges in the early phases of a high-tech new venture when the entrepreneur lacks a valid template to form a conceptual representation of the firm's business processes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors adopt a perspective based on the concept of bricolage. By analysing and comparing the discourse of 40 entrepreneurs - involved in an activity based on a radical innovation and 20 involved in an activity based on a more incremental concept - the authors are able to answer the two research questions.\nFindings: Entrepreneurs who develop a new activity based on any radical or incremental innovation generally base the BPM of their company and the evolution of this process on existing models. However, BPM generally differs based on the nature of the innovation. Thus, entrepreneurs who develop a new activity based on a radical innovation do not design a single BPM for their company but a portfolio of BPMs. The process by which such entrepreneurs develop such a portfolio is mainly conducted in a step-by-step and iterative approach that utilises \"whatever is at hand\" (Levi-Strauss, 1966).\nOriginality/value: First, this study extends existing methods for and approaches to considering BPM. Second, this research partly answers the call for integration among different theoretical backgrounds and approaches that consider BPM.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Responses to job demands: moderating role of worker cooperatives	[ "Employee attitudes", "Partnership", "Employee behaviour", "Small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A recent development to explain occupational well-being is the job demands-resources (JDR) model proposed by Demerouti et al. (2001). According to Bakker et al. (2010), this model expanded the demand-control(-support) (DCS) model developed by Karasek (1979) to include physical and emotional demands, as well as workload, in the job demands dimension; and skill variety, learning possibility, and performance feedback, as well as control and social support, in the job resources dimension. In the health impairment hypothesis of the JDR model, excessive demands lead to impaired health problems, such as burnout and strain. In the motivational hypothesis of the model, job resources promote motivation, such as work engagement and organizational commitment (Bakker et al., 2010; Bakker and Demerouti, 2008; Devonish, 2014; Van De Voorde et al., 2016).\nTheory and hypotheses: Organizational commitment as a mediator\nMethods: Sample\nResults: The descriptive statistics and the correlations between the variables were displayed in Table I. Different from expectations, job demands were not significantly correlated with organizational commitment and job search behavior (r=-0.05, p>0.05; r=0.06, p>0.05, respectively). However, organizational commitment had a significant correlation with job search behavior (r=-0.27, p<0.01). In addition, worker cooperatives were significantly correlated with job demands (r=0.19, p <0.01) and organizational commitment (r=0.33, p <0.01), but not with job search behavior (r=-0.09, p>0.05).\nDiscussion: Implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of organizational commitment in the relationship between job demands and job search behavior. The study also explores the moderating role of worker cooperatives in the relationship between job demands and organizational commitment. There is little extant research on the relationships of job demands with employee behaviors, and the roles of worker cooperatives in those relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using the multi-level moderated mediation model, this study analyzed surveys conducted in capitalist firms and worker cooperatives in the metropolitan area of Seoul in 2016.\nFindings: This study provided evidence that organizational commitment mediated the relationship between job demands and job search behavior in the total sample. The findings revealed that worker cooperatives moderated the relationship between job demands and organizational commitment. In other words, while the negative relationship between job demands and organizational commitment was significant in capitalist firms, it was not maintained in worker cooperatives.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study provides implications on how job demands are related to job search behavior, and how worker cooperatives may alleviate the adverse effects of job demands on employee attitudes and behaviors. A potential limitation of the present study is that individual-level variables were measured by self-reports.\nOriginality/value: While previous studies on the JDR model have examined the interaction between job demands and individual levels of resources, the current study investigated the interaction between job demands and organizational levels of resources.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Organizational change - overcoming resistance by creating readiness	[ "Change management", "Organizational change" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: It has become a cliche to say that organizations change. Equally common is the assumption that people will resist change. However, the notion that people unequivocally resist change is ill founded. People do not necessarily resist change out of hand. For example, individuals rarely reject change that has obvious personal benefits. While there are exceptions, we rarely turn down a pay raise or a promotion. We actively pursue a new job, even though success in finding that job will create change in our lives.\nResistance or readiness: understanding the difference: The first step is to understand the difference between resistance and readiness. Resistance and readiness are not polar opposites on a linear continuum. Instead, resistance and readiness represent complex states, impacted by numerous individual and organizational factors. A deeper understanding of these factors may enhance managers' ability to lead successful change initiatives.When faced with a proposed change we evaluate the nature of the change and how it may impact us. From the evaluations of a proposed change, we may enact one of two behaviors. We adopt the change or we resist the change.In too many organizations, typically, a change is announced and such information that is given is directed at how the organization will benefit from the change. The CEO or some senior manager makes the announcement, sometimes with great fanfare. Sometimes there is no fanfare, but teams are formed to determine how to implement the change. Meanwhile, the organizational members are left wondering why change is occurring.They may recall that the last change led to layoffs or that nothing really came from the last change initiative. Perhaps they look at the management announcing the change and conclude that this is the same management team that had fallen short in past change efforts - so why should this time be any different. Others may be fearful that they are too old to learn new skills. If the organization has gone through a number of changes, some may feel they are burned out from all the change, or they may resent being asked to make one more change when they feel the organization has not completed the last change. As a result, several months can pass with top managers wondering why they have not seen the results expected. Eventually, other crises arise and the change that would make things better fades away, leaving cynical and disillusioned organizational members, and frustrated managers who firmly believe that the failure of the change was the fault of the organizational members because \"people dislike change.\" All of these perceptions are foundations of resistance, and they are not the fault of the organizational members, but the failure of management to successfully create and manage readiness.It is the change leader's responsibility to guide the organizational member to embrace the change rather than resist it. Thus, the process must target creating readiness for the change, not attempting to overcome resistance to it. By effectively managing readiness, the change leader attempts to shape attitudes toward the change. Successfully doing so may lead to adoption rather than resistance behaviors by organizational members.\nCreating and managing readiness: the five key elements: But how does one create and manage readiness leading to the adoption of the change that produces success and permanence? Armenakis et al. (1999) offer five different elements necessary to create readiness: The need for change, demonstrating that it is the right change, that key people support the change, that members have the confidence they can succeed, and an answer to the question, \"What is in it for me/us?\"The first of these is the need for change. Specifically, it is the identification of a gap between a desired state and the current state. Quite simply, the change leader must justify the need to change. By providing information showing that the organization's product no longer meets customer expectations, the organizational members can see that the current way of making the product is no longer acceptable.The second element for creating and managing readiness is establishing if proposed change is the right change to make. The role of the change leader in this instance is to demonstrate that the proposed change is the right solution for eliminating the gap between the current and ideal state. By demonstrating that replacing an old service with a new, improved service will lead to an increase in revenues, instead of a continued decline, evidence is provided that this change in service is the right thing to do.The third element focuses on bolstering the confidence of organizational members, reinforcing that they can successfully make the change. Sometimes known as efficacy, this confidence comes from both past experience and the persuasive communication of change leaders. These leaders need to first, emphasize that organizational members have the right knowledge, skills, and abilities to implement the change - or that they will be given the opportunity to develop these. Second, they need to ensure that the organization has the right organizational structure, policies, procedures, technology, and management talent in place to successfully implement the change.The fourth element, key support, involves the actual organizational support for the change. The who supporting the change may, in certain circumstances, carry as much weight as the what of the proposed change. Organizational members, when faced with a change, consider the position of both the formal and the informal leaders in the organization toward the change. If the change leader can enlist those formal and informal leaders in support of the change, other organizational members may also begin to adopt the change.The final element is designed to answer the question, \"What's in it for me/us?\" The organizational members not only seek to understand the nature of what the outcomes from implementation of the change might be, but they also seek to understand if these outcomes will be positive or negative, and, if so, what the significance of those outcomes are in terms of what each organizational member values. It is important to understand that the value of the outcome can carry as much weight as whether or not the outcome is negative or positive. For example, a change that results in an organizational member being promoted might be viewed as negative because of the requirement that he or she must uproot the family and relocate. The dislocation outweighs the positive gain in title and pay.\nAcknowledging member concerns: seeing the change from their perspective: Faced with a change, organizational members do not automatically assume a defensive stance toward the change. Some will look forward with anticipation, believing that a change has been long overdue. Others may be fearful, uncertain of what the future will bring, but wanting more information. Some may be ambivalent about the forthcoming change, recognizing on the one hand that a change may be the right thing to do, concerned about what they may be called on to do, or lose as the change is implemented. But, they are all waiting for cues as to what the outcome will truly mean. This requires active effort on the part of the change leaders to clarify how the change will impact all, acknowledging and providing as much help as possible to those that may be hurt.By acting to demonstrate that the change is justified and appropriate; that key people are supportive of it; that the organization and its members are fully capable of successfully changing and by recognizing that each member will be concerned about the outcomes for them as individuals, the change leader will have taken great strides in creating and managing readiness. As momentum grows as a result of the change leader's actions, the likelihood of resistance leading to a failed change will be avoided or minimized.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Despite a significant amount of academic research showing that failure to create and manage readiness for change, nonetheless, far too many organizational managers have failed to learn both from their past mistakes and from the research. This paper aims to provide a brief review of five important elements necessary to build readiness in an organization when it is faced with change. By successful application of the five elements, readiness for the change may be created and managed leading to a prevention or minimization of resistance to the change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper presents a general review of one approach to managing change.\nFindings: - The paper finds that by addressing each of the five elements, there will be a greater likelihood of successful change introduction and management.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides overview of the five elements of readiness for managing change as created by Armenakis et al.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Growth and economies of scale among timber haulage companies	[ "Business development", "Profit", "Transportation", "Forest products", "Finland" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Truck transport is the most important timber transportation means. Roughly 80 per cent of the Finnish forest industries' roundwood is delivered to the mills by truck. Nearly all of the roundwood used by these industries spends some time on wheels during transportation. Truck transport will retain its position due to its speed, flexibility and inexpensiveness (Makinen, 2001).Approximately 850 timber haulage companies, owing about 1,700 timber trucks and employing about 2,600 drivers, operate in Finland. The sector's turnover is close to EUR 319 million. Timber haulage companies are mainly small family companies with an average of one-to-three trucks, and some 56 per cent of the companies have only one truck (Rieppo et al., 2008). The entrepreneurs usually participate in the haulage work along with their employee (Parkkonen, 2007). The ten largest timber haulage companies own an average of 12 trucks each (MetsaTrans, 2008).One of the biggest changes in the sector during the last two decades was deregulation in 1991. Until then, means testing was used by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, provincial authorities and trucking associations to regulate the entry of new entrepreneurs into the sector (Makinen, 1997). The second big change occurred more recently when large timber procurement companies began to outsource more of their activities to so-called key or area entrepreneurs, who have taken on increasingly larger areas of the business (Rieppo et al., 2008).The capital-intensive timber haulage sector has suffered from low profitability and increased competition since deregulation (Makinen, 1997; Vakeva, 2004). One of its greatest problems in recent years has been rising costs (Parkkonen, 2005). This has already negatively affected the profitability of the sector and has created a situation in which it is necessary for companies to continuously improve their business and strategy in order to survive.Timber haulage companies transport timber from point A to point B - from the roadside to the mill. The work demands extensive professional skill on the past of the drivers, because some of the driving is done on very challenging terrain. This highly competitive sector could be called a bulk-service sector where costs determine the profitability of the business, which is why it is essential to study how the economies of scale and the development of the cost structure affect growth-orientated companies' profitability.This study focused on growth, economies of scale, and cost structures in the largest growth-orientated timber haulage companies in Finland from the point of view of profitability. The first task of the study was to determine how economies of scale occur in the sector. Second, we focused on the costs and development of the cost structure as companies grew. Third, we studied how the growth itself affects the companies' profitability as well as the requirements for profitable growth in the sector. Growth is a very important field to study because much of the growth of industry results from the growth of existing establishments, rather than from new ones (Kumar et al., 2001; Makinen et al., 2002). Among other things, the study concentrated on evaluating the impact of economies of scale on profitability. In other words, the essential question of the study was as follows: Could growth be the means to increase profitability in this sector?\nTheoretical frameworks and materials: Strategic management theory\nResults: The sector and the research sample\nDiscussion: The results of the study were somewhat surprising - at least if compared to growth-orientated companies in other sectors. For example, it was observed in an earlier study on forest machine entrepreneurs that subcontracting is a quite profitable means of growth (Soirinsuo and Makinen, 2009). In the timber haulage sector the margins are low and profitable growth does not allow for many mistakes. It grew clear that Group 1 became the most profitable. Also the difference between groups widened as the companies grew into different sizes. It is possible that the high level of variable expenses prevents economies of scale.According to the results, it is clear that companies with turnover over EUR 1.5 million cannot operate as effectively as smaller companies. It is also probable that the use of subcontracts does not guarantee even the average profit of the sector. Further, it is possible that because so much work is available in the sector even the small companies can choose between contract offers. This might put pressure on the large companies' pricing of subcontracts and raise fees, which in turn may drive the sector into a situation where the most profitable working method is to carry out a contract using only one's own resources and at as low a cost as possible.According to the results, the most significant variations in the cost structures were in external services. The differences in companies' deprecation and wage costs were quite small, which shows that the resources (trucks and personnel) were at the same level. However, the small companies (in Group 1) were able to manage their workload effectively without subcontracting. With the larger companies (in Groups 2 and 3), growth needed more investments, more new employees, and more administrative work than among the smaller ones. It is possible that controlling the process of growth was more difficult in the larger companies. The companies in Group 1 could probably focus on and control the process of growth better in their smaller flexible organisations. Larger companies' took so much work compared to the sector average that carrying them out required considerably more work and resources. In a low-margin and highly competitive sector known for its meagre profit margins, this had a noticeable impact on the companies.These results support those of Scheraga (2005). He pointed out that economies of scale, as reflected in the size dimensions, may not have the usual positive effect when it comes to perceived quality of service in the road haulage sector. Customers perceived the smaller, regional carriers as being more responsive and flexible. Scheraga also noted that high debt seemed to reduce carriers' ability to make investments and lowered the price per ton that they could charge.There is considerable evidence in the change of the cost structure that a high level of outsourcing is questionable if the aim is profitable growth, and as a growth strategy it is seldom profitable. Companies with turnover greater than EUR 1.5 million outsourced much of the work. In fact, the larger the company, the more it outsourced. However, the study did not show a negative correlation between outsourcing and profitability. It is interesting to note that only one company with turnover over EUR 4.0 million made a loss one year and that the least profitable group were the medium-sized companies (Group 2). However, the difference between Groups 2 and 3 was small. The situation does not exclude the possibility that the sector can offer economies of scale for a company larger than in the research sample. However, there is very little evidence to back this assumption since in this sector no companies of such a size exists in Finland. It remains to be seen if a company larger than those in the research sample would gain greater benefits from economies of scale than what a small company with under EUR 1.5 million turnover could gain from being efficient.Group 1 managed to become quite profitable without subcontracting. Among these smaller companies, administrative costs were relatively lower and growth answered an increased long-term market demand. These small companies managed to make higher profits compared to the average despite strong growth in the period. It could be said that hard times separate the grain from the chaff. In the sector, largeness does not guarantee better profitability because of high and rising costs. However, it is profitable for smaller companies to grow to a certain extent, because they can reallocate their resources very effectively. Good profitability in the sector demands optimisation of resources, personnel and workload.Problems occur when a company is growing and acquiring trucks during good market conditions. A slowdown in demand can drive such a company into difficulties: the workload decreases, and the trucks sit in the parking lot (while depreciating in the financial statements). According to our results, this was a problem especially for the larger companies (Groups 2 and 3) with a more static management. Small companies were more dynamic and adapted more quickly to changing economic and market conditions.The limitation of economics of scale emphasises a cost-efficient strategy and good managerial skills. Growth after a certain point increases the amount of administrative work as well as the amount of time and effort needed to negotiate with subcontractors. This can easily erode the benefits of the growth. The large number of companies in the sector increases price competition, which rewards companies for being more efficient and further, forces them to improve their businesses and innovate in order to survive. The main finding of the study does not support the assertion that significant growth in this sector brings higher profits and cost savings.The present study did not go deeply into the possible human factors, which may explain why these companies grew or succeeded in so different ways. Nor did it focus on the internal factors affecting the growth. One purpose of the study was to create, in an effort to assist further studies, a clear picture of a competitive strategy - growth - and the diversity of its effects on companies. Actually, these effects help a firm in gaining a better appreciation of environmental opportunities and company resources in order to formulate a strategy that leads to a sustainable competitive advantage (Hofer and Schendel, 1978). The aim of further studies will be to concentrate on growth-orientated companies' internal (i.e. external on the financial statement) success factors, which will affect their existence and performance in the future.\nConclusion: This study concludes that economies of scale exist in the timber haulage sector, but they are limited. This means that it is profitable for companies with turnover under EUR 1.0 million to grow (even quite fast) and acquire more trucks when the workload increases. Profitable growth occurs in the sector when resources are used efficiently and work is not outsourced. Costs compared to turnover start to rise once company size reaches about EUR 1.5 million in turnover. A company with a turnover of EUR 1-1.5 million and an average of five or six trucks can run its business very effectively. If a company's strategy includes unlimited growth as a primary objective, the growth is usually not profitable.However, it is possible that the sector can offer greater economies of scale if a company would grow larger than any in our research sample. In this sample, the small companies were the most profitable, but the most unprofitable group were the medium-sized companies - not the large ones. However, the difference between the medium-sized and large companies was small. For example, a company with a turnover of EUR 25 million or more could be highly profitable, but no timber haulage companies of this size operate in Finland - at least not yet. This means a situation in which U-shaped curve lies between market share and profitability, which is to say that the sector may be polarised.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to help growth-oriented timber haulage entrepreneurs to recognise the problems of growth and understand its implications.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data from 30 companies were retrieved from their financial statements between 2001 and 2006. The relevant literature consists of the company growth theory, strategy analysis and definitions of entrepreneurship. In this empirical study a resource-based approach was used as the theoretical background. The research method was purely financial analysis.\nFindings: - Economies of scale exist in the sector but are limited and do not evolve hand-in-hand with company size. There is an optimum size for a timber haulage company at which it can operate efficiently. However, the sector may be polarised.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The data used in the study do not clarify the particular entrepreneurial actions taken in companies as they grew.\nOriginality/value: - This empirical study covers new ground and offers new information about the sector. The results can be used to assist in the development of the sector, which has been studied very little. In addition, the results can be used as a background for further studies, and also by growth-oriented companies' management when considering the option of growth.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Dealing with supply chain risks: Linking risk management practices and strategies to performance	[ "Strategy", "Supply chain", "Risk management", "Supply chain management", "Agility", "Robustness", "Performance management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Researching supply chain risks (i.e. the exposure to a premise of which the outcome is uncertain, Rao and Goldsby, 2009), supply chain risk management (SCRM) is one of the fastest growing areas in logistics research. In a recent supply chain survey among executives, more than two-thirds of the respondents reported increasing risk over the past three years, and nearly as many expect that risk will continue rise (McKinsey, 2010). This observation is consistent with the \"era of turbulence\" proclaimed by Christopher and Holweg (2011) and a statement by Simchi-Levi (2010): \"With the increasing level of volatility, the days of static supply chain strategies are over.\" For supply chains, this translates into everyday risks such as fluctuating demand and in exceptional risks such as the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption in Iceland or the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan.Several authors have proposed models that help to select the appropriate supply chain strategy with respect to internal or external context factors (Fisher, 1997; Lee, 2002; Christopher et al., 2006). While certain context factors can affect the supply chain negatively, choosing appropriate strategies can help to overcome these effects. In this respect, the view is supported that supply chain strategies and SCRM (i.e. the implementation of strategies to manage both everyday and exceptional risks along the supply chain based on continuous risk assessment with the objective of reducing vulnerability and ensuring continuity) can be seen as being a \"two-sided coin\" (Juttner, 2005). As it will be demonstrated, both proactive (i.e. robust) and reactive (i.e. agile) supply chain strategies reduce the vulnerability of global supply chains and are in that way necessary. There is, however, a lack of research about how and to what extent a structured SCRM approach that involves the identification, assessment, controlling, and monitoring of possible risks within the supply chain (Hallikas et al., 2004; Kern et al., 2012) fosters improved agility and robustness and, in turn, better performance. Especially the need for corresponding empirical work has been pointed out (Thun and Hoenig, 2011).While many empirical logistics researchers tend to consider themselves positivists and, thus, utilize quantitative approaches as primary research method, increasingly calls have been made to also use qualitative approaches (Mangan et al., 2004; Frankel et al., 2005). It was decided to exploit these methodological complements by dividing this research in two phases. In a deductive phase, it is built on prior knowledge to hypothesize the relationship between SCRM, supply chain strategies, and performance and then test the hypotheses with survey data. Then, during an inductive phase, managers are confronted with the preliminary findings of the first phase in order to exploratively gain additional knowledge.While anecdotal evidence points to the fact that SCRM practices allows supply chains to react faster (increased agility) and to withstand adverse events (increased robustness), virtually no empirical research exists that reveals the underlying mechanisms. Our multi-method approach is aimed at filling this gap by testing whether SCRM influences both the agility and robustness of a supply chain. In addition, our research is first in examining the impact of these two general supply chain strategies on different performance dimensions in order to understand the performance implications these strategies have.The rest of this article is organized as follows: first, the multi-method research design employed for this article is described. Second, a deductive research phase is implemented based on a survey. Third, to gain additional insights, the first phase is followed by an inductive research phase based on case studies. And finally, the results of both phases are jointly discussed.\n2 Methodology: Two main research approaches can be distinguished in logistics research: following the deductive approach, hypotheses are first developed and then tested through empirical observation. Following the inductive approach, the researcher develops propositions with a view to explaining empirical observations of the real world (Crowther and Lancaster, 2008).Quantitative methods count, measure, and analyze objects across a very wide range of observations and are often, though not always, associated with deductive research, whereas qualitative methods are concerned with identifying and perhaps comparing the \"qualities\" or characteristics of empirical evidence, from easy-to-apprehend external appearances to internal, difficult-to-capture characteristics and are mostly used in inductive research (Huff, 2008). It has also been suggested that quantitative methods are relevant for getting an overview and for considering the broad structure of decisions, whereas qualitative methods are useful for finding out at the micro level about the behavior of the decision maker (Mangan et al., 2004). Naslund (2002) argues that it is necessary to use both quantitative and qualitative methods if we really want to develop and advance logistics research. In particular, the combination, or \"triangulation\", of quantitative and qualitative methods rests on the premise that the weaknesses of one method will be compensated by the counter-balancing strengths of another method in order to capture a more complete, i.e. holistic and contextual portrayal of the units under study (Jick, 1979; Aastrup and Halldorsson, 2008; Boyer and Swink, 2008).For our research, first a survey was conducted as a quantitative method and then supplemented by case studies in order to collect additional qualitative data. Surveys have been criticized for over-simplification of reality, but they allow for statistical generalization. This method was used to test the hypothesized effects of SCRM on agility and robustness and further on performance. Interviews as part of case studies have been criticized for their propensity to encourage interviewer and respondent bias, but they represent a targeted method of collecting data and are often insightful (Frankel et al., 2005). Here, this method is used, to build on survey findings presented to the interviewees to reveal new knowledge about agility and robustness in the context of SCRM. Most importantly, the integration of a survey with case studies combines the advantages and minimizes the disadvantage of each method and allows the qualitative refinement of the theory underlying the quantitative survey. Building on research processes proposed by Spens and Kovacs (2006), deductive and inductive approaches were combined in this research as is shown in Figure 1.\n3 Deductive phase: 3.1 Theoretical framework and hypotheses\n4 Inductive phase: 4.1 Case study observations\n5 Conclusion: Departing from a somewhat heterogeneous literature base on agility and robustness and the expectation that both strategies may be important in improving the supply chain's customer value and business performance, our research provides strong support for this assumption.Being agile has a strong positive effect on the supply chain's customer value, while its impact on business performance is mediated by the supply chain's customer value and, thus, is indirect only. In contrast, achieving robustness has a strong positive direct effect on both the supply chain's customer value and business performance. This is an important observation, because in the last years both researchers and managers paid a lot of attention to agility, whereas robustness turns out to be the real driver of business performance.In line with the positive effect agility has on the supply chain's customer value, the exploratory cases revealed that agility is a particularly effective strategy in the case of high customer-side risks. The direct influence of robustness on business performance can be explained by the increasing prevalence of high volatility in supply chains (Christopher and Holweg, 2011). Supply chains need to consider robustness to be able to withstand this ever-occurring volatility risks. The case studies provide insights to the fact that robustness can be considered a basic prerequisite to deal with supplier-side risks, while agility is necessary to deal with customer-side risks. These findings helps managers to select the appropriate supply chain strategy based on risk-based context factors, which, in turn, can help to shape a supply chain design that not only leads to improved business performance, but also to improved customer value and, consequently, societal benefits.Our hypotheses that SCRM is important for both agility and robustness of a supply chain are supported. This coincides with the descriptions of managers interviewed as part of our case studies. Thus, the implementation of SCRM, which entails the identification, assessment, and controlling of risks, allows companies to better cope with changes both proactively and reactively. Besides other possible facilitators of agility and robustness, such as cooperation, insurance, and postponement, it turns out that SCRM is a strong driver of realizing these two strategies. This is an important argument for managers who consider the introduction of SCRM. Most importantly, companies, who are searching for a means to improve agility and robustness of their supply chains, find that the introduction of SCRM can be a powerful supplement to more traditional means such as excess capacities and safety stocks.Further, it is learnt from the cases that choosing and achieving appropriate levels of agility and robustness needs to be aligned to the competitive strategy.It was aimed to reduce possible research limitation, but it is necessary to point to the following issues. First, all participants were located in German-speaking countries only. Second, except for control variables, no objective data was drawn on. Due to the fact that mainly high-level key informants participated, their judgments can be highly relied on. Third, mainly OEM and first-tier suppliers participated in both the survey and the case studies. Therefore, generalizability may be partially problematic for companies further upstream in the supply chain (although we do not have any indication that this actually is the case). Further, for some of the constructs an even broader operationalization could have been possible. Research propositions yielded from the case study were not tested empirically. This is a possible starting point for further research. In spite of these issues, we are convinced that our findings provide an important extension to the evolving literature on SCRM.Besides customer value, further research might also investigate the impact of agility and robustness on other broader aspects of supply chain performance and along the supply chain. We also encourage more research to focus specifically on supply chain robustness, due to its importance for both the supply chain's customer value and business performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The effects of supply chain risk management (SCRM) on the performance of a supply chain remain unexplored. It is assumed that SCRM helps supply chains to cope with vulnerabilities both proactively by supporting robustness and reactively by supporting agility. Both dimensions are assumed to have an influence on the supply chain's customer value and on business performance. The aim of this research is to provide clarity by empirically testing these hypotheses and scrutinizing the findings by the means of case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research is empirical. Survey data were collected from 270 manufacturing companies for hypotheses testing via structural equation modeling. Additionally, qualitative data were collected to explore the nature of non-hypothesized findings.\nFindings: - It is found that SCRM is important for agility and robustness of a company. Both agility and robustness show to be important in improving performance. While agility has a strong positive effect only on the supply chain's customer value, but not directly on business performance, robustness has a strong positive effect on both performance dimensions. This important finding directs the strategic attention from agility-centered supply chains to ones that are both robust and agile. The case studies provide insights to the fact that robustness can be considered a basic prerequisite to deal with supplier-side risks, while agility is necessary to deal with customer-side risks. The amount of agility and robustness needs to fit to the competitive strategy.\nPractical implications: - Since volatility has increasingly become a prevalent state of supply chains, companies need to consider robustness to be of primary importance to withstand everyday risks and exceptions.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first study to view the relationship between SCRM, agility/robustness, and performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of online product reviews on information adoption of new product development professionals	[ "Heuristic and systematic model", "Information adoption", "New product developer", "Online product review", "Review helpfulness", "Title attractiveness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Currently in the information technology (IT) industry, companies are launching new products more frequently than before, due to everlasting decreases in the price of raw materials (e.g. memory chips) and rapidly changing consumers' expectations. Hardware manufacturers, such as personal multimedia players (PMPs) and Smartphones, launch new lines of products almost every season, or at least bi-yearly (e.g. Apple launched two new versions of the iPod and the new iPhone4 in 2011). In order to continuously improve their products and eventually attract consumers in the highly competitive e-marketplace, companies should always listen to consumers' opinions (Constantinides, 2004). For this reason, they build various online channels between consumers and their employees who are involved in developing new products, normally with \"online consumers' forums\" and \"contact us by e-mail\" alternatives. Other than these direct channels, consumer-generated feedback, often referred to as online product reviews (OPRs), are available on e-commerce sites, such as Amazon.com (Mudambi and Schuff, 2010), personal blog pages (Hsu et al., 2013), online communities (Chang et al., 2013), and even on social networking sites (Choi, 2013; Sotiriadis and van Zyl, 2013). Currently with the growing popularity of e-commerce and the provision of online review options, consumers voluntarily post their reviews for other potential consumers. These OPRs are becoming important information channels for consumers and may have an even stronger impact on companies' competitive advantage than advertising in some industries (Jalilvand and Samiei, 2012). Thus, new product developers (NPDs) who are involved in developing a certain product and service can look into such OPRs, which may contain valuable information for product improvement, as well as new product development (Anderson and Magruder, 2012).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1. HSM\n3. Research model and hypotheses: 3.1. The impact of heuristic cues\n4. Methodology: 4.1. Data source and sample\n5. Results: An exploratory factor analysis using SPSS as well as a partial least squares (PLS) analysis using SmartPLS 2.0 (Ringle et al., 2005) were conducted for the measurement and structural model validation, respectively. PLS is more appropriate to apply in order to examine the structural model of this study for the following reasons. First, PLS does not require the assumption of normality in the data set, as it uses the distribution-free bootstrap re-sampling technique (Chin and Todd, 1995). Most of the variables in this study are non-normal (counted or ratio) variables (e.g. degree of disconfirmation, degree of referencing, helpfulness rating, etc.). Second, PLS also allows us to test moderating impacts not only with the level of significance (t-statistics) of interaction terms (moderating variablexmain effect variable), but also with the effect size increased by adding the interaction terms into the structural model (Chin et al., 2003; Henseler and Fassott, 2010).\n6. Conclusion and implications: 6.1. Implications for research\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of features involving online product reviews (OPRs) on information adoption by new product developers (NPDs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 143 OPRs on a specific product on Amazon.com were collected as the sample of this study. Using content analysis ratings and observed data in OPRs, the research model was analyzed with the partial least squares (PLS) method.\nFindings: Results suggest that helpfulness rating and the degree of referencing are positively associated with NPDs' information adoption, while the extremeness of product rating is negatively associated. Moreover, title attractiveness mitigates the negative relationship between the extremeness of product rating and information adoption.\nPractical implications: The findings provide interesting insight for NPDs who visit e-commerce sites to learn through electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication. OPRs with a higher degree of referencing, higher helpfulness rating, moderate level of product rating, and higher degree of title attractiveness are better adopted by NPDs.\nSocial implications: This paper investigates the value of OPRs for a specific group of information users and suggests that information about products generated by anonymous consumers can be crucial.\nOriginality/value: While extant studies have focussed on the impacts of OPRs on consumers' purchasing intention and behavior, this paper is among the first attempts to investigate the impacts of OPRs on developers' information adoption. Therefore, it contributes to the body of knowledge on knowledge transfer from consumers to business as well as the information adoption literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Versatility in corporate writing Brochures from oil and gas companies	[ "Versatility", "Corporate brochures", "Generic structure", "Oil gas industry", "Textual features" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Corporate brochures are published to introduce the organizations they represent and to enhance their corporate image. Before the advent of the World Wide Web, brochures used to be the only medium for these purposes. In recent years, many companies have stopped the publication of or at least have reduced the volume of printing corporate brochures which are often glossy and attractive. Some companies publish print brochures for specific clients while some distribute them only \"on demand\" (Nielsen, 2001).\nReview of literature: The O&G Industry is a specific business and literature on business, accounting and law related to the business is readily available. Literature concerning the technicalities and the technology is also in abundance particularly on the chemical aspects, for example a book on production chemicals in the O&G industry by Kelland (2014). Also available is literature on safety which is very crucial in the business activities of O&G. Another area which appears in the recent literature is the environmental issues that emerge from the O&G industry. Patin (1999) highlights the environmental impact of offshore exploration on the ecosystem and marine biological resources. Guenther et al. (2006) question the responsibility of O&G companies toward the environment while Gray et al. (1999) propose ways to manage the environmental effects of the industry.\nMethod: Data collection\nFindings and discussion: The generic structure of O&G brochures\nMove 1: Introducing the company: All the companies introduce themselves with the name and logo.\nMove 2: Establishing the company's professional image: In establishing their professional image, the companies use either Strategy 1 or Strategy 2 or both, contributing to 75 percent. Only four companies did not use the two strategies at all.\nMove 3: Promoting the company: S1 Establishing credentials provides information on the historical background and current status of the company including timeline of establishment; size of company, whether state-owned or private multinational and the type of O&G activities involved. Other common information includes partners and locations of business activities especially those around the world - usually indicated with a world map.\nMove 4: Highlighting CSR and sustainability: The O&G brochures \"highlight\" their CSR and sustainability to address the negative perception of the impact from the O&G industry. The move demonstrates what the company undertakes to ensure sustainability and preservation of the environment as well as activities for and with the community as its CSR:CB06 - [...] In 2013 Company confirmed its presence in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and in the FTSE4Good index.CB12 - We have a proud history of Corporate Social Responsibility. In 1985, Company pioneered the introduction of unleaded fuel in Europe and in 2012, launched the world's most sustainable service station.CB15 - In 2006, Company initiated its 10-year University Collaboration Initiative, worth R250 million, to build competency in science and chemical engineering and to improve the quality of research and teaching facilities in these disciplines, to ensure a long-term supply of highly trained postgraduates for Company as well as for other South African industries and universities. [...]Progress is being made in expanding knowledge of how best to reduce, capture and store the carbon dioxide produced. In particular, Company Technology is continuing its investigations into CO2 sequestration opportunities in the countries where new coal-to-liquids (CTL) ventures are being considered.\nMove 5: Soliciting response: Surprisingly, Soliciting response does not achieve 100 percent occurrence, with one company (CB15) not providing any contact information at all, not even a website address. In PR writing, this is a grave oversight when a potential customer comes across this brochure and needs to get more information. However, in this age of the World Wide Web, one can always \"Google\" - surf the internet for further information.\nVersatility in O&G corporate brochures: Textual analysis aims to provide a thick description of corporate brochures in order to explain why they are written the way they are and they are certainly not formulaic but are versatile and creative in terms of form, content and language style.\nConclusion: This paper has successfully demonstrated the use of genre analysis to identify the generic structure and the textual features of corporate brochures from O&G companies. The significance of viewing and analyzing texts as genres is that it leads to understand how texts are structured and then written to fulfill the communicative purposes they are supposed to achieve. In the case of corporate brochures, the communicative purposes are to introduce the organizations they represent and to promote the image of the organization. Findings on generic structure and textual features of brochures can be used as a guide for corporate writers, as well as trainees and students of corporate communication.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a linguistic perspective for corporate brochures. Corporate brochures are published to introduce an organization and to provide information about it but the brochures have been claimed to include promotional elements. By conducting a genre analysis the paper aims to confirm that genre-based writing is not formulaic but instead demonstrates versatility and creativity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Corporate brochures from a specific industry, oil and gas were sourced from the websites and a total of 16 were available. The method of analysis was genre analysis to establish the generic structure of the brochures by examining the rhetorical moves and strategies, and to identify the textual features of the texts to explain why they are written the way they are.\nFindings: The oil and gas brochures display a five-move generic structure with a number of strategies. The moves show high occurrence proving the industry as a specialized one. Although the moves are the same, the contents are varied. Versatility is also seen in the presentation style in terms of form, content and language.\nPractical implications: Findings on generic structure and textual features of brochures can be used as a guide for corporate writers, as well as trainees and students of corporate communication.\nOriginality/value: The data for this research represent one industry which has not been explored before thus contributing to the body of knowledge in the field of genre analysis. Although generic in form, genre-based writing has proven to be versatile. The textual features show how companies project their corporate image via brochures.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Job satisfaction of project managers in green construction projects: Influencing factors and improvement strategies	[ "Construction", "Project management", "Questionaire survey" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Construction activities play a crucial role in urbanisation and generate significant economic, environmental and social impacts (Zuo and Zhao, 2014). The negative impacts of construction activities include resource consumption, water pollution, waste disposal, noise and dust generation. The building sector contributes to around 35 per cent of global energy consumption and 40 per cent of global raw materials use (IEA, 2013). With the soaring global concern for climate change, construction companies worldwide are steering towards green construction projects to mitigate the negative impacts of projects.\nBackground: Components of PMs' job satisfaction\nMethodology and data presentation: Survey data collection\nAnalysis results: Data normality and adequacy\nDiscussions: Main characteristics of PMs' job satisfaction in green construction projects\nConclusions and recommendations: The performance of PMs is vital to the success of a green construction project, while the performance of PMs is influenced by the job satisfaction of a project. The objectives of this study, therefore, are to examine the core components of the job satisfaction of PMs in green construction projects; identify the key influencing factors affecting the job satisfaction of PMs; quantify the relationships between the job satisfaction of PMs and its influencing factors; and finally develop feasible strategies to enhance the job satisfaction of PMs in green construction projects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Green building is a promising approach to improve resource efficiency and achieving sustainable development. The success of green construction projects is closely associated with the performance of project managers (PMs), while job satisfaction plays a major role in the performance of PMs. However, the emphasis placed on the job satisfaction of PMs in green construction projects remains minimal. The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationships between the job satisfaction of PMs and its key influencing factors in green construction projects, and to propose feasible strategies to improve the job satisfaction of PMs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey is conducted, data collected from 105 construction PMs are analysed using structural equation modelling. Interviews with five industry experts are further conducted to substantiate the results.\nFindings: The results identified four major components of job satisfaction, namely, \"job content\", \"resource adequacy\", \"work context\" and \"the personality and competence of jobholders\". The analysis also found that \"technical requirement\" and \"split incentive\" condition of green construction projects, \"the expertise and awareness of PMs\" and \"demand and support from stakeholders\" has significant impacts on PMs' job satisfaction. Furthermore, this study developed eight strategies to improve PMs' job satisfaction, including \"increase recognition opportunities for PMs\", \"government incentives and financial support\" and \"introductory and training courses on green construction legislation and processes\".\nOriginality/value: The findings assist construction companies in formulating measures to improve the job satisfaction and performance of PMs in green construction projects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do halal certification country of origin and brand name familiarity matter?	[ "Country of origin", "Halal certification", "Halal product", "Sharia compliant" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The market for halal products (permissible products according to Islamic Law or Sharia) in ASEAN countries has been gauged to be US$46 billion per year and worldwide US$150 billion (Fisher, 2012), accounting for 20 per cent of the global food industry and continues to grow. Along with the growth and awareness of the halal market, there is the claim that there are too \"many halal certification agencies in the world about 300 (Huda, n.d.), with some of them definitely not up to the task either because they lack the expertise or because they are not following mainstream Islam\" (Alserhan, 2010; Marzuki et al., 2012). This trend has raised concerns about the authentication and verification for halal, not only among Muslim consumers, but also retailers and manufacturers. A recent interview of a representative of the International Trade Centre in Abu Dhabi indicated that since products come from all over the world to the Muslim markets, and with various certifications, consumers are becoming confused and suspicious of the trustworthiness of these seals of approval (BBC, 2010). Not only consumers seem apprehensive about halal certifications but restaurant managers in Malaysia are also wary of the leniency of some halal agencies in issuing halal certifications of restaurants (Marzuki et al., 2012).\nTheoretical background and hypothesis development: Islamic marketing is a research area in its infancy, and as such, there is not much research explaining the importance of fundamental concepts in the Islamic world like the halal certification COO, the brand name, and the combined effect of brand name and halal certification in Islamic countries. Most existing studies on Islamic marketing are still very descriptive and a-theoretical. For example, an advertising agency has recently published findings on segmentation of Muslim markets namely in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, and Malaysia and classified them into a \"Traditionalist\" and \"Futurist\" mind set (Ogilvy and Mather, 2010). Others have described the generation Y females in Iran (Hanzaee and Aghasibeig, 2010) or generation Y Muslims in North America (Javed, 2012). Other studies approach Islamic marketing from the description of religious beliefs, e.g. markets for \"spiritual tourism\"(Haq and Wong, 2010) and their interactions with demographic factors (Hashim and Mizerski, 2010), or description of the \"halal\" brand and offerings (Wilson and Liu, 2010). The following sections will describe the constructs of interest in our framework, namely, brand name familiarity, halal certification COO trustworthiness and product COO favourability.\nResearch method: Sample\nResults and discussion: Choice manipulation check\nConclusion: This study was motivated by the proliferation of seals of halal certification from different parts of the world and the dearth of studies examining the role these certifications play in the market place. In addition to investigating consumers' perceive trustworthiness of halal certifications from various countries, we also researched the favourableness towards a product COO, and the brand familiarity in predicting preference. Our results give rise to the following conclusions.\nManagerial relevance: Our study has important implications for managers of exporting companies. The findings reveal that not all countries are rated favourably when evaluating the product COO nor are trusted in regard to halal certifications in the context of a halal frozen chicken.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumers perceive the trustworthiness of halal certifications from various Muslim and non-Muslim countries, a topic highly disregarded despite the size of the market and the importance in penetrating the multibillion market.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A customized factorial design was employed to measure main effects of brand familiarity, country trustworthiness and country favourability and interaction effects.\nFindings: Although Indonesia and Malaysia are Muslim countries, they are not perceived as trustworthy as others such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for the consumer product under study. The perception of trustworthiness of halal certification of origin explains the highest proportion of the variance in the preference for a product, followed by the interaction of country favourability and brand name country of origin (COO).\nResearch limitations/implications: Managers of international companies should be aware that not all halal country certifications are equally perceived as trustworthy therefore, they should seek alliances, with institutions in markets where they seek to penetrate.\nPractical implications: The procedure for certification considers the whole value chain rather than just simple ritual of slaughtering. Managers have a big responsibility to produce their products according to the expected standards (and this goes beyond the simple slaughtering ritual) and make sure that all employees understands the importance of such adherence.\nSocial implications: Muslim consumers' preferences vary according to the COO of halal products, even within Muslim countries therefore, halal certification country-of-origin is a sensitive social concern.\nOriginality/value: This research is based on COO and brand familiarity frameworks, and it extends the knowledge in a context (halal products) not frequently explored.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Application of MCDM-based TOPSIS method for the selection of optimal process parameter in turning of pure titanium	[ "Manufacturing", "Advanced manufacturing technologies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Commercially pure (CP) titanium (grade 1-4) and its alloys are most widely used in aerospace, automotive, biomedical, surgery and medicine, aircraft, power generation, chemical and marine industries because of their admirable property profile. It is well known that titanium demonstrates an outstanding resistance to corrosion, haemocompatibility, formability and weldability characteristics, great specific strength at higher temperature range, low density and highest strength-to-weight ratio (ASM Metals Handbook, 1990; Bakir, 1999; Gorynin, 1999; Donachie, 2000). Thus, titanium and its alloys have become reputable engineering materials for a wide range of industrial applications. Although titanium parts are utilized and produced by a large number of manufacturing industries, they are more expensive than that of other relevant materials. This is because of the difficulty in the extraction process, low thermal conductivity, and complexity in melting process of these materials. Therefore, the machining cost associated with titanium is quite high (Ezugwu and Wang, 1997). Turning operation is identified as the most common metal-forming process to produce different metal parts in various industries around the globe. Its area of application includes aerospace, marine, medical, power, energy, aircraft and many more. Cutting forces, surface roughness and machining temperature are classified as the major quality attributes of turning operation, whereas the material removal rate (MRR) is signified as a key productivity attribute of the process (Nalbant et al., 2007). These attributes are to be studied and analyzed very carefully in order to meet the demands of a high-quality product in recent scenario. This is also necessary for attaining higher productivity with relatively greater dimensional accuracy. Optimization tools play a key role in achieving the aforementioned objectives. It is evident that turning operation is always characterized by multiple quality characteristics. Therefore, multi-objective optimization has become one of the most interesting areas of research in turning. In the last few years, several multi-objective optimization techniques were reported for solving turning problems. In a study, Lin (2004) applied the Taguchi method in combination with grey relational analysis (GRA) with an aim to minimize the cutting force and surface roughness. The study was also aimed at maximizing the tool life simultaneously. The result indicated that the above-mentioned performance characteristics were significantly improved by applying the GRA-Taguchi approach. Hascalik and Caydas (2008), in their study, also employed the Taguchi method to optimize turning parameters. This study was focused on two quality measures, namely, surface roughness and tool wear. A remarkable improvement in surface roughness (244 percent) and tool life (335 percent) was noticed from the initial parametric setting to the optimal parametric setting by using the Taguchi method. In an experimental investigation conducted by Sardinas et al. (2006), two distinct machinability aspects of turning operation, i.e. tool life and machining time, were simultaneously optimized using genetic algorithm (GA). Similarly, Onwubolu and Kumalo (2001) proposed GA for determining optimal machining parameters in multi-pass turning operation. In the current study, optimization was done by formulating a non-linear-constrained model. The results indicated that the proposed GA-based algorithm is quite effective and efficient which can be employed for solving the complex turning problems. In a different experimental investigation, Sahoo (2011) also used GA in combination with Taguchi-based response surface methodology (RSM) to study the effect of machining parameters on three different surface roughness characteristics. The investigation revealed that the amalgamation of GA with RSM can be advantageous in achieving a qualitative machined surface in turning operation. Yildiz (2013) developed a novel multi-criteria decision making (MCDM-) based optimization algorithm by combining Taguchi with a differential evolution algorithm. In this study, the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed hybrid model in minimizing the production cost of a multi-pass turning operation was shown. A significant reduction in the production cost was reported by implementing the aforesaid methodology. Bharathi and Baskar (2010) used a nature-inspired MCDM-based optimization technique, known as particle swarm optimization (PSO) for determining the optimal parametric setting in a turning operation. The objectives of the present study were to minimize the operational time subjected to a higher surface finish. The results indicated that the suggested method is capable of selecting an appropriate combination of cutting parameters during the turning operation. An experimental study conducted by Srinivas et al. (2009) also proposed the PSO technique for solving a multi-pass turning problem. The recommended approach was identified feasible for determining optimal parametric setting within a specified operational time.\n2. Materials and methods: In this study, the experimentation was carried out according to the Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array design. A cylindrical bar of CP titanium grade 2 (diameter 50 mm and length 500 mm) was truned on a heavy duty lathe with uncoated carbide inserts in a dry cutting environment. The cutting inserts were designated as SNMG120408 and were rigidly mounted on a PSBNR2020K12, an ISO-designated tool holder during the turning operation.\n3. Experimental details: 3.1 Experimentation and data collection\n4. Results and discussion: 4.1 Multi-objective optimization using the TOPSIS method\n5. Conclusions: This paper presents a novel approach for finding the optimal parametric setting in turning of CP titanium grade 2 with uncoated carbide inserts. The main observations made during this study are as follows:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methodology to determine an optimal combination of process parameters that is capable of generating favorable dimensional accuracy and product quality during turning of commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) grade 2.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The present paper recommends an optimal combination of cutting parameters with an aim to minimize the cutting force (Fc), surface roughness (Ra), machining temperature (Tm) and to maximize the material removal rate (MRR) after turning of CP-Ti grade 2. This was achieved by the simultaneous optimization of the aforesaid output characteristics (i.e. Fc, Ra, Tm, and MRR) using the MCDM-based TOPSIS method. Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array was used for conducting the experiments. The output responses (cutting force: Fc, surface roughness: Ra, machining temperature: Tm and MRR) were integrated together and presented in terms of a single signal-to-noise ratio using the Taguchi method.\nFindings: The results of the proposed methodology depict that the higher MRR with desirable surface quality and the lower cutting force and machining temperature were observed at a combination of cutting variables as follows: cutting speed of 105 m/min, feed rate of 0.12 mm/rev and depth of cut of 0.5 mm. The analysis of variance test was conducted to evaluate the significance level of process parameters. It is evident from the aforesaid test that the depth of cut was the most significant process parameter followed by cutting speed.\nOriginality/value: The selection of an optimal parametric combination during the machining operation is becoming more challenging as the decision maker has to consider a set of distinct quality characteristics simultaneously. This situation necessitates an efficient decision-making technique to be used during the machining operation. From the past literature, it is noticed that only a few works were reported on the multi-objective optimization of turning parameters using the TOPSIS method so far. Thus, the proposed methodology can help the decision maker and researchers to optimize the multi-objective turning problems effectively in combination with a desirable accuracy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of self-congruity and virtual interactivity on online celebrity brand equity and fans' purchase intention	[ "Brand equity", "Self-congruity", "Human brand", "Online celebrity", "Virtual interactivity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the network 2.0 era, any internet user can become a creator or distributor of knowledge and information on social media. Such content is generated not only by independent companies or individuals but also by sustained multilateral cooperation (Laroche et al., 2012; Wei and Lu, 2013). Social media gives people expanded opportunities for communication and expression, which has led to the phenomenon of \"online celebrity\" and thereby produced the \"online celebrity economy.\"\nTheoretical background: Human brand and product brand\nConceptual model and research hypotheses: The conceptual model of this study is shown in Figure 1. We argue that customers' perceived self-congruity with online celebrities' image and virtual interactivity can help build online celebrity's brand equity in terms of awareness, image and loyalty. Therefore, online celebrity brand equity generates a higher level of followers' intention to respond favorably to the celebrity brand and to purchase the brands or products they endorse.\nStudy 1: To test the influence of virtual interactivity and self-congruity on followers' purchase intention with the mediation of online celebrities' brand equity, Study 1 adopts the survey method and SEM technology.\nResults: Reliabilities and validities of measurements\nStudy 2: An experiment was conducted in July 2019 by trained researchers. The primary goal was to explore the moderating role of perceived product quality and product type on the relationship between online celebrity brand loyalty and followers' purchase intention by manipulating the products to which participants respond.\nConclusions and discussion: Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: There is growing interest among marketers in advertising and promoting their brands by adopting an online celebrity endorsement strategy. However, how online celebrities build their own brand equity and how online celebrity brand equity impacts fans' purchase behavior have not been extensively researched in the extant literature. This paper aims to explore the factors that contribute to online celebrity branding and improving fans' purchase intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey and an experiment were conducted among consumers from the mainland of China. A total of 12 hypotheses were proposed to exam how self-congruity and virtual interactivity impact online celebrity branding and to explore the moderating role of perceived quality and product type.\nFindings: This paper reveals that customers' perceived self-congruity with online celebrities' image and virtual interactivity positively impact the brand equity of online celebrities. Additionally, compared with virtual interactivity, the effect of customer perceived self-congruity on a brand is more significant. The brand equity of online celebrities thereby drives followers' purchase intentions and the perceived quality of products positively moderates this relationship.\nOriginality/value: The research conclusions provide managerial implications for marketing practitioners for how to use human brands on social media platforms in the web 2.0 era and ultimately enhance consumer purchase intentions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Performance evaluation in a matrix organization: a case study (Part Two)	[ "Performance appraisal", "Matrix organizations", "Performance management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nCritical incidents at CAE: Part Two of this article will describe a real-time case study and examine performance evaluations in depth as they relate to this case analysis. As described previously, CAE is a world leader in providing simulation and modeling technologies and integrated training solutions for the civil aviation industry and defense forces around the globe. CAE employs both a functional and project matrix (as illustrated in Figure 1 from Part One of this article (Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 40 No. 5)). For each simulator, a project manager coordinates all of the tasks required in the construction and completion of a simulator. Determining the tasks normally falls under the responsibility of the different functional managers. While the project manager might interact and work closely with the engineers from the different functional department, he/she has limited authority with respect to the engineers. Their authority is normally controlled through the budget assigned to the different departments to the functional managers.CAE will also utilize a project based matrix, but only in specific cases. This will normally happen on higher complexity projects involving multiple departments. These projects normally last between 1 to 2 years. To ensure faster delivery of the project and proper evolution, development and completion, CAE will use a project matrix. The matrix will normally be administered by a project manager, and responsibilities and authority over the employees is shared between the functional manager and the project manager. Normally the development, budget and all other issues related to the project evolution is handled by the project manager. The functional manager is then left with the administrative, evaluative and employee development tasks for its employees who are part of the matrix organization.For a company such as CAE, a matrix organization helps bring their product to market faster than the alternative, however it can also result in issues between the project requirements and the product evolution. This can be pictured by the project manager's method of implementing requirements that may best be suited for his/her project and budget, when the functional manager might have taken a different approach when looking at his/her overall products. This can create conflict when the development is finally returned to the responsibility of the functional managers. Another issue is the fact that the project is a temporary assignment to the project personnel; this can result in a high amount of uncertainty with the employees who can not envision their future once the project is completed. This is also compounded by the fact that CAE normally reinvents itself and its organizational structure every few years, resulting in additional complications for employees in understanding who will ultimately be responsible for their new task assignment upon project completion in addition to evaluating their work and career progression. This is the dilemma and paradox in need of solutions.\nPerformance evaluations and appraisals: It goes beyond saying of what the value of a performance appraisal system is. It is system whereby employee's effort over the course of a period of time are recognized and reviewed.A successful performance measurement system (PMS) is a set of performance measures (i.e. a metric used to quantify the efficiency and effectiveness of action) that provides a company with useful information that helps to manage, control, plan and perform the activities undertaken in the company (Tangen, 2005).Some researchers suggest that it is important to link one's job description with the performance appraisal. Buford et al. (1988) suggest that this is a five step process:1. conduct a job analysis;2. write a job description;3. transfer task area and flag statement to appropriate instrument;4. establish appraisal policies and procedures; and5. train the raters.By clearly linking one's appraisal to the job description, a potentially dangerous pitfall is avoided: misaligned expectations with respect to performance. If one is being judged on a set of criteria of which he/she is not aware, a positive outcome would seem unlikely, as the employee's objectives and those of his employer are not the same leading to conflict, ineffectiveness and high probability failures for both parties. Once a need for an appraisal system is established, there are several methods from which to choose. Some of the most commonly used methods that need to be mentioned would be (Schweiger and Sumners, 1994):* open-ended, unstructured essay appraisals;* graphic or numeric rating scales;* ranking methods;* management by objectives; and* behaviorally anchored rating scales.According to Cascio (1991) there are basically two types of rating systems, absolute and relative (Roch et al., 2007; Cascio, 1991). The main difference between the two is the standard of comparison employed when rating an employee. Relative formats would consist, for example, of ranking people from best to worst. Other examples of a relative evaluation format would be paired comparison (essentially placing employees in groups of two, and selecting the better of the two) and forced distribution (placing employees into categories based on performance, limiting the number of employees allowed into each category). An absolute rating system would compare employees in a benchmarked type setting. Employees are essentially rated in relation to an absolute set of terms. Examples would be \"behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS), graphic rating scales (GRS), the weighted checklist (WC) and BOS\" (Roch et al., 2007).One of the pitfalls that must be avoided is holding an employee to a set of preconceived notions, evaluating him/her based on an impression rather than their performance. Thorndike (1920) established a name for this tendency in 1920: \"The Halo Effect\". He characterized this inclination as \"a tendency by the rater to think of the person in general as rather good or rather inferior and to color the judgment of the separate qualities by this general feeling\" (Jacobs and Kozlowski, 1985; Thorndike, 1920). Essentially, the reviewer needs to ensure that whatever general impression he/she has of an individual does not cloud his/her judgment on the actual performance as it relates to his responsibilities as an employee. As was described earlier, an inadequate performance evaluation can lead to failure on many levels with respect to the expected performance of the individual. It is for this reason that evaluations must be consequential and fair. This tendency can be minimized in employing a multiple rater system of evaluations (Edwards and Sproull, 1988).Both relative and absolute evaluation systems can employ a multiple rater system. A multi-rater feedback would be system whereby an employee is evaluated by not only his superiors, but as well by his peers in order to gain a better understanding and overall view of how his performance is interpreted by the organization as a whole rather than through the eyes of one individual. Clearly, the goal of the employee evaluation is to help maximize the potential of the employee. In order to do so, we need to ensure that the evaluations are fair. The advantage of employing a multi-rater system is that it allows the employee to receive feedback from several sources in establishing an overall view of his/her performance. This will allow us to avoid the pitfalls associated with a single reviewer, who may be biased (Edwards and Sproull, 1988).While a multi-rater system can be valuable and very effective, it must be employed correctly. Empirical research does no go far enough in describing the \"how to do\" but applied processes are valuable in describing \"what to do\". Susan Gebelein, senior vice president of profiles and development products at Personnel Decisions International, Minneapolis - a global human resources consulting firm - breaks down the process of implementing a successful multiple rater system into four phases. These have been proven effective but have not been tested further illuminating the gap that this article is attempting to close:1. Phase 1 - The groundwork:* clarify the company's strategies and goals;* define the scope of the multi-rater process;* plan the process;* order;* instrument design; and* frequency.1. Phase 2 - The Competency Model:* this phase defines the skill set necessary for the employees to carry out the company's objectives and goals.1. Phase 3: Implementation plans:* educating key players; and* determining your feedback strategy.1. Phase 4: Full implementation:* hold kick off meetings;* roll out the process;* focus on development; and* evaluate the multi-rate process (Gebelein, 1996).Another useful tool that can be employed in support of a multiple rating system would be the concept self appraisal performance evaluation. This could prove useful in determining an employees self assessment as it compares to the assessment of his peers and managers. According to the research conducted by Farh et al. (1988), some advantages of a self appraisal exercise could be:* A better understanding between raters and ratees with respect to the job itself, and the expectations with which it is associated.* An increased participation in the entire process by the employee who is being evaluated. It would present an opportunity to demonstrate his/her opinions with respect to the rating system and evaluation criteria.* A tendency towards less halo error.* Given the fact that the employee and those who are rating him/her occupy different roles, an appreciation can be established for the scope of the work as it would appear to all parties, creating a larger pool of data from which to assess.Latham and Wexley (1981) argue that ideally, a performance appraisal would combine the opinions from several sources in order to gain a realistic and accurate picture of an employee's performance, unhindered by biases and personal opinions. This method is consistent with the multiple rating systems. The research conducted by Farh et al. (1988) generally finds a congruency between self evaluations and the evaluations made by Chairpersons of faculty members in a University setting. Of note, however, is that the chairpersons were provided with the self evaluations prior to generating their own appraisals. This may have skewed the results somewhat. It is in this light of combining the \"best\" of these two systems that the matrix organization can be further examined for this article. The case under study at CAE will examine this issue more closely for analysis and explore the behaviors expected within a matrix employing appraisal tools.\nConclusion: In reviewing the critical incidents at CAE as they relate to our research, we can see that several parallels exist. However, there are several areas of concern, such as the commitment of the managers with respect to the priority they place on performance evaluations and their usefulness in developing human capital within the company. CAE managers needed to be reminded of the role that employee evaluations play, and the weight that their attitude will carry towards the success of any chosen employee evaluation strategy. Additionally, they were urged to consider standardizing functional and project management roles in evaluations. As well, given the success in a limited number of test cases, it would appear that a multi-rater system such as a 360 degree evaluation has shown signs of success at CAE, confirming the research.A multi-rater system can provide a matrix organization with reliable and consistent metrics with which to measure its employees, provided it is fair and objective. It will allow the organization, and specifically the managers, to understand employees' strengths and weaknesses as they are perceived by several sources. This can help provide valuable insight with respect to employee task assignment particularly in the complex matrix structure.. In this type of environment, the employee will understand clearly their areas for improvement, as well as their value within the organization as it is perceived by not only their superiors, but by their colleagues as well. The responsibility for the resulting evaluation and its consequences (positive or negative) can therefore be placed squarely on the shoulders of the employee in question, as the excuses that may exist in the case of a single evaluator (halo effect, lack of knowledge, etc.) may no longer be valid.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to examine and ultimately suggest the most effective method with which to evaluate employees operating within a matrix organization. Part Two aims to describe a real-time case study and examine performance evaluations in depth as they relate to this case analysis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This article consists of a comprehensive review of literature demonstrating functional areas within a matrix organization as well as employee evaluation methods within various organizations. It is presented in three sections: defining a matrix organization; demonstrating effective evaluation methods and strategies; and, finally, how the two should work together. Critical incidents are interspersed throughout the article in order to demonstrate how the research compares to the methods employed by a leading aviation engineering firm.\nFindings: - Ineffective evaluation methods within matrix organizations can lead to lower employee morale as well as an ambiguous understanding of employee roles within such an organization. Employee and management buy in and support of an evaluation system and its goals are crucial to the success of the program. The multi-rater system appeared to be most effective.\nPractical implications: - Several tools exist to help employers effectively evaluate their employees in a constructive and effective manner. Among them are clear job description and corporate structure, followed by a review of performance by both functional and project managers.\nOriginality/value: - Given the limited research with respect to evaluations within a matrix structure, this paper demonstrates an understanding of a subject that has not been adequately explored.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Measuring efficiencies of Bangladeshi and Indonesian microfinance institutions: A data envelopment analysis and latent growth curve modeling approach	[ "Efficiency", "DEA", "MFIs", "Independent t-test", "LGCM", "Mix market" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Microfinance institutions (MFIs) provide varieties of financial services to low-income earners who have no access to commercial banks' funding in the society (Servin et al., 2012). Similar to other MFIs from other part of the world, the financial services offered by the MFIs in Asia are mainly designed to fit the clients' expectations with the specifications to assist the low-income earners to actively involved in productive activities (Mokhtar et al., 2012). Arguably, the financial repression by the mainstream financial institutions has aggravated the incidence of financial exclusion of low-income earners who are considered as neither creditworthy nor bankable (Adewale, 2014). Apparently, MFIs have been very instrumental to assuage such financial exclusion by extending services, such as saving facilities, credit, and micro-insurance, to the low-income earners (Hassan et al., 2012; Ylinen, 2010). Moreover, MFIs also seek social wealth maximization as compared to traditional financial institutions that pursue economic wealth maximization (Hassan et al., 2012).\n2. Literature review: MFIs efficiency is the appropriate allocation of inputs resources to produce outputs. Kipesha (2013) argues that MFIs are not in focus in the past for three reasons. First, the focus of MFIs is on credit delivery which provides financial services to the poor in the society, where collateral is replaced with the accountability, mutual trust, participation, and creativity. Second, majority of the MFIs' projects are funded by the donors who measure the achievement of the projects through their social impact. Third, MFIs are ineffective when compared to traditional financial institutions due to their perceived underlying social philosophy as contrasted to the economic orientation of the latter. However, the need to assess the economic efficiency of different MFIs makes it possible to relatively compare the efficiency of firms that are sharing the same characteristics (Guerrero and Negrin, 2005). Moreover, according to Hassan et al. (2012), increase in technical efficiency of MFIs is crucial for the maximization of social wealth[1].\n3. Data and methodology: The present study focuses on Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs. We have chosen these countries because they are considered as giants in Asia from the perspective of MFIs (Helms, 2006). Also, they are both developing countries with several successful MFIs. The researchers investigate the efficiency of MFIs from these countries so as to ascertain their current situation. Our sample consists of 20 Bangladeshi and 11 Indonesian MFIs over a five-year period from 2007 to 2011 (155 observations). We have selected this time frame (2007-2011) since majority of MFIs, especially Indonesian MFIs, have not reported their data beyond this period. Thus, investigating the efficiency of Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs becomes possible using this time frame. The MFIs data are accessed from individual institutions as reported to microfinance information exchange, popularly known as mix market (www.mixmarket.org).\n4. Analysis: Following the discussions on how data are obtained and methods of analysis in the previous section, this section presents the estimated results in details. Descriptive statistics, DEA-based MPI, and LGCM are the main analyses presented by the researchers in this section. Additionally, independent t-test was used to compare the mean scores of Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs under the CRS, VRS, and SE; it has also been used to compare the mean scores of Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs under the technical efficiency change, technological change, pure technical efficiency change, SE change, and TFP change. Table II depicts descriptive statistics on the variables employed in DEA analysis including their average, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum values for the sample of 31 MFIs. The proxies used for output variables are gross loan portfolio and number of active borrowers, while that of input variables are total assets and operating expenses. All, except number of active borrowers, are in US$.\n5. Conclusion: This paper examines the technical efficiency of Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs over a five-year period, from 2007 to 2011. The researchers applied three statistical measures to investigate the efficiency of these MFIs. First, DEA-based MPI is used to examine the efficiency and productivity change of Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs across the period of the study. DEA result indicates that both Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs are approximately efficient under CRS, VRS, and scale; while Malmquist result reveals that Bangladeshi MFIs have improved in their management practices and Indonesian MFIs have improved in their optimum size. Second, we applied an independent t-test to determine whether DEA-based Malmquist efficiency scores of the Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs differ significantly. We find that Bangladeshi MFIs are significantly efficient in terms of performance and firm's size compared to Indonesian MFIs, but there is no significant difference in their efficiency with regard to technology. However, there is also no significant difference in the average scores of the Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs' productivity gains over the period of study.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure the technical efficiency and growth trajectory of Bangladeshi and Indonesian microfinance institutions (MFIs). The motivation for this study was derived from crucial roles that these institutions play in the socio-economic transformation of any nations, especially Bangladesh and Indonesia which are at least prominent in the Asian context in this regard. Rather than \"proving\" impact, research endeavors have shifted to focusing on \"improving\" the impact of MFIs, because the ability to improve their impact as socio-economic transformation platform may be hinged on their efficiency over time.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were obtained from MIX market database covering a five-year period from 2007 to 2011 for 20 Bangladeshi and 11 Indonesian MFIs. The data obtained were subjected to both efficiency and trajectory analysis using data envelopment analysis (DEA) based on Malmquist productivity index, independent t-test, and latent growth curve modeling (LGCM).\nFindings: Overall, DEA results indicate that both Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs are approximately efficient under constant returns to scale, variable returns to scale, and scale. There has been an improvement in the management practices of Bangladeshi MFIs, while Indonesian MFIs have increased in optimum size. Independent t-test result shows that Bangladeshi MFIs are significantly efficient in terms of performance and firm's size compared to Indonesian MFIs, but there is no significant difference in their efficiencies with regard to technology. The intercept and the slope of the regression weight in the estimated model using LGCM are not significantly different.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study measures technical efficiency and growth trajectory of Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs over a five-year period. However, future studies could explore this in greater depth by incorporating more data.\nPractical implications: The research findings have great implications for the Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs. Since this study is among the first of its kind, the researchers have paved ways for further investigation in this area. Moreover, the study encourages the Bangladeshi and Indonesian MFIs to be more concerned of their efficiencies.\nOriginality/value: This study measures technical efficiency and growth trajectory of the Bangladeshi and Indonesian (MFIs). These have never been examined together in this way before.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mary, Mary, quite contrary: In a male-dominated field, women contributed by bringing a touch of spirituality to early management theory and practice	[ "Mary Parker Follett", "Mary Barnett Gilson", "Spirituality", "Early management", "Management theory", "Women", "Men", "Management history" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The segregation of occupations by sex is substantial and has declined only slightly across the last century (Goldin, 1994). In an age of prevalent male dominance and pervasive female domesticity, however, some women beat the odds and left their mark on management, as well as the advancement of management ideology through their work.Octavia Hill (1838-1912) was an inventive English professional who succeeded in housing management through strict accounting practices and attention to the human element, both of which facilitated her operation(s) (Walker, 2006). She helped pioneer the movement of women out of the private sphere of home, family, and unpaid charity work, and demonstrated that women could be successful/effective in the social and management arenas (Morrell, 1998).Edith Penrose (1914-1996), an American Economist, enriched the field of strategic management through the development of the Theory of the Growth of the Firm, which also plays a historic role in the naissance of the resource-based view of the firm (Connell, 2008; Thompson and Wright, 2005). She was immortalized through the concept of the \"Penrosian firm,\" a rare feat for a woman's name to be so distinguished (Best and Humphries, 2003).Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972), dubbed the First Lady of both Engineering and Management (Greenwood et al., 1978), fused outlooks from the fields of organizational psychology and industrial engineering as she and her husband, Frank Gilbreth, focused on management efficiency techniques that further developed the initiatives of Frederick Taylor through research on time and motion study (Graham, 1997; Nelson, 1992). She too \"felt the rebuffs of being a woman in the man's world of the early twentieth century\" (Wren, 2005). Referring to her thesis on \"The psychology of management,\" publishers boldly stated that they \"could not put out a book on such a subject by a woman,\" and when it was finally accepted for publication, her name was presented as \"L.M. Gilbreth,\" failing to reveal that she was female (Wood and Wood, 2003).Mary Paley Marshall (1850-1944) was an economist like her husband, Alfred Marshall, but her contributions have been largely consigned to obscurity, eclipsed by her husband's prominence. Among her contributions were two publications, namely, The Economics of Industry (which she co-authored with her husband) and Principles of Economics. The former was allowed to go out of print despite its excellence and demand, because her husband disliked it. Additionally, she was never officially acclaimed for her work on the latter as her husband retained sole authorship (Cicarelli and Cicarelli, 2003).The aforementioned names represent a sample of the women that stamped their seal in history as cultivators and elevators of the field of management. This paper continues to reveal and pay homage to the female \"pilgrims\" in the management field by focusing on two other individuals who contributed to the management discipline. The emphasis, however, is placed on the \"spiritual\" outlook they brought to management.Spirituality and religiousness (religiosity) are often used synonymously. A distinction, however, does exist. Religion conveys connotations of institutional control and regulation (Masters, 2007). According to Koenig et al. (2001), however, spirituality is a broader, more inclusive term that can encompass virtually every positive human experience - love, hope, thankfulness, appreciation, harmony, peace, and comfort - whether or not it has any involvement with the transcendent or sacred. According to Badrinarayanan and Madhavaram (2008), workplace spirituality embraces values, finding meaning and purpose in work, connecting with other human beings (interconnectedness), and being part of a community. Bellingham et al. (1989) also provided a broad definition that included feelings of connectedness with self, community, nature, and the meaning and/or purpose of life. Similarly, Johnson (2007) defined spirituality in terms of three main aspects, namely, striving to find meaning and purpose in life and organizational work, striving for growth and development, and striving to establish connectedness and community at work so that individuals understand they are a part of something bigger than themselves.Relevant to spirituality in management, Fry (2003) defined spiritual leadership as comprising the values, attitudes, and behaviors that are necessary to intrinsically motivate oneself and others so that there is a sense of \"spiritual\" survival through calling (making a difference and feeling that life has meaning) and membership (being understood and appreciated). The author explained that there needs to be a vision wherein organizational members experience a sense of calling, and that a culture needs to be established based on altruistic love whereby leaders and followers have genuine care, concern, and appreciation for both self and others, thereby producing a sense of membership.Workplace spirituality also encompasses servant leadership, which acknowledges that leaders should serve their followers (Greenleaf, 1977). Kolodinsky et al. (2003) assert that servant leadership is an ideal type of leadership for embracing workplace spirituality, particularly since a main premise of this approach focuses on listening and understanding (i.e. listening to and understanding each individual worker's needs, values, desires, and issues).Workplace spirituality has received growing attention in the management/organization arena because it has been found to affect productivity, and at the same time, a work environment that more fully enriches the life of the employee (Johnson, 2007). Mitroff and Denton (1999) asserted that organizations that identify with spirituality have employees who are less fearful of their organizations, who perceive their organizations as significantly more profitable, and who report that they can bring more of their complete selves (specifically their creativity and intelligence) to work.In this paper, spirituality encompasses the aforementioned philosophies of purpose, opportunity for growth and development, and connectedness and integration, all of which embrace positivity and respect and concern for the human element, a refreshing touch added by the women discussed herein, after the inception of scientific management and its focus on systematicity and method. The paper illustrates how the ideas and work of Mary Parker Follett and Mary Barnett Gilson have contributed to management theory and practice while exuding an unprecedented consideration for issues that affected not just productivity, efficiency, and the financial \"bottom line,\" but also workers as human beings.Both Follett and Gilson demonstrated that they believed in the importance of spirituality in organizations. Follett (1924) stated that the divorce of spiritual life from daily activities is a fatal dualism, and that we are not to ignore our industry and commerce, and seek spiritual development elsewhere. In the same work, she revealed her interest in daily experience yielding larger and larger spiritual values by the integrity of the individual being one with social progress. Gilson (1940) indicated that spiritual value is absent unless employees behave in a manner that reflects industrial citizenship. Both women's philosophies concerning management reflected their spiritual credence as they endorsed practices that upheld the values of honor, fairness, cooperation, and consideration, to promote the growth and development of all workers, and of society in general.Other writers also recognize Follett's and Gilson's work as embracing spirituality, and having a significant impact on management theory and practice. Johnson (2007) acknowledged the current interest in spirituality at work, and explained that Follett's ideas anticipated these recent philosophies on workplace spirituality by arguing for work environments that allowed and fostered individuals living integrated, harmonious, holistic lives that embrace values (e.g. truth, trust, freedom, community, and justice), encourage growth and development, and create meaning. The author also pointed out that Follett's contributions go beyond the concepts on groups, leadership, conflict resolution, and human relations, as Follett saw \"relating\" as a means to achieving spirituality in individuals, the workplace, and in other realms of society. Adler (2003) credited Gilson for introducing measures both at work and outside work that were designed to promote the mental, moral, and spiritual advancement of workers. These measures embraced understanding and cooperation, and were founded on principles of impartiality, integration, and concern for employees.Themes relating to fairness, uprightness, unity, order, respect, inclusion, thoughtfulness, and recognition of a higher power pervade their work, thus reflecting a need for triumph of right over wrong, and good over evil. Therefore, as these two women campaigned for progress in the field of management, they embraced spirituality as their perspectives embodied a more elevated plane.This paper, then, contributes to knowledge in the field of management history, not only by heralding the women who have played important roles in the development of the field, but also by viewing their contributions through a different looking glass (perspective), namely, spirituality. The male figures of management authority have been constantly recognized (e.g. Frederick Taylor, Kurt Lewin, Elton Mayo, Abraham Maslow, etc.), but the female \"laborers\" that have helped to cultivate the field have received much less attention. This paper aims to address this issue by focusing on the women's contributions, and to make a concerted effort to restore some balance to the scale. Additionally, the paper selects a novel angle from which to frame the contributions of these heroines of management. Indeed, spirituality in the workplace is a departure from the more traditional business mentality (Cash and Gray, 2000). The review process commenced with a comprehensive search of management books and journals, for women in management history who validated spirituality in the workplace. The search revealed that Follett and Gilson were both advocates of workplace spirituality and both campaigned for management/organizational practices that upheld spiritual value(s). Subsequently, published works by these women were also reviewed. Thus, the main sources through which this undertaking was achieved include management and history journals, management books, and academy annals.\nContributions of Mary Parker Follett: Mary Parker Follett was an American whose beginnings encompassed social work. As time elapsed, however, her interests and concerns embraced management ideas. She promoted the human element in management as being as crucial as the scientific aspect, and she advocated the importance of key concepts such as creativity in groups, organizational conflict and conflict resolution, and relationships between management and employees.Leadership fundamentals\nContributions of Mary Barnett Gilson: Mary Barnett Gilson was a pioneer in personnel management, with her work being instrumental in the early development of the field (Wrege and Greenwood, 1982). Gilson recognized that scientific management, although useful, would be better served by an emphasis on employee growth. She asserted that workers are men and women with potentialities for mental and spiritual development (Gilson, 1940), and she believed that focusing on one aspect and ignoring the whole picture would bear adverse effects. She and Richard Feiss, the Manager of the \"Clothcraft Shops of the Joseph and Feiss Company,\" where she worked as personnel manager, understood that employees should be appropriate, not just for their position, but also for their organization, so that they could be in harmony with the spirit or character of the organization (Feiss, 1916). In this way, they would be most beneficial to an organization and themselves. Therefore, she developed methods to determine employee \"fitness\" (Wrege and Greenwood, 1982). This paper expands on two of her methods that especially embraced the idea of a higher or spiritual level of handling affairs in the workplace, as treatment of employees was extended and elevated past the short-term concern for production to a concern for employee development.Employee participation in decision making\nConclusion: Follett's and Gilson's similarity lay in their sizable contribution to management and management thought, in spite of the odds, as well as their philosophies, which caused their input to be quite unique, in terms of the intrinsic spiritual twist. Spirituality is increasingly being acknowledged as possessing organizational value. Mitroff and Denton (1999) explained that spirituality is beneficial to both individuals and organizations as it is associated with employees who are confident and unafraid to be more authentic in the workplace and uncompromising in their principles. Johnson (2007) affirmed that organizations that embrace spirituality enhance individuals and foster their ability to make contributions that help organizations compete.Hence, Follett and Gilson, by being receptive of (responsive to) their virtuous insight despite its contrariness to the credence of the day, initiated an understanding that significantly impacted management theory and practice. Their perceptive revelations also led to changing mindsets and actions that influenced the wellbeing of organizations, as well as their employees. An underlying theme of spirituality is the breath of new life into endeavors, the re-creation of individuals and groups, and the restoration of hope (Korac-Kakabadse et al., 2002). Follett's outlook on democracy and Gilson's views on participation and equality incorporate freedom. The latter is important for innovativeness and successful co-creating, which in turn leads to meaning and growth, which are undeniably a source of hope. Follett's views on conflict and human relations embrace harmony, which reflects connectedness, and can play a role in bringing new life to endeavors as individuals work together in organizations.Korac-Kakabadse et al. (2002) also state that spiritual leadership is interested in moral and social reform, basic values such as humanity, deep love, individual integrity, and social harmony. Follett's leadership fundamentals and her perspective on ethics, as well as Gilson's approach with home visits and employee counseling, embrace values such as courage, unity, imagination, honor, trust, and consideration, which align with Korac-Kakabadse et al.'s (2002) values, and are all essential for growth and development, and the accomplishment of reform. Their philosophies championed meaning, purpose, and fulfillment by advocating rights and values; growth and development through concern and empowerment; and connectedness and community through integration and inclusion.From a historical viewpoint, further research should be conducted to uncover other worthy female contributors. Their work deserves to be acknowledged, and the academic and \"practicing\" public deserves the opportunity to learn from their wisdom. From an empirical viewpoint, studies should be conducted to test and validate the theories/philosophies of these women. In terms of practice, organizations would benefit from incorporating the values endorsed by these women in daily work life to achieve the best results from their employees.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to depict the pivotal roles played by Mary Parker Follett and Mary Barnett Gilson, as they uniquely contributed to early management thought, theory, and practice through \"spirituality\" despite the chauvinism of their day.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Synthesizing articles from history journals, writings about the figures of interest, annals, published works by the figures themselves, and other resources; this paper illustrates how the input of Follett and Gilson made distinctive and valuable contributions to the management field.\nFindings: - This research concludes that Follett and Gilson, although from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, when men were dominant in any arena relating to management, were responsive to their \"spiritual\" insight despite its contrariness to the credence of their day. Consequently, they initiated an understanding that significantly impacted management theory and practice. Their perceptive revelations also led to changing mindsets and actions that influenced the wellbeing of organizations, as well as their employees.\nOriginality/value: - During this era, although not widely publicized, the \"weaker\" sex did make its mark. This is the first paper to examine, from a \"spiritual\" viewpoint, the contributions of these members of the \"weaker\" sex to management history.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Another failed M&A: misaligned business models as culprit	[ "Business model", "SME", "Failure", "Acquisition", "Practitioners", "Key factors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Under the pressure of a changing environment, managers are compelled to design and renew their business models (BMs), and although conceptual and empirical works on this subject have greatly increased, there are still a limited number of works for practitioners to use. Consequently, scholars' research has not had the positive impact on business that it should.\n2. Conceptual, empirical, practical and management-oriented literature: Conceptual studies have focused on searching for a typology of constants (fitting any type of industry with any size firm); empirical works have reviewed unique cases (BMs in the context of specific firms); and practical works have endeavored to assist firms in successfully implementing their BM and measuring results.\n3. Learning from the failure of an acquisition: A company we called Ventilair (VA), was founded in 1930 and produces and distributes building ventilation products. VA employs about 1,500 people in 10 countries and generates EUR220m in income. A second company, established in 2006, that we call Domestic Heating (DH) (also to respect confidentiality) manufactures and sells heat pumps. DH employs 70 people and generates EUR20m in income. In 2008, the ventilation market was slowing down (a consequence of the sub-prime crisis), and the heat pump market was growing fast (+30 per cent a year, boosted by various political incentives). In our study of this acquisition, we take a closer look at the companies and their respective BMs.\n4. Recommendations related to BM constants during an acquisition: 4.1 Recommendations related to customer analysis\n5. Conclusion: Our study complements the existing literature on BMs and focuses on the failures of an acquisition of an SME. Based on the existing literature, we focused on four BM constants that managers should consider. In light of a single case, we have made recommendations concerning the factors that managers should take into consideration in the process of aligning the BMs of two organizations involved in an acquisition.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Literature on business models (BMs) has grown ve\nDesign/methodology/approach: Looking through the lens of the four BM constants, the aim of this study is to examine the case of the acquisition Domestic Heating (an SME) by Ventilair (an MNE).\nFindings: Although both separate entities were achieving good results and each had a specific BM, the acquisition produced poor results mainly due to the misalignment of the two BMs. The findings lead the authors to make recommendations to practitioners on avoiding BM misalignment during an acquisition.\nOriginality/value: The authors encourage practitioners to enhance communication, promote organizational experiments, acknowledge specificities of both entities, foster employee commitment and ensure homogeneity in IT system usage.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A process model of brand cocreation: brand management and research implications	[ "Brands", "Brand management", "Consumer behaviour", "Marketing communications", "Product development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: According to Kotler and Armstrong (1997, p. 62) brand managers \"plan long-term brand strategy and watch over their brand's profits. Working closely with advertising agencies they create national advertising campaigns to build market share and long term consumer brand loyalty\". If this is the case then the efficacy of many brand managers must surely be open to question for two reasons. First, brand loyalty can no longer be taken for granted and second, it is well known that many new brands fail. Researchers estimate that some 75 to 85 percent of new brands launched on the market fail (Kohli, 1997; Murphy, 1998). Furthermore, when they do fail it is often not possible \"to ascertain with any certainty the reasons for the success or failure of a brand\" (Murphy, 1998). Recently Brown et al. (2003) have suggested that part of the problem may be that businesses often perceive the creation of strong brands as \"a passive or reactive result of marketing intervention\" by brand managers on consumers (Brown et al., 2003, p. 30). However, an increasing body of research suggests this may not be the case; that strong brands are built up through a cocreation process involving a number of players, especially the brand managers and the brands' consumers (Sherry, 1998; Brown et al., 2003, Coupland et al., 2005). In 1998 Sherry (1998, p. 138) pointed out that the Nike brand derived \"from an act of cocreation transacted by the firm's stakeholders\" whilst in 2005 Coupland et al. (2005, p. 107) commented that recent studies demonstrate that \"the consumer is an active partner with the marketer in brand-meaning formation\". Thus, as Brown et al. (2003, p. 30) note \"the brand is a milieu where marketing management and consumer commitment co-exist\". Lack of understanding by companies of the \"complex, heterogeneous and experiential\" nature of brands often impedes their effective development (Brown et al., 2003, p. 30). Specifically, brand managers may not appreciate the different roles that they and the consumers play in the process.This paper aims to alleviate this problem by building a process model of brand cocreation based on a synthesis of recent literature in the areas of both brand management and consumer behaviour. It is the premise of this paper that, despite the complexity of brands and their development, a common underlying cocreation process for successful brands can be identified. The paper begins with an explanation of the nature of brands and their key assets before moving on to consider in more detail the various stages that have been identified in the cocreation process. It then considers the implications of the model for the role of brand managers as well as some issues requiring further research.\nThe nature of brands: The process of branding originated as a means by which a firm could differentiate its goods or services (hereafter referred to as products or items) from those of its competitors (Cowley, 1991). Initially, branding acted as a promise of consistency and quality for consumers (Aaker, 1996). Now, however, brands are renowned for offering consumers a unique set of perceived benefits not found in other products (Randall, 1997). These perceived benefits potentially both simplify consumers' purchase decision making and provide a basis for customer loyalty (Riley and De Chernatony, 2000).According to De Chernatony and McDonald (1992) products that \"match their (consumers') needs most closely\" become brands. It is the perceived unique benefits that brands offer consumers that give them their value adding potential and enable them \"to sustain a price premium over their commodity form\" (De Chernatony and McDonald, 1992). The added value that firms derive from building and owning brands is known as brand equity (Aaker, 1996). Brand equity has been defined as \"a set of assets (and liabilities) linked to a brand's name and symbol that adds to (or subtracts from) the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or that firm's customers\" (Aaker, 1996, pp. 7-8).Aaker (1996) contends that there are four key brand assets from which brand equity is derived. These provide the stepping stones for understanding the brand cocreation process. The four brand assets that Aaker (1996) lists are: the perceived quality of the brand, brand awareness, brand loyalty and brand associations. These assets are largely self-explanatory apart from that of brand associations. Brand associations may be defined broadly as anything that reminds a person of the brand (Aaker, 1996). They are the impressions and images that consumers have of a brand. They provide the basis on which consumers evaluate the brand in relation to the price being charged for it. Academics have endeavoured to explore the nature of brand associations focussing on such factors as brand identity (Aaker, 1996), personality (Aaker, 1997; Caprara et al., 2001), country of origin (Thakor, 1996) culture of origin, (Lim and O'Cass, 2001), aura (Brown et al., 2003) essence and values (Andrew, 1998, Kelly, 1998). Such is the significance of brand associations in explaining the success of brands that it has been argued that \"effectively, a brand is nothing more than a network of associations in the consumer's mind\" (Andrew, 1998).Brand associations are derived by consumers from two key sources. On the one hand, prior to consumption communications about the brand from both the brand managers and elsewhere provide the main source of brand associations. These brand associations typically act as motivators to consumers to purchase. On the other hand, the consumption of a brand can result in a consumer developing a new set of brand associations. It is these associations that will determine whether a consumer repurchases the item or not. Thus, not only are these two sources of brand associations activated at different stages in the product purchasing and consumption process, but also consumer engagement in these processes can cause the associations to change. For example, a consumer may, on the basis of communicated information, initially associate a new food product with a sweet, creamy, delicious taste. However, when consumed the item may seem unpleasant and bitter tasting; thus becoming associated in that person's mind with something bitter and unpleasant. These two types of brand associations need to be clearly differentiated in order to understand the brand cocreation process.The difference between pre- and post-consumption brand associations can be elucidated further by comparing the concepts to those of informational and descriptive beliefs as identified by Fishbein and Azjen (1975). Fishbein and Azjen (1975) contend that an individual's beliefs are derived from three sources. These are:1. direct experience on the basis of which descriptive beliefs are formed;2. information provided by others, on the basis of which informational beliefs are formed; and3. on the basis of inference on the basis of which inferential beliefs are formed.Informational beliefs are akin to pre-consumption brand associations because they are largely created in the minds of consumers through the firm's marketing communications as well as other externally generated information about the brand whilst descriptive beliefs are akin to post consumption brand associations resulting from information provided by the consumption experience (Coye, 2004).This suggests that there are five rather than four key brand assets. Assuming that each of these assets is formed at a different stage in the brand cocreation process five stages can be identified as follows:1. The development of a new product with unique perceived product attributes.2. The creation of brand awareness through marketing and other communications.3. Consumer interpretation of marketing and other communications to form pre consumption brand associations.4. Consumption of the product and the formation of post-consumption associations.5. Repurchase and the intensifying perception of unique benefits leading to brand loyalty.A key feature of this model is the way in which control of the brand cocreation process moves out of the hands of the company into those of the consumers after the first two stages (see Figure 1).Furthermore, although each stage in the process is separate and distinct from each of the others, the value adding potential of the brand asset deriving from each stage is dependent on the success of all those preceding it. Thus, for example, the value adding potential of brand awareness is dependent on the perceived unique benefits of the product concerned and brand loyalty is dependent on the formation of positive post-consumption brand associations. To facilitate better understanding of the brand cocreation process each of the stages identified above is now considered in more detail.1. Developing a new product with perceived unique quality\nImplications for brand managers: This analysis of the process model of brand cocreation highlights the flaw in the traditional view that the task of brand management is to build brand loyalty through big budget advertising campaigns. There is, at best, only a tenuous link between the activities of brand managers and the creation of brand loyalty. In the cocreation process brand loyalty is dependent on the effects of consumption on consumers' descriptive beliefs and brand associations. Advertising which is a key aspect of the brand manager's role cannot build brand loyalty; it can only create informational beliefs and pre-consumption associations and, while these may play a part in customers' initial brand purchase decisions, they are not a major influence on the repurchase decision. In the light of this self-evident truth the role of brand managers needs to be reassessed.Brand management could be enhanced through involvement in such activities as new product development, exploring alternative modes of marketing communications, building customer relationships and ensuring equity between brand price and consumer value. Each of these is considered in turn.New product development\nResearch implications: A number of issues ripe for further research have become evident as a result of the development of this process model of brand cocreation. Three are of particular significance. First, by differentiating pre-consumption and post-consumption brand associations this paper has highlighted the need for further research to be carried out into the relationship between them and into ways of ensuring consistency between them. There is some evidence to suggest that expectancy theory and the successful management of expectations may be particularly pertinent here (Kotler and Armstrong, 1997; Coye, 2004).A second area ripe for research is that of consumer value, its sources and the weighting of various interpretive frameworks. While Cunnell and Prentice (2000) have begun the process by drawing attention to the existence of at least three different interpretive frameworks for evaluating consumer value there may be others. For example, a factor such as companionship may be a key source of consumer value in certain circumstances.Again, there is still much research to be carried out into consumers' evaluations of such aspects of brands as their authenticity, reputation, honesty and trust.A third and final area of research suggested by the foregoing study relates to the balance of power that exists between the company and the consumers for well-established brands. Essentially the question is: do consumers have the same level of control over brand loyalty and equity for well-established brands or does it revert to the company? Put another way: are the processes of brand cocreation and brand maintenance essentially the same or are they significantly different? Recent research by relationship marketers such as Verhoef (2003) suggests that they may be different. He found that building market share, which is akin to brand cocreation, does not require the same marketing techniques as customer retention, the equivalent of maintaining brand loyalty. Thus, it might well be that maintaining a well-established brand is more dependent on the activities of brand managers than brand cocreation. Certainly experts in the area of emotional branding (Gobe, 2001), experiential branding (Schmitt, 1999), relationship marketing (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) and cultural branding (Holt, 2004) all espouse this view. However, the evident disparity in opinion about the most effective means of sustaining loyalty in established brands highlighted by these different viewpoints clearly suggests there is a need for much more research in the area.\nConclusions: Over the past quarter of a century brand cocreation has become an increasingly accepted concept with researchers uncovering increasing evidence that consumers play a particularly significant role in the process. This process model of brand cocreation has been developed from extant literature in an effort to clarify the various roles of the different parties in the process. By developing the model not only have inconsistencies in the way in which brand management has traditionally been interpreted become apparent, but so too have a number of gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the relationships between both the various factors comprising brands and the stages in their cocreation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - In light of the increasing acceptance of the concept of brand cocreation this paper aims to develop a model of the process in order to elucidate the roles of the various stakeholders, particularly the company and the brand consumers, in it and the implications of the concept for brand managers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The process model of brand cocreation was derived from extant literature covering a wide range of topics related to brands, including: various types of marketing, consumer behaviour, psychology, new product development, and marketing communications.\nFindings: - A five-stage process of brand cocreation is developed identifying the various stages in which the firm is in control and those which are controlled by the consumers.\nPractical implications: - The paper highlights the need to reconsider the role of brand managers in the brand cocreation process and identifies various gaps in the knowledge of brands and their management that have become apparent as a result of the development of the model.\nOriginality/value: - The value of this paper lies in its holistic overview of the complete brand cocreation process and the issues relating to the nature of brand management that it highlights.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Flash flood disasters in Uttarakhand	[ "Natural disasters", "Floods", "India", "Risk management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Flash flooding has become the convective storm-related event annually producing the most fatalities. Whereas the system for reducing casualties from cyclones and floods, including not only forecasts and warnings, but also public preparedness, has improved steadily since the 1990s and continues to improve, the comparable system for flash floods has experienced less progress. A major challenge associated with flash flooding is the quantitative character of the forecast: the task is not just to forecast the occurrence of an event, which is difficult enough by itself, but also to anticipate the magnitude of the event. It is the amount of the precipitation that transforms an otherwise ordinary rainfall into an extraordinary, life-threatening situation. This challenge is exacerbated by the interaction of the meteorology with hydrology. A given rainfall event's chances to produce a flash flood are dramatically affected by such factors as antecedent precipitation, the size of the drainage basin, the topography of the basin, the amount of urban use within the basin, and so on. Thus, a flash flood event is the concatenation of a meteorological event with a particular hydrological situation.\nCauses of flash floods: 1. Cloudburst - a major cause of flash floods in Uttarakhand:* heavy rainfall within a mall time duration;* causes sudden rise in the discharge of seasonal streams;* channel of these streams is not able to cope with the discharge;* channel overflow causes damage;* the channel is often choked by debris at the slope break;* this causes stream diversion; and* it takes the people at relatively safer places by surprise.2. Breach of landslide dams:* landslides often dam the streams and rivers;* breach of landslide dams causes flash floods in the downstream areas; and* 12 cases of the breach of landslide dams recorded in India between 1941 and 1979 - Mandakini blockades, 1857; Alaknanda blockade, 1868; Birahi disaster in Alaknanda valley, 1894; Alaknanda disaster, 1970; Madhyamaheshwar blockade, 1998.3. Breach of/sudden discharge from artificial reservoirs.4. Breach of glacial lakes (GLOF) (see Table II).5. Slides into the reservoir.6. Sudden melting of glaciers.\nAreas affected by flash flood in Uttarakhand: * Generally narrow valley bottoms but high discharge can affect even the larger wide valleys as well.* Alluvial fan areas in hills.* Lesser or Inner Himalaya mostly affected but Outer Himalaya also witnesses the fury of flash floods.\nFlash flood mechanism: * Heavy rainfall within small time duration.* Causes sudden rise in the discharge of seasonal streams.* Channel of these streams is not able to cope up with the discharge.* Channel overflow causes damage.\nMitigating flash flood impact: 1. Identifying areas prone to flash floods.2. Active flood plain and alluvial fan mapping.3. Carry out studies pertaining to recurrence interval of flash floods using instrumental and geomorphological methods.4. Identifying structures likely to be hit by flash floods.5. Relocating structures/establishments away from impact zone of flash floods.6. Legislation banning encroachments into the active flood plain/alluvial fan impact zone.7. Holistic flood management:* Pre-flood preparedness:- construction of physical flood defense infrastructure legislation;- investment in research and development;- control of development within flood plains;- source control and infiltration and storage/ retardation measures;- land use planning and management;- building codes, including flood proofing;- implementation of flood forecasting and warning systems;- public awareness and education on flood risk and emergency actions; and- insurance.* Operations during floods:- detecting the likelihood of a flood;- deciding on the operation of reservoir and retention areas;- forecasting river flows and probable areas to be inundated;- issuing warnings to the appropriate authorities and the public;- evacuation of people and animals;- emergency rescue;- emergency protection of embankments from breaching and overtopping; and- strengthening of defenses.* Post-flood response:- relief measures for those immediately affected;- reconstruction of flood defenses and damaged buildings;- recovery and regeneration activities in the flooded area; and- review of flood management activities.\nConclusion: The most pressing problem facing Uttarakhand today is cloud burst causing flash floods. As the population grows and habitation expands, flash flood disasters increase. Even disasters resulting from sudden natural hazards such as flash flood, may be partly attributable to man e.g. when building unsafe settlements close to hazardous areas.Everyday there are new reports about different areas being stricken by cloud burst and flash flood. This is likely to continue and become worse - unless we change our policies and actions on environment and development. It is high time that we ought to have a far-reaching and innovative strategy to counter the threats of such disasters.In a Himalayan State of India like Uttarakhand we still do not have sustainable human settlements and adequate shelter for all, the two themes of global importance. We still lack planning in many areas of specific action. One of these areas is the reduction of vulnerability of communities at risk from the threats of nature as well as ill-conceived development.It is not possible to stop cloud burst/flash flood occurrence but by taking certain positive steps we can greatly reduce their impact. Cloud burst/flash flood result in the loss of property, life and psyche of the people and ultimately hinder the pace of development. If disasters cannot be averted, then reduction of disaster-induced losses becomes the focal point of the policy for disaster management. We have therefore to devise a disaster management mechanism that ensures reduced disaster impact apart from taking action for rapid and effective rescue, relief and rehabilitation for the disaster victims.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Up to now most of the research into flash flood disaster has examined scientific aspects of this natural phenomenon. This paper aims to focus on the flash flood disaster scenario of Uttarakhand, a newly created Himalayan State in India, on the basis of their severity and mechanism so that management efforts can be mounted by the disaster managers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Besides compiling the hazard- and risk-related work done by the various research institutions and universities the paper attempts to understand the mechanism responsible for this natural hazard.\nFindings: - Uttrakhand is a state highly prone to disasters. Flash floods are disasters that are seasonal in nature and strike during a certain period of the year in certain pockets of the state with high frequency.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The analysis is based on observations made in the entire state.\nPractical implications: - Awareness amongst the masses regarding the flash flood disaster that is likely to affect them and their life support strategy is a must for bringing forth voluntary adoption of the safety norms.\nOriginality/value: - Armed with the information about the hazards and their spatial distribution, the disaster managers in Uttarakhand may undertake certain preventive and mitigative measures for further strengthening and streamlining the Disaster Management System in the state and pave the way for similar activities in other states of India.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Can hospital dashboards provide visibility of information from bedside to board? A case study approach	[ "Healthcare", "Key performance indicators", "Dashboards", "Visibility of information" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Amongst the challenges, which hospitals in Europe are currently facing, are the phenomena of aging populations and the related rise in chronic non-communicable diseases. These are leading to an increase in demand for traditional and developing medical services. At the same time, patients want to experience better quality of healthcare delivery. This increase in patients' needs together with higher expectations is causing financial strains on European healthcare systems that need to achieve optimal performance so as to ensure long-term resilience and sustainability (von Eiff, 2012).\nBackground: Similar to other European hospitals, Malta's acute general hospital is currently facing many challenges, such as changes in demographics where the population is living longer and making use of more medical services. This has led to a rise in demand for healthcare services, and the average cost of illness is significantly increasing per capita in older age categories. Furthermore, patients' expectations for better quality of service delivery are continuously on the rise (Pricewaterhousecoopers, 2012).\nTheoretical framework: In the same way that a pilot uses the display of indicators in the cockpit to monitor and navigate a plane, dashboards provide relevant information to users to steer an organisation (Joint Commission Resources, 2008). Performance dashboards summarise the wealth of strategic information that many organisations possess in a meaningful and intuitive manner utilising data to allocate scarce resources and steer organisational change towards the organisation's strategies and objectives (Wadsworth et al., 2009).\nMethod: For the purpose of the study, we will mainly adopt the definitions by Few (2006), and Yigitbasioglu and Velcu's (2012) on dashboards. However, these definitions seem to imply management as sole users of dashboards. We propose that dashboards should also be utilised by clinicians to assist in their decision-making by providing relevant and timely information necessary to ensure optimal quality of patient care (Dowding et al., 2015).\nFindings: The data collected in this study were organised into three main themes, which were then further subdivided into categories:\nDiscussion: This discussion is divided into three different headings according to the objectives of the study.\nStudy limitations: Although the study has several strengths and various strategies were used to ensure rigour, nevertheless, this study has limitations.\nImplications and recommendations: The implications and recommendations of this study are geared towards enhancing the performance and quality of care of acute general hospital by designing and implementing performance dashboards. The first recommendation is that performance should not only be measured on the basis of time, metrics should be balanced and present a holistic view by including other aspects of quality of care, such as patient safety, patient experience and effectiveness of treatment (Mason, 2011; Mason et al., 2012; Weber et al., 2012).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse hospital dashboards' visibility of information at different management levels to improve quality and performance in an acute general hospital.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were generated via 21 semi-structured interviews across different management levels.\nFindings: All management levels had greater visibility of information, could make informed decisions, and registered performance improvement. Specifically, waiting time improved, however since introduction of hospital dashboards was work-in-progress at time of study, managers could not record improvement in terms of cost reductions, clinical effectiveness, patient safety and patient satisfaction. Different managerial levels had different visibility with top management having the greatest.\nResearch limitations/implications: In single case studies, where only one context is used, the findings cannot be reproduced in different contexts; even though most of the results could be matched with the current literature.\nPractical implications: The need to have balanced key performance indicators that take into account other facets of improvements, apart from time, has been emphasised. Furthermore, if middle and departmental managers have greater visibility, this would allow them to work towards a strategic fit between the departments that they manage with the rest of the hospital.\nOriginality/value: There is scant literature regarding performance dashboards' enhancement of visibility of information at different management levels. Furthermore, according to the authors' knowledge, no other paper has tried to identify and discuss the different levels of information, which should be visible from bedside to board namely to management, clinicians and public.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Anxiety attachment and avoidance attachment: antecedents to self-gifting	[ "Anxiety", "Retailing", "PLS-SEM", "Avoidance", "Self-gifting", "Insecure attachment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nAttachment anxiety and attachment avoidance: antecedents to self-gifting: Self-gifting is a popular consumption activity with 70 per cent of consumers saying they splurge on themselves (National Retail Federation, 2017). Self-gifting represents an opportunity for retailers to attract consumers who possess a desire to purchase themselves a gift as a reward or as a therapeutic affective remedy (Heath et al., 2011; Mick and DeMoss, 1990a, 1990b). For example, Alibaba, an online retailer in China, achieved record sales of $30.8bn in a 24-h period during Single's Day, a holiday for single individuals to celebrate their solitary (The Wall Street Journal, 2018). With the rise and prevalence of self-gifting consumption, there is an opportunity to better understand what causes self-gifting purchases. The purpose of this research is to conceptualize and empirically test a model that examines if insecure attachments are a predictor of self-gifting behavior.\nTheoretical background: Attachment theory and self-concept\nHypothesis development: Self-gifting\nAnxious attachment and self-gifting: Insecure attachments bring about an internal void which impacts relationships from childhood into adulthood (Bowlby, 1977). Both insecure anxious and avoidant styles lack healthy and satisfying relationships. Bad experiences lead to beliefs about self and others \"and these beliefs in turn affect behavior and relationship outcomes\" (Hazan and Shaver, 1987, p. 521). An anxious attachment is caused by the delayed responsiveness of an attachment figure, which leads to a self-concept of incompetence, insecurity and inability to keep close relationships (Collins, 1996; DiTommaso et al., 2015). Anxiously attached individuals constantly feel rejection from others and question their self-worth (Collins, 1996; DiTommaso et al., 2015). Anxious styles tend to generalize \"global feelings of unlovability and pessimistic expectations about being accepted, understood, and cared by others, which in turn may negatively bias cognitions and feelings during interpersonal interactions and result in self-exasperating cycles of frustration, pain, and loneliness\" (Mikulincer and Shaver, 2013, p. 43). We propose that this negative cycle will create an opportunity for self-gifting for personal disappointment because the anxious style often feels unsatisfied and disappointed within relationships (Mikulincer and Shaver, 2013).\nAvoidant attachment and self-gifting: Avoidant attachment styles take a defensive approach to avoid relationships with others. They overstate their personal strengths and capabilities to project self-reliance and independence. Consequently, this inner-validated, outer-directed appraisal of self-sufficiency makes them more apt to self-gift for reasons linked both to therapy and reward as direct results of having few close relationships (Hazan and Shaver, 1987). Avoidant styles live with more loneliness since \"a close relationship partner can reveal and articulate the avoidant person's imperfections, weaknesses, and flaws and therefore endanger his or her defensive shield\" (Mikulincer and Shaver, 2013, p. 43). They have become rather accustomed to the experience of rejection since earlier in life, such that they have taken to self-reliance in response (Bowlby, 1977). An avoidant attachment is brought on by the inattention by the attachment figure (Bowlby, 1984) and leads to lack of trust of others, fear of intimacy, and standoffish behavior in interpersonal relationships (DiTommaso et al., 2015; Hazan and Shaver, 1987). Avoidant styles prefer to work alone and use work as an excuse for not having time for interpersonal relationships (Hazan and Shaver, 1990). Additionally, they are reluctant \"...to finish projects, to take vacations (all nonsocial manifestations of avoidance)\" (Hazan and Shaver, 1990, p. 272). These inner tendencies put the avoidant individual in a situation where he or she is lacking people to buy gifts for him or her. With the perception of having no one else in his or life, avoidance styles are lonely, and we propose these lonely feelings will make the avoidant more likely to self-gift for personal disappointment. Additionally, because avoidant styles are by themselves, they will most likely not have people in their life to celebrate in their successes and therefore, avoidant styles will be more likely to self-gift for reward reasons. The foregoing discussion leads to the following hypotheses:\nMethodology: Sample\nDiscussion: This research study makes several key contributions. First, it provided a theoretical connection between self-gifting and insecure attachment, thus identifying a new antecedent to self-gifting. Prior work on self-gifting has focused almost exclusively on the act itself and offered little insight regarding the theoretical underpinnings to explain what might precipitate self-gifting behavior. Our study examined anxiety attachment and found that it led to self-gifting for both coping with personal disappointment (H1a) and reward oneself (H1b), with the link self-gifting for personal disappointment being comparatively stronger. Similarly and as predicted, it was found discovered that avoidance attachment was associated with self-gifting for both coping with personal disappointment (H2a) and rewarding oneself (H2b). Overall, the findings suggest that individuals with greater insecure attachment are, and can be, inclined towards self-gifting. Because attachment is a multidimensional signifier of self-extension (Kleine et al., 1995), the findings suggest self-gifting will reflect the state of self. Given that insecure attachments cause emotional tendencies throughout adulthood, our results show that individuals use the purchase of self-gifts as a coping mechanism. This discovery is in line with other studies that suggest that people shop for compensatory reasons (Koles et al., 2018; Rosenbaum, 2006; Tauber, 1972; Whelan et al., 2016). Second, our study helps uncovers a more nuanced interpretation of self-concept which is missing in consumer behavior research (Gonzalez-Jimenez, 2017), especially as related to self-gifting. Third, traditionally, the self-gifting literature has contributions from a few authors (Heath et al., 2015), we broaden the contributions to the literature with our study. Fourth, we add novelty to the literature by connecting a new antecedent (insecure attachments) to self-gifting thus extending the self into self-gifting and thereby contributing to calls for more research on the role of self in self-gifting (Heath et al., 2015; Weisfeld-Spolter et al., 2015). Fifth, we contribute to calls to enhance the understanding of the motivations for self-gifting (David Clarke and Mortimer, 2013) by suggesting one's attachment state from how they were brought up as children impacts self-gifting behavior. Finally, by using individual measures such as the anxiety and avoidance types of attachment, we contribute to calls for emotional attachment research (Mende et al., 2009; Moussa and Touzani, 2017). This further delineation of attachment expounds our understanding of these constructs and its potentially wider effects on self-shopping behavior.\nLimitations and future research: This research study offers some important insights but has some limitations which represent viable avenues for future research. First, the research sample was limited to one country situated within the Western Hemisphere and having a highly developed economy. With evidence of insecure attachment across the world's cultures, (August, Smith and Sparks, 2009; Pusaksrikit and Kang, 2007; ResponseSource, 2018), future research should evaluate our findings of attachments as antecedents to self-gifting in different types of cultures. Second, this research study examined only two types of self-gifting. Future work should explore other types of self-gifting portrayed by Mortimer et al. (2015) to ascertain whether they might also be anteceded by insecure attachments. Furthermore, other attachment types, such as secure and fearful, might be considered via manipulations in experimental design studies to confirm and/or extend evidence of the relationships described in this research. This would enhance the findings by allowing for replication, testing for moderators and mediators, controlling variables to test for causality, and allow a more nuanced understanding of some of the findings. Bernardon et al. (2011) report findings of insecure attachments experiencing loneliness regardless of insecure attachment type. Future research should examine if lonely consumers are more susceptible to self-gifting.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to enhance current understanding of motivations for self-gifting by suggesting that an individual's attachment state from childhood upbringing impacts self-gifting behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was administered to 301 consumers living in the USA. Results were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.\nFindings: Findings reveal that insecure anxious and insecure avoidant individuals are inclined to self-gift for reward and as compensation for personal disappointment.\nPractical implications: Retailers can leverage the results to customize promotional messages that reference self-gifting in relation to an individual's attachment style. For example, messaging geared towards attachment avoidance might emphasize acceptance of one's imperfect self and situation. Messaging with sensitivity to attachment anxiety might emphasize positive self-reflection and self-worth. Per the authors' findings, a promotional message geared towards attachment style may better motivate self-gifting.\nOriginality/value: This research is the first known empirical research to specify a psychological antecedent of self-gifting behavior, which is an emerging area in the literature and retail environment. The findings explain nuances of self-gifting behavior by theoretically connecting insecure attachment style as a driver of self-gifting purchases for reward and personal disappointment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Facilitating age diversity in organizations - part I: challenging popular misbeliefs	[ "Age", "Stereotypes", "Ageing workforce", "Demographic change", "Age diversity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The demographic changes that take place in many industrialized countries create unique difficulties as well as challenges for the management of work organizations. In particular, a continuously growing number of older workers with, at the same time, a constant and rather low number of young potentials require adaptations in many human resource management (HRM) strategies, such as recruiting, staffing, leadership, career development, and incentive programs (Hedge et al., 2006; Ilmarinen, 2005). In addition to age-related differences in physical and cognitive capacities, age-related changes in job-related attitudes, needs, and work experiences have to be considered as well (Hertel et al., 2013b; Kooij et al., 2011; Ng and Feldman, 2010). For instance, both Kooij et al. (2011) and Hertel et al. (2013b) found a significant negative relationship between age and growth-related motives, whereas positive affect at work as well as high fit between personal needs and job characteristics seem to be positively related with age and more important for older workers (e.g. Krumm et al., 2013). Moreover, generativity motives (e.g. helping others, legacy, passing on personal experiences, etc.) have been shown to be higher for older as compared to younger workers (Hertel et al., 2013b). Obviously, it is of utmost importance that management of work organizations incorporate the implications of these outcomes in their HRM practices. That is to say, in order to comply with workers' needs throughout their careers, management should take a life-span perspective to ageing at work.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In recent years, significant demographic changes in most industrial countries have tremendously affected the age distribution of workers in organizations. In general, the workforce has become more age-diverse, providing significant and new challenges for human resource management and leadership processes. The current paper aims to address age-related stereotypes as a major factor that might impede potential benefits of age diversity in organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: After a brief review of potential detrimental effects of age-related stereotyping at work, the authors discuss the validity of typical age stereotypes based on new findings from large-scale empirical research with more than 160,000 workers overall.\nFindings: Although the research summarized in this review is based on large samples including several thousand workers, the cross-sectional nature of the studies does not control for cohort or generational effects, nor for (self-)selection biases. However, the summarized results still provide important guidelines given that challenges due to age diversity in modern organizations today have to be dealt with regardless of the concrete origins of the age-related differences.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the first reviews challenging popular misbeliefs about older workers based on large-scale empirical research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Differences in orientations between Western European and Chinese service organizations	[ "Manufacturing industries", "Service industries", "Customer orientation", "Performance levels", "Switzerland", "China" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The service business in traditional manufacturing companies has become an imperative for businesses seeking competitive advantages. Over the last couples of years, manufacturing firms have improved their financial service-related performance outcomes such as service revenue and profit (Quinn et al., 1990; Belz et al., 1997; Mathieu, 2001; Sawhney et al., 2004; and Neu and Brown, 2005). There has been an above-average increase in service revenue in comparison with product revenues, leading to an increase in the share of total revenue attributable to services from 13 to 23 per cent between 1994 and 2004. The share of total profit attributable to services increased from 11 to 34 per cent (VDMA, 2004).One major success factor in the increase in financial service-related performance outcomes is the creation of a global service structure that is capable of responding locally to the service requirements of customers (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003). Financial service-related performance outcomes include direct service profitability and the share of service revenue to total revenue. It relates to the degree to which manufacturing companies directly earn money through offering and charging services to their customers. Manufacturing companies have already invested in setting up a global service infrastructure. Establishing a network of local service organizations of this kind represents an essential investment decision whose success will depend on the creation of service revenue and profit.Unfortunately, the existing literature provides surprisingly little in the way of suggestions as to the actual differences between local service organizations. The paper focuses on a comparison of the Western European and Chinese service organizations of Swiss manufacturing companies. On one hand, it contributes to the existing knowledge on cultural differences between Western Europe and China by exploring the various influences of Chinese culture on success factors for extending the service business. On the other hand, the paper offers guidance for an appropriate service approach in stagnating and emerging markets. Most Western European markets are currently in stage of maturity. The strategic urgency for differentiation through services as well as the necessity to rely on service-based growth instead of product-based growth is very high. The Chinese market is rapidly growing. Demand for machines and pieces of equipment is currently large. Thus, the strategic necessity to rely on service-based growth is very low. The paper answers the following research questions:* Which descriptive factors differentiate Western European from Chinese service organizations of Swiss manufacturing companies?* Can the descriptive factors be validated empirically?Swiss manufacturing companies were chosen because of access to the data. The Swiss Association of the manufacturing industry supported this research and helped the research team by getting access to different companies.\nResearch methodology: When investigating the differences between Western European and Chinese service organizations, several core characteristics of service management in manufacturing companies and on characteristics of Western European and Chinese culture (Hofstede, 1991; Davies, 1995; Arias, 1998) were considered (Bowen et al., 1989; Gronroos, 1998; Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003; Lovelock, 2001). Since explaining the difference between Western European and Chinese service organizations was a complex and context-bound organizational issue, it was first concentrated on qualitative research approaches (Miles and Huberman, 1994).Qualitative research approaches\nResearch results of the 23 minicases: Descriptive factors differentiating Western European from Chinese service organizations\nEmpirical test of qualitative findings: Hypothesis development\nDiscussion: Managerial implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to extend knowledge of differences between Western European and Chinese service organizations in typical manufacturing companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper combines qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The qualitative study involved 23 minicases with Swiss manufacturing companies which operate a service organization in Western Europe and China. The results of the minicases were validated externally by using factor and discriminant analysis.\nFindings: - The results suggest that the service orientation of corporate culture, human resource management and the entire organization is significantly lower in Chinese service organizations than in their Western European counterparts, leading to significantly lower financial service-related performance outcomes.\nResearch limitations/implications: - For service management theorists, the findings suggest that increasing financial service-related performance outcomes in China is affected to a high degree by Chinese cultural characteristics.\nPractical implications: - For managers, the findings suggest that implicit logic for increasing financial service-related performance outcomes starts with overcoming typical and, in some respects, limiting cultural characteristics.\nOriginality/value: - Unfortunately, the existing literature provides surprisingly little in the way of suggestions as to the actual differences between Western European and Chinese service organizations. This research closes this gap by validating factors that differentiate Western European from Chinese service organizations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mental health promotion in schools by strengthening self-efficacy	[ "Mental health services", "Learning", "Motivation (psychology)", "Germany" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The school as a setting for mental health promotion\nThe interventions and their methods of evaluation: Two studies investigating different approaches to self efficacy\nEffects of the interventions: School self-efficacy refers to students' beliefs of being competent to cope with the demands in school and is, as we have seen, an important determinant of childrens' and adolescents' mental health. The SESC and the FOSS project both aimed at promoting school self-efficacy particularly by individualization of achievement demands and performance feedback as well as by providing students with high levels of transparency information regarding teacher's demands and evaluation criteria.Individualization of achievement demands and performance feedback\nDiscussion: The school is an important setting for establishing resources of mental health. Experiences made at school decisively contribute to personality development in childhood and adolescence. The present paper investigates the effects of intra-curricular promotion activities of teachers on students' self-efficacy as a method for prevention and promotion in mental health. Self-efficacy has favourable influences on important facets of personality (such as motivational orientation and social competencies) as well as on health-related situation-specific behaviour (such as coping with stress, conflict solving). Self-efficacy is also seen as a general health protective factor with regard to many physical and mental diseases.The results of two German promotion studies (\"Self-efficacious Schools - SESC\" and \"Fostering Self-efficacy and Self-determination in class - FOSS\") show that students' self-efficacy can be systematically strengthened in schools. Particularly, class-centered measures carried out by teachers during their regular subject lessons by using effective teaching strategies based on principles of self-efficacy promotion proved to be successful. This means that, mental health can be strengthened by means of systematically improving the quality of teaching and learning at school.With regard to school self-efficacy it was demonstrated that the individualization of task demands and performance feedback as well as a high transparency of teachers' demands and evaluation criteria to the students were beneficial. The more teachers created lessons offering individually demanding and attainable goals, the more likely students were to experience success and competence which help develop, support and strengthen feelings and beliefs about self-efficacy.The results of the two interventions show that social self-efficacy can be enhanced by establishing a positive class climate, where students support each other and teachers are sensitive to the individual needs of their students. The more the class climate can be characterized as being a climate of confidence and the encouragement of a sense of mastery, the stronger are the students' convictions of being competent to cope with difficult social demands (such as quarrels or conflicts among classmates). Cooperative learning turned out to be another effective measure of strengthening social self-efficacy. The more often students participated in cooperative learning settings the better developed their feelings and beliefs about social self-efficacy. In contrast, teacher-centered school lessons where students are not forced to interact and cooperate, are less effective in developing social self-efficacy.It is important to note, however, that both SESC and FOSS have shown that a decisive step in the successful promotion of mental health is the implementation of mental health promoting strategies in school lessons. Teachers have to be enabled and encouraged to apply such strategies, and they have to be ready to change their habitual teaching routines and to try out new and innovative teaching methods, even after decades of individual teaching experience. These complex demands cannot be quickly reached by training manuals or simple teacher training only. Additional comprehensive measures are needed for successful implementation comprising organizational changes. In this respect, the core concept of FOSS in raising teachers' motivation to transfer new teaching strategies into their school lessons was the invitation to team-building and cooperative work. Teams of teachers instructing the same classes worked cooperatively on developing promotion strategies, and were supported by internal and external feedback. The vast majority of teachers indicated that participating in FOSS enabled them to do a better job and to foster their students more effectively. Thus, there is evidence that self-efficacy enhancing strategies at school can promote mental health of both students and teachers. This also holds for the results of the SESC-Project regarding positive effects on teacher self-efficacy.To summarise, there are several measures which can enhance school quality, learning, and students' performance as well as students' and teachers' mental health by implementing innovative teaching strategies based on self-efficacy principles. Transparency, individualisation of demands and feedback on the one hand, and cooperative learning techniques and class climate improvement on the other hand appear to be the strongest measures. However, these measures have to be embedded into organizational structures which can motivate teachers to learn and implement innovation even under unfavourable conditions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to review two school intervention projects aiming to promote students' self-efficacy in Germany. Self-efficacy, defined as people's \"beliefs in their capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments\", is a core prevention criterion of mental health. It is positively connected to important facets of personality (e.g. motivational orientation, social competencies) as well as to health-related situation-specific behaviour (e.g. coping with stress, conflict solving).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Two intervention projects, \"Self-efficacious Schools - SESC\" and \"Fostering Self-efficacy and Self-Determination in class - FOSS\", made teachers familiar with the concept of self-efficacy to enable them to develop and adapt intra-curricular promotion measures of students' school self-efficacy and social self-efficacy.\nFindings: - Individualisation of task demands and performance feedback as well as a high transparency of teachers' demands and evaluation criteria are beneficial for students' school self-efficacy. Social self-efficacy is enhanced by establishing a positive class climate, where students support each other and teachers are sensitive to the individual needs of their students.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Both FOSS and SESC are multi-component non-randomised controlled studies. Thus, future research is needed focusing on the different measures separately using RCT-designs.\nPractical implications: - The actual implementation of promoting strategies into school lessons is the decisive step of strengthening students' mental health at school. As a consequence, promotion measures have to be embedded into organizational structures which can motivate teachers to learn and implement innovation even under unfavourable conditions.\nOriginality/value: - In contrast to extracurricular activities, there has been limited research on the implementation and evaluation of prevention activities continuously integrated into the mainstream school curriculum and normal lessons.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Impact of TPM implementation on Indian manufacturing industry	[ "Manufacturing performance", "Total productive maintenance", "Overall equipment effectiveness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Due to the prevailing intense global competition and increasing demand for high-quality product at lower cost; companies are striving to improve and optimize their manufacturing productivity to stay competitive. TPM is a programme that concentrates on total involvement of everyone from top management to employees at lower levels resulting in maximum effectiveness of equipments throughout its life; a tidier, neater and cleaner work place and self-motivated employees (Ljungberg, 1998; Campbell and Reyes-Picknell, 2006). TPM should be defined on first use (Chan, 2005; Ahuja and Khamba, 2008) as a methodology that aims to increase the availability of existing equipment, that in-turn reduces the need for further capital investment and maximizes the utilization of available resources. As global competition, characterized by rapid technological innovation and ever changing market demands, is putting enormous pressure on manufacturing organizations, to ensure that plants achieve the desired performance at an optimal operating cost; managers need to keep continuous track of operations to ensure effective utilization of resources and also to identify opportunities for improvement. Further, TPM is designed to maximize overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). The concept of OEE metrics and focused improvement were found to be encouraging for the success of TPM (Suzuki, 1994). OEE has also been adopted as a widely used quantitative metric within the TPM environment for the measurement of its success. A monitoring system is necessary to ensure the optimum equipment availability producing the high quality of product with the designed speed of machine. The quantitative metric OEE has been used not only for controlling and monitoring the productivity of production equipment, but also as an indicator and driver for performance improvement. In this context, OEE is able to measure performance, identify improvement opportunities and direct the focus of improvement efforts in areas related to equipment efficiency and effectiveness.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 TPM framework\n3. Research objectives: Critical observation of the reported literature as above, leads to identifiable gaps in the body of knowledge related with TPM implementation and its impact on manufacturing performance in Indian industries. To address these research gaps, the following objectives have been formulated:\n4. Research methodology: The research methodology is typically based on the objectives of the research and type of data collected through a semi-structured questionnaire survey. The basic objective of the survey is to assess the present status of TPM programmes and the benefits gained through successful implementation of TPM programme in Indian companies. The methodology is based on an online survey using a semi-structured questionnaire followed by personal interviews. A database of 125 manufacturing companies was extracted from various newsletters published by consulting agencies, like TPM Club India, that work exclusively for the implementation and promotion of TPM programmes. Selection criterion for companies was based on three parameters, i.e. amount of capital intensive machinery, implementation of improvement programme and continuous production. The selected companies implemented TPM during last five to ten years. A semi-structured questionnaire has been designed based on the observations from reported literature, and discussions with production managers. Various related issues were included related to the TPM programme, methodology used, expectations of TPM implementation and benefits gained by successful implementation of TPM practice. This includes unexplored areas of research by previous researchers. Both multi-item and single-item questions were included as suggested by Malhotra and Grover (1998). The responses of the companies form the basis to analyse the impact of TPM programme on the overall performance of manufacturing companies.\n5. Results and discussion: 5.1 TPM framework and expectation\n6. Conclusions: This paper highlight, what respondents say, are the long-term impact of TPM programmes on organizational performance within Indian manufacturing companies. The TPM deployment has contributed towards improving manufacturing performance such as productivity, quality and safety, on-time delivery, morale and besides ensuring the cost effectiveness of the manufacturing function within the organization. The most widely used performance indicator and their measurement units used in TPM environment have been identified; the management expectation during TPM implementation have been gathered; the influence of TPM elements on manufacturing performance has been analysed through correlation analysis; and finally, the effective use of OEE as a powerful TPM metric have been explored and the degree of satisfaction of the management in respect of manufacturing performance with increasing value of OEE has been shown.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationship between TPM programme and manufacturing performance in Indian manufacturing industries; to discern the benefits obtained from TPM implementation; to identify common indicators; and to explore the common expectation while TPM implementation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper acceptability and implementation of TPM programme in Indian manufacturing industry have been elaborated to ascertain the tangible and intangible benefits accrued as a result of successful TPM implementation. A semi-structured questionnaire survey approach has been adopted for the justification of TPM implementation and benefits gained by it in Indian context. Survey has covered mainly automobile and machinery sector throughout India. A total of 57 filled responses have been received and analysed to find the impact of TPM programme on manufacturing productivity.\nFindings: The paper establishes the impact of successful TPM implementation on manufacturing performance. TPM initiatives have shown marked improvement in the equipment availability, performance and produced quality and have also brought appreciable improvement in other manufacturing functions in the organizations. It has been observed that TPM deployment contributes to improve the manufacturing productivity, quality, delivery, safety, morale, ensuring the cost effectiveness of the manufacturing function within the organization. The paper also indicates that overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) can be used for performance improvement without TPM implementation.\nResearch limitations/implications: Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.\nPractical implications: This paper highlights the contribution of TPM programme and OEE measure to ensure enhanced manufacturing productivity. The benefits gained by TPM implementation in selected Indian manufacturing industries have been highlighted, that could be genuine source of motivation to other manufacturing organizations to go in for TPM programme.\nOriginality/value: The present study encompasses systematic identification of factors affecting overall organizational performance and the common expectations of the firms through implementation of TPM programme. TPM initiatives provide regular OEE measure, performance monitoring and improvement, and developing guidelines for achieving enhanced manufacturing productivity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Factors affecting quality management at the Thai national institute of health	[ "Thailand", "Quality management", "Confirmatory factor analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Thai National Institute of Health (NIH) is authorized as a national reference laboratory. The Institute managers' vision is to become a leading laboratory for solving public health issues including testing for emerging and re-emerging diseases. The functions of the Institute include carrying out clinical research and working with other institutes or organizations within the country and also with international health organizations, such as the World Health Organization, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other non-governmental organizations. Providing quality-certified references to other laboratories within the country is among the Institute's primary functions. The aim is to improve accuracy, efficiency and continuous improvement of the clinical laboratory. According to the Institute's current policy, work and safety practices are distributed to staff members through a policy manual (NIH, 2013).\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Although there is substantial literature on quality management in Thailand, there is little or no research on the organizational factors that affect quality management at the public health institute. Additionally, the NIH may have limited resources such as inconsistent funding for projects or inadequate information technology (IT), which is essential for data analysis. Focusing on utilizing IT tools may help improve the public health service quality (Hiwotu et al., 2014; Weaver et al., 2016). The five factors that we examined were defined as constructs and they were latent variables.\nOrganizational factors related to quality management: Leadership\nMethodology: The researchers used a cross-sectional research design. They asked staff members of the institute to respond to a 60-item questionnaire in relation to leadership, organizational culture, work environment, organizational commitment and quality management. Each question was examined using exploratory factor analysis (data are not shown here), Cronbach's a reliability test and content validity. Cronbach's a coefficient was 0.94, which is acceptable (Field, 2006). Content validity was checked by three quality management scholars.\nResults: Before CFA, statistical assumptions were checked; the normality test showed no multicollinearity. The study sample size was acceptable (223/340 participants), with a 65.5 percent response rate (Byrne, 2016; Kline, 2016). The subject number-to-question item ratio was 223: 60 (3.7:1). Costello and Osborne (2005) noted that around 26 percent of studies had subject number-to-item ratios between 2:1 and 5:1. They also noted that if the ratio was small, more errors were likely to occur. We accounted for statistical measurement errors or residuals in the estimation analysis process using AMOS. CFA is a theory-driven approach, which allows researchers to assign question items to variables or factors, supported by previous research or theories. CFA is a legitimate method, since it is concerned with each factor's conceptual rationale as a hypothesis testing approach to data analysis (Byrne, 2016). The five measurement models had to be confirmed through CFA. CFA and goodness of fit were tested. Goodness of fit statistical indices inform if data are good enough and consistent with the CFA-hypothesized model.\nDiscussion: The R-squared value for Quality Management was 36 percent (Table IV). The unstandardized coefficients' column (B value) corresponds to the three latent variables (organizational culture was statistically insignificant, Table IV), which were IDVs when analyzed by multiple regression analysis. The IDVs indicated the extent to which DV would change if the IDV changes by one unit (Ho, 2006; Sarantakos, 2007). The B values in Table IV were interpreted accordingly: if organizational commitment is increased by one unit, then quality management (both performance and process) will improve by 0.24 units; and if work environment is increased by one unit, then quality management (both performance and process) will improve by 0.28 units; and if leadership is increased by one unit, then quality management (both performance and process) will improve by 0.14 units.\nConclusions and limitations: All latent variables were evaluated according to the CFA model. Moreover, four hypotheses were accepted, H1a, H1b, H1c and H1d, i.e. not all factors affected quality management (H1e). Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the data. Three factors, organizational commitment, work environment and leadership, explain about 36 percent of variation in quality management. Organizational commitment had the strongest effect on quality management. New research could be undertaken to explain the remaining 64 percent of the variance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to confirm and examine organization-related factors that could affect quality management at the Thai national reference laboratory known as National Institute of Health.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors invited 340 laboratory staff members to complete a questionnaire that enquired about their skills, opinions, perceptions, leadership, work environment, organizational culture and organizational commitment in relation to quality management. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data.\nFindings: In total, 65 percent of institute members responded to the questionnaire. CFA revealed that all factors were related to quality management. Three factors, leadership, organizational commitment and work environment, significantly affected quality management, but organizational culture did not.\nResearch limitations/implications: Other data types should be collected for an in-depth understanding, i.e. focus groups or in-depth interviews. A longitudinal study could also enhance quality management understanding to see how each variable changes over time.\nOriginality/value: Analyzing quality management through confirmatory factor and regression analysis showed that the four analyzed variables are statistically significant in relation to quality management at the laboratory. Managers could apply this information to revise the current policy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Multinationals and emerging markets	[ "Multinational companies", "Emerging markets", "Corporate strategy", "India" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Emerging markets are increasingly becoming the growth drivers of the global economy. There is increased scrutiny and interest in emerging markets since the 1990s. The interest can be viewed from a demand and supply perspective. With a huge population and increasing income, emerging economies provide a big market for goods and services. Also, with talented manpower and low costs, emerging economies are supplying more and more goods and services to the world. Multinational corporations (MNCs) play a very important role in global business and economy. There is an increased interest in research and explanation for emerging markets and MNCs (London and Hart, 2004; Meyer, 2004; Ramamurti, 2004; Khanan et al., 2005).This paper examines emerging markets and MNCs. It consists of six sections, including this introduction. The next section gives the definitions of the three concepts, namely, MNC; emerging economies; and emerging markets multinationals. The third section discusses various aspects of multinationals and emerging markets. The fourth section highlights the internationalization models whereas the fifth sections shows emerging markets multinationals in the Fortune 500 list. The last section concludes the research paper.\nDefinitions: It is necessary to be clear about the three concepts, namely, MNC; emerging economies; and emerging markets multinationals. The following are the definitions we are going to use for this research paper:* MNC. An MNC is a corporation headquartered in one country and having operations in more than one country (Rugman, 2005).* Emerging economies. The term \"emerging market\" was originally coined by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to describe a fairly narrow list of middle-to-higher income economies among the developing countries, with stock markets in which foreigners could buy securities. The term's meaning has since been expanded to include more or less all developing countries (Sustainability Think-Tank, 2008).* Emerging markets MNCs (EMCs). MNCs head quartered in an emerging market and having operations in more than one country is defined as EMC, for this study.\nMNCs and emerging markets: MNCs and emerging markets have become a popular subject of interest in international business in recent years (Meyer, 2004). There are four aspects to this. First, MNCs from developed countries are targeting emerging markets. However the success record of these MNCs in emerging markets, particularly that of American MNCs has been far from satisfactory. This has prompted researchers, particularly in leading American universities to study the reasons for MNCs failure in emerging markets (Khanan and Palepu, 1997; Ramamurti, 2004). MNCs need to reinvent strategy for emerging markets and look beyond the transnational model (London and Hart, 2004). The concept of institution void is one such explanation available. According to this concept the lack of regulatory framework, contract enforcement mechanism, and specialized intermediaries in emerging markets is the reason for failure of developed countries MNCs in emerging markets. MNCs need to adapt their strategies according to the context (Khanan et al., 2005).The second aspect of the MNCs and emerging markets is the increasing number of emerging markets MNCs (EMCs) going to developed countries. These EMCs are fighting with established MNCs from developed countries for market share and growth. There is a manifold increase in merger and acquisition activities of EMCs from emerging markets into developed countries. They have been expanding and acquiring new businesses at a frenetic pace, conducting more than 1,100 mergers and acquisitions, altogether worth US$128 billion in 2006 (UNCTAD, 2007, Accenture, 2008). Acquisition of IBM hardware by Lenevo; Choros by Tata group; and, recent acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford group by Tata are few examples. EMCs are expanding at a speed and scale to make even the largest Western multinationals take notice (Accenture, 2008).The third aspect is increasing competition and fight by EMCs in other emerging markets to MNCs from developed countries. Because of their experiences of operating in emerging markets, EMCs have an advantage in understanding another emerging market as well as of lower costs as compared to developed markets MNCs. For example, automobile and electronics MNCs from South Korea are much more successful in India as compared to MNCs from Europe or USA or even Japan. Even the well-established Maruti Suzuki Company has got tough competition from Hyundai. Emerging markets MNCs have the potential to change the basis of competition in both Western and emerging markets. This is because they are: managing a broad range of risks comfortably; mastering the art of improvisation; and, keeping in tune with the importance of culture and localization (Accenture, 2008).The fourth important aspect is the increasing competition among EMCs, particularly in third world countries. EMCs require substantial resources, particularly natural resources, for their ambitious growth. To obtain access and control such resources, EMCs are engaged in intense competition in developing world countries. Chinese and Indian oil giants, supported by their respective governments, are fighting each other in African countries for control of oil and other natural resources (Pillania, 2008).The fifth aspect is the increasing power and impact of EMCs. Many of the companies from emerging markets have already become well known across the world. When the Chinese oil company PetroChina floated on the Shanghai stock market in November 2007, and became the world's largest public company based on market capitalization - double that of its nearest Western counterpart. Such events signal an enormous challenge to received wisdom as well as a seismic shift in the economic landscape. They are like nothing we have seen before (Accenture, 2008).\nInternationalization models: Five models of international expansion\nFortune Global 500 and EMCs: The number of MNCs from emerging markets is on the rise in the Fortune Global 500 corporations ranked on the basis of revenue. Emerging economies now boast of 70 companies in Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest companies, up from just 20 a decade ago (Accenture, 2008). Traditionally the list was dominated by USA, Western Europe and Japan. Now the number of MNCs from these countries has been reduced whereas the number of MNCs from emerging markets has increased in the list. Table I shows increasing number of MNCs from Brazil, Russia, India and China. However, there is a difference in ownership among the two groups. Whereas MNCs in Fortune Global 500 from developed countries have private ownership; most of the MNCs from emerging markets, particularly BRIC countries have government ownership. Also most of the MNCs from emerging markets belong to resource sector like energy industry or financial sector like banking industry.Table II shows the Indian MNCs in Fortune Global 500 list. Out of the six, five are in public sector. Also, four are in energy sector and one is a public sector bank. Indian Oil Corporation used to be the only MNC from India till 2003 in this list and even today it has the highest ranking among the six companies from India.\nConclusion: Emerging markets are increasingly becoming the growth drivers of the global economy both from demand and supply perspective. MNCs play a very important role in global business. Multinationals and emerging markets have become a popular subject of research in twenty-first century. The success record of MNCs from developed countries in emerging market has been mixed. The MNCs from emerging markets are now expanding and acquiring companies in developed countries at a rapid pace in recent years. This is reflected in the increasing number of emerging markets MNCs in the Fortune Global 500 list. EMCs are providing substantial competition to developed country MNCs in other emerging markets as well as third world countries. The EMCs power and impact has increased significantly and many of them have become household names across the world.Directions for future research\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - There is an increased interest in research and explanation for emerging markets and multinational corporations (MNCs). This paper aims to study emerging markets and MNCs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper takes help of existing literature and industry examples.\nFindings: - The success record of MNCs from developed countries in emerging market has been mixed. The MNCs from emerging markets are now expanding and acquiring companies in developed countries at a rapid pace in recent years. This is reflected in the increasing number of emerging markets MNCs in the Fortune Global 500 list. Emerging market MNCs are giving tough competition to developed country MNCs in other emerging markets as well as Third World countries. The emerging market MNCs' power and impact has increased significantly and many of them have become household names across the world.\nResearch limitations/implications: - MNCs play a very important role in global business. Multinationals and emerging markets have become a popular subject of research.\nPractical implications: - MNCs from developed countries need to understand emerging markets better. Emerging markets multinationals need to learn further in conquest for global markets.\nOriginality/value: - This paper looks at various issues involved in multinationals and emerging markets.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Family ownership, board committees and firm performance: evidence from Hong Kong	[ "Corporate governance", "Remuneration committee", "Nomination committee", "Firm performance", "Family control", "Family firms", "Public companies", "Hong Kong" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Board of directors is an important internal control mechanism and is one of the most discussed issues in the corporate governance literature. Previous empirical studies of board structure have mainly focused on US companies. However, the ownership structure of US companies is rather different from that of East Asian firms. The shareholdings of corporations in the US are diversely held, while the ownership of East Asian companies is highly concentrated in the hands of controlling shareholders or family groups. La Porta et al. (1999) find that only 20 per cent of the top 20 public corporations in the US are controlled by families, with the remaining 80 per cent having a diverse ownership. On the other hand, Claessens et al. (2000) find that a high proportion of public companies in East Asian countries are family-controlled, as are two-thirds of public companies in Hong Kong.Hong Kong companies are characterized by their concentrated ownership with most of the companies having either a controlling shareholder or a family owner (Hong Kong Society of Accountants, 1997). This paper examines the relationship between board committees and firm performance and provides evidence of the effect of family ownership on such relationship for public companies in Hong Kong.This paper is organized into several sections. Section 2 discusses the relevant literature and the development of hypotheses. Section 3 describes the methodology, sample data, and regression models. Section 4 analyzes the sample data. Section 5 presents the empirical results, which are then discussed in section 6. Finally, section 7 presents the conclusion.\n2. Literature and hypotheses: Agency theory is the predominant theory in Anglo-American model of corporate governance. The separation of ownership and control between owners and managers spells out the agency problems. The opportunistic behavior of managers would jeopardize the interests of owners.2.1 Board committees\n3. Methodology: A sample of public companies listed on the three major indexes in Hong Kong over the three-year periods 2001-2003 was selected for this study.3.1 Sample\n4. Sample data analysis: Table II presents descriptive statistics for the sample firms, including mean, median, and standard deviation for all firms, family firms and non-family firms. It also shows t-statistics for the difference of mean tests between family firms and non-family firms. Table III shows the correlations among variables. The full sample comprises 346 firm-year observations of which 59 per cent are from family firms and 41 per cent from non-family firms.Non-family firms demonstrate better accounting performance in terms of ROA than family firms (6.78 per cent vs 5.57 per cent), ROE (12.13 per cent vs 9.89 per cent) and ROCE (9.72 per cent vs 8.37 per cent), while family firms have higher market value in MTBV (1.59 vs 1.45). However, all the differences in performance are not statistically significant. Furthermore, the spread and variation in performance for family firms is higher than for non-family firms8. The data suggest that both types of firms have similar accounting performance and market value, but family firms have a higher risk in terms of the spread and variation of their performance (see Chen and Jaggi, 2000)9.Of the sample firms, family firms are less likely to establish remuneration committee or nomination committee. Not many of the sample firms have done so (21 per cent with a remuneration committee and 6 per cent with a nomination committee) but of those which have, significantly more are non-family firms; 25 per cent of the non-family firms have established a remuneration committee compared to 18 per cent of family firms, with the equivalent figures for nomination committees being 11 and 3 per cent, respectively.On average, the sample firms have a board size of 10.86 of which 30.1 per cent of the directors (3.12) are independent directors. Family firms have a smaller board (10.48) than non-family firms (11.41), but they have the same number of (three) independent directors on their boards. Furthermore, 46 per cent of the sample firms are found to demonstrate CEO duality. A significantly higher proportion (60 per cent) of family firms has this structure compared to non-family firms (24 per cent).The sample further shows that family firms have a longer business history (see Claessens et al., 2000). A total of 71 per cent had been established before 1997, and significantly more family (88 per cent) than non-family (45 per cent) firms were established before then10. More non-family (9 per cent) than family (6 per cent) firms are in utilities industry. Furthermore, significantly more non-family (98 per cent) than family (58 per cent) firms have a fiscal year ended in 31 December.Looking at liquidity and leverage, family firms maintain a higher short-term liquidity position in terms of current ratio (2.53) than non-family firms (1.82), but they have the similar debts level in terms of debt-to-equity ratio (27.69 and 25.31 per cent, respectively). Finally, family firms in the sample are generally smaller than non-family firms, particularly in terms of net annual sales.In summary, the family firms in the sample are less likely to establish remuneration committee or nomination committee. They have a relatively smaller board and are more likely to demonstrate CEO duality. Furthermore, the family firms have a significantly longer business history, but they are less in utilities industry. The family firms maintain a higher short-term liquidity position but with similar debts level. Finally, they are generally smaller in terms of total assets, market capitalization, and net annual sales.\n5. Empirical results: The correlation between variables is presented in Table III, while the t-test for the difference of means between family and non-family firms is included in Table II. The empirical results from multiple regression analysis with panel data are reported in Table IV.5.1 Univariate analysis\n6. Discussion of empirical findings: Agency theorists advocate that the presence of oversight board committees could improve the effectiveness of board monitoring role. It is believed that board committees can be more effective if they are made up of independent directors (Higgs, 2003) or not under the control of either CEO or controlling shareholders/family members (Shivdasani and Yermack, 1999; Anderson and Reeb, 2004). An independent board committee could further enhance the monitoring on managerial opportunism (Cadbury, 1992; Tricker, 1994; Higgs, 2003). However, family firms will adopt corporate governance mechanisms which make it easier for controlling family members to expropriate firm resources (Anderson and Reeb, 2004). Therefore, it is expected that most of the family firms would either not establish or have executive directors on their board committees. Our evidence supports that family firms are less likely to establish board committees or more likely to have executive chairman on those committees.Interestingly, our empirical findings indicate that the presence of remuneration committee is negatively related to firm performance and the converse is true for the nomination committee. However, none of the regression coefficients in the full sample is statistically significant. Nevertheless, the analysis in subgroups reveals a significant negative relationship between the presence of remuneration committee and accounting performance for family firms only (ROA, ROE, and ROCE), while the presence of nomination committee has significant positive relationship with firm performance for both family firms (ROE, ROCE, MTBV) and non-family firms (MTBV). The negative and positive effect of the existence of family ownership on committee-performance relationship is also reflected in the interactive variables FCONRCOM and FCONNCOM, respectively.Further analyzing the composition of the remuneration and nomination committees for both family firms and non-family firms in the sample may shed some light on it. The composition of the remuneration committee of some firms, particularly family firms, in the sample includes executive chairman and consequently the decisions in the committee are subject to managerial influence. Among the firms with remuneration committee in the full sample, 36.5 per cent of the remuneration committees have executive chairman. Furthermore, there are much more remuneration committees in family firms (45 per cent) than non-family firms (24 per cent) having executive chairman. The monitoring function of remuneration committees would be weakened with the involvement of executive chairman who is usually from or related to the controlling family.In contrast, the evidence also shows that the presence of nomination committee is positively related to accounting performance for family firms. This may be attributed to the greater independence of the nomination committees because all of such committees in family firms have a non-executive chairman. However, such positive nomination committee-performance relationship cannot be detected for non-family firms, except market value. The evidence indicates that family ownership does have a negative (positive) effect on the relationship between remuneration (nomination) committee and firm performance, contingent on the independence of the committee's composition.Another interesting observation is that those companies with a nomination committee would have a remuneration committee as well but not the other way around. Furthermore, such companies with a nomination committee would also have a non-executive chairman in their remuneration committee. In other words, those firms with nomination committee would have a more independent remuneration committee. In fact, most of the companies with only a remuneration committee have established such committee mainly for meeting the HKSE Code's requirements in late 2002 or early 200311. From such observation, the remuneration committee has clearly been established by those companies for decorative rather than functional purpose. On the other hand, the establishment of a nomination committee is not mandatory in Hong Kong, and thus it has been established by the companies for pragmatic purpose, such as selecting appropriate candidates to serve as directors. All in all, the effectiveness of a board committee depends on the independence of its composition. Family firms usually appoint family members or executive directors to their board committees and therefore family ownership has an adverse effect on the relationship between board committee, specifically remuneration committee, and firm performance.Finally, investors are likely to believe that nomination committee could perform better monitoring role as the composition of such committee is generally more independent than remuneration committee in both family and non-family firms. On the other hand, investors do not appreciate the presence of remuneration committee as such committee in the sample, particularly family firms, is generally dominated by executive directors and members from controlling family.\n7. Conclusion: It has evidence that board committees do have some significant relationship with firm performance. Our empirical findings reveal that nomination (remuneration) committee is positively (negatively) related to firm performance. Such positive or negative relationship depends on the independence or non-independence of the composition of board committee, respectively. Our evidence also suggests that family ownership does have an adverse effect on the relationship between board committee, specifically remuneration committee, and firm performance of public companies in Hong Kong.Firms in Southeast Asia are characterized by concentrated family ownership, while the shareholdings of corporations in the US are diversely held. The corporate governance structure, such as ownership structure and board characteristics, of firms in Hong Kong differs from that of their Western counterparts. This paper provides insights into the board committee-performance relationship and family effect on such relationship for public companies in Hong Kong, which will also be relevant to similar types of company in other East Asian countries.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to examine the relationship between board committees and firm performance and the moderating effect of family ownership for public companies in Hong Kong.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study employs publicly available data from financial databases and annual reports of a sample of 346 firm-year observations of public companies in Hong Kong for the periods 2001-2003.\nFindings: - The empirical evidence indicates that a nomination (remuneration) committee is positively (negatively) related to firm performance, depending on the independence of its composition. Furthermore, family ownership does have an adverse effect on the relationship between board committees, specifically the remuneration committee, and the performance of public companies in Hong Kong.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study is based on publicly available data and the board process is not actually observed.\nPractical implications: - The effectiveness of a board committee is contingent on its independence and family ownership.\nOriginality/value: - This paper provides empirical evidence that an independent board committee could enhance the corporate governance of public companies in Hong Kong and would be of interest to regulatory bodies, business practitioners, and academic researchers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
State fragility, rent seeking and lobbying: evidence from African data	[ "Africa", "Lobbying", "Nation building", "Rent seeking", "State fragility", "C43", "H11", "O20", "O43", "O55" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: There has been renewed interest in state fragility by scholars and international development agencies. It has been substantially documented that Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is one of the regions in the world that eloquently reflects characteristics of state fragility[1]: weak governments, insufficient security and legal frameworks, ineffective administration, poor public services, high rates of conflicts and civil wars, growing extreme poverty, inter alia (European Report on Development, 2009; Marshall and Cole, 2009).\n2. Data: It is well acknowledged that fragility as discussed in the preceding section is a complex and multidimensional concept. In spite of the significant common characteristics in fragile countries, a consensus in the definition of fragility has been hard to come by. This position on the conception and definition has been sustained by Bertocchi and Guerzoni (2012), from whom we borrow an index with which to appreciate the notion of state fragility. The binary variable assumes the value 1 for International Development Association (IDA) countries in the bottom two Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) quintiles or without a CPIA rating, 0 otherwise.\n3. Regression results: 3.1 Without interactions\n4. Concluding implications: This paper has assessed the determinants of state fragility in Sub-Saharan Africa using hitherto unexplored variables in the literature. The previously missing dimension of nation building has been integrated and the hypothesis of state fragility being a function of rent seeking and/or lobbying by de facto power holders has been tested. The resulting interesting finding is that political interference, rent seeking and lobbying increase the probability of state fragility by mitigating the effectiveness of governance capacity. This relationship (after controlling for a range of economic, institutional and demographic factors) is consistent with a plethora of models and specifications. The validity of the hypothesis is confirmed in a scenario of extreme state fragility. Moreover, the interaction between political interferences and revolutions mitigates the probability of state fragility while the interaction between natural resources and political interferences increases the probability of extreme state fragility. There are two main policy implications. First, political interference, rent seeking and lobbying are likely to increase the fragility of Sub-Saharan Africa nations. Second, there is a \"Sub-Saharan African specificity\" in \"nation building\" and prevention of conflicts. Blanket fragility-oriented policies will be misplaced unless they are contingent on the degree of fragility, since \"fragile\" and \"extreme fragile\" countries respond differently to economic, institutional and demographic characteristics of state fragility.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the determinants of state fragility in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) using hitherto unexplored variables in the literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The previously missing dimension of nation building is integrated and the hypothesis of state fragility being a function of rent seeking and/or lobbying by de facto power holders is tested.\nFindings: The resulting interesting finding is that political interference, rent seeking and lobbying increase the probability of state fragility by mitigating the effectiveness of governance capacity. This relationship (after controlling for a range of economic, institutional and demographic factors) is consistent with a plethora of models and specifications. The validity of the hypothesis is confirmed in a scenario of extreme state fragility. Moreover, the interaction between political interferences and revolutions mitigates the probability of state fragility while the interaction between natural resources and political interferences breeds the probability of extreme state fragility.\nPractical implications: There are two main policy implications. First, political interference, rent seeking and lobbying are likely to increase the fragility of SSA nations. Second, there is a \"Sub-Saharan African specificity\" in \"nation building\" and prevention of conflicts. Blanket fragility-oriented policies will be misplaced unless they are contingent on the degree of fragility, since \"fragile\" and \"extreme fragile\" countries respond differently to economic, institutional and demographic characteristics of state fragility.\nOriginality/value: The study is timely given the political strife, violence and conflicts issues currently affecting African development.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"We must have the wrong consumers" - a case study on new food product development failure	[ "Case studies", "New product development", "Convenience foods", "Consumer research" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A newly founded food company became engaged in a new food development project. Its brand owners had an idea about introducing a new convenience food onto the market. Consumer research was conducted by an outsourced marketing research company. A sensory study was conducted by the university-based food research organisation and new package designs created by an outsourced design consultant were made. The prototypes of product and packs looked great. The consumer research and the sensory study were most certainly expected to back up the revolutionary ideas originated from the brand owners. However, the presentation of the consumer and sensory study results turned out to be the exact opposite. The taste of the product was not as expected. It was indicated by the research that the consumers were not willing to repeat the purchase as often as they should, and the quality image of the product was not as expected. The research stated that the consumers were not willing to pay the premium price either. Consumers seemed to have been somewhat biased towards the taste and other extrinsic features of the new product. The brand owners exclaimed at the meeting: \"We must have the wrong consumers!\"\n2. NPD and the food sector: Current NPD research is mostly about descriptions of processes. Although, a small amount of the research literature is devoted solely to the food industry, the most fundamental practices and principles of NPD is claimed to be common across most industries (Anderson, 2008; Rudder et al., 2001). Major types of new product development descriptions are structured, sequential process models or alternatively simultaneous and overlapping models. It is widely accepted that a good food-product development process should be flexible and continuously evolve. It is also typical to list key factors or major drivers of a new product's success. The first stages, especially planning and evaluation phases are emphasised. In these stages the viability of a new product should be determined and decided upon. Another frequently mentioned issue is a sharp and early product definition. A detailed project definition in terms of market needs, market preferences and product specifications enables the developer to arrive at sound stop or go decisions. Other issues are a cross-functional team approach, a focus on evaluation and decision points, quality execution, quality management of development process and a multi-stage and gate approach (Cooper, 1994).\n3. Research materials, methods and the NPD project: 3.1 Materials and methods\n4. NPD case in the food sector - what happened?: Based on the project meeting documents and observations of the actors, the participants reached no consensus about the perception of the starting point of the project. The fixed ideas of the brand owners became manifest during the project. The differing ideas became visible especially when the sensory and consumer research results were presented in the project meetings. This was most evident in situations where the new information that was introduced did not fit easily into the original product concept. Although, the product was presented as \"novel, trendy, updated and probably achieving major international demand\" by the brand owners at the project kick-off meeting, there was practically no room for actual product development. The product idea was fixed from the start. The information introduced during the project was also perceived differently by the various participant organisations.\n5. Results and the lessons learned: Given the exploratory nature of this study and the corresponding need for insights into the dynamics of product development failure, the case study method was used in this study. The detailed analysis of the NPD project lead to a range of observations that contributes to the knowledge of how this project changed from a successful beginning into failure. The studied case shows that knowledge divisions matter greatly in identifying problems and drawing on NPD collaboration (Andersen and Munksgaard, 2009). When focusing on managers \"dimensions of thinking\" instead of singular success factors, the role of marketing research, strategic approaches, communications issues, company experience and competencies were considered as dimensions that drive success (Suwannaporn and Speece, 2010).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate, in detail, an unsuccessful food development project that took place in 2008-2010. The case is studied from the viewpoint of an interpretive paradigm. This article concentrates on constructing the critical elements that led to a food development project failure. The plan was to have a traditional Finnish dish updated and introduced as a mass produced high-end convenience food. The project included new convenience food development, packaging design, consumer market research and a sensory study to back up the food product development on behalf of a newly established company. Theoretical grounds for the case are based on the new product development (NPD) research process in the food sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The method applied is an explorative single within-case study. The research data were mainly obtained from qualitative materials that ranged from marketing plans to case study field notes compiled by the researchers. Quantitative data were also obtained from various types of materials but to a lesser extent.\nFindings: The results of the study show that the failure of new product development was connected to the factors identified in classic NPD research. In addition, five phenomena that contributed to product development failure were constructed: path-dependency; \"information condensations\"; the illusion of mutual knowledge and understanding; practices of problem definition; and window-of-opportunity effects. The results are presented in a form of analytical generalisation that can be applied, with certain restrictions, to other contexts for new food product development.\nOriginality/value: Failure rates of NPD have remained the same for the last 30 years in the food sector. Failed NPD projects can be valuable assets for the food industry when properly analysed. Examination of successful NPD projects has provided valuable lists of success factors, but knowledge on phenomena having an effect on NPD failure is needed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do women perform better in family firms? Exploring the moderating role of family firm status	[ "Performance", "Econometric model", "Regression", "Family business", "Moderation", "Wine industry", "Female involvement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent decades, the growing presence of women in company leadership positions, as both entrepreneurs and members of top management teams, has stimulated the academic debate regarding the effects exerted by female involvement in firm leadership on various aspects of business dynamics (Langowitz et al., 2005; Lee, Paik and Uygur, 2016). In the management and corporate governance literature, scholars have examined the relationship between gender diversity and aspects such as managerial advancement (Tharenou et al., 1994), management style (Rigg and Sparrow, 1994; Eagly et al., 2003) and board effectiveness (Nielsen and Huse, 2010).\n2. Related literature and research hypothesis: Over the past decades, the proportion of women entrepreneurs and women in top management positions has, on average, increased significantly (but slowly) in all economic sectors, as a result of cultural, social and political changes that have stimulated companies to involve women in leadership roles and encouraged women to start new businesses as entrepreneurs (Farrell and Hersch, 2005; Soares et al., 2010; Catalyst, 2017). Consequently, a growing number of studies have emerged regarding whether and to what extent women-run businesses perform better or worse than businesses led by men (Fasci and Valdez, 1998; Watson, 2002; Fairlie and Robb, 2009; Robb and Watson, 2012). However, empirical evidence on the relationship between gender diversity and firm performance remains inconclusive. A traditional line of thought suggests that women-run businesses achieve worse results than those led by men. A second perspective argues that there is insufficient evidence to support a difference between the performance of companies led by women and those led by men. In contrast to the first two streams of the literature, a small number of studies suggest that women-led companies are more successful than those led by men (Johnsen and McMahon, 2005; Coleman, 2007).\n3. Research design: sample, variables and methods: 3.1 Sample and data collection\n4. Results: In this section, we report the results of our analysis. Table I presents the descriptive statistics for our main variables, Table II displays the correlation matrix and Table III reports the results of the model (1) estimations. As indicated in Table I, the firms in our sample are small, with an average age of approximately 12 years, financial leverage of approximately 70 per cent and a profitability rate of 6.6 per cent. Notably, the family power (FP) index is approximately 1.34. This suggests that the sampled firms are highly family-controlled. This result is consistent with previous empirical evidence that highlights the prevalence of small and medium-sized family businesses in the Italian wine industry.\n5. Robustness check: In this section, we test the robustness of our results to different estimation methods. First, we test robustness to first-order auto-regressive [AR(1)] disturbances (if any) within unbalanced panels and cross-sectional correlation and/or heteroskedasticity across panels using a generalized least square (GLS) RE technique following Baltagi and Wu (1999). In the presence of unobserved firm heterogeneity, a panel FE estimation is suggested (Wooldridge, 2002). However, as discussed above, such an FE estimation is not suitable for this study. Therefore, an alternative to FE, i.e., GLS RE, is used here.\n6. Discussion, implications and future paths for research: In this study, we suggest and empirically demonstrate that the relationship between female involvement at the head of a company and firm performance behaves differently for family and non-family firms. The empirical analysis focused on all wine companies operating in the Campania region in southern Italy during the period 2007-2014, with a final sample of 88 cross-section units. Firm performance was measured in terms of profitability. Female involvement was measured as the sum of the proportion of females in ownership and on the board of directors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Empirical evidence on the relation between female involvement at the head of a company and firm performance remains inconclusive. This study aims to disentangle the existing evidence by exploring the moderating role of family firm status.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study analyzes the moderating role of family firm status on the relation between gender diversity and firm performance among a sample of 88 Italian wine firms from Campania region during the 2007-2014 period. This work uses random effects panel data regression and tests the robustness of the results using alternative econometric techniques. Performance is measured in terms of profitability.\nFindings: The findings reveal that women in top positions do not affect firm performance. However, it is found that this relation is significantly moderated by family firm status. Specifically, compared to high family-controlled firms, female involvement negatively impacts firm performance in low family-controlled firms.\nResearch limitations/implications: From a theoretical standpoint, the results enable a more nuanced interpretation of the relationship between female involvement and firm performance. From a managerial perspective, the results highlight conditions that may promote the role of women in business.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides insights into the relation between gender diversity and firm performance by exploring the moderating role of family firm status - a novel approach in the management and wine business literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Evaluating cabin crew food safety training using the Kirkpatrick model: an airlines' perspective	[ "Food safety", "Airlines", "Kirkpatrick", "Training evaluation", "Cabin crew" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In 2015, the World Health Organisation (2015) described food contamination and foodborne disease as a growing global problem. To ensure its safety, most airline food is prepared in centralised production units employing hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP-) based systems (Kang, 2000; Sheward, 2006). However, divorcing food production from consumption, incorporating a considerable delay, increases the opportunities for food contamination and pathogen growth and survival. Whilst reported cases of aviation foodborne disease are relatively few, this may underrepresent its true incidence. Victims may not present symptoms during the flight and may become dispersed over several continents after disembarking, and this makes outbreaks related to inflight meals difficult to identify and investigate (Kang, 2000). Nevertheless, when they happen, they can present a significant health risk especially if flight crew is affected (McMullan et al., 2007). In a review of pilot incapacitation between 2010 and 2014, half of the occurrences were related to gastrointestinal illness such as food poisoning (Australian Transport Safety Bureau, 2016), and pilot incapacitation due to food poisoning is routinely reported (Havarikommissionen, 2017). Hygiene standards during preparation have been criticised (Babock, 2010), and analysis of airline food has indicated it that may not always meet required standards and can contain pathogens (Hatakka, 1998b, a). Poor personal hygiene and inadequate hygiene levels were contributing factors in 11 airline- related food poisoning outbreaks from 1967-1991, in which 271 cabin crew members were involved (Hatakka, 1993). A variety of studies of airline food poisoning have underlined the importance of training for food handlers in catering units as well as on-board aircraft (see e.g. Hatakka, 1993, 1998b, a, 2000; Lambiri et al., 1995; McMullan et al., 2007). Recently, Yavari et al. (2015) identified that the lack of food training, and therefore food safety knowledge amongst food handlers was the biggest barrier to implementing and maintaining HACCP in airline catering.\nKirkpatrick model: There are many models for evaluating training including Kirkpatrick's (1959) model, Hamblin's (1974) evaluation framework, Easterby-Smith's (1994) evaluation framework and Swanson's (1994) performance improvement perspective. Each of these models has strengths and weakness. Although not without some criticisms (Bernthal, 1995; Tamkin et al., 2002; Swanson and Holton (2009), this study uses the Kirkpatrick model, which is widely known and understood, has a number of advantages and has been recommended by previous research. It provides a conceptual framework, to explore how and when airlines (managers, supervisors, and trainers) evaluate cabin crew food safety training. It is considered simple to use and easy to apply (Alliger et al., 1997). According to Tamkin et al. (2002), it has been described as \"the best-known and most widely used framework for classifying evaluation\", while Bates (2004) stated that \"the most popular approach to the evaluation of training in organisations today is Kirkpatrick's (1959) framework of four 'levels', or criteria\". Additionally, Seaman (2010) recommended that Kirkpatrick's model is an effective model for evaluating the effectiveness of food safety training, in particular, if active learning was included (Gavin, 2016).\nMethodology: A qualitative content analysis approach using in-depth semi-structured interviews was used.\nResults and discussions: The results of this study are presented and discussed based on the four levels of the Kirkpatrick model. Table I summarises the major findings related to each level.\nConclusions, limitations and further research: In the interests of passenger and crew safety, there is the need to evaluate food safety training effectiveness. Collectively, the findings indicate this is not well executed since many airlines did not explicitly evaluate it. Additionally, the inadequacy of training evaluation is reflected by the lack of consistency and depth in the methods used. This study is the first to evaluate cabin crew food safety training using the Kirkpatrick model, and the findings supported both the need for its use as well as its utility. Only three airlines used a separate and specified form to explicitly evaluate the reaction of cabin crew about the food safety training provided (level 1). Additionally, half of airlines with cabin crew food safety training did not test or assess their cabin crew's food safety knowledge gained throughout the training. More than a quarter of airlines with food safety training evaluated the gained knowledge separately, and explicitly, from other training courses, and cabin crew were required to sit for an obligatory theoretical test. However, whilst the evaluation of learning objectives should be undertaken before( pre-test), during and after training, (post-test), all airlines in this study used only final tests to evaluate the achieved leaning objectives (level 2). Some airlines used the observation of food-handling practices to assess training efficacy, but there was considerable variation in how this was undertaken. Although conducted inconsistently, observations during flights, by a \"ghost riders\" or \"Mr X\" or as \"mystery shoppers\", exposed food-handling malpractices by cabin crew (level 3). All airlines considered customer complaints as an indicator for service quality and training effectiveness. However, there is limited access to the customers' complaints and food safety-related records and reports. Findings also indicate a need for the development and use of a tool to measure cabin crew food safety training effectiveness.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the evaluation of cabin crew food safety training using the Kirkpatrick model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a snowballing technique, 26 cabin crew, managers, supervisors and trainers participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Summative content analysis was used to evaluate the data.\nFindings: In total, 26 respondents from 20 international airlines participated in the study. All respondents agreed that evaluating cabin crew food safety/hygiene issues is important in relation to in-flight food handling; for example, \"Training evaluation helps in the improvement of the future training\"; \"We have an end of course feedback form, either done electronically or on paper and that looks at how the delegates felt the training went, if they came away learning something new, if the environment for learning was right, all sorts of things; the questionnaire is quite comprehensive\"; and \"Every trainee is given a feedback form to complete\". However, significant failures in food safety training and its evaluation were identified.\nResearch limitations/implications: The evaluation of cabin crew food safety training shows that it is ineffective in some aspects, including learning achieved and behavioural change, and these can directly impact on the implementation of food safety practices. Evaluation failures may be due to the lack of available time in relation to other cabin crew roles. Further research may consider using a larger sample size, evaluating training effectiveness using social cognition models and assessments of airline and cabin crew food safety culture.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study that evaluates cabin crew food safety training using the Kirkpatrick model. The findings provide an understanding of the current evaluation of cabin crew food safety training and can be used by airlines for improving and developing effective future food safety training programmes. This, in turn, may reduce the risk of passenger and crew foodborne disease.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Why do you publish? On the tensions between generating scientific knowledge and publication pressure	[ "Motivation", "Performance indicators", "Publishing", "Career stage", "Narrative interviews", "Research profession" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Scientific research is concerned with the production of knowledge, in order to achieve a better understanding of the world. Scholarly publications ensure a wide distribution and constructive exchange of the generated knowledge among researchers. In a different light, publications emerge as a prominent theme in science studies: in a context of intensifying competition for measurable successes, publications have become the main currency for passing the respective evaluation dynamics. However, most studies so far have illuminated how researchers publish while adapting to or growing into the contemporary publish-or-perish culture. In this paper, we address the rarely asked question why researchers choose to publish at all. Inquiring into individual researchers' motives and reasons to publish helps us to better understand current tensions within the practices of knowledge generation.\nMaterial and methods: This paper results from the research project \"Scientific Integrity in the Context of Integration and Competition,\" conducted at the University of Konstanz between 2009 and 2014. Understanding science as cultural practice, this project examined the value systems and guiding normative reference frameworks of researchers in a context of changing research practice and research governance. Particular emphasis was placed on the simultaneous intensification of seemingly contrary phenomena - collaboration and competition - which may equally contribute to altering or stabilizing the value system of a given social unit (Schmidt-Pfister and Hangel, 2012). The interviews analyzed here were collected as part of this multi-sited ethnography (e.g. Marcus, 1995; Nicolini, 2009) of six high-ranking (anonymous) research universities in three countries that represent western academic cultures: Germany, the USA, and the UK[1].\nAnalysis: Common aspects of motivations and reasons to publish across career stages\nDiscussion: So far, we have looked at researchers' motivations to publish their work. Yet our interview question \"Why do you publish?\" was intended to retrieve not only the motivations for disseminating results but also more generally to enlighten about the motives guiding researchers, including their views about the purpose of doing research.\nConclusion: Motivations why researchers publish at all have not yet been subject to thorough examination. Analyzing the answers to this seemingly obvious question provides valuable insights concerning intertwined epistemic, pragmatic, and personal motives for publishing as an essential part of scientific practice. While all these motives are at work, they are weighted differently depending on the challenges and incentives specific to each career stage, even if in all career stages researchers publish to contribute knowledge. Researchers aiming for their PhD publish as a means for graduation and sometimes as part of collaborations. Among PhD students and more so among postdocs, the awareness of publication pressure is most pronounced given their uncertain future careers (see also Sigl, 2016). Yet from a postdoc's view, personal, pragmatic, and epistemic motivations often seem inseparable. Professors claim to publish, among others, for educational purposes and for academic survival, by which they mean maintaining recognition for themselves (and their groups). In day-to-day research, and also irrespective of group-based or co-authorship collaboration, the value sets at each career stage inflict upon those at other stages. Particularly postdocs' value sets are trickling upwards and downwards.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine researchers' motivations to publish by comparing different career stages (PhD students; temporarily employed postdocs/new professors; scholars with permanent employment) with regard to epistemic, pragmatic, and personal motives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative analysis is mainly based on semi-structured narrative interviews with 91 researchers in the humanities, social, and natural sciences, based at six renowned (anonymous) universities in Germany, the UK, and the USA. These narratives contain answers to the direct question \"why do you publish?\" as well as remarks on motivations to publish in relation to other questions and themes. The interdisciplinary interpretation is based on both sociological science studies and philosophy of science in practice.\nFindings: At each career stage, epistemic, pragmatic, and personal motivations to publish are weighed differently. Confirming earlier studies, the authors find that PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in temporary positions mainly feel pressured to publish for career-related reasons. However, across status groups, researchers also want to publish in order to support collective knowledge generation.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample of interviewees may be biased toward those interested in reflecting on their day-to-day work.\nSocial implications: Continuous and collective reflection is imperative for preventing uncritical internalization of pragmatic reasons to publish. Creating occasions for reflection is a task not only of researchers themselves, but also of administrators, funders, and other stakeholders.\nOriginality/value: Most studies have illuminated how researchers publish while adapting to or growing into the contemporary publish-or-perish culture. This paper addresses the rarely asked question why researchers publish at all.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Generalizing the appeal of B2C site features across domains	[ "Online shopping", "B2C website design", "E-commerce websites", "Website domains", "Website feature preferences" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: What features of a shopping website are successful in attracting consumers' attention and generating positive evaluations, in providing an effective portal for e-commerce, and in translating to sales has been an active area of research within the e-commerce field. Research has been conducted with a professional bent, such as Benn et al.'s (2015) assessment of what information shoppers look for on a grocery site and which site components are used to find that information. Practical evaluations of site features have included WebQual (Loiacono et al., 2007) and the web performance scale of Huang (2005) and their derivatives, which have long been used to gauge the value of a given site's features. Scholarly efforts to explain the relative success of certain e-commerce sites over others have been summarized by Ghasemaghaei and Hassanein (2016), who after a review of 452 studies, developed a model of the impact of information quality upon site satisfaction and other consumer responses. Shen and Khalifa (2012) explored how vividness and interactivity trigger online impulse buying, while Lim (2015) studied the impacts of web atmospherics in combination with other factors in determining site effectiveness. Lorenzo-Romero et al. (2013) studied the impacts of aesthetics upon intention to buy. Bilgihan et al. (2015) modeled the impact of hedonic and utilitarian features on flow, trust, and brand equity.\n2. Literature review: The richness of the knowledge base reflects both the great number of studies and the diversity of viewpoints employed in the study of B2C site features. Valuable recent reviews and integrative models are available summarizing findings about which particular features render a B2C site appealing and effective (e.g. Abdallah and Jaleel, 2015; Ghasemaghaei and Hassanein, 2016; Karimov et al., 2011; Yadav and Pavlou, 2014). Abdallah and Jaleel (2015) point to the extensive literature on site features that positively impact on consumer purchase decisions, noting a \"disproportionate\" emphasis on some attributes such as usability (e.g. Chiu et al., 2005; Hasan and Abuelrub, 2011; Lee and Koubek, 2010), information content (e.g. Chiu et al., 2005; Benn et al., 2015; Currim et al., 2015; Ghasemaghaei and Hassanein, 2016; Huang et al., 2013), and credibility (e.g. Lee et al., 2011), and a relative dearth of studies on general website appeal.\n3. The study perspective: This study introduces a five-part feature appeal generalization perspective that illustrates methods by which the judged appeal of website features in a given P/S domain may be compared with and potentially generalized to other domains. The five facets are different ways in which a feature preference hierarchy can assess the responses' generalizability[1].\n4. Hypotheses and research question: In regard to each of the five facets, the current test compares evaluations of the appeal of a diversified sample of 26 features when applied to three domains: electronics, books, and general.\n5. Methodology: 5.1 Protocol and sample\n6. Analyses and results: 6.1 Respondents\n7. Summary and discussion: All four study hypotheses were supported. There was more generalizability between general and books than between general and electronics. Further, the research question was answered in the negative; the factor structure for electronics was not applicable to books or general. The pattern of findings is consistent with the premise that one's schematic beliefs about P/S sites on the whole draw more heavily from more frequently used P/S domains. While this evidence is suggestive, for more confidence in the conclusion there should be more extensive analysis, e.g., contrasting heavy and light users of the domains.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to present a framework of five \"facets,\" i.e., distinct but complementary ways in which the observed appeal of a consumer shopping site's features can potentially be generalized across product/service domains (the authors call this framework the feature appeal generalization perspective); second, to determine if and how observed feature preferences for consumer electronics, bookstores, and sites \"in general\" generalize across domains; third, to test hypotheses about the impact of frequency of domain usage upon feature generalizability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Via an online survey administered in a controlled laboratory setting, 313 respondents evaluated 26 website features in three domains (books, electronics, general) for a total of 24,414 preference judgments.\nFindings: Two facets, individual feature values and within domain evaluative dimensions, revealed minimal generalizability, while there was moderate comparability across all domains in between domain feature correspondence. Personal preference elevation could be generalized between books and general, but not between these two and electronics. Differentiating dimensions showed that preferences were not generalizable from electronics to books and general because consumers wanted electronics features to provide \"flashy sizzle\" and books/general features to give \"comfortable safety.\" As hypothesized, patterns of generalizability coincided with frequency of domain usage.\nResearch limitations/implications: Practitioners should not apply published studies of feature appeal to their domain of interest unless those studies directly analyzed that domain. Scientists should incorporate all five facets in modeling what attracts consumers to commercial websites.\nOriginality/value: This is the first multidimensional analysis of the generalizability of site feature appeal across business-to-consumer product/service domains, and the first to propose this integrated evaluative framework with its unique facets.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring the consequences of knowledge hiding: an agency theory perspective	[ "Organizational behaviour", "Employee well-being", "Counterproductive work behaviour", "Negative workplace behaviours" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In early summer 2010, a former president of the United States, Barack Obama, described the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as \"the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced\" (CNN, 2010). Taking the lives of 11 rig workers and injuring 17 others, the Gulf of Mexico incident has been depicted as the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. Two years after the tragedy, the justice department filed a number of criminal charges against several British Petroleum (BP) employees. These charges included obstructing justice by deleting messages showing BP knew the flow rate was higher than the company initially claimed; obstructing Congress by misrepresenting the rate at which oil was flowing from the well; and instructing several employees to delete data related to the cementing job (Fowler, 2012; Goldenberg and Rushe, 2012). This case highlights the fact that several BP employees did not share all the knowledge they possessed. Instead, when information was requested, they deliberately concealed some knowledge from their peers. In the research literature, this phenomenon refers to knowledge hiding as \"an intentional attempt to conceal or withhold knowledge that others have requested\" (Cerne et al., 2014, p. 173).Knowledge hiding first attracted the attention of organizational sociologists and anthropologists in the 1960s (e.g. Mechanic, 1962). More recently, research has focused on knowledge hiding in an organizational context (Cerne et al., 2014, 2017; Jha and Varkkey, 2018; Serenko and Bontis, 2016; Skerlavaj et al., 2018). To this end, at the organizational level, knowledge hiding has been found to limit productive knowledge transfer in organizations, harm organizational functioning (Gagne, 2009), lead to a negative spiral of retaliation (Cerne et al., 2014), hinder unit performance (Steinel et al., 2010), undermine organizational creativity and productivity (Connelly et al., 2012), and reduce the potential for growth and effectiveness (Haas and Park, 2010). Furthermore, at the individual level, knowledge hiding has been revealed to enhance interpersonal distrust (Connelly et al., 2012; Cerne et al., 2014), decrease knowledge hiding committers' creativity (Cerne et al., 2014), and isolate employees from the social network of mutual idea exchange (Connelly et al., 2012). Conversely, some types of knowledge hiding have been found to enhance the relationships between colleagues and break the cycle of knowledge hiding in organizations (Connelly and Zweig, 2015).Despite burgeoning interest in knowledge hiding, to the best of our knowledge, the association between knowledge hiding and knowledge hiding committers' individual-level job performance has not been previously studied. This is a serious omission, since investigating the association from the knowledge hiding committers' perspective could reveal new explanations for the phenomenon and, consequently, clarify the failure of knowledge sharing initiatives in organizations (Cerne et al., 2014).Against this backdrop, our study aims to empirically explore the consequences of knowledge hiding at the individual level and from the knowledge hiding committers' perspective. The contribution of our study is twofold. First, in line with agency theory (Eisenhardt, 1989), we extend the existing research literature on knowledge hiding by examining the association between knowledge hiding and individual-level job performance. We advocate that those who possess knowledge not only have discretion as to what knowledge they share or conceal, but also are motivated to exercise that discretion in a way that maximizes their own individual performance, despite organizational norms designed to encourage cooperation and knowledge sharing. We argue that employees might at times take actions that are self-enhancing but organizationally harmful, hiding knowledge in order to win short-term victories in terms of enhanced individual performance. Furthermore, we investigate the associations between three different facets of knowledge hiding (i.e. rationalized hiding, evasive hiding, playing dumb) and individual-level job performance, since future research has been encouraged to study specific types of knowledge hiding rather than focus on general knowledge-hiding behavior (Connelly et al., 2012; Cerne et al., 2017).Our second contribution relates to distinguishing the role of employee well-being in the association between knowledge hiding and individual-level job performance. Despite most people's tendency to perceive themselves as honest and altruistic (Connelly and Zweig, 2015), it may be difficult for those who hide knowledge to maintain their well-being at the same time. We thus advocate that employee well-being decreases and decelerates the positive association between knowledge hiding and individual-level job performance.\nTheoretical background: Knowledge hiding and its facets\nMethod: Data collection and sample\nFindings: Means, standard deviations, and correlations are displayed in Table I. The results of the hypothesized model tests are discussed further and illustrated in Table II.We ran the structural model to test our hypotheses. As recommended by Enders and Tofighi (2007), level 1 variables were group-mean centered while level 2 variables were grand-mean centered. The measurement models fit the data well (kh2 = 70.8353, df = 11, RMSEA = 0.087, GFI = 0.978, AGFI = 0.974). The model was controlled for control variables. The standardized coefficients - representing the effect sizes (Kline, 2004) - are shown in Figure 1 and can be interpreted as follows. First, while evasive hiding was negatively related to in-role job performance (b = -0.17, p < 0.05), playing dumb was positively related to in-role job performance (b = 0.11, p < 0.05). No significant relationship was found between rationalized hiding and in-role job performance. A positive and significant effect was found for both evasive hiding (b = 0.11, p < 0.05) and rationalized hiding (b = 0.22, p < 0.01) on innovative job performance. Therefore, Hypothesis 1 was partially supported.Second, we tested the direct effects of employee well-being on job performance. While employee well-being had no significant association with in-role job performance, it was positively and significantly associated with innovative job performance (b = 0.34, p < 0.01). Therefore, Hypothesis 2 was partially supported.Next, we tested the direct effects of knowledge hiding on employee well-being. While rationalized hiding was negatively and significantly associated with employee well-being (b = -0.23, p < 0.05), evasive hiding had no significant association with it, and playing dumb was positive and marginally significant (b = 0.17, p < 0.10). Thus, Hypothesis 3 was partially supported.Finally, we tested the mediating role of employee well-being in the associations between knowledge hiding and job performance. In order to interpret the mediating role of employee well-being in detail, we followed Baron and Kenny's (1986) guidelines, which were complemented by Zhao et al.'s (2010) decision tree that proposes three types of mediation (complementary, competitive, indirect-only) and two types of nonmediation (direct only, no effect). While no mediations were found for most of the associations, we did identify competitive mediation between rationalized hiding, employee well-being, and innovative job performance. In particular, rationalized hiding had a negative and significant indirect effect on innovative job performance through employee well-being (b = -0.08, p < 0.05); even though the total effect of rationalized hiding on innovative job performance was still positive and significant, it was of a smaller magnitude (b = 0.14, p < 0.05). Therefore, Hypothesis 4 was partially supported.\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explore empirically the consequences of knowledge hiding at the individual level and from the knowledge hiding committers' perspective. Hence, in line with agency theory and prior literature on knowledge hiding, the study investigates the associations between different facets of knowledge hiding and individual-level job performance, as well as the mediating role of employee well-being in the associations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Structural equation modeling was used to analyze multisource survey data from a sample of 214 employees and 34 immediate supervisors, in a professional services company in Finland.\nFindings: Evasive hiding was found to be negatively associated with in-role job performance and positively associated with innovative job performance. Playing dumb was found to be positively associated with in-role job performance. Finally, even though the association between rationalized hiding and innovative job performance was found to be positive, it was found to be of a smaller magnitude when employee well-being was taken into account.\nPractical implications: Forceful unhealthy competition and exploitative and workaholic cultures are discussed to reduce knowledge hiding behavior among employees and their negative consequences.\nOriginality/value: The study highlights the paradox of managing organizational knowledge. In line with agency theory, we advocate that while knowledge sharing is one of the major assets of organizational welfare from the organizational perspective, it may resonate with the employee's perspective. Consequently, unless employees' self-interest and organizational interests are aligned, the paradox of managing organizational knowledge arises, and the classic agency problem occurs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
From informational reading to information literacy: Change and continuity in document work in Swedish schools	[ "Information literacy", "Reading", "Sweden", "Literacy", "Document theory", "Information behaviour", "Information practices", "Primary education", "History of information" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Research within the Library and Information Science (LIS) sub-fields of Information Seeking and Learning and Information Literacy is often motivated by the notion that new digital technologies for producing, organising, finding, using, and disseminating documents have drastically changed people's behaviours and practices in educational and other contexts. Even though changing technologies entail changing information behaviours and practices, it is problematic to base research in these fields on this premise only. One risk that we run when emphasising the new, digital, and technological aspects of contemporary information activities is that longer processes of change and continuity may become obscured. If the historical roots of present-day information activities are not taken into account, current changes might be misinterpreted and the impact of new technologies might either be overstated or taken for granted.\n2. Information seeking and learning in contemporary society: Thus, this paper seeks to contribute to the research sub-field of Information Seeking and Learning - which to some extent overlaps the research area of Information Literacy (Limberg and Sundin, 2006) - through a historical analysis. Research in these fields takes an interest in how information seeking as an activity is learnt and what people learn from information seeking activities, often, but not always, in educational settings (Limberg and Alexandersson, 2010).\n3. The history of information from a document theoretical perspective: With its interest in information activities in a particular historical context, the present paper could also be seen as a contribution to the relatively new research area of Information History. Two of the main advocates for this emerging field, Alistair Black (2006) and Toni Weller (2008), state that a distinguishing feature for information history is its \"informational spin on particular past events or topics\" (Black, 2006, p. 443, emphasis in original) and its \"emphasis on informational aspects\" of certain areas of historical research (Weller, 2008, p. 4). However, the two authors acknowledge that one problem for the field is that information is an abstract notion - rather than a tangible phenomenon - for which there exists a multitude of definitions. This causes, as for LIS in general, some epistemological and methodological difficulties.\n4. Informational reading in the late 1960s: The following analysis concentrates on the activity of informational reading, as it appeared and was manifested in Swedish primary schools in the 1960s. The classroom situations which will be described originate from 223 lessons varying from 40-45 minutes each in length in the subject of Swedish in year six (where most students were 12 years old), captured through audio-recordings and partly through video recordings during the academic years of 1967/1968 and 1968/1969 by a team of researchers at the University of Gothenburg (Bredange et al., 1971). The original recordings have been digitised, analysed, and coded with a focus on document types and reading styles; the latter including informational reading (for detailed coding scheme see Dolatkhah and Lundh, 2016). Of the 115 lessons where reading as an object of teaching and learning occurred, 71 included informational reading.\n5. Changes and continuities in educational document work: The above descriptions make it possible to identify some changes and continuities in how a specific type of document work has been conducted in Swedish primary schools. There are indeed differences between the classrooms situations from the 1960s and classroom situations of today. For example, the classic layout of the classrooms with a blackboard and the teacher's desk at the front and the students sitting in wooden desks in rows has changed - to different degrees - in present-day classrooms. The style of teaching is also different in that it was heavily textbook-driven in the recordings from the 1960s.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to historicise research conducted in the fields of Information Seeking and Learning and Information Literacy and thereby begin to outline a description of the history of information in the context of Swedish compulsory education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Document work and documentary practices are used as alternatives to concepts such as information seeking or information behaviour. Four empirical examples of document work - more specifically informational reading - recorded in Swedish primary classrooms in the 1960s are presented.\nFindings: In the recordings, the reading style students use is similar to informational reading in contemporary educational settings: it is fragmentary, facts-oriented, and procedure-oriented. The practice of finding correct answers, rather than analysing and discussing the contents of a text seems to continue from lessons organised around print textbooks in the 1960s to the inquiry-based and digital teaching of today.\nOriginality/value: The paper seeks to analyse document work and documentary practices by regarding \"information\" as a discursive construction in a particular era with material consequences in particular contexts, rather than as a theoretical and analytical concept. It also problematises the notion that new digital technologies for producing, organising, finding, using, and disseminating documents have drastically changed people's behaviours and practices in educational and other contexts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Intelligent topology analyzer for improved plant operation	[ "Plant efficiency", "Topology", "Operating systems", "Process management", "Modelling" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Plant operation includes activities and tasks related to: the execution of operating procedures, process control, maintenance management, and quality control. In addition, it includes tasks related to other life cycle activities such as energy management, safety, health, and environmental assessment, etc. Almost all these activities are tightly linked with plant topology where actions and behaviors are occurred. Plant topology and its knowledge are defined during process design stage, where engineering diagrams, such as process block and piping and instrumentation diagrams, are developed and used to explain the different functionalities of the underlying process along with their links to structure units and plant topology. Plant operation is also designed and validated during design stage as linked with plant topology. In practice, each operation task is associated with topology area where operation task takes place. The definition of topology areas for each operation task is dynamically changing according to the underlying operation, resources requirements, and plant internal and external conditions. Accordingly, the analysis and identification of the desired plant topology is essential for plant operation. Owing to the complexity of most of chemical and production plants, and due to the different conditions associated with each operation task and topology areas, automated solution is essential to achieve accurate determination of the required topology areas, which necessitates a robust process/plant modeling methodology to abstract the different aspects of the underlying process (Gabbar et al., 2000; Lu et al., 1997; Marquardt, 1996). Moreover, intelligent algorithm is needed to select the most optimum topology area for each operation task. In addition, clear understanding of domain knowledge and systematic representation of operation conditions, process constraints, as well as conditions associated with different topology areas and structure units are critical factors to automatically analyze, partition, and define topology areas for each operation task. The present research paper proposes design framework and implementation of intelligent and integrated topology analyzer that is used to improve plant operation. The next section shows challenges and difficulties of topology modeling and analysis ways. The third section shows the proposed modeling methodology of plant process design and plant topology. The fourth section shows the proposed topology analysis mechanism and its utilization for improved plant operation. The last section shows case study used to illustrate the proposed topology analyzer as integrated with plant operational systems.\n2 Plant topology challenges: Plant topology can be viewed as structure units and connectivity among them (Stephanopoulos et al., 1987; Marquardt, 1992; Pohjola, 1997; Linninger et al., 2000; Gabbar et al., 2000). It has external elements such as the surrounding environment and internal elements such as sub-assembly and inside materials (Gabbar et al., 2000). It has been reported by many researchers that phenomena occurs in structure units as a result of sequence of operation tasks (Stephanopoulos et al., 1987; Linninger et al., 2000; Pohjola, 1997). Such phenomena represent the behavior of the system and its components. Understanding the structural model of the underlying plant is important to understand, design, and execute the desired operation and to obtain the most suitable behaviors. Plant structural model can be viewed as set of structure units and their connectivity. In engineering practices, the connectivity is commonly called plant topology. Plant topology can be modeled, i.e. abstracted, in a way that simplifies the real plant topology, which is essential for analysis, design, and operation of the underlying plant. There are many attempts that tried to provide systematic modeling methodology for formal representation of plant topology as linked with other process design model elements. Understanding of the process modeling methodologies will enable the proper judgment and selection of the most advantageous topology modeling methodology that can be used effectively to analyze and manage plant topology. The following section shows comparative study of the different modeling methodologies presented in the domain of chemical process engineering.\n3 Proposed process modeling methodology: Most process engineers use the term process models to represent process design and its link with life cycle activities. The systematic way of formalizing process models will enable smooth and accurate design and operation of the underling process. In addition, it will facilitate the design and implementation of computer-aided process engineering tools and systems, which are mainly based on systematization of process models. Chemical process is quite complex, which involves different views. It has been referred as physico-chemical process as the link between chemical phenomena with the physical systems and structures. Such definition was thought of as a sequence of modeling methodologies. Lind (1979, 1982) reported multi-flow functional modeling methodology (MFM) which is based on functional modeling of the underlying system and link all system components to their functions. Such approach is used for the design of operating procedures and plant fault diagnosis. There are further developments of MFM modeling methodology by Larsson (1991) and Gofuku and Lind (1994) where knowledgebase is developed with computer-aided tools to practice MFM in different engineering applications such as operation design, operator support, and alarm and control design. With the combination with the hybrid phenomena theory, it enabled formal representation of the dynamics of the different behaviors. In this regard, Marquardt (1992) and his group in Aachen University developed a systematic way to generate system behavior equation models for different phenomena based on mathematical basic models. To solve the difficulty of model complexity and reuse, Linninger et al. (2000) proposed the use of meta modeling to represent phenomena occurred in process systems. These methods are also realized in computer-aided process engineering tools that are developed and utilized to support product/process design. Lu et al. (1995, 1997) identified the need of separating structure, behavior, and management views of process models to be able to support process systems engineering practices. This fact has been agreed by almost all researchers where it was noticed that phenomena can occur in any structure unit based on the selected operation. For example, reaction might occur in the pipe connected to the reactor, rather than occurring in the reactor itself due to process condition and operated recipe. Most of the reported difficulties in process modeling, such as model reuse, systematization, domain knowledge, and standard model representation, were eased by the use of object-oriented approach (Pohjola et al., 1994; Gabbar et al., 2000). The concept of object oriented modeling was widely used as base to construct and formalize chemical process models. Pohjola proposed PSSP, or purpose, structure, state, and performance as basic building block of process models. This approach has been further developed using PSSP language and computer aided tools to design environmental conscious and safe processes and products. In addition to process modeling, integrated process and product modeling practices are proposed by many researchers for example Bouchlaghem et al. (2004). More applications are further developed using PSSP methodology and computer-aided tools on waste management of industrial plants.In addition to the research work made in the area of plant topology and process modeling, there were further work made in the area of hierarchical structure modeling and production process modeling where process models where linked with production models (i.e. manufacturing execution systems MES). In fact, most of the above mentioned modeling methodologies are applied and/or extended successfully to cover production process models, taking into considerations environmental assessment, risk management, and process safety, for example PSSP (Pohjola, 1997; Pohjola et al., 1994; Dey and Ogunlana, 2004). In this regard, Gabbar presented modeling methodology, called POOM or plant process object oriented modeling methodology, which combines all advantages and features of most of the reported modeling methodologies using the base of object-oriented modeling approach and useful ideas from unified modeling language UML concepts. The proposed modeling methodology was revised several times to incorporate process design features captured while practicing different case studies of batch, continuous processes as well as discrete processes as well production management levels (Gabbar et al., 2000, 2003). From the author observations, there are key features that are needed for robust process modeling. First, is the separation between structure elements and behavior models and operation models. In simple words, operation is the set of actions that enable desired behaviors to take place in desired topology area. Behavior models can be represented in terms of set of states and transitions among the different states with respect to process conditions and control rules. Operation models are represented as set of allowed methods for each structure unit, which simply receive message from control system or operator or external systems, based on the underlying structure unit. Figure 1 shows the basic structure of the proposed process modeling methodology, POOM.The revised version of POOM shows three basic dimensions: static, which includes facility, materials/products, topology, and human. In other word it includes static elements of the underlying process. The dynamic dimension includes behavior models, which are represented as states, transitions, and messages. The operation dimension includes purposes and methods to be executed as a response to incoming message. These three main views are the base of object-oriented modeling approach and can be used to model both the process and the control system used to control the process. The complete model can be formalized as building blocks of static model elements, each is associated with operation and behaviors. On the basis of POOM, the different model elements of chemical process and the associated control system is shown in Figure 2. Chemical process topology is described in terms of structure units connected through ports. Behavior is described and associated in structure units as per the intended or actual operation. For example, in structure unit SU1.1, there are three behaviors occurred: reaction, evaporation, and burning. Controller is placed within structure unit SU1 where sensor information is transferred from sensor associated with structure unit SU1.3 and another sensor in the internals of structure unit SU1. Based on these sensor information and predefined control rules/logic, control instructions are sent to structure unit SU1.3, for example open port or select behavior. Materials are moving within chemical process where they are transformed into other materials or different states, or simply transferred from one place to another. These are the basic three material actions:1. transformation;2. transportation; and3. stocking in the same place over time.Control instructions might come also from external entities such as controllers of higher structure unit, or operator, or external system.3.1 Implementation of POOM-based process modeling\n4 Plant topology analysis: Almost all systems and subsystems of the widely known MES, or manufacturing execution system require topology analysis functionalities. The following section shows basic functionalities required from the target topology analyzer.4.1 Requirements analysis\n5 Topology partitioning examples: In this section, examples from chemical and petrochemical processes are used to illustrate the different topology partitioning views. Figure 6 shows case study P&ID from HDS continuous process. In this part of the whole process, H2 is entered through tank TNK1 and merged with the recycle gas of stripper, via tank TNK2, and/or with the output of feed surge drum, via tank TNK3.The mixed fluid is heated using two heat exchangers, HE1 and HE2, before entering to the furnace FRN1. The heated fluid enters reactor, and the output is cooled using heat exchanger HE3, before entering the final product tank TNK11. Using the proposed topology partitioning mechanism, topology analyzer can be used to automatically identify the different topology areas described earlier.5.1 Topology nodes/lines\n6 Topology analyzer system: The proposed topology analyzer is used as part of plant operation to enable operator to automatically identify topology areas required for any operation task. This includes the isolation of any topology area for safety or emergency purposes, or to perform maintenance task. The proposed topology analyzer is developed as part of computer-aided modeling methodology called CAPE-ModE, which is based on the robust plant process modeling methodology POOM. The whole idea is implemented using Visio and Visual Basic which are integrated with data repository in MS Access (or could be MYSQL/SQL Server).6.1 Topology editor\n7 Conclusion: Plant operation starts from process design where it is defined incrementally while designing the underlying process. Operation definition goes through different stages: general definition (i.e. general recipe), master definition (i.e. master recipe), and plant specific definition (control recipe). In addition, and during the execution of plant operation, jobs are defined in terms of control recipe and executed with time and specific product and order information. Throughout the different stages of operation design, the modeling and analysis of plant topology is essential where it will enable more accurate and smooth operation design and definition. For that purpose, robust process modeling is proposed on the basis of object-oriented approach, called POOM. On the basis of POOM, computer-aided modeling environment called CAPE-ModE is proposed to provide the different topology analysis functionalities that supports plant operation design and execution. In this paper, new topology analysis model is proposed which covered the limitations found in recent reported topology analysis models/methods. New topology analysis concepts are introduced to support operation design and execution. EIA or equipment isolation area is introduced to systematically define the isolation area for any given equipment. OIA or operation isolation is introduced as the surrounding area of topology area to execute operation such as material movement from source to destination topology area/structure unit. ANSI/ISA S88 defined procedure, unit procedure, operation, and phase. However, due to the dynamic changes in product specifications and domain knowledge, the concept of Job is introduced where it can be defined by operator during plant operation, in real time basis. Operator can define job in terms of control recipe by changing some attributes. Owing to the parallel production plans and operation optimization, job execution might share parts of plant topology. In such case, JIA will be defined in the real time in view of current utilization of plant topology. Owing to the gap between process design and operation, the concept of process block was not used properly, in this research work, the concept of block is introduced so that operator can view and understand the original concept of block in terms of functionalities and its link to equipment, EIA, OIA, cell, unit, and JIA. JIA is defined as set of OIA and EIA. The proposed topology navigator will enable operator to navigate through the different layers if the underlying plant topology, including unit, cell, JIA, OIA, EIA, and block. The proposed idea of intelligent topology analyzer can be used to support operation design and to support production management of higher levels of process structure model.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to provide a design of intelligent model-based topology analyzer that can be used to improve plant operation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - POOM process modeling methodology is proposed to model and partition plant topology so that plant operation can be designed in effective manner as mapped to plant topology partitions. Plant topology is divided into areas based on the operation required and material flow and isolation paths are identified automatically using intelligent algorithm.\nFindings: - It is possible to define hierarchical plant structure (topology) partitions that can be mapped to plant operation levels, which are described by ANSI/ISA-S88. In addition, the use of design knowledge can be useful to define conceptual partitions such as Block, which is essential to link design and operation knowledge. Plant operation (jobs) can be flexibly defined in view of plant structure partitions in terms of resources (materials, plant structural areas) required and operation scheduling.\nResearch limitations/implications: - It is important to link to production scheduling to ensure effective use of topology partitions in real time based on available resources. The proposed approach can be improved via the integration with intelligent production scheduling.\nPractical implications: - Production and manufacturing plants will be able to use the proposed approach to design and validate plant operation and to improve plant maintenance while reducing operation risks by identifying plant structures required for each operation task. The proposed technique can be helpful to engineers and R&D members to consider in their design and investigation for process safety, risk management, and plant operation and management.\nOriginality/value: - The idea of topology analysis is quite new where it is usually implemented using search algorithms without considering domain knowledge and operation structures. This paper proposes a valuable technique to link plant structure with plant operation hierarchies, which is important for design and engineering practices and R&D activities for plant operation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Organizational objectives for information security governance: a value focused assessment	[ "Decision objectives", "Organizational security governance", "Value-focused thinking" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizational governance of information technology is a set of responsibilities and practices that are exercised by the executive management to provide a strategic direction such that risks are managed appropriately and an organization's resources are used responsibly (ISACA Manual, 2004). Organizational security governance (OSG) sets the tone for adequate information security policies and practices (Allen and Westby, 2007). While the relationship between good governance and information security has been noted in the literature (Forte and Power, 2008), there has been little guidance as to how \"good\" objectives for OSG can be achieved. Zafar and Clark (2009) conducted a comprehensive review of information security research published in nine of the leading information security journals and identified governance as a research subcategory in this area. In governance research, there are studies about structure and objectives (Zafar and Clark, 2009), but there are hardly any studies about developing organization security governance objectives. This could be a result of traditionally viewing security as a technical requirement and not as a corporate boardroom issue. But there is informing literature from decision sciences (Keeny, 1992, 1999; Merrill, 2005) that highlight the process of objective formulation.\nLiterature review: The review of literature was done by using the keywords \"security governance\", \"security governance objectives\", \"security governance frameworks\", \"how to develop security governance objectives\" and \"decision objectives\". The AIS elibrary, ACM database, ABI/Inform, Computers & Security and IEEE databases were used for finding relevant information.\nValue-based objectives for OSG: The objectives for OSG, as suggested by the data, are presented below.\nMeans objectives: In this research, \"ensure efficacy of audit processes (M1)\" has emerged as a means objective which essentially suggests checks and balances for the governance program. Auditing is an important functionality which provides assurance for risk management, controls and governance structures [Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), 2006]. It is vital for management to consult experts proactively and to advise on IT security (Trcek, 2003). Auditing ensures segregation of duties and points out anomalies in normal business transactions. The greatest benefit of audit function is its unbiased assessment of management adequacy (Wagner, 2000).\nContributions: The contributions of this study, to research and practice, is presented in three categories below:\nEvaluation criteria: The set of principles for evaluating interpretive research proposed by Klein and Myers (1999) has been used to evaluate this study. The principles include the hermeneutic circle, contextualization, interaction between subjects and researcher, abstraction and generalization, dialogical reasoning, multiple interpretations and suspicion. The theory behind the work is value theory, which is widely used in sociology. The findings are 23 OSG objectives. In this study, the principle of the hermeneutic circle was implied but explicit recognition was not given to it. As Klein and Myers (1999) found in the examination of the three sample articles that they evaluated, this lack of explicit recognition is due to the implication of the principle in the adherence to the other six principles. The principle of contextualization was achieved through a clear and descriptive write-up. The history and context of the study was established upfront. The third principle, interaction between the researchers and the subjects, has been alluded to but not explicitly reported. The researcher reached out to the participants explained the confidentiality and anonymity of data provided. This trust influenced the data collection, and thus the findings of the study.\nLimitations and future research: The objectives proposed in this study have been developed from data but these objectives have not been tested in a real organizational setting. Subjective bias of the researcher could have creep in the analysis mode, as inevitable in this kind of research. There are several exciting streams of work that can arise from this research. One interesting avenue could be that list of objectives developed in this research can be subjected to psychometric analysis with separate large samples. Development of a model for measuring information security governance could result from such an exercise. Further investigation to establish relationships between means and fundamental objectives is required. Also, it would be interesting to study the values of end users about OSG and incorporate these values into these objectives.\nConclusion: This research is a one of the few attempts to develop theoretically grounded value-based OSG objectives. This study used \"value theory\" as a theoretical basis to develop value based security governance objectives. Effective OSG calls for objectives that are grounded in organizational context and based on the values of the stakeholders in the organization. This paper incorporates value-focused thinking to develop the objectives for OSG. The results show 6 fundamental and 17 means OSG objectives that are theoretically grounded.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop theoretically grounded and empirically derived organizational security governance (OSG) objectives. Developing organizational security governance (OSG) objectives pose significant challenges for organizations considering the ever-increasing vulnerability from lack of or misuse of appropriate controls. In recent years, there have been several cases of colossal losses to businesses due to inadequate security governance measure. In many cases, organizations do not even know as to what their ISG objectives might be. Following an extensive empirical study, this paper proposes 6 fundamental and 17 means objectives for designing security governance. The objectives were developed from individual values of information technology and security executives across a wide range of firms. The study comprised 52 interview respondents across 9 firms, which resulted in 23 OSG objectives. Theoretically, the study was grounded in Catton's (1959) value theory and Keeney's (1992) value-focused thinking. The objectives provide a useful basis for strategic planning for information security governance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research is grounded in value-focused thinking methodology. Step 1: develop a comprehensive list of personal values underlying the problem being explored. The researcher undertakes extensive interviews, using relevant probes, to elicit underlying values of respondents. Step 2: change the values enlisted to a common form and convert them into objectives. The data collected in Step 1 is collated and presented in a common form, which enables cross-comparison and easy interpretation. Step 3: classify the objectives as means and fundamental for the decision context. Objectives are clustered into groups and then classified into fundamental and means.\nFindings: This study uses a value-focused approach to develop OSG objectives. Incorporating individual values in developing governance objectives would facilitate alignment of individual and organizational values about OSG. This study proposes 6 fundamental and 17 means objectives for OSG. The study provides a comprehensive list of OSG that is rooted in values of stakeholders in an organization.\nOriginality/value: The main contributions study can be classified in two categories. First, it represents a collective set of OSG objectives which touch upon technical, formal, informal, moral and ethical dimensions of governance. This is a unique, synthesized and cohesive framework for OSG, which incorporates several aspects of OSG into one platform, thus allowing the development of a comprehensive security management program. Second, some of the objectives developed in this research (\"establish corporate control strategy\", \"establish punitive structure\", \"establish clear control development process\", \"ensure formal control assessment functionality\" and \"maximize group cohesiveness\") have not been emphasized enough in security governance literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Playing in the backstore: interface gamification increases warehousing workforce engagement	[ "Gamification", "Controlled experiment", "Warehouse management system (WMS)", "Employee engagement", "NeuroIS" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Only 13% of employees worldwide consider themselves engaged in their work (Mann and Harter, 2016). This statistic is worrisome considering that a recent meta-analysis of 339 research studies across 230 organisations in 49 industries of 73 countries found that a lack of employee engagement leads to lower company performance across nine dimensions: customer loyalty, profitability, productivity, turnover, safety incidents, shrinkage, absenteeism, patient safety incidents and product quality (Harter et al., 2016). In a warehouse setting specifically, a lack of employee engagement has been linked to a decrease in company profitability, an increase in defects, an increase in turnover and a decrease in productivity (Jackson-Martin, 2017). As a potential solution to the lack of employee engagement and as a response to recent calls for theory-driven causal experiments on gamification (Nacke and Deterding, 2017; Warmelink et al., 2018), we investigate the effects of the gamification of a wearable warehouse management system's (WMS) interface on order pickers. \"A WMS is a complex software package that helps manage inventory, storage locations, and the workforce, to ensure that customer orders are picked quickly, packed, and shipped\" (Bartholdi and Hackman, 2019, p. 33). There have been few examples of attempting to integrate gamification in a WMS interface to improve order picker engagement or performance (Small, 2017; Klevers et al., 2016). These studies, contrary to the current study, have not addressed the theoretical foundations and motivational mechanisms of gamification, which limits its applicability.In this article, we present a within-subject laboratory experiment in which goal-setting and feedback, two of the most common gamification elements (Warmelink et al., 2018), were implemented in a wearable WMS interface to examine their effect on user engagement, as well as performance in an item picking task. Both implicit (neurophysiological) and explicit (self-reported) measures of engagement are used, allowing for a richer understanding of the user's perceived and physiological states (De Guinea et al., 2014). Overall, our results show that a gamified interface results in higher emotional and cognitive engagement and better performance, when compared to a non-gamified interface. This paper provides evidence that the integration of gamification in employee interfaces can positively affect employee engagement, at least in the short term. This paper also contributes to the understanding of the motivational mechanisms underlying gamification, specifically focusing on how the intrinsic motivation generated from gamification elements ultimately results in a greater potential for employee engagement and performance.\n2. Related work and hypothesis development: 2.1 Operations management\n3. Materials and methods: 3.1 Experimental design and sample\n4. Results: See Table A1 for the mean and standard deviation of all variables by condition. 4.1 A gamified interface leads to higher emotional engagement (H1a)\n5. Discussion: Results show that gamification with either type of goal-setting (self-set or assigned) increases implicit and explicit emotional engagement (H1a), implicit and explicit cognitive engagement (H1b), as well as performance (time) (H2), when compared to no gamification. Post-experiment interview analyses further showed that participants were more engaged with a gamified interface. When comparing assigned-goal versus self-set-goal gamification, participants were significantly more performant (time and errors) when goals were assigned, rather than self-set (contrary to H3). In other words, participants were quicker and made fewer errors when they were assigned a goal. In terms of engagement, participants had higher HR (higher arousal) (H4a) when goals were assigned, than when goals were self-set, indicating higher implicit emotional engagement. However, results show no differences in explicit emotional engagement, SCL (arousal), frontal alpha asymmetry (valence) and explicit and implicit cognitive engagement (H4b) when goals are self-set vs assigned.Goal-setting theory is useful in understanding why goals and feedback lead to better performance. First of all, goal-setting theory states that specific and clear goals lead to persistence to reach the goal and to optimal performance (Locke and Latham, 2002). In this experiment, goals were specific and clear because they consisted of a precise time (e.g. 6 min and 38 s). Therefore, theoretically, the goals led to optimal performance. Secondly, the presence of constant goal progress feedback, through a timer displayed right next to the goal time on the wearable device, encourages users to direct their attentional resources and effort towards the goal, leading to better performance (Locke and Latham, 2002). These two factors (specific/clear goals and constant feedback) could have contributed to the observed effect that the gamified conditions led to better performance than the non-gamified condition.Goal-setting theory also states that more difficult goals lead to better performance. The third self-set goal option (7 min and 38 s) is less difficult than the assigned goal (6 min and 38 s). If enough participants chose this particular self-set goal, the self-set goal condition would be less difficult than the assigned goal condition, thus explaining the difference in performance between conditions. However, only one participant selected that particular self-set goal option (7 min and 38 s). In fact, 14 participants selected the most difficult self-set goal (5 min and 38 s), while six chose the middle goal (6 min and 38 s). Therefore, the self-set goal condition could actually be considered more difficult. Alternatively, it is possible that external pressure to perform generated in the assigned goal condition and led to more effort and persistence towards the assigned goal than the self-set goal. Both effort and persistence are mediators of the relationship between goals and performance (Locke and Latham, 2002).When dividing participants into condition preference segments based on post-task interviews, it was found that participants who preferred self-set goals were more performant and more implicitly cognitively engaged in this condition. Interview analyses have brought to light interesting insight related to the motivational underpinnings of this preference. These participants reported feeling a sense of freedom of choice because they were able to choose their own goal. Participants felt as if the goal came from themselves, even though we offered three predetermined choices. This freedom of choice and the feeling that the goal came from within conceptually coincide with one of the three drivers of intrinsic motivation stated in SDT: autonomy. Participants also reported that choosing their own goal allowed them to adjust it based on how they performed (in terms of time) in the previous task(s) or based on how they were feeling in that moment. This freedom of goal adjustment could have led to participants feeling more competent and more confident in their ability to reach the chosen goal, therefore satisfying a second driver of intrinsic motivation: competence. Theoretically, the intrinsic motivation generated from the satisfaction of these two psychological needs could increase job/motivational resources available to the employee, leading to a greater long-term potential for engagement and performance (Deci et al., 2017). This interpretation provides a motivational pathway by which gamification affects performance.Participants who preferred the assigned goal condition did not perform better and were not more engaged in this condition. This result is interesting, considering that the best performance (when looking at the whole sample) was achieved in this condition. Interview analyses were once again useful to gain motivational insight. Participants who preferred this condition said that they enjoyed and took this goal more seriously because it came from a \"company\" or an authority figure, whereas the self-set goal had less meaning to them. When examining the interview analyses for all 21 participants, it can be seen that this condition generated an external pressure to perform, which seemed to be effective: overall, participants performed better and had higher HR when the goal was assigned. However, this motivation is extrinsic, because it comes from an external source (pressure from authority figure). Extrinsic motivation has not been shown to generate long-term engagement, whereas intrinsic motivation has (Deci et al., 2017). It is also necessary to discuss the possible pervasive effects resulting from pressure to perform, namely, exhaustion or burnout. The JD-R model's (Karasek, 1979) theoretical framework is a valuable tool to understand these pervasive effects, as well as the interaction and result of job resources and job demands. When resources are insufficient, an employee is at risk for exhaustion, burnout and a plethora of adverse health effects resulting from these. The increase in external pressure resulting from assigned goals can lead to an imbalance in job demands-resources, in the sense that job demands would increase. Employees having an imposed rather than a chosen goal can further amplify this imbalance by reducing job resources through the decrease in autonomy, as stated in the JD-R model. With job demands increasing and job resources decreasing in the assigned goal condition, participants might be more at risk for exhaustion and burnout over the long term.In addition, arousal measured from heart rate is a well-documented measure of sympathetic nervous system activation, the same system activated in \"fight or flight\" situation or in any general stressful situations (Cacioppo et al., 2007). A higher HR is an indicator of sympathetic nervous system activation. Long-term sympathetic activation at high enough levels has been shown to negatively impact health (cardiovascular disease, mental health issues, etc.) (Cacioppo et al., 2007). The assigned goal condition, generating a higher HR and thus more sympathetic activation, should be implemented with caution. Although assigned goals do lead to better performance, it would be wise to consider the possible ill effects of long-term implementation. Self-set goals can be seen as a more long-term solution because of the intrinsic motivation they generate, which increases job resources and therefore leads to a greater potential for engagement and performance at work. Also, self-set goals are a better option for long-term engagement because the intrinsic motivation they generate can lead to meaningful engagement. The benefits of intrinsic motivation and work engagement, both in the workplace and beyond, are very well documented in organisational psychology literature. Specifically, intrinsic motivation and work engagement lead to increased creativity and innovativeness at work, increased mental and physical wellness at home and at work, healthier interpersonal relations at work and at home, increased work satisfaction and fulfilment and increased employee and company performance across many dimensions (Ryan and Deci, 2017). In short, an intrinsically motivated and engaged workforce leads to better outcomes not only for companies but also for the employees in them. The results presented in this paper are a first step in displaying that the integration of gamification elements (self-set goals and feedback) in information systems offers a relatively simple way for companies to increase workforce engagement and intrinsic motivation, and thus reap the above-mentioned benefits. Results from this study also have theoretical value. Using prominent motivational theories and models, this study presented a testable pathway through which gamification affects engagement and performance at work.This study is not without limitations. The main limitation is that engagement and performance were measured in the short-term. It is therefore difficult to extrapolate these results for long-term engagement and performance. Another limitation is the effect sizes of statistically significant results relating to implicit emotional engagement. While 12 out of 17 statistically significant results had large effect sizes, five effect sizes relating to implicit emotional engagement were small. We have been cautious when interpreting these low effect sizes and have not rested our main conclusions on these results. Future studies should seek to replicate these findings in different domains or in a real workspace over a long period of time to observe the long-term effects of these gamification elements on engagement and performance. Other research avenues include testing the effects of different gamification elements (e.g. points, achievements, avatar, narrative) on performance and engagement.\n6. Conclusion: Overall, this study demonstrates that gamification can indeed be an appropriate remedy for a lack of employee engagement, at least on a short-term scale. The integration of self-set goals and feedback game elements has the greatest potential to generate long-term intrinsic motivation, which leads to greater employee engagement and performance. Long-term intrinsic motivation can also lead to meaningful engagement of an IS, thus creating long-term engagement between a user and a gamified IS. Although this experiment was restricted to a warehouse setting, the underlying motivational mechanisms at play in the presence of gamification elements can certainly be transposed to a variety of job domains involving a measurable performance metric (e.g. time, number of items, accuracy). However, gamification implementation could have a negative effect on the well-being of users and should thus be implemented with caution.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In a warehouse setting, where hourly workers performing manual tasks account for more than half of total warehouse expenditure, a lack of employee engagement has been directly linked to company performance. In this article, the authors present a laboratory experiment in which two gamification elements, goal setting and feedback, are implemented in a wearable warehouse management system (WMS) interface to examine their effect on user engagement and performance in an item picking task. Both implicit (neurophysiological) and explicit (self-reported) measures of engagement are used, allowing for a richer understanding of the user's perceived and physiological state.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This experiment uses a within-subject design. Two experimental factors, goals and feedback, are manipulated, leading to three conditions: no gamification condition, self-set goals and feedback and assigned goals and feedback. Twenty-one subjects participated (mean age = 24.2, SD = 2.2).\nFindings: This article demonstrates that gamification can successfully increase employee engagement, at least in the short-term. The integration of self-set goals and feedback game elements has the greatest potential to generate long-term intrinsic motivation and meaningful engagement, leading to greater employee engagement and performance.\nOriginality/value: This article explores the underlying effects of gamification through two of the most prominent motivational theories (self-determination theory [SDT] and goal-setting theory) and one of the leading employee engagement models (job demands-resource model [JD-R[ model). This provides a theory-rich interpretation of the data, which allows to uncover the motivational pathways by which gamification affects engagement and performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Organic management of frameworks and systems, but not people: An interview with Richard Davis	[ "Measurement", "Quality" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Q: You are a master of organic management. What could that mean in light of your having transformed a small, mediocre company into a large, superb one?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to introduce the concept of organic management and demonstrate how it can be applied in practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Provides an interview with Rich Davis, a visionary executive.\nFindings: - Richard Davis is an extremely creative manager who transformed a small, mediocre firm into a large, superbly well-managed company. Originating as a family retail optical business, today nearly 35 million people enjoy the many benefits of Davis Vision. Your opinions about management, leadership, employees and business problems will never be quite the same after considering the ideas of this master of wholistic, organic, integrative management. For example, associates are considered internal customers and must be delighted first, even before external customers. Associates interact in measurable and effective ways that allows the company to focus on its vision, mission, and goals while embracing a constantly changing environment and grow.\nOriginality/value: - The great wisdom of Richard Davis has been distilled into a very few pages. It is as if the major works of Peter Drucker were so distilled. The editors suggest that you read and reread this short piece.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Wine consumers in British Columbia, Canada: Towards understanding how Millennials differ from previous generations	[ "Canada", "Market segmentation", "Surveys", "Consumers", "Millennials", "Survey research", "BC wine" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: An update about the global wine market by Lecat et al. (2019) states that old world wine producers are innovating to compete with the large brand portfolios dominating the new world wine countries such as the USA, Australia, Argentina and Chile. The key to success is to meet the demands in markets with high consumption and those with attractive growth opportunities. This is not as easy as it sounds as the consumer needs differ across geographies and have to be understood and met for success. Global wine consumption is declining in continental Europe but still growing in the USA, Canada, Chile, Australia and of course China. Canada does not feature in Lecat et al.'s data as a wine-producing country but as a country of wine consumers (assessed by per capita consumption between 2005 and 2012). Changes in trade agreements and regulations are likely to further ease wine imports into Canada (Lembke and Cartier, 2019).\nLiterature: Wine as a complex consumer product\nMethodology: This investigation is a mixed-methods design, using both a quantitative component and a qualitative component.\nResults and discussion: Gender composition in the sample was 60 per cent female and 40 per cent male. The survey incident rate confirmed that around 55 per cent of the general adult population drink at least one bottle of wine per month.\nConclusion, implications, limitations and future research: The descriptive nature of the survey in this research offers for the first time a broad range of data from three generations of wine consumers in BC. This research is a mere starting point for the industry to better understand areas of opportunity and threat. The focus is on BC wines in the mid-value and premium-value range. Future research needs to re-assess the price tiers and value ranges of wine, including the super-premium wine range and its split between foreign and domestic sources. As such data is no longer available at this level of detail from Canadian government statistics, BC consumer responses or case studies may have to suffice.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to redirect wine producer marketing strategies in British Columbia (BC) to better market their wine to the next generation of local consumers and compete against foreign imports.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study was conducted using representative data collected from BC wine consumers through a survey of 500 participants and subsequent focus groups to better understand and interpret the findings.\nFindings: The findings confirm that the growth of wine sales in BC is driven by the Millennial generation. This generation shows some different wine purchasing and consumption behaviours than previous generations. BC wine producers compete against foreign imports by using their direct-to-consumer sales channel (s) and could also use their superior understanding for the next generation of wine consumers to better sell their local wines across multiple channels.\nPractical implications: To onboard the next generation of Millennial consumers to BC wines, BC wine producers are advised to use the tasting room environment to learn more about their local consumers and also sell via other channels. Some gaps in consumer needs across generations are identified and BC producers are advised to further target this new consumer and meet the needs of the local Millennials better than the competition.\nOriginality/value: The study is unique in its location. BC wine producers have often used US research or anecdotal data from their own tasting rooms to inform marketing decisions. The researchers argue that this carries significant risk, especially as the next generation of BC wine consumers displays different purchasing behaviours than those reported in US research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Transcending the power of hierarchy to facilitate shared leadership	[ "Hierarchy", "Jerry Garcia", "Shared leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: This report shows how we really work. We do business the way artists do business. The reason there is a Grateful Dead Productions is because the State of California requires that we identify ourselves as a business. [...]\nShared leadership and organizational hierarchy: We must first note that the idea of shared leadership is not new (O'Toole et al., 2002). For example, Sally (2002) described the sharing of leadership in ancient Roman political society. Also, we would be remiss without recognizing the extensive discussions concerning shared leadership in the writings of Mary Parker Follett (1924). In addition, although nearly forgotten today, the vision of sharing leadership was described in the works of the sociologist Talcott Parsons in the 1950s (Heckscher, 2008).\nJerry Garcia of the grateful dead: Rowley (2002) argued that single case studies are appropriate when the case is unique or has something special to reveal. We think Garcia meets both criteria. We find him a valuable example because his case is likely to contribute to: richer conceptualizations of less hierarchical processes (Werhane, 2007), better understanding of the emerging thoughts of the Dead's influence on management (Green, 2010), heightened awareness for the need to reflect on unconventional groups to better understand current organizational issues (Peiro and Melia, 2003), and the acceptance of counterculture approaches as a means to move beyond the traditional thinking that dominates our conceptualizations of hierarchical leadership (Ghoshal, 2005). Moreover, Garcia's leadership actually overcame the power of hierarchy and promoted the sense of community needed for shared leadership to develop. For 30 years he influenced not only his band mates but also tens of thousands of fans (referred to as the Deadheads). From 1965 to 1995 the business of the Grateful Dead grew in size to 70 full-time employees and tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue even though they had only one top ten single in their long career. The Grateful Dead were a touring band that played roughly 75 concerts each year driven in large part by Garcia's passion for playing before live audiences (Barnes, 2004).\nThe leadership of Jerry Garcia: We began our examination of Garcia with Palus et al.'s (2003) proposition that the capacity to maintain a relational understanding of leadership is likely related to more complex modes of understanding. A higher stage of development allows for greater freedom for self and relational interpretation (Kegan, 1994). Consistent with these constructive developmental assumptions, Kuhnert and Lewis (1987) offered that the perceptual structures of transformational leaders were different from lower level transactional leaders and that only at higher stages could leaders truly consider the interests of others, as personal goals were transcended by a focus on interpersonal relations. Thus, transformational leaders can alter the goals of those around them allowing their influence to filter throughout the organization (Bass et al., 1987). Based upon these studies and the reality of Garcia as such a transformative figure, Garcia's followers would undoubtedly label him as a transformational leader that fostered a web of co-developmental relationships with them (see McCauley et al., 2006).\nUnderstanding the emergence of shared leadership: The goal of establishing and sustaining shared leadership in business organizations has not materialized (Crevani et al., 2007), primarily because we do not grasp the means of restraining the power of hierarchy. As this is a commonly shared view, some find the idea of shared leadership impractical (Oman, 2005) or, practical only with certain tasks (Pearce and Manz, 2005), situations (Pearce et al., 2009), or professions (Adler et al., 2008).\nContributions, limitations, and future research: This paper emerged as a response to the recent calls for further inquiry into the triggers for shared leadership, facilitation factors, and the most conducive influence approaches for the process of shared leadership (Kocolowski, 2010). As this type of leadership was exhibited by Jerry Garcia, we examined his case to illustrate how shared leadership might occur and flourish. We argue that our conceptualization based on this case is relevant to real organizational contexts and points to a viable path for practical implementation. We hope that we have in this way operationalized the theoretical concept of shared leadership as a paradigm useful for practice.\nConclusion: The increasing complexity of leadership in contemporary organizations has initiated a \"rethinking of what leadership is, where to find it, and how it can be practiced and developed\" (Palus et al., 2003, p. 26). In particular, the idea of effectively sharing leadership is emerging at the forefront of this debate.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Although communal forms of leadership are being called for to provide contemporary organizations with more responsive leadership platforms, the paper can find no compelling description as to how such leadership might develop in a world of hierarchy. The purpose of this paper is to fill this void.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Attempting to comprehend the sharing of leadership will require contemplation of unconventional approaches in opposition to the dominant logic associated with conventional organizational leadership. One current example of such unorthodox deliberation is the emerging awareness of the Grateful Dead's influence on business management and leadership. Accordingly, the paper examined and interpreted the experiences and expressed beliefs of Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead to offer a conceptualization of how shared leadership could emerge in traditional organizational settings.\nFindings: The analysis indicates that Jerry Garcia exhibited aspects of transformational leadership, servant leadership, and authentic leadership that allowed him to influence the environment needed for the emergence of shared leadership.\nResearch limitations/implications: As a single case study, the primary limitation is one of generalizability. The paper accepts the trade-off, however, due to the significant conceptual insights available with a case methodology.\nPractical implications: Without greater understanding of how shared leadership might unfold practitioners will assume the construct of shared leadership is laudable but naive. The paper must begin developing plausible conceptualizations if the notion of sharing leadership is to be taken more seriously in organizations.\nOriginality/value: The paper offers a counterintuitive, counterculture conceptualization of how shared leadership could emerge and flourish in traditional hierarchical settings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Intellectual capital role in ambidexterity emergence: A proposal of a multilevel model and research agenda	[ "Social capital", "Human capital", "Multilevel perspective", "Ambidexterity", "Paths" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Today's complex markets demand organizations to develop a combination of both efficiency and innovative strategic capabilities, developing exploratory and exploitative activities simultaneously. These types of organizations tend to offer superior performance and build sustainable competitive advantages (Jansen et al., 2012). Nevertheless, reaching ambidexterity implies notably complex processes and activities that demand further research (Kang and Snell, 2009; Kostopoulos et al., 2015).\nAmbidexterity process emergence: a three-path multilevel model: Despite the conceptual dispersion in the field, it is widely recognized that ambidexterity generally refers to the company's ability to simultaneously implement exploitative and explorative processes (Turner et al., 2015). Exploitation is related to taking advantage of the value of existing markets, resources and competences, by applying repetitive combinative processes on the basis of the organization's existing knowledge (March, 1991). In turn, exploration implies that companies are also able to explore new opportunities, markets and/or products, searching for unusual knowledge domains and applying new mechanisms and procedures (Kang and Snell, 2009; Jansen et al., 2012). Kang and Snell (2009) presented one of the most relevant works explaining how companies may generate ambidexterity. They theoretically identified two intellectual capital configurations: refined interpolation and disciplined extrapolation. The authors argued that, through the synergistic combination of the facets of intellectual capital - human, social and organizational, organizations are able to find a balance between exploration and exploitation activities. They considered these ambidextrous architectures as ideal ways to reach ambidexterity, assuming that other kinds of configurations are possible.\nConclusions and research agenda: Following diverse calls in the literature (Kang and Snell, 2009; Kostopoulos et al., 2015), the present study aims to contribute to the extant academic debate, clarifying the specific strategic processes and mechanisms involved in ambidexterity. Achieving ambidextrous capabilities is a notably complex process comprising different strategic elements. Hence, the proposed model offers alternative explanations about how companies can reach ambidexterity, describing three complementary paths at different organizational levels (Gupta et al., 2006).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Considering the inconclusive results in the literature on the way organizations create ambidextrous organizational capabilities, the purpose of this paper is to present an alternative theoretical model of three different paths through which ambidexterity is built. From a multilevel perspective, the model describes how specific combinations of the facets of intellectual capital - human, social and organizational capital - can synergistically work to reach ambidexterity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on main arguments from multilevel and intellectual capital literature. The multilevel approach allows the authors to consider a broader perspective to define three specific modes to create ambidextrous capabilities. Additionally, the intellectual capital literature completes the model, with the input (human capital), mechanisms (social capital) and the infrastructure (organizational capital) needed to develop ambidexterity. With the integration of both frameworks, the model explains how different types of ambidexterity are generated at diverse firm levels - individual, group and organizational, following different and complementary paths.\nFindings: This research goes beyond the traditional arguments on how organizations develop simultaneously exploration and exploitation activities, proposing an integrative model of three complementary modes: path 1 (ambidexterity based on individual human capital); path 2 (ambidexterity through social capital) and path 3 (ambidexterity through organizational capital). These paths link organizational levels in organizations, showing the accumulative process of ambidexterity from a multilevel perspective.\nOriginality/value: The paper offers an alternative view expanding the ongoing discussion in the ambidexterity field. There is a lack of configurational models in the literature that describe, from a synergistic point of view, these complementary paths to achieving organizational ambidexterity. This approach contributes to explaining that not only individual ambidextrous human capital is needed to generate organizational ambidexterity, but also that specialist human capital could be a source of ambidexterity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Involving teachers in reducing children's media risks	[ "Teachers", "Prevention", "Media", "Schools", "Intervention", "Children" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The risks of children's media use\nMethods: Phases in data collection\nResults: Quantitative survey\nDiscussion: Overall satisfaction\nConclusions: To date, few interventions have pursued a universal approach to the prevention of problematic screen media use, as most interventions have focussed on other issues, such as nutrition and physical activity levels (Friedrich et al., 2014). \"Media Project\" is the only intervention designed for this age group in Germany. The intervention involves a complex programme for the prevention of addictive screen media use based on the theoretical reasoning from media effects research, socialisation research and health promotion described in the introduction. The intervention is designed to sensitise teachers for negative effects of screen media use, to provide guidance for parents and to support children in participating in healthy leisure time activities. The \"Media Project\" intervention offers teachers the opportunity to participate in advanced, high-quality training. It aims to empower teachers to promote healthy screen media use in their daily work with parents and children.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to introduce MEDIA PROTECT, a multi-modal intervention for parents and teachers with six components preventing problematic, and in the long run addictive, use of screen media by children; second, to present results of a formative evaluation of the teacher training, an important component of the intervention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In presenting the intervention, the authors used a common framework to describe complex interventions systematically. For the evaluation, participants were recruited from German schools and kindergarten for a cluster-controlled trial. As part of a formative evaluation, the participants completed written questionnaires to determine the importance of different components of the intervention in addition to their overall satisfaction. Additional qualitative interviews with teachers were conducted.\nFindings: The authors recruited n=50 kindergartens and n=9 schools; n=30 received the intervention. N=222 teachers participated in the training and n=192 completed the questionnaire (86 per cent). Seven qualitative interviews were conducted. Participants exhibited high levels of overall satisfaction with the training, considered it moderately to highly relevant to their work, and exhibited varying satisfaction levels with different components and multipliers. The qualitative data support these findings.\nOriginality/value: Few interventions to date have pursued a universal approach to the prevention of problematic screen media use. This evaluation of MEDIA PROTECT is the most recent study in Germany, which involves a complex programme through which teachers are taught ways to promote the age-adequate use of screen media in the family, parents are provided with guidance and healthy leisure time activities for children are fostered.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Greece is failing properly to manage public-sector redundancies: HR lacks strategy to deal with lay-offs and their consequences	[ "Employee engagement", "Closing public organizations", "Dismissed employees", "Dismissed public servants", "Merging public services", "Remaining employees" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The financial crisis in Greece is causing thousands of public servants to lose their jobs, but there is apparently no coherent HR strategy to deal with the manner of these lay-offs or their wider implications.\nEmployees in public-sector organizations that will merge: In the case of public-sector organizations that will merge, HR should explain the reasons for the merger and how the transfer of employees to the merged entity will be managed.\nEmployees in public-sector organizations that will close: In the case of departments that will close, the HR team should interview the employees who will be leaving to gain complete picture of the kind of work the person has done and how he or she has done it. Such interviews are an essential part of knowledge management. They also give the employee the chance to comment on the organization and suggest improvements, as in the traditional exit interview.\nConclusion: None of these measures should be seen as giving favored treatment to public-sector workers over their private-sector counterparts. Rather, the aim should be to achieve a change of mentality on the part of politicians, trade unions, employees, public and private-sector managers and members of Greek society as a whole.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: to identify the lack of specific HR policies in the Hellenic public sector; basically to present/discuss a variety of recommendations that managers and political administration could apply as key elements of an HR strategy aiming to manage remaining and dismissed public servants in Hellas.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The article takes the form of a presentation and in-depth analysis of a series of practical measures, recommendations and actions that HR departments should focus upon and implement as elements of an HR strategy when merging and closing public organizations in Hellas.\nFindings: The article discusses the various challenges HR managers are currently faced with, and how they can be overcome.\nPractical implications: It indicates possible practical solutions in managing employees in periods of change as well as in cases of merging services and closing enterprises. It provides the opportunity for a comparative examination of the recommendations with cases of other countries.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers perception and vision to HR professionals (mainly in the Hellenic public sector) on how to design and implement an HR strategy when merge and close public organizations. The analysis advocates \"modern/reciprocative\" (HR) management is required.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Memory loss? Corporate knowledge and radical change	[ "Change management", "Knowledge management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An organization's ability to collect, store and use knowledge it has generated through experience can have important consequences for its performance. Storing and using stored knowledge effectively can buffer the organization from the disruptive effects of turnover, facilitate co-ordination, contribute to the development of innovative products, and may even serve to rebuild an organization (Olivera, 2000, p. 811).\nThe study: This case study was intended to expand our understanding of what happens to elements of organizational memory systems during, and in the aftermath of, radical change initiatives (a significant shift in structure, function, values, culture, strategy, power distribution, and control systems). Specifically this study explored the tacit and explicit knowledge aspects of organizational memory systems.The impetus for this inquiry began with the events of September 11, 2001. With the terrorist attacks and subsequent collapse of the World Trade Center towers, significant numbers of employees were lost. One organization, the bond-trading firm Cantor-Fitzgerald, lost approximately 700 employees, almost three quarters of its workforce. In a few hours, successful organizations were catastrophically subjected to an event that violently eliminated many of their physical and intellectual assets, creating a crisis of such magnitude that their continued existence was questionable. How could these organizations conduct business with many of their employees - along with the stored knowledge or memory - gone?Exogenous environmental factors where the environment overpowers the organization can impose change on an organization. However, endogenous initiatives can also change the conditions for survival. For example, relocating a significant part of a business to remote locations, voluntary early retirements, reductions in force, restructuring, and other initiatives can significantly change how work is done.The primary research question for the study was, what happens to organizational memory systems when radical organizational change occurs? Related research questions were:* What aspects of organizational memory systems are accessed as an organization undergoes radical change?* What aspects of organizational memory systems are accessed in the aftermath of radical change?* How is tacit knowledge accessed and shared as an organization undergoes radical change?* How is tacit and explicit organizational knowledge accessed and shared in the aftermath of radical change?The conceptual framework for this study involved two constructs - radical organizational change and organizational memory. Radical organizational change refers to a significant shift in values, behavior, and how the organization performs the work required to meet organizational needs. Radical change differs from routine changes experienced by organizations in that routine change occurs through normal revisions or improvements to work processes or efficiency initiatives over time. Radical change attempts to redefine the organization's structure, functions, values, culture, strategy, power distribution, and control systems. Organizational memory is the knowledge and information from the organization's past, which can be accessed and used for present and future organizational activities. Figure 1 shows the relationship between the two constructs, where radical organizational change moderates organizational memory.Organizational memory systems are defined as:Sets of knowledge retention devices, such as people and documents, that collect, store and provide access to the organization's experience (Olivera, 2000, p. 815).Tacit knowledge is knowledge residing in the individual mind that is personal, undocumented, learned through experience, intuitive, and difficult to articulate or codify. Explicit knowledge is codified knowledge that can be put on paper, formulated in sentences, or captured in drawings. Explicit knowledge can be found in files, notebooks, on bookshelves, in computer databases and e-mails. Knowledge is important because people in today's organizations contribute to organizational success through their knowledge, ideas, judgment, and collaboration. Employee knowledge that contributes to the formation of organizational memory is needed in order for judgment in problem solving, idea generation, and development of new products or services that lead to higher levels of organizational performance. Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal (2001) view the knowledge possessed individually and collectively by employees as perhaps the richest resource the organization possesses. Effective knowledge management is a key to organizational success.Until this study, research was limited to the impending loss of memory when one technical expert retired from an organization or when a few people left an organization. Most research does not take into account the impact of the loss of memory from many individuals leaving concurrently. Even the literature that looks at the effects of radical change neglects to focus on the impact on organizational memory when many individuals leave concurrently. This study explored what happened when many people left the organization.\nResearch methodology: The research was conducted in the operations division of a mid-sized financial services organization with approximately 2,500 employees. This organization had undergone radical organizational change (significant shifts in structure, functions, values, culture, strategy, power distribution, and control systems) over a five-year period (1999-2004). Voluntary early retirements, layoffs, and restructurings resulted in over 450 people in the operations division leaving the organization.Data collection and analysis methods\nFindings: Nine themes emerged from the data:1. Since the radical change initiatives began in 1999, leaders and managers at this organization intentionally looked for ways to access the tacit knowledge that individual employees possessed and convert it into explicit knowledge that could be shared and retained. The leaders and managers used various forms of interaction to unfold tacit knowledge and make it explicit.2. People remained the primary source of information and knowledge during and after the initiation of radical organizational change. Because of the staff reductions, the amount or depth of expert knowledge and experience had decreased which caused people to seek out multiple different staff members to obtain the information or knowledge required.3. Use of internal and external social networks increased in the organization. Some social networks had been disrupted; however, many of these social networks have regenerated over time.4. The increased use of computer-based information technologies increased.5. Knowledge centers were created.6. Other explicit or codified knowledge-retention devices - documents, manuals, internal operating procedures, files, training manuals, etc. also flourished. Computer-based information technologies, knowledge centers, and explicit knowledge retained in documents and manuals have become more prolific and in many cases helped the organization become more efficient.7. Time to access information needed to solve problems increased. The number of resources and length of time to obtain all the needed information and knowledge to solve problems and make decisions in specialized situations has increased.8. While there was some loss of specialized, historical, or experiential knowledge, the organization was not handicapped. The data showed that a solid base of information and knowledge still exists in the organization. There has been some loss of specialized, historical knowledge because of people leaving or being transferred to other areas, but according to the interview respondents and people in attendance at meetings and events observed, the loss has not had any material impact on organizational performance or effectiveness.9. Some of the knowledge lost was obsolete. The data show that some knowledge was in decay, obsolete, and no longer needed by the organization. Archival documentation reviewed for this study shows organizational performance and effectiveness is strong. In fact, according to financial documents in the annual reports, the organization is more efficient and profitable than in its history.\nConclusions and recommendations: This study provides organizational leaders, human resource practitioners, and scholars with a greater understanding of how knowledge is accessed, shared, and retained when an organization experiences radical change.What happens to the tacit and explicit knowledge aspects of organizational memory systems (OMS) during, and in the aftermath, of radical change? The OMS morphs - it takes on a new shape. The OMS components (individual people, social networks, computer-based information technologies, knowledge centers, and other knowledge retention devices) do not change. The OMS components that were used to access information and knowledge while the organization was experiencing radical change are the same ones in existence in the aftermath of the radical change initiatives. What has changed is the degree or proportion of use of each of the components. For example, while social networks were in use before, during, and after radical change initiatives, there was an increase in the active use and frequency of social networks.Moreover, the nature or makeup of organizational memory has changed as the organization intentionally set out to specifically access and make more of the tacit knowledge explicit and codified for use by the whole organization. In the aftermath of initiatives such as voluntary retirement, layoffs and restructuring that resulted in the loss of many employees, the degree of dependency on one component shifted to other components. The usual social interactions or structurally coupled relationships were disrupted, changing the dynamics and communicative action venues and patterns previously established. Using a puzzle metaphor, Figure 2 illustrates how the configuration of OMS devices morphed in the aftermath of radical organizational change.As the organization was experiencing radical change, managers accessed tacit knowledge through verbal communications and interaction by asking questions and bringing people together to work on items, projects, or problems. Through the social interaction of working together and the ensuing discussion, people became conscious of their tacit knowledge and began to articulate this knowledge, thereby making it explicit to others.Results of this study suggest that organizations undergoing radical organizational change can successfully manage the process in order to retain the wealth of information and knowledge that exists in the organizational memory. The findings showed that the subject organization of this research study followed three key management practices throughout the entire change process (ongoing communications, senior management commitment, and planning) that enabled it to access, share, and retain its organizational memory while undergoing radical change. These practices are reminiscent of Barnard's (1938) Functions of the Executive.Ongoing communications\nSaving organizational memory: This research study did not seek to create or establish a new theory on memory. It sought to understand what happens to organizational memory systems in an organization that is or has undergone radical change initiatives. What was uncovered is different from what one would expect from reading most of the literature that precedes this case study.Much of the literature on memory, talks about the problems organizations had when people left an organization and took the tacit knowledge they possessed with them. One study, however, conducted by Casey (1994), showed that memory remained in the organization even though there was a high turnover in staff. Similarly, in exploring this organization's experience, no one interviewed felt the loss had any detrimental impact to the operation or that the knowledge that was lost caused the organization to \"skip a beat.\" And this was the operations division of an organization that lost over 800 people in the past five years - almost 25 percent of its staff. The findings showed that they did not lose much knowledge when people left and the knowledge that did leave was not critical to the organization. The organization has transformed itself from a \"sleepy\" industry utility to a fast moving, product driven, customer-centric organization.Additionally, management was persistent in its efforts to sustain organizational memory by accessing tacit knowledge within the organization and, for the most part, codifying and sharing or disseminating the knowledge within specific work units or departments and, in some cases, making the knowledge explicit through documentation and training initiatives.\nPreventing knowledge loss: Looking at these results causes one to wonder, how did this organization manage to lose significant numbers of people and knowledge and have that loss have little or no impact on the organization's memory system? The answer lies in the industry type, degree of automation, organizational forgetting, and planning for change.Industry type\nProtention generates success and growth: Study results show that protention in thinking was a critical contributor to this organization's successful management of radical change and its ability to access, share, and retain information and knowledge in organizational memory. In describing present-time consciousness, Varela (2002) discusses protention, which has a future orientation and consists of anticipations of what is yet to come. Organizational awareness requires present-time consciousness. Data from interview respondents, archival documents, and observation presented evidence of management awareness and future-oriented behaviors. Consideration of time is important to organizational change. Croswell (1996) indicated that time invested is a variable that influences the development of organizational memory and subsequent organizational learning.Organizational leaders took the time to plan for the changes, communicate with the staff, and develop the resources needed to generate the explicit knowledge needed for the future of the organization. This was accomplished through protention in thinking and an awareness of the present.Awareness ... serves as a catalyst for planned change, transformational leadership, and sustainable development (Croswell and Holliday, 2004).Through awareness and protention in thinking, organizations can counterbalance the potential negative effects of radical organizational change on organizational memory.\nImplications for practice: This research provides information for practitioners who may be helping their organizations transform through radical change and are concerned about the potential loss of information and knowledge resident in organization memory systems. Organizations undergoing radical change can successfully manage the process in order to mitigate the degree of loss and retain the wealth of information and knowledge that exists in the organizational memory.This case study points to some important practical lessons that may assist others as they embark on radical change initiatives. The following actions can be taken to create a blueprint or best practices for how to manage radical organizational change and preserve the tacit and explicit knowledge aspects of organizational memory:* Have a senior management team whose collective present-time consciousness is oriented toward the future of the organization and who see the organization as generative in nature.* Have a senior management team with strong commitment intentionally plan each aspect of the radical change, considering and anticipating the impact that each action will have on the organization and its people.* Assess who possesses information or knowledge needed for the current and future activities of the organization, and take actions to access, share, codify, and retain that knowledge.* Establish formal apprentice or mentoring relationships and training initiatives to help disseminate individual tacit knowledge among other individuals and convert the tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge.* Leverage automation systems to increase the use of computer-based information technologies and knowledge centers.* Use ongoing and frequent communications to manage expectations and keep employees informed.* Prepare business continuity programs that result in replication of process, procedures, and systems.* Assess what information and knowledge has decayed, is obsolete, and \"let it go.\"\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to understand the impact of radical change initiatives such as large VEROs or RIFs on the organizational memory system (OMS), specifically the tacit and explicit knowledge held by individuals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A qualitative case study design was used to explore and describe OMS in a securities industry organization that experienced radical change. Interviews, document analysis, and observation followed by thematic coding and analysis using Atlas.ti(r) software were used to collect and analyze data. A total of 16 organizational officers, directors, managers, and specialists participated in the interviews.\nFindings: - Findings suggest the same OMS devices were in use before, during, and after radical change initiatives occurred. However, the degree or proportion of use of these devices changed after the change initiatives. Overall, there was some loss of knowledge, but the loss appeared to have no effect on the organization's profitability.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Findings suggest that certain factors (industry role, nature of the work, and the configuration of work groups) may have influenced the results. Other factors were a management team strongly committed to change, protention of thinking, and continuous communication. Through activities of sense-making, succession planning, automation, and training, the organization managed to develop and increase the use of its memory system to retain knowledge as well as generate new knowledge.\nPractical implications: - This research provides information for practitioners who may be helping their organizations transform through radical change and are concerned about the potential loss of information and knowledge resident in organization memory systems.\nOriginality/value: - This case study points to some important practical lessons and actions that can serve as a blueprint for how to manage radical organizational change and preserve the tacit and explicit knowledge aspects of organizational memory.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
You are what you wear: examining the multidimensionality of religiosity and its influence on attitudes and intention to buy Muslim fashion clothing	[ "Religiosity", "Sharia clothes", "Affective attitude", "Self-presentation", "Purchase intention" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Fashion clothing has historically been associated with a symbolic meaning of status, which helps an individual express his/her personal identity, image and moral quality (Craik, 2003; Michaelidou and Dibb, 2006). When it comes to faith, such motivation may interact with a desire to obey the Scripture, which is manifested in their consumption behavior (Farrag and Hassan, 2015; Rahman et al., 2017; Veer and Shankar, 2011). Scholars assert that religion and consumption, to some extent, are inseparable (Diesen, 2014; Khan and Kirmani, 2018), and may determine morality that regulates consumption behavior on what to eat, what to wear and other aspects of lifestyle and identity (Arli et al., 2016; Veer and Shankar, 2011). Studies in the fashion context have revealed that religiosity influences consumers' purchasing decision in which religious people tend to make decision based on what is commanded by the Scriptures (Farrag and Hassan, 2015; O'Cass et al., 2013; Rahman et al., 2017; Sood and Nasu, 1995) (see Figure 1).Despite the above studies, scholars have yet to arrive at an agreement in understanding the concept of religiosity; for example, in terms of its dimensions and consequences (De Jong, Faulkner and Warland, 1976; Duriez et al., 2007; Glock, 1962; Huber and Huber, 2012; Wilkes et al., 1986; Worthington et al., 2003), particularly in relation to fashion clothing consumption. For example, scholars found different findings regarding whether the intention to buy clothes is affected directly or indirectly by consumers' level of religiosity (Arli et al., 2016; Bachleda et al., 2014; O'Cass et al., 2013).Furthermore, there are some assumptions that assert that religious people pay little attention to fashion clothing (O'Cass et al., 2013). In that sense, religious people do not consider physical appearance as important because it is connoted to manifestation of self-interest that contradicts the teachings of religion. Some religions do not explicitly state how their followers should dress. However, in the context of Islam, the way Muslim women should dress is explicitly described; they should wear modest attire (Badr, 2004; Boulanouar, 2006). Specifically, Muslim women should \"lower [of] their gaze, and they should guard their chastity, and not (to) display their adornment except what is apparent of it. And let them their headcovers over their bosoms, and not (to) display their adornment. And not let them their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment\" (Qur'an, 2011, p. 703). Thus, a contradictory motive may come up to the consumers' mind: while there is a desire to obey the Scripture, the consumer might also need to present her self-concept at the same time.In terms of market, Muslim fashion clothing shows a significant increase in the number of users (Diesen, 2014; ThomsonReuters, 2018). The increase is not only in numbers, but also in varieties of design, including looks, colors and forms of clothes (Chokote, 2017; GlobalBusinessGuide, 2016; Shirazi, 2017) indicating a departure from modesty. This facts then beg some questions: Is there any compromise in wearing Muslim clothes, that is a desire to comply with the Scripture but still have a \"look\"? Or has there been a change in the relationship between religiosity and purchase intention? Or are these consumers different? If yes, can such differences be identified?This research, therefore, seeks to examine the effects of dimensions of religiosity on the intention to buy Muslim women clothes by incorporating the consumers' attitudes (affective and self-presentation). The study also expands to identify whether the type of clothes Muslim women wear (sharia vs non-sharia clothes) can be a proxy of religiosity mediated by attitudes, and whether the consumers who wear such clothes are distinct, so that future purchases can be predicted from the type of clothes they wear. Findings of this research would benefit Muslim clothes marketers and designers to correctly approach their target markets.It was reported that there is 7% growth in clothing and shoe trade for Muslim consumers in 2013, which was predicted to grow up to 9% in 2019 (Diesen, 2014). According to ThomsonReuters (2018), the sales of Muslim fashion in 2017 had reached US$270 billion, which was estimated to increase with a growth rate of 5% to reach US$361 billion by 2023. Moreover, the population of Muslim is predicted to be the largest in the world in 2050 (Hackett et al., 2015), where the largest population lives in Indonesia (13.1%), followed by India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (PewResearchCenter, 2015). From the marketing perspectives, such trend may have a potential impact in the future of the fashion industry, especially in the Asian region. Therefore, marketers, designers and other players in the industry must avail this opportunity.\nLiterature review and hypotheses development: Religiosity\nMethodology: This research employed a descriptive research method that aims to explain market characteristics or function (Malhotra, 2008). Data collection was conducted in a cross-sectional way. Data analysis used in this research was a structural equation model using AMOS software.Sample and sampling procedures\nResults: A total of 379 Muslim women participated in the survey. The analysis of respondents' profile (Table 2) showed a sample profile where most respondents were in the 31-35 age group (28.8%), bought clothes 3-5 times a year (33.2%) and spent more than USD 70 (Rp 1,000,000) (34%).Of all the respondents, there are 159 who wore sharia clothes, whereas 220 respondents wore non-sharia clothes. In terms of clothes displayed for evaluation, there were 189 respondents who received the questionnaire on sharia clothes, and 190 respondents received the questionnaire on non-sharia clothes (Table 3).CFA model\nTheoretical implications: This research provides some useful contributions for the development of theories related to religiosity. First, this study shows that the construct of religiosity can be reduced to two main dimensions, namely beliefs and deeds, which produce a better fit index than the five dimensions proposed by Faulkner and De Jong (1966). Furthermore, each dimension has a different effect on purchase intention. Firstly, purchase intention is affected only by beliefs (knowledge) dimension, but not by deeds (behavior) dimension. In other words, consumer's belief (knowledge) would be more determinant in predicting their likelihood of buying than what they do. Our findings also indicate that a person's intention to buy Muslim clothes is influenced by affective attitude and self-presentation. This finding strengthens Arli et al.'s (2016) research in the context of luxury products.This study also indicates that religiosity has a relationship with the choice of the type of clothes. The present study showed that Muslim women wearing sharia clothes had higher religiosity scores than those wearing non-sharia clothes, specifically on behavioral dimensions, but not on beliefs dimensions. In this regard, our findings reveal that Muslim women who wear non-sharia clothes are indifferent when comparing buying sharia or non-sharia clothes, whereas those who wear sharia clothes did not want to buy non-sharia clothes.\nManagerial implications: Findings of this study provide guidance for Muslim clothing marketers and designers. Firstly, this study suggests that the desire to buy Muslim clothing is influenced by the level of belief; namely, the extent to which the person understands and believes in the teachings of the religion (intellectual and ideological). Therefore, marketers may link promotions and campaigns to things that can confirm their confidence and knowledge of their faith.With regard to the desire to buy, consumers are strongly influenced by attitudes (affective and self-presentation). In this regard, marketers may approach by emphasizing the comfort of clothing and the feeling of relaxation when wearing clothing by highlighting the quality of the material and pride when wearing it, for example by using endorsers who have good character and are polite.Marketers need to assure the consumers that the clothes offered to them can serve to represent their self-identities and to gain feelings of pleasure and peace when worn. This may be applied through integrated marketing communication that will activate positive feelings to make the consumers want to wear such sharia clothes. For instance, marketing campaigns may state that such sharia clothes are in line with the Islamic law, that the proceedings will be donated, that they are produced by home industries driven by women of the Holy Koran study communities, etc. To increase consumers' self-presentation, marketers need to campaign that such clothes are made of non-see-through materials, so that the body will be fully covered, will not reveal the curve of the body and will not attract the attention of others.More specifically, this study finds a strong relationship between religiosity level and type of clothes consumers wear. This means that marketers can infer the religiosity level of consumers from the clothes they wear, so that marketers need to provide communication programs with religious messages that could arouse consumers' affective attitudes that ultimately lead to buying decision. Marketers can focus more on handling their target customers based on the type of clothing segment: sharia and non-sharia. For example, marketers can customize their marketing communication programs to communities based on the type of clothing in order to increase consumers' acceptance.Previous studies reported some antecedents of affective attitudes such as brand endorsers, ads presentation and intrinsic elements of the clothes (Park et al., 2015; Pentecost and Andrews, 2010; Wang et al., 2017). For example, for non-sharia consumers, marketers can approach to reinforce such feelings by creating unique models with beautiful-looking materials and communicating to them to ensure that consumers enjoy the recognition of such an outfit by others. This may be applied, for example, through social media communication, such as by posting the images of the consumers wearing such clothes on social media, creating unique styles to encourage the consumers show their collections and creating limited-edition style so that the consumers will be proud of purchasing such styles and show them to others.\nLimitations and further research: There are several limitations in this study that need to be addressed for future research recommendations. Firstly, this study revealed that religiosity corresponds with the type of clothes consumers wear. On the other hand, this study found that the level of religiosity can be inferred from the type of clothing. This finding suggests that consumers' responses may differ according to the level of religiosity. Therefore, future research may consider religiosity as a moderating factor of the effect on consumers' attitudes on purchase intention.Secondly, this study was conducted in a country where the majority of the population is Muslim. To measure the extent to which the results of this study can be generalized, similar research can be carried out in other countries where Muslims are a minority, as there may be some possible factors affecting one's readiness to wear Muslim clothes, such as the need to look different from others.Thirdly, the number of respondents in this study (N = 379) was still small. Future research needs to include more respondents to increase the reliability of the research results.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Muslim fashion clothing has become an attractive market both for marketers and fashion designers. When it comes to faith, religiosity factor becomes important; thus, it should be incorporated as a predictor for consumers' attitude and purchase intention. The purpose of this research is to examine the extent to which religiosity influences consumers' decision making when buying Muslim clothes. This research also examines whether religiosity could be observed from the type of clothes consumers wear.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research was conducted in Indonesia as it was the most populous Muslim country in the world. Research subjects were Muslim women who wear Muslim clothes, both sharia and non-sharia.\nFindings: A total of 379 Muslim women respondents participated in the survey. Using the structural equation model, the analysis finds that religiosity has a significant effect on consumers' buying decision, but the mediating influence of affective attitude and self-presentation is only found partially for specific types of clothes. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed in this paper.\nPractical implications: Findings of this research would benefit Muslim clothes marketers and designers to correctly approach their target markets. Marketers can infer the religiosity level of consumers from the clothes they wear so that marketers need to provide communication programs with religious messages that could arouse consumers' affective attitudes that ultimately lead to buying decision. Marketers can focus more on handling their target customers based on the type of clothing segment: sharia and non-sharia.\nOriginality/value: This study discovered that, with respect to Muslim clothes, the five dimensions of religiosity promoted by Faulkner and De Jong (1966) can be reduced to two factors, namely faith and deeds. In addition, this study revealed that religiosity is strongly correlated with the type of clothing consumers wear so that marketers can implement strategies that are suitable for their target market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of brand trust and satisfaction on retailer repurchase intentions	[ "Retail trade", "Trust", "Customer satisfaction", "Brands" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: The sign in the window reads: \"We proudly carry Bose audio products for your listening pleasure.\" It is nothing new. For years, retailers have often made it a point to align themselves with the high quality brands they sell. What is to be gained from this strategy? Do brands and manufacturer names really have a significant impact on the attitudes and behaviors of consumers? Some have lamented that the importance of brands is declining in a retail environment that is becoming increasingly dominated by powerful superstores (e.g. Farris and Ailawadi, 1992). However, numerous organizations continue to leverage the value of their highly respected and popular brand names. For instance, firms such as Campbell's and Coca-Cola are seen to be as American as baseball and apple pie as a result of their successful branding strategies. While large retailers may gain power in the channel relationship due to their volume buying capability, manufacturers' brand names still remain an ace in the hole. Practitioners must understand the extent to which manufacturers' brands affect consumer evaluations of a retailer in order to succeed in an increasingly competitive retail environment.While the role of branding for physical goods has received considerable attention by both managers and researchers, the extent that brands can affect service firms is less understood. Recent conceptual work (Berry, 2000) and empirical investigations (Krishnan and Hartline, 2001) highlight the critical importance of investigating the role of branding for service firms. However, much of this research is conceptual in nature and focuses on establishing the need for a greater understanding of the interplay between branding and service firms. Throughout many of these preliminary conceptualizations, few researchers have considered the effects that the brands sold by a retailer could have on customer evaluations of a firm. In order to better understand how the perceptions of a brand can spill-over onto evaluations of retail service firms, researchers need to begin extending findings from other research streams. For example, previous brand research suggests that ingredient branding can affect customers' overall evaluations of a physical good (Desai and Keller, 2002). By extending this framework to a retail setting, we can answer the question: is it possible that consumer evaluations of retail service firms also be dependent on the brands that they sell?In an effort to shed new insight into the effects of manufacturers' brands on consumer perceptions of the retailer, this study examines the role of consumer trust in and satisfaction with the brand and their relationship to retailer trust and satisfaction, and ultimately retailer repurchase intentions. While there have been studies on the transference of consumers' positive attitudes from salespeople onto retail stores and manufacturers (e.g. Beatty et al., 1996; Goff et al., 1997), there has yet to be an empirical examination of a similar potential transference from manufacturer to retailer. This halo or spill-over effect has both implications for retailers and manufacturers. Certain brands may invoke such levels of trust and satisfaction in the consumer, that there may be a spill-over effect for the retailer. This research effort seeks to begin an empirical examination of the complex three-way relationship of brands, retailers, and consumers discussed by Webster (2000).An integrated model of the proposed relationships (Figure 1) was developed with the goal of answering two questions:1. Do trust in and satisfaction with a brand have a positive effect on the retailing firm in the form of repurchase intentions?2. Is this relationship direct, or mediated by trust in and satisfaction with the retailer?It is the contention of the authors that brand trust and satisfaction impact retailer repurchase intentions via their impact on retailer trust and satisfaction. As such, this study seeks to provide preliminary support for the existence of a halo effect between brands and retailers.A survey of retail consumers in the computer (n=262) and electronics (n=174) product categories resulted in two samples in which to test the hypothesized model. The two different samples are used both to increase generalizability and to cross validate the results of the analysis. Structural equation modeling is conducted to test the model, along with a procedure suggested by Baron and Kenny (1986) to test for mediation in the model. After a review of the pertinent literature and a statement of the hypotheses to be tested, the paper proceeds with a discussion of the methods, results, implications and limitations of the current study (see Appendix).\nBackground and hypotheses: Trust and satisfaction\nMethod: The samples\nAnalysis and results: Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the parameters for testing the proposed model. Anderson and Gerbing (1988) suggest a two-step approach of structural equation modeling whereby a measurement model is first examined to confirm convergent and discriminant validity, followed by the simultaneous estimation of the measurement and structural models. This approach has been adopted for the present study in both samples (computer and electronics) as a means of further validation and generalization of results. All analyses used item-level covariance matrices as inputs and maximum likelihood estimation of parameters. Further, to test mediation effects in the proposed model, an approach recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986) was conducted. The analysis results of each sample follow.Computer sample results\nDiscussion: The objective of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship among brands, retailers, and consumers. The study is particularly concerned with consumer trust in and satisfaction with the brand and their relationship to retailer trust and satisfaction, and ultimately retailer repurchase intentions. Although it has been examined for salespeople and retail stores (e.g. Beatty et al., 1996), the potential spill-over effect of brand trust and satisfaction to retailers has yet to empirically tested. Through the testing of the proposed model, the study seeks to confirm some previously established relationships, and answer the following questions:1. Does trust in and satisfaction with a brand have a positive effect on the retailing firm in the form of repurchase intentions?2. What is the nature of this relationship? (i.e. is it direct, or mediated by trust in and satisfaction with the retailer?)The results of the study indicate that there is indeed a spill-over from brand trust and satisfaction to the retailer in the form of trust and satisfaction, providing support for a potential halo effect between brands and retailers. The primary contribution of this research paper, however, is the investigation of the nature of the relationship between brand trust and satisfaction and retailer repurchase intentions. The data suggests that while brand trust and satisfaction do have an impact on retailer repurchase intentions, that impact is mediated through retailer trust and satisfaction. That is, unless the feelings of trust and satisfaction the consumer has for the brand are successfully projected onto the retailer, there may not ultimately be an impact on the retailer's repeat business. This suggests that while a retailer can garner more consumer traffic by aligning itself with popular name brands, it is the consumer's direct assessment of the retailer that influences whether or not customers return. These results serve as a starting point for the empirical investigation of Webster's (2000) proposed three-way relationship among brands, consumers, and resellers. Through working together, both manufacturers and retailers alike can benefit from powerful brands and manufacturer names.Managerial implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate spill-over effects from customer perceptions of trust in and satisfaction with a brand to customer evaluations of a retailer and, ultimately, repurchase intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A conceptual model is developed and tested using structural equation modeling. Specifically, recent procedures for assessing direct and mediated effects are adoped.\nFindings: - The findings demonstrate that customer trust in and satisfaction with a retailer mediate the effects of brand trust and satisfaction on customer repurchase intentions.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This research provides a preliminary examination of the relationship between brands, retailers, and consumers. The results suggest that halo effects exist between customer perceptions of brands and retailers. Future research could attempt to discern how this transference from brand to retailer occurs and replicate these findings in other industries or product types.\nPractical implications: - The findings suggest that managers must realize that perceptions of brands are transferred to the retailers that carry these products. However, in order for customers to return, a retailer must satisfy them and earn their trust, since the effects of brands are indirect.\nOriginality/value: - This paper extends findings of transference in retail service settings by demonstrating that customer evaluations of brands can spill over and influence customer perceptions of a retailer.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Driver turnover research: exploring the missing angle with a global perspective	[ "Dispatcher", "Driver scam", "Driver turnover", "External freight customer", "Internal processes", "Long-distance trucking" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: At the highest level of abstraction, we are all in \"services\" in the sense that we all serve or provide some service to earn a livelihood or fulfill the obligations of a role productively. At a more pragmatic level, all offerings in the consumer-marketplace domain fall on a continuum anchored by two mythical poles \"purely tangible\" and \"purely intangible\" with the term \"service\" reserved for an offering that falls more toward the intangible side. It is common knowledge that the management of offerings in the above domain plays a vital role in shaping economies around the world and such management directly involves employees. It is therefore not surprising that aspects covering the entire gamut of management of employees in the service sector have received considerable attention from researchers over the decades (e.g. Chebat, 2003; Chen and Ting, 2014; Johnson et al., 2011; Matthias and Rhein, 2011).\nThe gravity of the situation: The cost to replace a single driver may exceed $10,000 due to the fact that several new drivers will have to be recruited to get a stable replacement. Driver shortages has elevated driver turnover which annually costs the US trucking industry billions of dollars and wastes considerable potential. In an overall sense, the adage, \"the grass is always greener on the other side\" seems to explain much of the turnover. This is particularly evident in the long-distance truckload segment and appears to stem from inadequate driver pay and unrealistic job expectations. Driver pay which approximates $35,000 annually is comparable to what other blue collar workers outside trucking earn (Stephenson and Fox, 1996). However, the typical truck driver must work 70-hour weeks, and spend days or even weeks on the road. Further, the age of the driver, his/her work experience, and the life-stage of the driver appear to exacerbate disappointment and frustration with driver pay levels. Unavoidable costs include application processing, drug screening(s), and physical exam(s). When a driver leaves, most carriers expect to lose at least one week's utilization of the truck which results in lost profit contribution. With a gross profit margin of 30 cents per mile and utilization of 2,000 miles per week, the lost truck profit is $600. The total cost for all items is $5,000, and some carriers have estimated this cost to be $10,000 or more.\nSalient literature review: Over 50 research articles and numerous trade reports concerning the need for qualified drivers have been published. Beilock and Capelle (1990) interviewed drivers at Florida truck stops in 1988. They concluded that the cost of better educated drivers is higher turnover and/or more competitive salaries. They also found that drivers in the 30-50 age-group were least likely to contemplate leaving the industry. However, this study did not shed much light on the nature of trucking and its effect on driver turnover. In other words, it did not enlighten on the personal feelings of drivers that affect turnover intentions and cause drivers to jump ships (or trucks) in a perennial quest for greener pastures! Clearly, there is more to driver turnover than meets the eye.\nThe study: Given the exploratory nature of this research, a set of ten \"open-ended\" questions was developed to elicit responses from drivers. These are shown in Appendix 1. These questions were developed after a perusal of extant literature both academic and anecdotal that formed a relevant base. One of the authors conducted personal interviews in an in-depth manner with randomly selected \"long-haul\" drivers at three truck stops in the USA Southeast over a one month period. In total, in-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 15 commercial \"long-haul\" truck drivers, all male, and ranging in age from 46 to 59. The range of experience in driving ranged from five to 20 years and reported income varied between $25,000 and $75,000. It would be relevant to mention here that while all the drivers in the above sample were primarily long-distance drivers, they were, by their own admission, not averse to taking a regional, or shorter driving assignment from time to time.\nFindings: Type of drivers interviewed\nDiscussion: This study underscores the fact that drivers can provide useful feedback and suggestions regarding improving operations for the good of both operations managers and the drivers. Knowing about how drivers perceive the external freight customer is vital for proper policy making, greater work/job satisfaction, and the consequent smoother operations.\nImplications for international trucking industry: That the trucking industry in North America (Canada, the USA, and Mexico) has been facing chronic issues related to driver turnover and shortages for decades is widespread knowledge in the transportation service sector. Recently, Fournier et al. (2012) have discovered a clear link between the dispatcher's roles and driver turnover in a study of 11 Quebec-based organizations. They used a qualitative approach analogous to what was adopted by the authors of the current paper and their data were based on 17 individual interviews and three group discussions with dispatchers, truck drivers, and management representatives. For key characteristics influencing day-to-day trucking operations, their results show the importance of dispatcher-driver interaction in efficient work operations, the precedence of customer satisfaction in these interactions, the interdependent nature of the dispatcher-driver relationship, and the role of listening and mutual respect (Fournier et al., 2012). These results appear to confirm the findings of US-based studies and shed new light on understanding the dyadic relationships among these players. In other words, there is appreciable consensus validity when comparing the Canadian operations with the US-based ones. This realization points to the need to conduct studies (replications) similar to the one by Fournier et al. (2012) as well as the one with a qualitatively different focus reported in this paper in various international settings including extreme cases like ice road trucking (e.g. to Prudhoe Bay), desert trucking, and precarious mountain trucking. Given the variations in operating conditions and transportation rules across countries, only such replications will not only add to the confidence in the global external validity of the findings of the current study but also show ways to improve the lot of the long-haul drivers around the globe.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate and contribute to the understanding of the critical issue of \"driver turnover\" in the USA long-haul trucking environment which is becoming a malaise in the transportation sector not only in the USA but also worldwide. Most importantly, it accomplishes this through an exploration of the perceptions of the \"drivers\" themselves regarding the external customer-base in the trucking industry. This, to the best knowledge of the authors, has not yet been done and so becomes the missing angle in focus on driver turnover research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This exploratory study employs a qualitative research methodology via in-depth interviews of a select sample of drivers in a field setting followed by content analysis of the responses. This methodology, by and large, is the most suitable for this type of exploration.\nFindings: A content analysis of the perceptions of drivers reveals several important reasons (or causes) for driver turnover. This paper elaborates on those and offers customer-centric solutions to alleviate the plight of the driver and improve overall performance in the trucking sector.\nResearch limitations/implications: Needless to say, this exploratory research should be replicated in several other locations within the USA, other settings (e.g. trucking in extreme conditions), and other countries in order to enhance the external validity of the findings and recommendations.\nPractical implications: All implications of this research are practical as they have direct managerial significance.\nOriginality/value: The value of this research lies in the fact that, to the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that explores the perceptions of long-haul drivers regarding the external customer-base of the trucking industry. The findings have direct implications for management in the trucking sector.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Effect of appeal orientation in sponsored ad forwarding on a microblog platform	[ "Social media", "Social advertising", "Appeal orientation", "Sponsored ad forwarding", "Online word of mouth", "Social commerce" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Online social media, such as microblogs, social networks and forums, are powerful tools for marketing communication (Lee et al., 2015; Phang et al., 2013; Risius and Beck, 2015). For example, Facebook alone accounted for 18% of global ad spending in 2017 (Richter, 2017). Among social media, microblogs such as Twitter are popular, where members write short posts online, and friends or strangers subscribe to their posts as fans (i.e. followers) to be alerted to posters' recent updates (Peng and Zhang, 2015; Stieglitz and Dang-Xuan, 2013). According to Statistica.com (2019), Twitter's advertising revenue reached US$1.3 billion in 2018.Online social media give rise to new types of social advertising (Li and Shiu, 2012). Social advertising is the practice of taking advantage of the trust relationships among users in social media for advertising campaigns; for instance, a product endorsed or recommended by a friend is more likely to be accepted by fellow consumers due to trust (Boerman et al., 2014; Li and Shiu, 2012; Oinas-Kukkonen et al., 2010). The first type of social advertising is firm-generated content. A firm can register an account and broadcast original ads to all its registered fans for a broader and direct reach (Kumar et al., 2016). The second type of social advertising is user-generated content (UGC). With organic UGC, a consumer posts a favorable comment on a product without any incentive from the firm. With sponsored UGC, a firm recruits product advocates in the community to write nice product reviews and testimonials. These advocates can be existing consumers who have used the product, are happy with the product and are willing to speak for the firm. This is also known as a sponsored word of mouth (WOM; Trusov et al., 2009). Some platforms clearly indicate whether a review is sponsored.In microblog contexts, this study identifies a new type of sponsored WOM, sponsored ad forwarding. Sponsored ad forwarding is a practice where a firm recruits an advocate to forward an original ad of the firm to his or her friend or fan groups, together with a message from the advocate for the fans (refer to Figure 1 for an example). The content of sponsored ad forwarding has two parts: (1) a message from the advocate to invite a fan to inspect the content of the ad and (2) the embedded original ad from the firm. Such a post maintains the original ad content, which the firm provides and leverages the social relations through a message from the advocate. Table 1 compares the sponsored ad forwarding with other forms of UGC and ad. Furthermore, microblog platforms now allow the advocate to create and manage fan groups. For example, Twitter allows users to organize fans by lists, such as a colleague list and a purely online fan list. This technological feature offers a new opportunity to customize the message for a specific group of fans in ad forwarding, hence making the marketing communication more granular.This study tests the message design method of sponsored ad forwarding for a targeted group in microblog contexts. Following the prevailing practice in the industry, the message does not have an ostensible sign indicating whether it is sponsored. The goal of the message design is to motivate fans to inspect the ad. This study proposes a mechanism based on appeal orientation. Appeal orientation is defined as a connotation in the message of the sponsored post to indicate who will benefit from the ad and call for action. For instance, advocates can post such a message for their fans: \"I recommend this book to you.\" followed by a book ad. We regard the appeal orientation in this message as an other-oriented appeal, as it suggests product value for the receiver and calls on the receiver to take action (e.g. read the ad). A self-oriented appeal is a message that suggests product value for the sender and calls on the receiver to take action (e.g. \"I want to buy this book. What do you think about it?\"). In this study, a self-oriented appeal is implemented as the sender's request for product evaluation. We investigate appeal orientation in message design because (1) it leverages the social relationship, which is a unique strength of social media and (2) because it invites receivers to action, which is a major goal in social advertising.This study also proposes a criterion to organize the target groups for message design. We propose the social relationships between advocates and their fans as potential targeting criteria. Social relationships in microblog contexts can be classified into two types: either offline friends where they know each other offline or purely online friends without an offline relationship. For those with an offline relationship, the internet is a supplementary way to maintain their relationship. For those with a purely online relationship, microblogging is the only way for them to maintain their relationship. Compared with Facebook where online relationships typically involve substantive offline interactions, microblog platforms are characterized by the presence of a larger portion of the purely online relationship. For instance, a fan subscribes to a blogger because the fan is interested in the content of posts more than the blogger per se. In such a case, the relationship can be unidirectional.Although extant research has demonstrated the effectiveness of UGC in purchase decisions, sponsored ad forwarding as a new form of WOM has not been studied. Moreover, how to leverage the technological ability to group fans and customize messages for them has not been explored. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the interaction effects between appeal orientation and advocate-receiver relationship in sponsored ad forwarding.This study contributes to the literature by proposing not only a new type of social advertising, namely sponsored ad forwarding, but also a message design mechanism and a group organization criterion. We employ the attribution theory (Heider, 1958; Schmitt and Branscombe, 2002) as the main theoretical lens because it offers a framework to explain how people interpret a potentially suspicious behavior of which sponsored ad forwarding is one. We suggest that the effect of appeal orientation is contingent on the relationship between the advocate and the fan. Our empirical study reveals that the other-oriented appeal is more effective than the self-oriented appeal for dyads with an offline relationship and the self-oriented appeal is more effective for dyads with a purely online relationship. Our findings provide practical guidance for firms to conduct sponsored ad forwarding in the microblog setting.The rest of this paper is organized as follows. The second section presents relevant literature on social media and social advertising. The third section provides the research model and hypotheses. Next, a field experiment is reported and then the data analysis and results. Finally, findings and implications are discussed.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Online and offline relationships\n3. Research model and hypotheses: 3.1 Research model\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Ad message design\n5. Discussions and implications: 5.1 Discussion of findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study identifies a new type of advertising, sponsored ad forwarding, in microblog contexts. It tests the effectiveness of designs of a message with an ad with regard to receivers who are purely online friends or offline friends.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the main experiment, a three-by-two experimental design was employed. By random assignment, message senders forwarded an ad with either an other-oriented or a self-oriented message to a group of offline friends or purely online friends. In the control group, there was no message accompanying the ad. The data of 218 effective sender-receiver dyads were collected and compared.\nFindings: The results show that a message with an other-oriented appeal is more effective than one with a self-oriented appeal for dyads with an offline relationship, and a message with a self-oriented appeal is more effective than one with an other-oriented appeal for dyads with a purely online relationship. Overall, the use of appeals significantly boosts ad effectiveness.\nOriginality/value: This study identifies a new type of marketing practice in social media, namely sponsored ad forwarding. It also proposes appeal orientation as a novel type of message content design. It shows how to apply the right appeal orientation to the right receiver groups, that is, offline or purely online friends.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Local retailers' perspectives on social responsibility	[ "Community", "Local", "Social responsibility", "Retailers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Small businesses are an important part of the US economy. Defined as an independent business employing less than 500 people, it was estimated in 2015 that approximately 28.2 million small businesses are operating in the USA (US Small Business Administration, 2016). Small businesses are responsible for kick-starting employment in their respective communities. Since the 1970s, small businesses account for 55 percent of all jobs in the USA, 66 percent of new jobs, and 54 percent of all US sales (US Small Business Administration, 2016). While small businesses reside and prosper in various economic sectors, many belong to the retail industry, which draws a majority of sales from local customers. In the USA, there are more than 3.47 million establishments, employing almost 38 million people with a payroll of more than $1 billion (US Census, 2013). Given their strong dependence on local customers, building a favorable relationship within their local communities is of great importance to local small retailers' success (Lucia-Palacios et al., 2016). A study on local retailers, thus, cannot be separated from the retailers' impact on, and involvement in, their communities.\nLiterature review: Social responsibility in relation to local community\nFindings: What social responsibility activities do local retailers practice?\nDiscussion and implications: The primary goal of this study is to understand how small local retailers approach social responsibility as a business leader. This study offers theoretical and practical implications.\nLimitations and future research: While this study provides important contributions to the literature and practice, it is not without limitations. First, the topic of this study, retailers' social responsibility actions in their community, is laden with social desirability bias. Although the researchers took measures to minimize its impact, it is not possible to say it is completely eliminated. This warrants caution when interpreting the findings. Second, although a sample size of five independently owned fashion retailers provides the researchers with an introduction of the necessary data on social responsibility, the researchers understand that these finding cannot be generalized to all local retailers because of the limited size of the sample. Third, this study took the respondents' statements at face value rather than speculating underlying meanings, intentions, or motivations of the participants' responses. The data were cross-transcribed by two independent researchers to reduce arbitrary interpretation and to maintain objectiveness, which reduced the room to incorporate a critical view on small businesses' social responsibility. A more in-depth research that connects small businesses' responses with their actual behaviors would be useful to address this concern. Finally, the chosen location for this study is a major city in in the Southeast region in the USA. The selected areas for data collection are the main areas of pedestrian and driving traffic, which can be considered the heart of the small business locale for the region. While the chosen area is appropriate for this particular study, one needs to exercise caution when generalizing the findings - as its focus is on a specific geographic location. Future research may compare potential similarities and differences in community social responsibility among local retailers across various geographical areas and how socio-geographic characteristics may come into play in local retailers' attitudes and behaviors to community social responsibility. All the respondents included in this study are apparel retailers, whose customer-base is mainly from their local community. This strong dependence on their local market may raise an enhanced need for the retailers to be involved and act more responsibly in their respective community. It is recommended to consider the unique characteristics of retail industry when interpreting the findings. While qualitative research provides rich information and knowledge for understanding community social responsibility from a local retailer's perspective, this study is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive. A quantitative study built on the findings of this exploratory study may yield additional useful information on the subject. Future research should consider showing how local retailers balance community social responsibility with their other business responsibilities. If these retailers are able to gauge a better sense of the true impact of their community activities, they may have an easier time determining how much time, money, effort, and manpower to dedicate to this component of their business. While this study sheds some light on what motivates community social responsibility, it will be interesting to investigate what discourages local retailers from being socially responsible at the community level. Additional research should also incorporate questions geared specifically on the other aspects of social responsibility including the environmental and economic functions as the results of the current study centered on social values and the social environment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the types of social responsibility actions that small local retailers implement in their local community and to explore their underlying motivations and perceived benefits.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative research method is used to explore small local retailers' social responsibility practices and underlying motivations. Owners/managers of small apparel retailers in the USA were interviewed and their responses transcribed and analyzed.\nFindings: Findings highlight that local retailers are active in giving back to their community using various means from monetary donations to promotion of community events. Such contributions to their local community are largely driven by their affection for the community, and the motivation is to maintain a good reputation. It was also found that episodes of giving were also triggered externally by customers, local organizations, and local events. Small retailers' social responsibility contributions to the community are typically not undertaken in an effort to stimulate sales, profits and/or customer traffic. Rather, local retailers find their experiences enjoyable and their contributions build a sense of connection to the community. These retailers enjoy an extra sense of enrichment and perceive social benefits accrued from actively engaging in social responsibility within the community.\nOriginality/value: Much has been written about social responsibility from a manufacturing and large retailer viewpoint, but there is a dearth of information on small local retailers. This study explores the understanding of small businesses' social responsibility practices from a local retail perspective and provides valuable insights about retailers approach to social responsibility in relation to their local community.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Measuring the academic library: Translating today's inputs and outputs into future impact and value	[ "Academic library", "Frameworks", "Digital environment", "Research outcomes", "Teaching outcomes", "University learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Impact and value are hot topics in Australian academic libraries. In a constantly changing university environment, - where all aspects of academic endeavour are scrutinised and measured - academic librarians are thinking differently about how to demonstrate the strategic value libraries add to the contemporary university. Over the past 20 years, the role of the library in the academy has broadened in its definition. Academic librarians have embraced opportunities for new partnerships within university communities that appreciate that the academic library \"is not just a repository [...] service [...], or a place to study [...]\" but rather \"can also be a partner in research and in teaching\" (SCONUL, 2017). However, closer alignment with university strategic priorities means that simply counting the number of resources, loans, downloads, visits, enquiries or classes, no longer sufficiently demonstrates the influence of the library or the complexity of the academic library's value in the measured university environment.\nApproaches to measuring the value and impact of academic libraries: International development of new approaches to measurement in academic libraries can be traced through the standards, guidelines and performance indicators which have been established over the past decade. Approaches vary according to local context and needs; however, a number of trends are apparent in informing these new practices. For example, traditional usage statistics are no longer considered the sole or key indicators of success, as on their own, they do not fully measure or evaluate the library's effectiveness or its contribution to the mission and goals of the university. Oakleaf's (2010) call for academic libraries to connect their value to university strategy and communicate that value to stakeholders has been followed by attention to how libraries \"contribute to the larger institutional mission\" and \"co-evolve with their institutions\" (Robertson, 2015, p. 491). Quantitative usage data about library collections, services and spaces only tell part of the story. Usage statistics relate to the library's \"implicit value\" rather than its \"explicit\" or \"derived\" value (Tenopir, 2011), which is a move away from long-held presumption that because a library is used, it is valuable to its institution.\nDemonstrating library impact and value at La Trobe University: Guided by national and international frameworks, the qualitative and quantitative assessment methods used by Australian academic libraries is a varied mix that includes user surveys, learning and data analytics, ethnographic approaches, user experience studies, economic approaches and narrative approaches (Sputore and Fitzgibbons, 2017). In common with other Australian academic libraries, La Trobe University Library uses this full range of methods to assess programmes and services, maintain quality and collect evidence of the library contribution to university strategic priorities in learning and research. Many of these tools are part of our business as usual approach to measuring impact and value. Thinking differently about how we use existing methods of collecting evidence and the questions we ask is an important component of this continuing practice. In 2016, La Trobe University Library conducted the Insync Library Client Survey (Council of Australian University Librarians, 2009) with additional questions in an attempt to solicit information on students' perception of the value of the library and its impact on their learning and experience of the university. The survey was completed by 3,949 students, a 58 per cent rise on the number of responses was received for the 2014 survey, so we have confidence in the results and the story we can tell about the Library's contribution to student experience.\nThe challenges of demonstrating impact and value in the academic library: In the past decade, librarians have questioned the validity of relying on quantity as an indicator of the value of library services, collections, programmes and spaces (Nitecki, 2011; Walters, 2016). Methods traditionally used to measure the value of the print library often do not translate successfully into the contemporary academic library. What is clear is that are range of different methods are required to \"measure\" academic libraries. The recent announcement of a new joint initiative between OCLC research and Ithaka S + R (Schonfeld and Malpas, 2017) acknowledges that libraries have traditionally measured their effectiveness by the size of their collection, with little alignment with the goals and needs of their parent universities. The literature indicates that one assessment tool is not enough; a variety of methods is required to assess value and impact, and the tools need to be relevant to the national and local contexts. Challenges experienced by La Trobe Library are similar to other libraries and indicate that there is no one answer or solution (ISO, 2014b). Standards such as the ISO standards provide a consistent methodology which can provide comparisons; however, these are not the only frameworks or methods which can be used to measure value and impact. Libraries will need to identify tools which are fit-for-purpose for their particular environment and requirements and this will necessarily mean using a range of tools and methodologies rather than a single solution.\nConclusion: For academic libraries, demonstrating value and impact is a continual learning journey. We often hear from academic staff at our institution that they \"love the library\". The question is why: what does this statement mean and how can we translate this sentiment into a common understanding of the value of the library? We need to actively and programmatically collect and collate evidence to demonstrate value through a variety of means.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an Australian perspective of impact and value by examining how the broader international and national perspectives play out in practice in the Australian context and where adaption for local requirements is necessary.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper will explore the assessment of impact and value in academic libraries and the tools available to translate today's inputs into future impact and value. It will focus on a range of methods and procedures, including international and national standards, frameworks and benchmarks.\nFindings: The La Trobe University Library is presented as a case study to examine the challenges of leveraging tools to assess impact and communicate the value of the library across the university community.\nOriginality/value: Assessing the impact and demonstrating the value of the academic library in a digital environment is a constant challenge. While usage and service data are plentiful, traditional metrics no longer sufficiently demonstrate the academic library's contribution to university learning, teaching and research outcomes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Perceived prevalence and personal impact of negative online reviews	[ "Internet", "Stress", "Customer satisfaction", "Complaints", "Coping", "Online reviews" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Customers are increasingly using the internet to express opinions regarding the products and services they purchase (King et al., 2014). Over the past decade, the advent of the internet, particularly web 2.0, and the proliferation of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) channels, has provided expanded opportunities for consumers to post online their opinions, reviews, ratings, stories, photos and videos of products and service experiences. Consumers are using social media sites such as Facebook, micro-blogging forums such as Twitter, and third party user-generated review sites, to publicly air their views. Smartphones and tablets have increased the range of mobile posting options, resulting in even more comments being shared in cyber space (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004). The popularity of review sites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp, Niche, RateMyTeachers, Ratemyagent, and Rate my Doctor makes clear that the significance of the topic extends broadly across the service sector, with industries affected likely to include hospitality, travel/tourism, healthcare, education, finance, and others.\nLiterature review: Job stress and turnover in the service sector\nConceptual framework and development of hypotheses: The current study sought to gain an understanding of the impact of NORs as a stressor faced by service industry personnel. Our conceptual framework drew on the emotions, stress, and coping literature (e.g. Folkman, 2011; Lazarus, 1999; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), and on insights gained from a preliminary interview-based pilot study, detailed below. Together, these sources suggested that NORs are likely to produce adverse emotional reactions in those targeted, with these distressing feelings, in turn, likely to evoke a range of coping responses. Where reviews prove too difficult to cope with, we expected distress to accumulate and to lead eventually to thoughts of leaving one's current job or the field of work altogether. Thus, as shown in Figure 1, our framework entailed partial mediation, from NOR-exposure, through emotional distress and attempts at coping, leading to turnover thoughts or intentions.\nThe current research: The context for our research was the restaurant industry - a large, experience-based, sector of the service economy that is heavily dependent on word of mouth communication and reputation. We chose to this industry for several reasons. First, customers often complain about the products and services provided by restaurants (e.g. Tax et al., 1998). Second, as indicated by the number of dedicated sites (such as Yelp, Eatability, and TripAdvisor), restaurants are particularly targeted for online reviews. Third, restaurant workers are frequently identifiable (e.g. through name badges), and thus the stress experienced may be especially acute because of its personalized nature. Fourth, most restaurants are relatively small businesses (National Restaurant Association, 2014), and may be inadequately resourced to manage problems caused by NORs. Consequently, many restaurant operators are challenged by this phenomenon, with the Australian Restaurant and Catering Industry Association (2014), for example, having released statements calling for stricter controls of online reviews.\nBackground interviews: The main survey was preceded by a background study in which semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 20 restaurant industry personnel from two states of Australia. These interviews complemented industry literature (e.g. Australian Restaurant and Catering Industry Association, 2014; Robinson, 2013; Vincent and Klein, 2015), and were intended to serve as an initial check on the main issues associated with NORs and to assess the industry relevance of the topic.\nMain study: Sample\nResults: Prevalence of NORs\nDiscussion: Customer-authored online reviews of products and services are a recent, and under-researched, phenomenon. Extending the conceptual work of Bradley et al. (2015), the current study provides the first known empirical evidence of service industry employers' and employees' perceptions of their exposure to NORs, the impact of these reviews, and their emotional and behavioral responses. The study shows that while positive reviews were perceived to be more common, the majority of respondents reported some exposure to negative reviews. About half of the sample reported awareness of reviews that targeted their colleagues or team, and about one quarter were aware of negative reviews targeting themselves or their work performance. Most respondents regarded these reviews as a threat to their industry, and most agreed that they cause stress to industry personnel. Both these views were most strongly felt by business owners and by those working in mid-to-high range restaurants.\nConclusion: Online customer communication and interaction are burgeoning twenty-first century phenomena. To date, we have only a rudimentary understanding of their implications for the prosperity of businesses and the individuals who work in them. The current study provides initial evidence as to the perceived prevalence and impact of customer-generated online commentaries. It has shown that negative reviews, while not as common as positive ones, nonetheless give rise to feelings of anger (and embarrassment-guilt), and maladaptive behaviors and thoughts of quitting in at least some personnel. The \"human\" impact of these reviews may then flow on to affect the business \"bottom line\" mainly by reducing staff morale, attendance, and turnover. We have suggested that it is not the sheer number of NORS received so much as the quality and focus of these reviews that has the greatest impact. We have argued that the issues addressed and solutions proposed are relevant to a wide range of service industries. Further research is required to document the physical, psychological, social, and economic costs of NORs. There is more to be learned about the consequences of chronic exposure to NORs.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Technological advancement and growth in social media have meant that customers are increasingly using the internet to write a review or express opinions about products and services. Many of these online reviews are critical of service organizations and workers. The purpose of this paper is to document the experiences that service industry personnel have of negatively valenced, customer-authored, online reviews, the personal impact of these reviews, and the manner in which participants respond emotionally and behaviorally to these reviews.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research drew on the stress, coping, and service literature, with particular emphasis on stress appraisal theory. The study involved the completion of an anonymous online questionnaire by 421 restaurant owners, managers, and employees.\nFindings: Many respondents reported feelings of anger and use of maladaptive coping strategies in response to negative online reviews (NORs). Smaller numbers reported feelings of embarrassment and guilt, and thoughts of leaving the industry. Factors pertaining to respondents' online review exposure, emotional responses, and coping strategies predicted the effects of negative reviews on thoughts of exiting current employment.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings have implications for protecting worker well-being and job tenure in an industry deeply affected by electronic word-of-mouth. Replication is recommended using a longitudinal design and more objective data obtained from validated instruments and independent sources.\nOriginality/value: This survey provides the first known evidence of the personal impact of NORs on business owners, managers, and employees.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Signaling in joint venture capital: a social network perspective	[ "Venture capital", "Social network analysis", "Information superiority", "Network embeddedness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Venture capital (VC) refers to the financial capital provided to start-up firms and small businesses with perceived potential for long-term growth. VC is a crucial source of funding for startup firms with less access to financial support. It typically generates above-average returns, but it also entails high risk for VC investors. Generally, VC firms jointly invest in the same investment round by working together in syndicates of no fewer than two firms (Terjesen et al., 2013). Depending on the informational and resource-based advantages of joint ventures, VC alliances could alleviate the financial constraints, improve financial status and operating performance, and reduce investment risks for members (Baum et al., 2000; Chen et al., 2015; Powell et al., 1996; Stiglitz, 2002).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Entrepreneurship networks and joint ventures\n3. Hypothesis development: Based on the thorough literature review, we propose an integrative framework that includes both structural and relational embeddedness to predict the information superiority of VC alliances. We distinguish three major roles in VC alliances, leaders, herd leaders, and follower, based on the investment ratio of different members. The conceptual model is shown in Figure 1. The mechanisms of the theoretical framework are described in the following.\n4. Method and analysis: 4.1 Data collection\n5. Conclusion and discussions: 5.1 Conclusion\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Based on the theory of social networks, it is crucial to enhance information superiority through joint venture capital (VC). The purpose of this paper is to explore the impacts of different roles' structural and relational embeddedness on the information superiority of joint VC alliances.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors design the multiple linear regression models to investigate the leader's investment ratio from a network embeddedness perspective. Panel data analysis and robustness tests are adopted based on the data from Chinese VCs Database.\nFindings: The results show that VC leaders enjoy information search advantages because of their better network positions, while their followers lack this superiority. Information sharing among investors and investees may enhance the influences of structural embeddedness on investors' information search advantages. Joint VC's scale and its number of leaders could also increase VC alliances' information superiority.\nOriginality/value: This research provides a more holistic understanding of the formation of joint VC alliances' information superiority from a social network perspective. Both VC managers and social planners can seek guidance from this study to implement better strategies and policies to promote information symmetry in the VC market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Co-creation and higher order customer engagement in hospitality and tourism services: A critical review	[ "Co-creation", "Service-dominant logic", "Customer engagement", "Co-production", "Co-creative modalities", "Experience marketing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The quintessential service in a tourism and hospitality environment can be characterized as a consummate \"personalized boutique\". It caters to exclusive guests with highly demanding requirements through customized offerings (Chathoth, 2007). For instance, in hospitality services, before any check-in, a potential guest will send specifications of the desired room, its amenities, level of security and a pre-designated meal schedule. Using a proprietary database of previously registered guests that include their preferences, the hotel will suggest improvements in which the guest might be interested, but not necessarily aware. A price is determined for the bundle of goods, services and amenities. While this service is an example of how co-creation might be implemented, the actual integration of customer engagement (CE) and co-creation as a method of service-differentiation varies within the hospitality field.\nCo-creation and higher-order customer engagement research: Production, co-production and co-creation: What has been learned thus far\nCo-creation and higher-order CE in hospitality and tourism: While co-creation has been examined in various domains, including strategy, management and marketing, its application finds particular significance in the tourism and hospitality context given its inherent nature as a potentially proactive service provider. The concept of co-creation is particularly relevant and important, especially when today's consumers want context-related, authentic experiences while seeking a balance between the controlled environment of the experience's \"stager\" and the self-determined spontaneity of freedom and self-expression, which underlies each co-creative activity experience (Binkhorst and DenDekker, 2009). Advocates of the \"experience economy\" (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) suggest that experiences can \"touch\" people better than products or services and create a higher level of interaction between consumers and service providers to achieve superior experiences (Etgar, 2008). Given the role of service experiences in value creation in tourism and hospitality services, more research has come about in the past five years that purports the importance of CE, co-creation and the S-D Logic.\nA dynamic co-creation framework: The trends and enabling technologies present a compelling force that will disrupt conventional thinking in the hospitality industry, if not at the present time, certainly sometime in the not-too-distant future. As previously identified, past trends suggest that technological interventions have led to superior technological platforms of CE, yet this has led to a level of decentralization and sophistication that has broken down the service into components. For a holistic service experience, each component needs to integrate well with the others. However, the orientation toward service experiences through superior engagement platforms is lacking to the extent that many hotel firms are more orientated toward their brand standards with little focus on customers' idiosyncratic needs (Chathoth et al., 2014a).\nDiscussion: This paper reviewed the literature on co-creation and higher-order CE with the objective of posing critical questions related to how experiential value through such modalities could manifest in service transactions. The proposed framework was used to address some of the questions raised at the outset. However, at this juncture, it is imperative to address what are some of the theoretical and practical implications of the suggested changes.\nConclusion and future research: As in the Chartwells' example and as suggested earlier, ex-ante, in-situ and ex-post considerations for creating experiential value need to be used as part of a checklist of questions that firms need to pose to move toward managing customer experiences. There is a need for researchers and practitioners to delve into how these questions would manifest into responses that can be implemented using co-creative modalities underlying customer-firm interfaces that hinge on effective engagement platforms. As a whole, the hospitality and tourism literature on co-creation and higher-order CE is still in its infancy with most studies still derived from qualitative processes or theoretical in nature. These early studies provide support for the need for future research on co-creation and provide a synthesis of key differences between co-production and co-creation. These studies also demonstrate a variety of barriers and benefits for firms in hospitality/tourism services, which have their own unique attributes and characteristics.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to present a review of the literature associated with co-creation and higher-order customer engagement concepts and poses critical questions related to the current state of research. Additionally, the paper presents a framework for customer engagement and co-creation with relevance to hospitality transactions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Earlier research on co-production, co-creation, consumer engagement and service-dominant logic are discussed and synthesized. Based on this synthesis, links and contrasts of these varying research streams are presented providing an articulation of key characteristics of each and how these might be applied within a hospitality context.\nFindings: Modalities in service transactions vary among traditional production, co-production and co-creation based on changes in attitudes, enabling technologies and the logic or ideology supporting the change. Transaction characteristics vary among manufacturing, quasi-manufacturing and services based on several key categories including differences in boundary conditions, enablers, success requirements, sustainability requirements, the dominant logic used and key barriers/vulnerabilities. When creating experiential value for consumers, firms should consider several aspects ex-ante, in-situ and ex-post of the change and during the change process.\nResearch limitations/implications: Firms need to move toward higher-order customer engagement using co-creative modalities to enhance value creation. Current practices in the hotel industry may not in their entirety support this notion. Ex-ante, in-situ and ex-post considerations for creating experiential value need to be used as part of a checklist of questions for firms to pose in order to move toward managing customer experiences using the service-dominant logic as part of the firm's orientation toward its market. This would give it the required thrust to create superior engagement platforms that use co-creative modalities while addressing the barriers to higher-order customer engagement as identified in the literature.\nOriginality/value: The hospitality and tourism literature on co-creation and higher-order customer engagement is still in its infancy. A synthesis of these early studies provides support for the need for future research on co-creation that more clearly articulates the modality firms could use to move toward co-creation. This paper develops a dynamic framework using characteristics of co-creation that integrate the various stages of value creation (i.e. input, throughput and output).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Power and environmental reporting-practice in business networks	[ "Sustainability", "Power", "Corporate social responsibility", "Business networks", "Voluntary reporting" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Companies face numerous choices regarding their environmental reporting and practice, particularly around voluntary engagement. Despite the global importance of environmental practices (Schmidt et al., 2017) and reporting (de Villiers and Marques, 2016; O'Donovan, 2002), there is no universally accepted reporting format or set of requirements (Guthrie et al., 2008; Deegan, 2013). In this uncertain reporting-practice landscape, companies' choices are influenced by numerous factors (Adams, 2002; Hackston and Milne, 1996), including their direct and indirect (i.e. where intermediaries are involved) relationships.\n2. Literature review: The following sections first discuss literature relevant to environmental reporting and practice in business networks, focussing on SCM, shareholder and government influence and the reporting-practice portrayal gap. Thereafter, literature considering power in business networks is presented. The literature review concludes with an initial conceptual model to guide the empirical analysis.\n3. Method: 3.1 Research design\n4. Results: The results begin with the history and context of supermarkets' environmental reporting, relevant to both research statements. Thereafter the findings related to research statement 1 are presented, concerning the influence of power in relationships between supply chain actors, shareholders and focal organisations and government and supply chain actors, respectively. Next, environmental reporting-practice portrayal gap data are summarised relating to research statement 2.\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Research statement 1: the influence of power relations on environmental reporting and practice\n6. Conclusions: The study has provided a business network analysis highlighting the interaction of power relations of entities in the WA agrifood sector and their influence on environmental reporting and practice choices. In addition, the paper has provided empirical results relating to the reporting-practice portrayal gap, focussing on inter-organisational environmental practices such as green SCM.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, the use of power in a business network context is investigated, in relation to companies' environmental reporting and practice choices. Second, the environmental reporting-practice portrayal gap is examined, focussing on inter-organisational environmental practices (such as green supply chain management).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A network case study was undertaken in the Western Australian agrifood sector, with the two large, dominant supermarkets as focal actors. Data were drawn from 34 in-depth interviews from 2011 to 2013 and a document review including 15 years of supermarket reports.\nFindings: The study showed the exercise of government power bases and its effect on supermarket and other supply chain actors' reporting and practice choices. The data suggest a differential use of power by supermarkets with suppliers, depending on supplier type and environmental practice characteristics. The study revealed surprisingly transparent reporting of the lack of whole-of-supply-chain approach by the supermarkets and admission of shareholder power over reporting and practice choices. In addition, other reporting-practice portrayal gaps relating to inter-organisational environmental practices were found.\nOriginality/value: The study provides a unique network level analysis of how power relations interact and influence companies' choices of environmental reporting and practice, thereby contributing to prior power and environmental reporting literature. Contributions are made to extant literature dealing with the reporting-practice portrayal gap by focussing on inter-organisational environmental reporting and practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Estimating transaction costs in the New Zealand construction procurement: A structural equation modelling methodology	[ "New Zealand", "Construction management", "Estimating", "Procurement systems", "Structural equation modelling", "Transaction costs" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Ronald Coase first introduced the concept of transaction costs (TCs) in 1937. He subsequently further investigated pricing mechanisms and concluded that there are costs related to searching for relevant prices, negotiating, and making a contract (Coase, 1992). Williamson (1985) introduced a new concept transaction cost economics (TCE) by focussing on the economic actors' behavioral assumptions (opportunistically and bounded rationality) and transaction characteristics, i.e. asset specificity, uncertainty, frequency, complexity, and contestability. Importantly TCE have traditionally examined the customer-supplier relationship in the context of a contractual arrangement. This relationship is associated with TCs including; costs of information, negotiation, competitive advantage, contract administration and management, market structure, enforcement, and measuring/monitoring performance.\n2. Literature review: 2.1. TCs in construction\n3. Theoretical framework: A conceptual framework model was developed on the basis of theoretical expectations and previous empirical studies by incorporating the latent variables with their corresponding measures. It models the direct and indirect relationships between latent variables, i.e. information, procurement, contract administration, contract enforcement, procurement systems, environmental uncertainties, and TCs. In this study, it is assumed that Information (INFO), Procurement (PROC), Administration (ADMIN), and Enforcement (ENFO) costs collectively determine the TCs for each procurement systems.\n4. Research approach: This study investigates the relationship between procurement system and TCs in the New Zealand construction industry, and consequently develops a model for this relationship. The model was operationalized and developed into a questionnaire. A cross-sectional sample approach was deployed, involving pilot questionnaire, survey questionnaire, and results verification from \"real world\" cases. Data were sought from professionals in management, design, and operations (i.e. project managers, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, and procurement officers). These professionals represented several construction organizations and Councils staff in NZ major city centers (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin). TCs were measured using time-spent conducting procurement related activities as a surrogate for cost. Professionals evaluate their time-spent in procurement activities using a Likert scale 1-5 in which 1 denoted very low and 5 very high, comparing the Traditional and Design-Build procurement systems.\n5. Results and findings: 5.1. Demographic information\n6. Analysis of SEM results: Data in the previous section have been visually represented and analyzed using bar charts, but it has limited evidence to support the validity and reliability of the various measures. Validity and reliability of indicators can change when embedded in a theoretical context (Hair et al., 2012). Therefore, this section presents the analyses of validity and reliability, path analysis, regression analysis, factor analysis, and SEM. The primary analytical technique used was SEM to yield information on goodness-of-fit, model development and comparison, and confirmatory strategies. SPSS Amos 21 statistical software was used for data analysis and model development.\n7. Discussion: To estimates the TCs for different procurement systems in line with Williamson (1998) wherein human and environmental forces were considered the most important contributory factors to TCs; cognitive mapping and path models were used to depict and interpret various factors highlighted in Table I. Reliability and validity of the eight constructs (in Table II) focussed on by this study are satisfactory. The goodness-of-fit indices of the structural models (Table III) are also quite satisfactory for both models. The Traditional and Design-Build systems were used to test hypotheses of the study. Sign, size, and statistical significance of the path coefficients represent the strength of relationships among constructs. The hypothesized relationships in the models were tested using SPSS Amos 21. Maximum likelihood and bootstrap function were used to estimate hypothesized paths with resampling of 1,000. The results indicate that all path coefficients were statistically significant at b>0.01 (Figures 4 and 5). In addition, the results of applying the models to real life cases confirmed the hypothesized relationships between the procurement systems and the magnitude of the pre- and post-contract TCs. Summaries of hypotheses testing are discussed in further detail in the next section:\n8. Implications of TCs: This study finds there is a significant relationship between procurement systems, information cost, procurement cost, contract administration and enforcement costs, and TCs for construction projects. The finding has implications for construction business practice because the research is empirical in nature, relied on construction professionals experience, case studies, and feedback. Also, the study is based on a robust theoretical framework (Figure 1) that illustrates the impact of TCs on procurement decision, and the associated practice in construction projects. The findings allow organizational and economic implications of TCs to be assessed, which demonstrates how the adoption of the TCs perspective alters the organizational dynamics of the construction and procurement selection process.\n9. Conclusion: TC evaluation provides a practical framework for procurement selection in construction. Many researchers have applied the TCE concept in different topics in construction (Eccles, 1981; Gunnarson and Levitt, 1982; Reve and Levitt, 1984; Winch, 1989; Lynch, 1996; Bremer and Kok, 2000; Bajari and Tadelis, 2001; Turner and Simister, 2001; Miller et al., 2002; Dudkin and Valila, 2005; Antinori and Sathaye, 2007; Whittington, 2008; Ho and Tsui, 2009; Farajian, 2010; Solino and Gago de Santos, 2010; Aibinu et al., 2011). However, there are only a few studies that attempt to quantify TCs in construction. This study has shown the potential for estimating the magnitude of TCs for two procurement systems in construction. Hence the TCs associated with the pre- and post-contract phases (e.g. information, procurement and contracting, administration, and enforcement) on projects procured through Traditional and Design-Build systems are determined.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Within construction procurement, transaction cost economics offers a mechanism to understand \"unseen\" costs associated with the pre- and post-contract work. Pre-contract, these include costs related to information gathering and procurement. Post-contract they include activities of contract administration and enforcement. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the magnitude of transaction costs (TCs) for different procurement systems used in construction projects in New Zealand. Specifically estimating the relative values of TCs for Traditional and Design-Build delivery systems for the purpose of comparison.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study develops a conceptual model for the relationship between procurement systems and TC. The model was operationalized and developed into a questionnaire. A cross-sectional sample approach was deployed, involving pilot and survey questionnaires, and results verification through \"real world\" cases. Data were sought from construction professionals in management, design and operations (i.e. project managers, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, and procurement officers). TCs were measured using time-spent conducting procurement-related activities as a surrogate for cost. Professionals evaluate their time-spent in procurement activities using a Likert scale 1-5, comparing the Traditional and Design-Build delivery systems. Data were triangulated with \"real world\" cases to test and explain the developed model. The test included validity and reliability, path analysis, regression analysis, factor analysis, and structural equation modelling (SEM). The primary analytical technique used was SEM to yield information on goodness-of-fit, model development and comparison, and confirmatory strategies. SPSS Amos 21 statistical software was used for data analysis and model development.\nFindings: The results suggest that procurement systems have indirect impact on TCs. The relationship between procurement system and TCs is fully mediated by costs of information, procurement, administration, and enforcement. Applying the developed models (the Traditional and Design-Build) to \"real world\" cases, it was found that TCs in the Traditional system amounts to 18.5 percent of the annual salary cost of a project manager (as an indicator quantum), while in the Design-Build system, it amounts to 14.5 percent of the annual salary cost of a project manager. TCs were calculated using regression equations based on factor loadings in the Traditional and Design-Build models.\nPractical implications: This study applies new theoretical model for the link between procurement system and TCs, investigating and empirically demonstrating the influence of procurement system on TCs in construction. It also offers a new plausible explanation for the factors influencing TCs in procurement. The study emphasizes \"in-house\" TCs from the perspective of the professionals. The findings have practical implications on construction business practice due to their robust empirical nature and theoretical framework, which might enhance the performance of the construction industry.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the procurement selection in construction, by introducing a new conceptual model for the link between procurement system and TCs. It has extended the current practices for procurement selection by estimating TCs for the Traditional and Design-Build systems for comparison.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Influence of physical ability on initial emergency response performance	[ "Physical ability", "Emergency", "Emergency response", "Emergency response performance", "Emergency incidents", "Emergency services", "Fire services", "Physical testing", "Malaysia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Concerns have been raised about the physical fitness of emergency responders particularly on how it could potentially affect their emergency response performance. This is because emergency response work demands vigorous physical activity (Cady and Valentine, 1999; Davis and Dotson, 1987; Gledhill and Jamnik, 1992; Rhea et al., 2004). In Malaysia, these concerns are further fuelled by the Malaysian National Health and Morbidity Survey, which found that the average Malaysian is steadily becoming less fit and fatter despite current interests in health and fitness (Isahak, 2009). Furthermore, it is commonly reported that emergency responders are either late or take a long time in responding to emergencies (The Star, 2007, p. N4; Habibu, 2007; Ismail, 2006; New Straits Times, 2008, p. 2; Yoon, 2007).As emergency response performance is vital in minimizing death, serious injuries, and property damage (Doyle, 1996; Kelly, 1995; Ramachandran, 1999; Tierney et al., 2001), it is important to understand the role physical ability of emergency response personnel plays in determining emergency response performance. Such is vital as they serve as the first line of defence in emergencies. In a response phase, the emergency response personnel are required to respond in high speed (Flin and Slaven, 1996; Lewis and Payant, 2003; McGue and Barker, 1996). Speed in initial response is vital to the subsequent response activities. Studies have proven that the first few seconds in an emergency is key (Baldwin, 1994), and speed in responding solely depends on the emergency response personnel and not on the resources or the system used in emergency response. Therefore, emergency response personnel are vital in ensuring success of an emergency work.\n2. Literature review: Previous scholars have demonstrated that successful job performance among emergency responders is dependent on their ability to perform strenuous physical activity (Lemon and Hermiston, 1977; Kilbom, 1980; O'Connel et al., 1986; Sothmann et al., 1990). However, very little research has been conducted on the relationship between physical ability and emergency response performance at a collective level and using actual emergency parameters, with some exceptions such as Rhea et al. (2004), who investigated the relationship between physical fitness and job performance using an experimental design. In their study, cardiovascular endurance, anaerobic endurance, muscular strength, local muscular endurance, and body composition were administered to identify fitness among fire fighters. In a different study, Williford et al. (1999) examined the relationship between physical fitness and job performance in a simulated fire suppression tasks among male fire fighters. Davis et al. (1982) investigated the relationship between physical fitness and simulated fire fighting tasks. While these studies have been insightful to our understanding of emergency responder's performance, their examination on the relationship between physical fitness measure and job performance among emergency responders was at the individual level. Because emergency responders work as a team when responding to emergencies, our understanding on how the team members' physical fitness influences the team performance limited.In an emergency response, personnel work in highly interdependent teams to minimize effectively the impact of an emergency (Doyle, 1996; Ford and Schmidt, 2000; Kelly, 1995). Emergency response personnel need to adapt to a \"system's\" work approach with high emphasis given on interdependence among team members (Cameron, 1994; Cosgrave, 1996; Klinoff, 2003). When team members work together in concert toward the effective mitigation of an emergency situation, success is attributed to the whole team and not to any one individual (Senior and Swailes, 2004).According to Robbins (1993), team performance can be partly predicted by task related and intellectual abilities of its team members. Understanding team members' abilities is vital for the attainment of the group outcome. In an emergency situation, the task outcome expected from emergency responders in a response phase is responding with a sense of urgency, which is reflected in the speed of response. When emergency responders are quick in their initial response, minimization of the impact of an emergency incident is likely to be achieved. To be able to respond quickly especially in the initial stage of an emergency, physical ability, which is a task-related ability, of the emergency response team members are more important than their intellectual abilities. Because previous studies on physical abilities of emergency responders have been conducted at the individual level, the present study attempts to look at the aggregate physical ability of a team of emergency responders. This is because emergency response is a collective action and not an individual action. In this manner, the present study is able to fill the gap in the existing knowledge about team-based performance. In team-based studies, member's abilities are measured at the individual level and then later aggregated into team indexes. A similar technique was applied in this study to ascertain team-based performance in responding to emergencies.\n3. Methodology: Participants\n4. Findings: Table III is a summary of descriptive statistics pertaining to team member physical ability variables. The SD for team member cardiovascular endurance is relatively higher than the other ability variables namely weight and height. The mean score of average team member weight is 75.30 kg, with a SD of 4.95. The minimum and maximum scores are 63.67 and 88.93 kg, respectively. The mean score of average team member height is 168.40 cm, with a SD of 2.25, while the minimum and maximum scores are 162.13 and 173.32 cm, respectively. Finally, the mean score of average team member cardiovascular endurance ranges from 109.6 to 176.79 m, with a mean of 142.50 (SD=11.02).Moderate level of positive correlation was found for the relation between height and weight, which is significant at 0.05 level. In the case of the predictor variable, weighted initial emergency response time, high level negative correlation was found with cardiovascular endurance (r=-0.30). The negative relationship indicates that teams with high cardiovascular endurance are more likely to have faster initial emergency response time than teams with lower cardiovascular endurance. However, correlations between weight and height with weighted initial emergency response time are not significant.The multiple correlation (R), squared multiple correlation (R2), and adjusted squared multiple correlation (Radj2) indicate how well the combination of independent variables predicts the dependent variable. The results showed that the regression equation with all the predictors are significant, R=0.39, R2=0.15, Radj2=0.13, F (3, 122)=7.13, p<0.001. In other words, the multiple correlation coefficient between the predictors and the dependent variable are 0.39, and all these three predictors account for 15 percent of the variation in the initial emergency response performance. The generalizability of this model in another population was shown to be 0.13. The value of R2 dropped to only 0.02 (about 5 percent) in the Radj2 which indicates that the cross-validity of this model is fine. The significant F-test revealed that the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables is linear and the model significantly predicts the dependent variable.The F-test (F (3, 122)=7.13, p<0.001) indicates an overall significant prediction in the independent variables to the dependent variables, but it lacks information about the importance of each independent variable. Table IV shows that the individual contributor of each predictor is presented by the standardized regression weight of each predictor within a regression equation (Green and Salkind, 2008). Among the three predictors, cardiovascular endurance (b=-0.31, t=-3.75, p=0.00) has the highest and significant standardized b coefficient, which indicates that cardiovascular endurance is the most important variable in predicting initial emergency response performance. The other important predictor is weight (b=-0.21, t=-2.47, p=0.02). However, height (b=0.12, t=1.69, p=0.09) is not significantly related to initial emergency response performance. Thus, in summary it can be said that better initial emergency performance can be obtained when teams are composed of members who have higher cardiovascular endurance, and higher average body weight.\n5. Discussion: In the present examination, physical ability is the team member resources studied. Here, ability refers to the task-related abilities of the team members (Robbins, 1993) such as weight, height, and cardiovascular endurance. An emergency responder has a physically demanding job (Davis et al., 1982; Gledhill and Jamnik, 1992; Williford et al., 1999) and a high level of physical fitness is functional in the accomplishment of a job performance (Rhea et al., 2004). As such, the choice of the three ability dimensions is valid and offers an accurate portrayal of what is required of emergency responders such as fire fighters. The following discusses the results of each ability dimension.Weight\n6. Implications: Given the exploratory nature of this study by aggregating individual data at the group level analysis, it is premature to suggest guidelines for selecting successful fire fighting teams. However, the findings from the present study could help the FRDM in their recruitment, selection, and training activities. First, the recruitment and selection of fire fighters indicate the importance of meeting some physical ability requirement. The study further affirms and justifies the current practice of FRDM to include physical-ability-related employment test in their recruitment and selection considerations (Rafilson, 1995). Second, the study also has some implications to the training activities conducted by the FRDM. The findings also create a need to increase the frequency of cardiovascular endurance test. This would assist the fire fighters to maintain the state of their physical fitness. Previous studies have suggested that such physical training programs are a critical determinant of team performance, particularly under conditions of high workload and high stress in which fire fighting teams generally must operate (e.g. Cannon-Bowers et al., 1993). However, in the present study the impact of training on initial emergency response performance was not examined; hence future studies need to be directed at understanding this relationship. In addition to physical training programs, a good health and safety program that includes physical fitness is imperative for the effective functioning of emergency responders.In addition to the practical implication, the present study has contributed new information to the body of knowledge in emergency response research. The findings offer contribution to the Robbins's (1993) group behavior model and field theory (Lewin, 1951). The physical ability variables especially weight and cardiovascular endurance have been examined at the individual level (e.g. Buchner et al., 1996; Davis and Dotson, 1987; Samson et al., 2000; Troosters et al., 1999). For example, Williford et al. (1999), who studied fire fighters employed by the Montgomery Fire Department, found that higher body weight enables them to perform better in simulated fire and rescue exercises. However, in the present study, these variables were aggregated to represent team-level variables. Although the present study used aggregated physical ability constructs, the findings have been found to significantly predict team performance. However, very few studies have used the aggregated physical ability construct at the team level and more studies are required to further validate this method.While the present study was primarily concerned with the influence of physical endurance on initial emergency response performance, it acknowledges other factors that could impact performance as well such as shifts and fatigue, which were not considered. Hence, future studies could consider examining the influence of other factors on initial emergency response performance.\n7. Conclusion: As noted earlier, the aim of this paper is to examine the influence of emergency response team's physical ability on emergency response performance using actual emergency response scenario. To reiterate, the initial emergency response performance was measured by taking recorded measures of time taken once the fire fighting team received a distress call to the dispatch of the fire engine. To conclude, the study has provided some empirical evidence that the weight and cardiovascular endurance of firefighting team members significantly influence the team's initial emergency response performance. In other words, the study has empirically shown that fit emergency responders can respond quicker than their unfit counterparts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to determine the influence of physical ability on initial emergency response performance among emergency response teams.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In an emergency incident, emergency responders are involved in vigorous physical activities. Previous attempts have demonstrated that job performance of emergency responders depends a great deal on their ability to perform strenuous physical activity. This paper examines the influence of physical ability namely weight, height, and cardiovascular endurance on emergency response performance among fire fighting teams in Malaysia. Emergency response performance was defined as team member's speed in responding to emergency situations. Data on team member's physical ability and emergency response time were collected for the duration of five months. The distance from the waiting room to the fire truck in each selected fire station was used to measure performance.\nFindings: - This study found that the team with higher average weight and cardiovascular endurance level had better initial response to emergency situations, contrary to the research hypothesis. But it is speculated that the relationship could be further understood by considering the proportion of fat in the body. The relationship between cardiovascular endurance and initial emergency response performance further validates and justifies the use of physical fitness test as a criterion for job performance of fire fighters.\nOriginality/value: - This paper offers empirical evidence of emergency response performance in Malaysia. Specifically, it presents findings on the influence of physical ability measures on initial emergency response performance from a team perspective. In addition, the emergency response performance was measured by the distance traveled by the responders, which serves as a meaningful performance indicator.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Effects of brand love, personality and image on word of mouth: The case of fashion brands among young consumers	[ "Brand love", "Brand image", "Brand personality", "Word of mouth", "Fashion brands", "Brand identity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For decades, branding in fashion research has gained increasing attention among scholars worldwide and specifically in the UK. Different studies focussed on various topics. To mention just a few; gaining a competitive advantage in fashion retailing (Lewis and Hawksley, 1990), benefiting from the fashion own brand (Moore, 1995), branding strategies in UK fashion retailers (Birtwistle and Freathy, 1998), corporate branding (Burt and Sparks, 2002), factors influencing the willingness to buy retailer own brands (Veloutsou et al., 2004), factors crucial to develop an intentionally appealing brands (Wigley et al., 2005), attitude toward brand extension (Liu and Choi, 2009), luxury fashion brands (Moore and Birtwistle, 2005; Fionda and Moore, 2009; Moore and Doyle, 2010), strategic alliances in the fashion sector (Wigley, 2011), understanding of the centrality of the own brand to fashion retailer brand strategy (McColl and Moore, 2011). Whereas, previous research in this area provides fundamental contribution, still more research is needed to explore other facets of the branding theme. Loving fashion brands is an important aspect of research that is interesting and worth studying. Consumers love their fashion brands that are well suited to them and make them feel and look good. As a result, consumers develop a relationship with a brand feel emotionally associated to their brands.Consumer-brand relationship in the last decade has gained much attention from both practitioners and academics. Understanding the relationships between consumers and their fashion brands has practical relevance to marketers due to the significant impact of this relationship on a company's profitability. Therefore, it is important to not only understand how relationships are formed between consumers and fashion brands, but we also must be aware of the factors that drive those relationships. Our purpose in this study is to examine whether fashion brand personality and fashion brand image will make consumers love their brands using framework that integrates fashion brand love as theoretical starting point along with two well-researched constructs of personality and image. We examine the relationships among those constructs due to their potential relevance to the consumer-brand relationship domain. We also link them to word-of-mouth (WOM) as an outcome of the relationship with a brand. The model builds upon the study of Carroll and Ahuvia (2006) which has identified some antecedents and consequences of brand love. In this study, however, we identify effects of brand personality as well as brand image on brand love.This paper is organized as follows. The next section provides the conceptual model of how loving a fashion brand might be influenced by brand image and brand personality and develops related hypotheses. The methods undertaken to examine the relationships between the constructs are then detailed. The results of the empirical part of this study are then presented, followed by the conclusions and implications. Finally, future research directions and some limitations of the study are presented in conclusion.\n2. Conceptual development and research hypotheses: 2.1 Brand love\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Questionnaire design\n4. Empirical results: 4.1 Measure reliability and validity\n5. Discussion and conclusions: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between brand image and brand love, as well as the impact of the excitement dimension of brand personality upon brand love. Furthermore, the influence of those constructs on the WOM. The results of the study indicate that excitement will not have a direct impact on brand love, however, the indirect impact through brand image were found to be significant. This is the first research to test this relationship. The same constructs were found to influence WOM with the exception of brand image. Also, the variables were found to capture the majority of the variation in WOM. These results may be explained by the relational paradigm, and the notion of attributing human characteristics to brands (Aaker, 1997; Fournier, 1998), which will lead to loving the brand as an emotional outcome.Following this causal model, the strategy should be for fashion brand to use brand personality and brand image to increase the emotional relationships with their brands. As a result of building an emotional relationship with their customers, companies will make their customers positively talk about their brands. If this is attained, the number of customers using the brand could probably be increased and in turn the company may report a jump in profits. Another result worth discussing is that the insignificant influence of brand image on WOM, we think this relationship need to be replicated and further more investigated in future research. Although the significant impact seems to be absent, it can be argued that the effect of brand image on the WOM is mediated by loving the brand. This is logically valid from a practical point of view, when the projected brand image fit with the image customer wants others to hold about him/her, it will make him positively talk about the brand.Based on the above findings, the conceptual model has shown the direct effects of brand personality and brand image on brand love and WOM. In general, the reliability and validity of the results presented in this study is considered acceptable. However, validity is limited to the constructs, measures, samples and fashion brands we have studied. Thus, conclusions regarding the different effects in the study are, in principle, limited to the sample used in the study. The extant love research seems to be solely in the US context. To the best of our knowledge, we think that this is the first study to investigate the concept of brand love outside the USA. Therefore, future research also could examine whether these effects are different depending on the types of brands being investigated in other contexts. Also, we think the examination of the brand experience as comparatively new construct may contribute to our understanding of the consumer-brand relationships.Future research could examine the proposed relationships and use moderators such as gender or age. Research could also examine this framework on different categories of brands. Finally, our results have a number of implications for brand managers. First, brand managers should undertake ongoing research with their target customers to understand the relationships between the brands and their customers. Second, brands should give careful consideration to the concept of love and how can they develop it.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Fashion brand love is a central concept in the consumer-brand relationship domain. Brand managers tend to create more lovable brands, e.g. McDonald's \"I'm lovin it\". However, the importance of this concept is not frequently discussed in marketing literature. Furthermore, the impact of brand personality and brand image on brand love has not been investigated in any empirical research. This paper aims to address this gap by developing a causal model incorporating brand love, brand personality, brand image and word of mouth (WOM) to investigate the relationships among them.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were collected using a survey method and usable questionnaires were completed by 250 undergraduate students. Path analysis was used to test the hypotheses using AMOS 16.0.\nFindings: - Results revealed that only brand image is considered as a determinant of brand love that affects WOM along with brand personality.\nPractical implications: - Results provide detailed implications and a platform on which future research can be built.\nOriginality/value: - The extant love research seems to be solely in the US context. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the concept of brand love outside the USA.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Teaching introductory macroeconomics during the Greek financial crisis	[ "Global financial crisis", "Greek financial crisis", "Introductory macroeconomics", "Teaching economics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The subprime crisis broke out in late 2007, initiating the global financial crisis (GFC), which was \"a human disaster\" (Figart, 2010, p. 236) and the greatest slump of the global economy since the Great Depression. Economists were not able to comprehend that a crisis might be approaching, nor the depth of the crisis (Lux and Westerhoff, 2009, p. 2). Economists have not dealt effectively with the longtime crisis, and actually may even have contributed to its development and unfolding (Colander et al., 2009, p. 249). In the meantime, economics students struggle with the conceptual difficulties of the GFC that are inherent in the way economics is taught. Blinder (2010, p. 389), referring to the GFC, stated that \"this is truly a teaching moment.\"\n2. Literature review: Macroeconomics as a social science strives for simple ways of reasoning about highly interrelated complex phenomena that cannot be disaggregated and studied in a simplistic way. Macroeconomic models will always be modified, restructured and even abandoned, when economic reality contradicts the policy conclusions of the dominant paradigm. As the instructors of macroeconomics, we have to live, research and teach within economic reality; we have to live, research and teach during the GFC.\n3. Methodology and demographic data: A recent survey was administered to introductory macroeconomics students in Spring 2014 at the University of Macedonia in Greece, one of the countries hardest hit by the GFC, to determine how including the Greek financial crisis influences the teaching of introductory macroeconomics and benefits students. The goal of the survey was to identify the models, concepts and approaches that impact introductory macroeconomics teaching during the financial crisis. Surveys focus on the unique individual experience of a given phenomenon. While the results of a survey study may not be generalized to the greater population, they can still offer insight on a complex phenomenon (Sun, 2009, p. 3). In this case, the survey set out to obtain opinions, observations, characteristics and attitudes of Greek introductory macroeconomics students, regarding how the course contributed to their knowledge of the GFC. Utilizing a five-point Likert scale, the independent variables created a matrix for comparative evaluation. Nevertheless, due to careful attention on individual experiences, the findings in survey studies caution generalizations across space and time.\n4. Presentation of survey results: Prior to the attendance of the introductory macroeconomics course, most students had no or very little knowledge of economics: 35.5 percent (43 students) had no knowledge, while 47.9 percent (58 students) had some basic knowledge. Only 16.5 percent (20 students) had a high level of knowledge and knew economics well enough. The self-reported benefits of studying macroeconomics are, in order of importance: to explain facts to family or friends 64.5 percent (78 students), to understand news and newspapers 63.3 percent (79 students), to pass the exam 62 percent (75 students) and to use the knowledge in professional life 47.1 percent (57 students). The introductory macroeconomics class was able to assist students in understanding the GFC, as the \"very much\" and \"a lot\" responses received jointly 61.2 percent (74 students), while the \"somewhat\" response was answered by 33.1 percent (40 students). As to whether the introductory macroeconomics course is very useful and mostly useful in understanding the GFC, 95.8 percent (116 students) of the students responded positively. Students' satisfaction from the course in explaining the GFC was very positive by 16.5 percent (20 students), mostly positive 65.3 percent (79 students) and neither positive of negative 16.5 percent (20 students). Regarding how students will apply the knowledge gained from introductory macroeconomics, the responses were: in studying 59.5 percent (72 students), in everyday personal life 58.7 percent (71 students), in financial decisions 33.1 percent (40 students) and in professional life 16.5 percent (20 students).\n5. Analysis of survey results: A large majority of the students surveyed had either no prior knowledge or very little knowledge of economics before studying the introductory macroeconomic class. So, the teaching benefits of incorporating the GFC can be easily realized. How students have applied their knowledge from the subject to \"real life\"? Interestingly, students wanted mainly to use their knowledge gained in class to advise family and friends and to understand the news and newspapers. Studying introductory macroeconomics to pass the exam had a high percentage of responses, although lower than the aforementioned responses. The impact of introductory macroeconomics to professional life had only a positive response from less than half of the students. The majority of this group of students saw the benefits of studying macroeconomics as mainly personal and within the inner circle of family and friends, rather than to be used for professional reasons. This may be explained by the fact that the first-year students in the department surveyed consists of students who, in the entrance exams in the university, were examined in classical subjects (ancient Greek, Latin, history, etc.) rather than hard sciences. So, it is likely that they are not planning to become economists. Nevertheless, an astonishing 93.4 percent of students argued that it is important to learn macroeconomics to understand the economic crisis in Greece, because 95.8 percent found the class very useful in understanding the GFC. Students realized that the introductory macroeconomics course was able to assist them in understanding the GFC and was satisfied in the course's explanation of the GFC. After completing the course, students felt that they had a good level of understanding of the economic crisis in Greece.\n6. Conclusion and teaching recommendations: The paper deals with a very interesting issue that of teaching introductory macroeconomics in an era of crisis in a country with the GFC hit quite severely. The issues are of importance also because the paper deals with an open debate between the two schools of thought in economic thinking. To that extent, that extent it is my view that exploratory evidence regarding students' perceptions about the benefits that they gain from introductory macro as taught in their class and their ability to understand real-world economic phenomena is of importance. By and large, the literature review endorses that the study of the GFC in introductory macroeconomics using an eclectic approach advances student learning by encouraging students to question and use different theories to support their arguments, by focusing the subject material to current events evolving in real time, and by enriching analytical skills.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine how including the Greek financial crisis in teaching introductory macroeconomics benefits students.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The methodology is based on the responses of a recent survey administered to students at a university in Greece.\nFindings: An eclectic approach that distinguishes various economic theories and methodologies, mainly neoclassical and Keynesian, can provide a pedagogical way of teaching introductory macroeconomics, allowing students to use their everyday personal experiences in determining the most \"suitable\" theory in explaining the crisis.\nOriginality/value: To the author's knowledge, such an exercise of discovering students' perceptions of teaching an introductory macroeconomics Substitute with course during the global financial crisis has not yet been attempted.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge sharing in organisational contexts: a motivation-based perspective	[ "Knowledge management", "Learning organizations", "Human resource management", "Incentives (psychology)", "Motivation (psychology)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Knowledge sharing is a key process in translating individual learning into organisational capability (Frey and Oberholzer-Gee, 1997; Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). But facilitating knowledge sharing is a difficult task: the willingness of individual to share and integrate their knowledge is one of the central barriers. Despite the voluminous literature on organisational learning and knowledge management, the nature of the relationship between individual motivation and knowledge sharing in organisations remains largely unexplored and poorly understood (Osterloh et al., 2002; Milne, 2007).Existing theories of the firm have tended to place emphasis on the centrality of one particular motivational mechanism in governing the behaviours of firm members (Gottschalg and Zollo, 2006). Each of the theories on its own offers at best a partial explanation of why individuals do or do not share knowledge. The knowledge-based view, which has gained wide popularity in recent years, focuses on the social and collective dimension of organisational learning, viewing organisations as knowing entities and communities of practice that foster identity, commitment and learning (Brown and Duguid, 1998; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Spender, 1996). It implicitly assumes a utopian view of \"benevolent co-operators\" who voluntarily give up personal knowledge without appropriate reward. While it draws our attention to the importance of normative intrinsic motivation, it neglects potential conflicts of interest and incentive issues (Foss, 2003). This \"positive\" view stands in stark contrast with the \"negative\" transaction cost view that assumes the worst self-interested opportunistic behaviour among firm members who seek to hoard knowledge unless sanctioned or induced to deviate from such behaviour (Williamson, 1996). The transaction cost perspective recognises that transforming conflict among self-interested actors into cooperation is a non-trivial problem. It recognises the problem of social dilemmas of knowledge sharing in organisations (Cabrera and Cabrera, 2002; Cress and Martin, 2006) and assumes that these dilemmas can be resolved through monitoring and incentive alignment (Teece, 2003). The basic premise is that incentive-driven extrinsic motivation dominates other kinds of motivation.In this paper, the authors argue that theories of organisational learning and knowledge creation will benefit from the insights of both these two perspectives, taking their differing behavioural assumptions and emphasis on the centrality of particular motivational mechanisms as a starting point. The analysis builds on the large literature on employee motivation (Amabile, 1993; Deci, 1976; Deci and Ryan, 1985; Frey, 1992; Locke and Latham, 2004), and recent research on the management of motivation as distinctive firm competences (Gottschalg and Zollo, 2006; Osterloh, 2005; Osterloh and Frey, 2000). The aim is to understand how organisations resolve the social dilemmas of knowledge sharing, and the ways in which different motivational mechanisms interact to foster the transfer and creation of knowledge.By focusing on the motivational processes and the relationship between different types of motivators, the paper seeks to bridge the traditional dichotomous view of treating knowledge sharing as either dominated by opportunistic or altruistic behaviour. It assumes that both kinds of behaviour are plausible and potentially exist, and the willingness of organisational members to engage in knowledge sharing can be viewed on a continuum from purely opportunistic behaviour regulated by management authority to an apparently altruistic stance fostered by social norms and group identity (Christensen, 2005). The authors argue that motivational mechanisms play a key role in regulating and translating potential into actual behaviour, and they underline the complex dynamics of knowledge sharing and creation within different organisational contexts.The analysis presented in the paper will draw on existing empirical studies to explore the different approaches used to resolve the social dilemma of knowledge sharing within different organisational contexts. In looking at social dilemmas and the ways in which organisations address them, it examines the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices in use and the motivational disposition of employees to knowledge sharing. The authors believe that adopting a motivation-based perspective will add new insights into our understanding of the nature of the firm as a knowledge-creating organisation. It could offer proposals for action in terms of organisational design and management practices that can better meet practitioner expectations than those derived from the narrow transaction-cost or knowledge-based perspectives.\nMotivation and knowledge sharing: A taxonomy of motivation and motivational mechanisms\nOvercoming the \"socal dilemma\" of knowledge sharing within organisations: Why do people share or hoard knowledge?\nSome empirical examples: Drawing on case studies gleaned from the literature, this section explores how the two different organisational types seek to solve the problem of knowledge sharing and the interactive effects between the different motivators. In classifying the cases into one or the other types, the setting, type of work and dynamism have been taken into account. All cases deal with professional/expert work, ranging from the UK's public health sector to change consultants. Across the case studies, the authors have looked for evidence of the types of motivators used and their relationship with HRM practices within the firms. Additionally, the authors have looked for evidence of crowding and synergy, social dilemmas and the tension between knowledge exploiting and knowledge augmenting modes. A detailed summary of the cases is provided in Table I.Case study analysis: professional bureaucracies\nSummary and conclusion: This paper has sought to develop a motivation-based perspective to understand the complex dynamics of knowledge sharing in different organisational contexts. It draws on the theoretical insights of the knowledge-based view of the firm and the transaction cost perspective both of which emphasise the centrality of one particular motivational mechanism in governing the behaviour of organisational members. While the former stresses the crucial role of normative intrinsic motivation, the latter gives a pivotal role to extrinsic incentives. In this paper, the authors propose to bridge the dichotomous view of these two different perspectives by focusing on the motivational processes and the interactive relationships between different motivators. The analysis builds on a three-category taxonomy of motivation, adding a third dimension, \"hedonic motivation\", a concept proposed by Lindenberg (2001), to the traditional dichotomy of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.The empirical analysis presented in the paper draws on existing case studies gleaned from the literature. The evidence suggests that, within the professional bureaucracy, the social dilemma for knowledge sharing may be overcome through normative motivation, with provision of hedonic motivation supported by extrinsic incentives such as training and career progression. The UK public healthcare sector case (Ferlie et al., 2005), however, demonstrates the inherent dilemma of knowledge sharing in a professional bureaucracy: strong normative motivation for knowledge sharing within uni-professional communities inhibits the transfer of knowledge across communities. Further, extrinsic incentives may \"crowd out\" intrinsic motivation for knowledge sharing because of perceived diminished autonomy and responsibility within professional groups. In an operating adhocracy where interdependent teamwork is vital, the social dilemma may be overcome through normative alignment reinforced by intensive socialisation opportunities to foster goal congruence. Extrinsic motivators that align with the individual's hedonic motivation may serve to strengthen the propensity for knowledge sharing. In line with Amabile's (1997) argument, the analysis shows the critical role of hedonic motivation in stimulating creative and knowledge augmenting activities in an operating adhocracy. In both organisational types, normative and hedonic motivators play a significant role in stimulating knowledge sharing. Financial extrinsic incentives do not appear to be relevant on their own, and may either \"crowd out\" or \"crowd in\" other motivators.Most of the cases looked at in the study were drawn from organisations rooted in the Anglo-American context, and thus care should be taken in extending the findings to other societal contexts. Existing research shows that national cultural (Michailova and Hutchings, 2006) and institutional factors (Lam, 2002, 2008) can powerfully influence patterns of knowledge sharing within organisations. A fruitful line of enquiry for future research would be to broaden the scope of analysis to include organisations from non-Western contexts characterized by different values and knowledge sharing behaviours.At the theoretical level, the paper highlights the dynamics of interaction among the three motivators, namely, extrinsic, normative and hedonic, suggesting that the nature of their relationships may not be reducible to a clear \"yes\" (crowding in) or \"no\" (crowding out) effect. An important insight gained from the analysis is that there is a continuum of relationship between them. Two fundamental questions remain to be explored. First, in what ways do internalisation and socialisation make extrinsically motivated behaviour autonomous and turn it into a \"hedonic\" form of motivation? And second, to what extent does normative motivation serve as an intermediating variable regulating the relationship between externally regulated incentives/motivators and internally generated hedonic motivation? Future research could integrate further the work of social psychologists with that of socio-economists on incentives and motivation to advance our understanding of knowledge sharing in different organisational contexts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Facilitating knowledge sharing within organisations is a difficult task: the willingness of individuals to share and integrate their knowledge is one of the central barriers. This paper aims to develop a motivation-based perspective to explore how organisations resolve the social dilemma of knowledge sharing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The analysis builds on a three-category taxonomy of motivation, adding \"hedonic\" motivation to the traditional dichotomy of \"extrinsic\" and \"intrinsic\" motivation. It uses case studies gleaned from the literature to explore the interactive effects between the different motivators in two different types of knowledge-intensive organisations: professional bureaucracy and operating adhocracy.\nFindings: - Within a professional bureaucracy, the social dilemma of knowledge sharing may be overcome through normative motivation, with provision of hedonic motivation through extrinsic incentives such as training and career progression. In an operating adhocracy where interdependent teamwork is vital, it may be overcome through normative alignment reinforced by intensive socialisation. Extrinsic motivators that align with hedonic motivation may also reinforce the propensity for knowledge sharing. In both organisational types, financial extrinsic incentives do not appear to be relevant on their own, and may \"crowd out\" other motivators.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The cases reported were chosen from the existing literature and, although many were not designed specifically to address motivational issues, suggestive conclusions are drawn. Most of the cases were drawn from organisations rooted in the Anglo-American context and thus care would be needed in generalising the findings to organisations in other contexts.\nOriginality/value: - The paper represents the first attempt to apply a three-category taxonomy of motivation to examine knowledge-sharing behaviour in organisations. It highlights the interaction between the different motivators and provides a basis to integrate further the work of social psychologists and socio-economists on incentives and motivation in the context of knowledge sharing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Research methodologies and publication trends in manufacturing strategy: A content analysis based literature review	[ "Content analysis", "Manufacturing strategy", "Research methodologies", "Publication trends" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Williams and Plouffe (2007) assert, examination of knowledge development using systematic literature review of an academic field is \"a critical step in any discipline's growth and maturity\" (p. 408). They further state that review of articles published in peer reviewed journals is \"one of the most useful and relevant approaches for evaluating a field's accrued knowledge\" (p. 408).\n2. Method: The primary analytical method used in this study is content analysis. \"Content analysis is a method for analyzing the content of a variety of data, such as visual and verbal data. It enables the reduction of phenomena or events into defined categories so as to better analyze and interpret them\" (Harwood and Garry, 2003). In recent years, researchers have used content analysis for systematic review of literature in order to identify publication trends in a discipline. Content analysis has also been utilized to unfold patterns in the use of research methodologies, data collection methods, sampling techniques, as well as statistical techniques. Through content analysis, any qualitative findings of the researchers are supported by quantitative data in order to substantiate their claims.\n3. Results: This section presents results of content analysis divided into two main categories: methodological developments and publications trends.\n4. Discussion on research findings: With globalization, most organizations in developed countries are moving their production operations to developing countries in order to make use of lower cost of labor available there. This is causing a decreasing interest in manufacturing strategy discipline in developed countries and increasing interest in developing countries. The focus of research for last ten years in developed countries has thus shifted from improving productivity, quality, and responsiveness within individual organizations to between organizations. This phenomenon has led to major opportunities for researchers and practitioners to investigate manufacturing strategies of firms in the context of developing countries and emerging economies. Different socio-economic conditions, cultures, legacy management styles, and political issues provide contexts in which standard management practices developed in developed countries may not necessarily fit with their counterparts in developing countries. Thus, abundant opportunities are brought forth in understanding manufacturing strategy from the perspective of developing countries.\n5. Conclusions and future research opportunities: There are limited content analysis-based reviews of literature in manufacturing strategy discipline and those that appear are confined to simple summation (count) of various categories of data. Moreover, cross-tabulations among various categories of data and across time or regions are also found to be very limited, thus, limiting our understanding of the evolving trends in the use of various research design and methodological elements. This paper systematically reviews selected manufacturing strategy literature, published from 1966 to 2010 with a focus on methodological developments and publication trends and develops useful insights for future research.\n6. Limitations of the current research work: The current research work is based on articles that appear in the 34 refereed journals listed in (Vastag and Montabon, 2002; Vokurka, 1996; Olson, 2005, Dangayach and Deshmukh, 2001). This broader coverage of journals in production and operations management discipline where provides more authenticity to the trends identified in the manufacturing strategy literature, it may also be considered undermining the strength of the findings on account of assigning equal weights to various tier journals.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate trends in the use of research methodologies and publications in manufacturing strategy (MS) literature across geographical regions and suggests possible future research opportunities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This literature review is based on a sample of 512 subject-relevant journal articles and uses content analysis as the primary method for data analysis. The paper investigates developments in the use of research methodologies - in terms of research design, data collection methods, country of data collection, sample size, respondent type, statistical techniques used and time horizon of studies; and publication trends in terms of authorship type, authorship collaboration, most prolific authors, top journals, most prolific universities, and citation analysis.\nFindings: Research in MS has substantially changed from conceptual quantitative to empirical quantitative designs. NA and Europe show a declining research interest. However, other regions of the world are consistently showing higher interest. Significant opportunities and synergies exist for collaborative research among regions.\nResearch limitations/implications: Though the literature review is limited in its selection of articles and journals it sketches a picture that may surrogate the whole research community in MS.\nPractical implications: Trends in publications and use of research methodologies provide directions for designing research projects relevant to various geographical regions. This will help develop a holistic understanding of MS that is meaningful for managers of today's organizations.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides broader and deeper review of the MS literature. Complex patterns in data are revealed using cross-tabulations and advanced cross-tabulations that have not been performed in previous content-analysis-based literature reviews in MS. These patterns will help position future research studies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gender equality in the accounting profession: one size fits all	[ "Ireland", "Barriers", "Careers", "Perception", "Glass ceilings", "Accountants" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The past two decades in Ireland have seen dramatic social, economic and demographic changes, with an associated rise in employment from 31 to 61.1 per cent of the total population aged over 15 years (Haughton, 2005, p. 110; Central Statistics Office, 2013). In particular, the labour force participation of women and, specifically, of married women and mothers has been remarkable, reflected in the labour force participation rate for women in Ireland increasing from 35.3 per cent in 1991 to 53.3 per cent in 2011 (Central Statistics Office, 2012b; Bettio and Verashchagna, 2009; McCarthy, 2004; O'Hagan and McIndoe, 2005). This increase is attributed to women achieving greater academic success and opportunities, formerly denied to them as a consequence of social stereotyping (Gammie and Gammie, 1995, 1997; Pierce-Brown and Richardson, 1995). This pattern has also been observed in the traditionally male-oriented accounting and finance sector; the latest Irish census figures confirm that women now represent 46.5 per cent of the \"chartered and certified management accountants (including taxation experts) \" category (Central Statistics Office, 2012a). More specifically, the Financial Reporting Council (2013, p. 18) highlights the steady rise in the total proportion of female members, across seven accountancy bodies worldwide: 25 per cent in 2001 to 35 per cent in 2012.\nBackground: Breaching the glass ceiling?\nMethodology and sample description: The population includes all members of the four main accountancy bodies in Ireland. Due to constraints imposed by the Data Protection Act 1998, the accounting bodies were unable to supply this information. Consequently, non-probability sampling was the alternative method used to develop a potential sample: convenience and purposive sampling. First, the Alumni Association of a third-level university assisted in the development of a potential sample and facilitated the distribution of the survey, without releasing the contact information of graduates currently working in the accountancy profession (79 units). To ensure the sample included the younger generation[2] of accountants in Ireland, graduates from 1995-2006 in accountancy-related courses were specified with either a First Class or Second Class Honours[3]. Second, purposive sampling was used to obtain the views; opinions; and beliefs of older, more experienced accountants. A random search for partners and managers in large and small Irish accounting firms was conducted and resulted in 111 units (large firms) and 60 units (smaller Irish accounting practices). This represented a horizontal slice which included individuals in a collegial relationship at one particular level within different firms and practices. The potential sample comprised 250 accounting professionals.\nResults: The opinions of the respondents were sought on a range of topics:\nDiscussion and conclusions: Our overarching aim in this study was to examine the current situation in the accounting profession in Ireland in the context of a recent emphasis on the \"gender agenda\", where many larger organisations have recognised the dearth of women in senior positions and taken steps to address it (PwC, 2013; Bagley, 2013). Confirming earlier Irish studies (Twomey et al., 2002 and Barker, 2009), we find that there are fewer Irish women in senior positions, and it takes women longer to be promoted to partner. This in itself can be seen as clear evidence of the persistence of the glass ceiling effect. In support of this, there was general agreement that it is exceptional for a woman to achieve partnership in a large accountancy firm, while at the same time bringing up a family. Here only 12.5 per cent of women identified themselves as senior management.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine both male and female accountants' perceptions of female career progression in the Accounting Profession in Ireland. This study is set in the context of a steady rise in the total proportion of female members across the seven accountancy bodies worldwide and the recent acknowledged failure of larger accountancy firms to promote women to senior levels in equal measure compared to male colleagues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantitative study (with a qualitative component) was undertaken to gather the opinions and perceptions of Irish accounting professionals on their career progression, gender-related barriers and obstacles, the \"glass ceiling\", networking and flexible work arrangements. The sample of respondents reflected the diversity of accounting disciplines and gender divide in the wider population.\nFindings: Evidence of a divergence between the perception and the reality of the lived experience of female accountants, across the gender divide, was found. While respondents believe they have not experienced gender-related barriers in their career progression, it is clear that both genders believe that women succeed in this profession by adapting to masculine occupational values and norms.\nOriginality/value: These findings contribute to the extant literature on career progression of women and augment the female management and career development literature. The inclusion of the perception and comparison of male colleagues is of particular interest.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
NHS Lanarkshire's leadership development programme's impact on clinical practice	[ "Leadership development", "National Health Service", "Scotland" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Impetus for leadership development emanating through the UK National Health Service (NHS) change agenda centres on reforming how healthcare is delivered through the redesign of services to secure better delivery and improve overall performance in terms of care and treatment.The NHS established in 1948 founded on a premise of need, not ability to pay, has been subject to many reorganisations. Current reorganisation focuses on the provision of healthcare services over various settings across the UK, challenging traditional boundaries both within the health boards and between primary and secondary care. This may affect the public's embedded view of the NHS, where all services have traditionally been provided at local level. However, the new plan is that specialist services will now be provided over a wider geographic area.In line with the changing climate, the Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD, 2005) launched a framework for leadership development within the NHS in Scotland, built around several concepts adopting a more focussed approach based on needs of service, teams and individuals. There is however, inherent flexibility within the framework for leadership development amongst professional groups to enhance specific skills and this appears to converge with national focus.Successful reorganisation may also constitute a need to relinquish traditionally perceived \"power\" paradigms within the NHS. Asserting commitment to empowering staff to \"solve old problems in new ways\" the Scottish Executive stresses that leadership must permeate all wards, community and functional teams, and support frontline leaders to deliver improvements (SEHD, 2005). In consequence, the required transformation may dishevel the cognitive maps (de Wit and Meyer, 2005) of many employees. However, human capital will be the most critical strategic component and direct route in affecting this change (Humphreys et al., 2005).Leadership is thus regarded as the pinnacle in driving the transformation for delivering higher quality service (Hewison and Griffiths, 2004; SEHD, 2005) and considering that nurses (and midwives) deliver 80 per cent of all health care, the rationale for clinical leadership being regarded as the linchpin for success is clearly apparent (Millward and Bryan, 2005).Purporting a deficit in strong leadership, The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) advocates the need for cross-national learning on leadership in all public sector organisations (OECD, 2001; Hewison and Griffiths, 2004). The tenet is in line with other authorities who seek to apply business ideology within a public sector context (Alimo-Metcalfe and Lawler, 2001; Bate and Robert, 2002).\nLeadership development programmes: Various leadership development approaches are employed across the NHS (Department of Health, 2000; Hewison and Griffiths, 2004) encompassing:* local and regional programmes;* centrally funded and self-financing programmes organised at national level;* employer programmes where NHS trusts, having diagnosed leadership development needs have taken local action to meet them; and* independent courses funded by individuals taking initiative whilst working within the NHS.Leadership development courses differ from programmes, in that courses are considered fragmentary and piecemeal, whereas programmes adopt a more integrated and cohesive approach in accommodating team development, personal mentoring and learning networks (Edmonstone and Western, 2002).Many leadership programme evaluation studies (Edmonstone and Western, 2002; Hewison and Griffiths, 2004; Millward and Bryan, 2005; Neath et al., 2004) highlight lack of consideration towards contextual factors and cultural phenomena pertaining to clinical practice in the design of those programmes.In contending an organisation's \"tone\" is often set by the styles and behaviours of senior managers (SEHD, 2005), any shift in premise must therefore surely derive from focussing initially on developing more comprehensive leadership development programmes for senior staff. This will subsequently set a precedence from which clinicians involved in actual day-to-day service delivery, are thus inspired to follow.Research purpose\nLeadership development model within NHS Lanarkshire: The clinical leadership programme was developed by NHS Lanarkshire and accredited by Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh. The programme was validated in November 2007 to postgraduate certificate in clinical leadership and the rationale for certification was fourfold:1. Participants. Conveyed a desire to complete a distinct award, rather than undertake stand-alone Masters modules. Furthermore, in addressing the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework the qualification imparts credibility and authority, underpinning the evidence based approach deemed laudable for both working and learning in an Inter-professional collaborative manner (Burdett Trust for Nursing, 2006; Allen, 2001).2. Programme recruitment. A postgraduate certificate may attract wider conscription from factions such as biomedical scientists, medical staff and practitioners not contemplating a full Masters but seeking to enhance leadership skills.3. Organisational benefits. Wider engagement incites critical thinking, cross-contextualisation, reflective practice and other transferable skills conducive to sound inter-professional collaboration and increases transparency in terms of accountability and quality assurance, in driving forth the NHS Change Agenda (SEHD, 2005).4. Benefits to clinical care. Knowledge sharing, increased transparency and thus value creation should emanate from working shoulder to shoulder with other practitioners in determining ways of enhancing overall care and service provision for patients, carers and their families.\nStructure and delivery of the programme: The 24-week programme can be undertaken at both Bachelors and Masters level study and is delivered on a day release basis, attracting a general composition of 10 per cent Allied Health Professionals and 90 per cent senior clinical nursing staff.Divided sequentially into two modules, satisfactory completion of module one \"Developing Self\" is prerequisite for module two \"Leading Others\". The premise in the design of the programme is to develop the individual as a leader, fostering self awareness through critical reflection of leadership experiences, styles and traits for improving personal effectiveness as a precondition for being able to affect others. Module two focuses on developing team-building, coaching and mentoring skills necessary for leading others and thus improving effectiveness of their teams. It is anticipated that both modules collectively provide the foundations for further development in the field of leadership development.Enquiry-based learning (EBL) is adopted throughout, encompassing both individual and group work tasks. EBL is advocated as a student centred approach conducive to deeper and more profound learning as knowledge gained is driven by enquiries owned by students, acquired by experience and in relation to a real problem. In taking ownership participants are more engaged and learning is perceived as more relevant to individual needs, stimulating greater enthusiasm and commitment from students with the tutor adopting the role of facilitator (Hutchings, 2006; Fisher and Moore, 2005).The programme exploits this technique over several approaches drawing firstly on participants' own experiences within their leadership roles and critically reflecting upon these encounters, challenging perspectives on and within the clinical setting. Secondly, scenario planning is employed where participants are tasked with given situations and required to determine relevant theoretical issues and questions, research the topic and gain requisite knowledge. Participants are guided towards credible literature, however are accountable for developing structure, methodology and thus outcomes within fixed time constraints. At this stage in the programme's delivery, the cohort is deliberately composed of both SCQF level 9 and 11 participants, prior to separation for the next stage of role play and action learning activities. Programme leaders contend that this strategy underpins and makes explicit, the premise that leadership emanates from all levels (Cooksey, 2003; SEHD, 2005). However, both lecturing staff and participants who completed the programme asserted that higher expectations were placed on level 11 students.Thirdly, scenario planning is also exploited through role play where several participants volunteer to act out predetermined scenarios whilst others contemplate \"cause and effect\" associations deriving from the role play.Scenario planning is an invaluable technique for raising decisions makers' awareness of several plausible outcomes. In challenging existing assumptions through the use of constructivist learning, the process encompasses:* the individual construction of knowledge;* social influences on individual construction; and* the situation and context in which scenarios are tested in order to change participants' mental models, taking them beyond what is currently believed to be plausible (de Wit and Meyer, 2005).Implemented successfully, the process stimulates individual and thus organisational learning making the organisation more adaptable to change (Chermack and van der Merwe, 2003). Throughout the programme, particular emphasis is placed on decision making, clinical judgement and critical awareness, and participants are encouraged to explore other ways of viewing those events and develop new approaches that can be transferred into clinical practice.Subsequently, action learning and reflective enquiry tools are used extensively within the programme to stimulate both the participant's and the group's exploration of a variety of subjects to enhance learning. The incorporation of action learning and reflective enquiry tools is essential in leadership development programmes (Densten and Gray, 2001) to evaluate participants' experiences from a leadership perspective, encourage personal debate on the most appropriate course of any action, examine situations from multiple perspectives and to better understand followers, thereby developing knowledge in a variety of ways to maximise potential.Smith (2001) also advocates reflective learning frameworks to embed principles of action learning within the project-related tasks of individuals undergoing leadership development, and emphasises its contribution towards building a \"learning organisation\" and the development of leaders for such an organisation. Participants are required to compile a reflective portfolio, demonstrating challenges, personal growth and determination of individual learning needs. A critically reflective account of an issue pertaining to a leadership experience in their clinical area is also required and both of these pieces of work are formally assessed.Method\nLimitations of research: Time constraints during the primary research data collection period gave rise to two different cohorts being examined. This was necessary to accommodate an evaluation of staff's attitude and awareness of their leadership skills through the various phases of before, during and after having completed the programme. Ideally, an investigation of the same cohort during each stage in the study would have enhanced rigour in determining changes in attitude, approach and perception of leadership development through the various stages of the programme. However, a true evaluation of the programme's impact may not have been possible, had the study relied solely on perspectives acquired after completion of the programme, as bias accounts of subjects' experiences prior to embarking on the programme may have jeopardised findings.\nFuture research: A longitudinal study encompassing a sample frame of over 100 graduates from several distinct cohorts across the three hospital sites is in progress, together with a separate study on the current cohort throughout various stages of the programme is underway to enable time-based comparisons to be made. This will enhance scrutiny on the programme's impact, as possible external influences such as differences in experience, attitude and social values inherent with different participants, will be eradicated from the sample frame.Results\nConsiderations for future programme delivery: Negative aspects of the programme were unanimously asserted as the significantly demanding workload in terms of reviewing literature, pushing personal boundaries via action learning in role play, and the amount of reflection required every week to contribute towards discussions. However, it was conceded that the impact may not have been as momentous, had the large academic component not been present.Another short-fall conveyed was lack of provision for \"formal\" follow up sessions after programme completion to support staff through continuous development, which graduates proposed on a quarterly basis. Faugier and Woolnough (2003) assert leadership development needs to be followed up to support participants after completion. This enables staff to reflect on contextualisation of leadership practice within the NHS, and future programmes could be adapted to accommodate local requirements (Hancock et al., 2005). Furthermore, graduates proposed another technique to be designed into the programme - that of \"shadowing managers\". Several contended this opportunity would provide invaluable experience in strengthening understanding and insight of appropriate leadership approaches. However, accommodation of such processes may require cultural adaptation.\nLonger-term impact on clinical practice: In contemplating the longer-term impact of the leadership programme on clinical practice, a majority alleged anecdotal evidence was already tangible within the workplace, manifested in willingness to take on new roles and responsibilities, adopting a more proactive approach and being increasingly positive in embracing change. Skills such as coaching, mentoring and ability to negotiate more effectively had been developed through the programme, which were now used routinely within their role, both within their team as well as amongst peer groups.However, an additional benefit conveyed by all focus groups was the emergence of informal support networks built on trust, used to share failure and success stories, which act as perceived \"comfort-bridges\" in eradicating feelings of isolation and inadequacy amongst colleagues whilst tackling leadership challenges. These practical and social networks have continued to operate across NHS Lanarkshire as a result of the leadership development programme.This pertains to Communities of Practice in the field of Knowledge Management, where Boud and Middleton (2003) contend groups of people informally bound together by shared expertise and passion, share experiences and knowledge in free-flowing, creative ways that foster new approaches to problems. Graduates in this case study, professed to regular communication to use each other as sounding boards for ideas and dilemmas which they are faced with. Communities of Practice therefore add value in terms of problem solving, transfer of best practice, fostering professional skills via mentoring and coaching, increasing motivation and quality decision making amongst staff and thus may help drive strategy within the NHS (Koulopoulos and Frappaolo, 1999).Arguably an organisational benefit not previously anticipated, a pool of knowledge and expertise exists amongst staff for dealing with clinical leadership issues. This offers potential, not only for establishing base-line measures for examining the effectiveness of leadership programmes on future cohorts (Edmonstone and Western, 2002) but also for stimulating a knowledge management culture akin to the learning organisation (Senge, 1990, 1999; Boud and Middleton, 2003).Completion of the programme was purported as \"just the start of their development\", in postulating a form of \"leadership wisdom\" (Cacioppe, 1997) acknowledging challenges ahead. Vaill (1999, p. 119) reiterates that leadership is not learned but rather it is learning, emphasising the evolving nature of leadership development, giving insight into the challenges facing the NHS today in striving to provide continually supportive environments for accommodating leadership development (Cooksey, 2003). The challenge is being able to translate learning principles into a meaningful leadership development experience that facilitates the learning process (Brown and Posner, 2001), reiterated through Cooksey's (2003, p. 209) premise of \"learnership\" in postulating a strong alignment between the interconnectedness of leadership and learnership. Thus, \"learnership\" characterises organisational learning as a continual process of evolution and diffusion where, in the end, leaders become learners and learners become leaders.In evaluating the programme's impact on clinical practice, assertions such as: \"the course equips you to challenge yourself, and bring about changes in others that you could never have achieved before\"; and \"I can actually change things and make a difference, where as before I was just muddling along\" are arguably the crux of all that is being set out to achieve in all leadership development programmes, demonstrating its effectiveness albeit through a specific group of participants.Implications for leadership development practice\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of a clinical leadership programme on senior clinicians within National Health Service Lanarkshire, in terms of key constituents for fostering leadership development, specific skills developed and impact this has had on clinical practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A qualitative research design was employed over several stages, involving 44 senior clinical managers, with member validation substantiating findings and thematic analysis used to analyse data collected.\nFindings: - The programme's impact was evident in acknowledged change to participants' attitude, behaviour and performance with examples conveyed to demonstrate both the effect on clinical practice and perceived organisational benefits gained. The use of role play, scenario planning and enquiry-based learning approaches were deemed critical in achieving such change.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Time constraints merited two different cohorts being examined simultaneously during the various stages of the programme. A longitudinal study is underway encompassing the evaluations of several cohorts through various stages of the programme to enable time-based comparisons to be made and enhance the rigour and scrutiny of the programme's impact on clinical practice.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is foremost in determining structure and processes employed on the programme, specific leadership skills developed, subsequent effect on clinical practice and perceived organisational benefits gained but not necessarily contemplated by staff prior to embarking on the programme, such as the emergence of communities of practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Innovative management strategies for building and sustaining a digital initiatives department with limited resources	[ "Innovation", "Project management", "Digital scholarship", "Library management", "Library development", "Digital initiatives", "Digital humanities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroductions: Digital initiatives departments in academic libraries, although similar in mission, operate differently than traditional library departments. The operational difference is a unique combination of specialized skill sets. This article depicts the innovative strategies used by the author, hired for project management expertise, to build, design and lead digital initiatives at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). After three years, the digital scholarship initiatives and the Digital Scholarship Lab at MTSU's Walker Library has unexpectedly developed at such a rapid pace, surpassing milestones far in advance than initially conceived. Changes and growth in higher education are often slow yet the academic library soars steadily with cross-training practices that lead efforts of staffing and funding through innovative strategies that include project management, shared resources, grant funding, branding/marketing and outreach.\nLiterature review: A digital library or digital initiative department is a combination of collections, people and technology and the interplay among them (Peterson, 2001). Some of the most distinguished digital library departments are at the University of Michigan, University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University and other large research universities. \"However, the most valuable digital libraries need not be those with the support of a research infrastructure, nor those with all the items located in one physical place\" (Peterson, 2001). With available technology, libraries of any size can make valuable contributions to a project, even if the items or equipment resides in disparate locations. Library digital initiatives, although similar to the needs of a physical library, require a different set of knowledge and skills (Flecker, 2000) which include heavy emphasis on leadership, project management and technology. These three areas of emphasis are required for defining the scope of a new service department. This includes identifying needs, utilizing existing staff skill sets and finding collaborative partners, which are all critical to digital initiatives development (McCullough, 2014).\nBackground and case study: From 2004-2013, MTSU's Walker Library was actively working on digital collections. This included building local editions and contributing to larger projects at other institutions. However, these were often time-consuming projects as a digital initiatives department did not exist nor the designated staff or funds that typically go into department budgets. Willing library staff volunteered their time in incremental amounts, piecing together projects as time, resources, materials, money and equipment became available. During this time, collaborative partnerships formed with other departments on campus and in the community with similar missions of knowledge access and preservation. Together this group, now formally known as the Digital Partners[1], saw the value in pulling resources from independent libraries, archives and centers scattered across campus for the sake of sustaining worthwhile digital projects.\nImplementation of innovative strategies: Digital library development requires innovation. This does not necessarily mean dollars, although money is always helpful. Rather strategies built around a solid foundation with agreement and buy-in from those involved can produce novel advancements regardless of resource limitations. Innovative management strategies include utilizing project management principles, shared resources, grant funding, brand building and marketing and outreach.\nLessons learned: Part of the responsibility of a leader and PM is making the job of your team members easier. For the grant-funded digital project mentioned earlier, this required tweaking individual tasks and schedules to accommodate team member variances. Team members function differently and have their own work ethic and preferences such as how to track time worked. Timesheets were a grant-mandated task and initially a clickable Web form was created to track time worked on the project. However, some team members did not like this approach; forms took too much time away from their required project contributions. Their preferred method was replying to an e-mail, with only a number, no details, as this was the least time-consuming resolution. As a result, the PM routinely e-mailed each week, requesting the number of works worked that week, and the details of the work performed were written by the PM, elevating team member time on this aspect.\nRecommendations: Project manager: He/she is cross-trained in information science, management, technical and soft skills such as communication and diplomacy. Use of standard project management tools such as project charters, timelines, resource leveling, strategic directions and leadership that emphasizes collaboration and decisions made with project team involvement.\nConclusion: Innovative management strategies are critical to the success of under-resourced digital library initiatives. Money is not the only challenge to developing digital initiatives either. A carefully curated combination of technical, financial and human involvement is paramount. With project management as a driving force behind the administration, efforts can more easily be focused on sharing resources for program development, on securing grant funds for content and resource development, for branding and marketing digital resources and providing outreach to the user community. Together, these techniques can help overcome limitations that hinder the sustainability of newly created library departments.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer and explore innovative strategies for building and sustaining digital initiatives at information organizations. Although the examples provided are based on case studies at an academic library, the practices are rooted in project management principles and therefore applicable to all library types, museums, archives and other information organizations. The innovative strategies on staffing and funding will be particularly useful to organizations faced with monetary and staffing shortages and highlights collaborative management practices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Concept of strategic and collaborative management practices led by an experienced project manager cross-trained in management, technical and soft skills enables the successful development and sustainability of digital initiatives. A cross-trained librarian's management practices of leading the Digital Scholarship Initiatives at a particular university will be examined as a case study and aided with literature supporting the need for digital initiatives leaders to have training beyond the credentials of librarian, curator, archivist or historian in the technologically savvy twenty-first century ecology of information centers.\nFindings: The innovative strategies implemented in the case study yielded increases in the number of hours of digital lab usage, digital projects developed, seminars or workshops presented, attendance of library hosted events, number of programs implemented and awareness on campus, all with limited staff and funding. The variety and level of production and marketing is instrumental to the growth and sustainability of digital initiatives.\nPractical implications: The innovative strategies emphasized in this paper use the concept of borrowed or shared time to start staffing needs and is particularly helpful to organizations that do not have a strong line of dedicated staffing or funding to begin building digital initiatives. Offers small ways to start immediately while setting the stage to plan for big ideas for the future.\nOriginality/value: This paper suggests a credentialed information expert, such as a librarian, archivist or curator, that is, also cross-trained in project management and technology is the key to not only successfully leading digital initiatives but is instrumental for its sustainability and the marketing, growth and future of digital initiatives.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Interactions in knowledge production: A comparative case study of immunology research groups in Colombia and Brazil	[ "Sciences", "Colombia", "Brazil", "Research work", "Group dynamics", "Information research" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Science is by definition a collaborative and competitive endeavour. Collaboration may be formal or informal, within the same research organisation, between different institutions in the same country or involve individuals and groups working in different countries. The motivations for research collaboration have been extensively discussed in the literature (Katz, 1994). Such factors that can be grouped as economic, cognitive and social have varying relative importance to explain either field-to-field or country-to-country differences in the rates of collaboration (Luukkonen et al., 1992). Collaborative work is expressed in formal and informal channels and disseminated through different networks (Crane, 1972). Counts of publications have been widely adopted as measures of scientific productivity (Price, 1963) and the analysis of co-authorship has been used as an indicator to track patterns of collaborative behaviour and to find tendencies by discipline (Beaver and Rosen, 1978, 1979). The advantages and limitations of quantitative studies of co-authorship have been studied extensively (see Katz and Martin, 1997; Katz, 1994). Despite the limitations of this approach (Katz and Martin, 1997), co-authorship analysis remains a valid, if partial, indicator of research collaboration (Georghiou, 1998).One limitation of co-authorship as an indicator of collaboration is that it fails to capture important contributions of researchers who do not qualify as co-authors but without whom the research work might not have been done. This is why a group of studies tend to combine different approaches to examine collaborative practices in knowledge production (Melin and Person, 1996; Melin, 2000; Laudel, 2002). In this vein the \"acknowledgments\" made in published articles have been said to reveal important features of the scientific practice (Cronin, 1991; 1995; Cronin et al., 1992, 1993), as well as providing a source of relevant information about the interactions taking place within research communities (McCain, 1991). At the same time, acknowledgments are also an indicator of indebtedness to funding bodies, thereby disclosing important links between researchers and public and private organisations (Lewison et al., 1995; Lewison and Dawson, 1998). Notwithstanding the contribution that this information can bring to the analysis of the dynamics of research communities in a particular discipline, so far only Velho (1985) has studied this practice in peripheral countries.This paper aims to contribute empirically to the understanding of the dynamics of research communities in knowledge production by analysing co-authorship and acknowledgments in the publications of research groups in an interdisciplinary field (immunology) in two peripheral countries.Immunology was selected for two reasons. First, studies on scientific production in Latin American countries have found the medical and biomedical fields to be strong. Not only have such countries built research capabilities in the health sciences internally, but they have also participated actively in international research networks, thus enhancing the visibility of Latin American science. Disciplines that stand out are public health, pharmacology, general medicine, medical techniques and immunology (Krauskopf et al., 1995; Braun et al., 1994, 1995). Moreover, studies based on databases that cover more regional journals have found greater diversification in health research with a focus on local pathologies, e.g. tropical medicine, immunology and clinical medicine (Meyer et al., 1995).Second, immunology is not only important for peripheral countries, but it also presents important features and is heading in the direction of becoming \"big science\". By the latter is meant a scientific activity carried out by multidisciplinary groups from basic and applied sciences, with close interaction between researchers from academia and industry, both nationally and internationally, and involving large financial resources. All such dynamics, however, take place within national boundaries, and are affected by health-related public policies.Countries were selected (Brazil and Colombia) with the aim of making a comparative study where possible similarities or different situations can be presented. The choice is also supported by the cited studies that made important contributions in this area of health. Furthermore, the largest percentages of co-authorship activities are found in clinical medicine and biology (Narvaez-Berthelemot et al., 1992). Another factor in the selection of these two countries was that they had policies for the consolidation of post-graduate programmes in the region, particularly in Brazil (Narvaez-Berthelemot et al., 1999). They also had strategies for internationalisation and co-operation through expatriate researchers and their networks, such as Red Caldas (networks of Colombians abroad; Murcia and Parrado, 1998).The research group was considered as the unit of analysis, following a long tradition in the sociology of science that recognises that not only cognitive aspects, but also social interactions, play an import role in science (Kuhn, 1971; Crane, 1972). There are organisational practices, manual skills, social and material knowledge, which are acquired through scientific practice within the scientific tradition, and depend also on the cultural traditions within its institutions, country and time (Pestre, 1996). Research groups have their leaders who are recognised as such by the national and international community. It is through the leaders that we identified the groups, as reported in the following section.\nMethods: Databases and web sites from national research councils and other funding institutions were used to identify leading research groups working in the area of immunology. Investigation of databases from CNPq[1] and FAPESP[2] in Brazil and COLCIENCIAS[3] in Colombia was carried out and revealed only 31 research groups (21 Brazilian and ten Colombian). The criteria used for this selection were quantitative the number of articles published in the area and indexed in the science citation index (SCI), CD-ROM version, and qualitative (groups recognised in the top categories for the national institutions). This listing of groups was confirmed by a process of peer review to ensure the relevance of the groups as subjects of the present study.Once the groups were confirmed, their scientific research output for the last decade (1990-1999) was downloaded from the SCI. To extract research outputs two filters were used:1. A filter with key words in the field of immunology calibrated by an expert in the discipline.2. A filter containing the names of the group leaders and their countries.The latter was developed in order to recover interdisciplinary interactions and production by these communities. The study database comprises a total of 844 records from Brazilian (77 per cent) and Colombian (23 per cent) communities under study (Roa-Celis, 2002). Papers extracted contained at least one of the leading researchers as author and were restricted to articles, notes, reviews and letters. Their citation scores were determined for their year of publication and four subsequent years from the SCI.To establish the volume and impact of publication in multiple disciplines, each paper was classified in three ways. The first corresponded to a major field (biology, biomedical research, clinical medicine, chemistry, physics and others). Secondly, the papers were categorised by research level (RL):* basic research (RL4);* applied research (RL3);* strategic research (RL2); and* applied development (RL1).Table I shows the journals most commonly used by the communities under analysis. These categories (major field and research level) were given for each paper according to the journal in which it was published and are based on the journal classifications created by CHI Research Inc. in the US (Narin et al., 1976).Table II shows the third classification of papers: the potential impact factor value (PIC), which is based on the ratio between the numbers of citations received in the year of publication and four subsequent years to the number of papers in a given journal. These values come from the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI's mean expected citation rates file with citation data for publications in 1994).Furthermore, to gain understanding about different links the collaboration, addresses and number of authors in the papers were analysed and classified using counting macros. The numbers of national and foreign addresses were classified for each paper. Collaborative links within the group occur with papers co-authored by the leader and one or more members within the group (one address within national borders). Papers with national links are those with more than one address within national borders. In the international category are those papers co-authored with one or more other countries but only one address within national borders. Papers with both national and international links are classified as mixed and had two or more national addresses and one or more international addresses.Additionally, nearly 82 per cent of the articles in the database were inspected and the acknowledgements section was classified and registered in the database according to the categories in Table III. This procedure allowed the determination of patterns in the practice of acknowledgement and revealed funding sources as well as other researchers taking part in the process of knowledge production; they could be analysed by research group and by country.Finally, to gain an understanding of the factors influencing the collaborative behaviour of Brazilian and Colombian research groups in immunology, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 37 members of these research groups. There were 28 from Brazil (15 leaders, ten other group members and three international peers); and nine from Colombia (seven leaders and two other peers). Quantitative data interpreted in the light of these interviews throw considerable light on the attitudes of the groups concerning the cognitive and social aspects of knowledge production.\nResults and discussion: Published outputs and co-authorship\nConclusions: The study revealed that the research output of the Brazilian groups in immunology tends to be published in journals of low impact in comparison with the Colombian groups analysed. Qualitative analysis reveals that there is a tension between social and cognitive factors within a framework of formal and informal collaborative links. This affects the selection of such journals. The analysis showed:* a significant level of inter-disciplinarity in the Brazilian research output compared with more specialised and disciplinary research efforts by the Colombians;* considerable local and national collaboration triggered by networks and their invisible colleges for Brazilians, with high levels of consolidation of post-graduate programmes and a tradition of regional research themes. In Colombia, more international networks existed, created by sandwich doctoral programmes;* a strategy of publishing in national or regional journals indexed in the SCI by Brazilians, whereas the Colombians prefer mainstream international journals;* the existence of more national funding available for Brazilian researchers compared with the Colombian need to obtain greater levels of international funding; and* a negligible participation of industry in formal and informal collaboration in both Brazil and Colombia.The results obtained revealed that the dynamics of scientific production take place within the framework of formal and informal collaborative links, which depend on a continuous tension between cognitive and social factors. These tensions inside the research communities, as well as between them and other social groups, are revealed by a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches, both of which need to be taken into account in the process of policy making.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To provide an empirical contribution to analyse the dynamics of research groups in knowledge production in an interdisciplinary research field in two scientifically peripheral countries (Colombia and Brazil).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This dynamic is analysed in the interdisciplinary area of immunology through a comparative study of Brazilian and Colombian research groups. The practices of publication, collaborative links and patterns of acknowledgements provided the framework for this study. Quantitative and qualitative tools were used; in particular a bibliometric study was complemented with information derived from semi-structured interviews with members of the research communities selected.\nFindings: - The bibliometric study allowed the construction of some indicators: channels of publication, impact of the research outputs, citations and patterns of collaboration. Also, a database with acknowledgements was created to identify the different actors who take part in the process of knowledge production. These indicators, interpreted in the light of qualitative analysis, throw considerable light on how the different groups work on the cognitive and social aspects of knowledge production.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study is limited to 31 leading research groups from Colombia and Brazil.\nOriginality/value: - This paper starts to redress the situation of a lack of empirical studies in developing countries in the use of acknowledgements as a tool to examine formal and informal scientific collaboration and as indicator of accountability to funding bodies. This work provides an empirical contribution to policy-makers and scientific communities in the task of understanding the dynamics of knowledge production in an interdisciplinary area combining different approaches.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mobilizing information infrastructure, shaping patient-centred care	[ "Patient care", "Information strategy", "Innovation", "Health services", "Denmark" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is a widely held assumption that information technology can help in bridging gaps in healthcare and in placing patients at the centre of such care (PITAC, 2001; DK, 2003). At the same time, it is recognized that introducing information technology systems in healthcare is a lengthy process that requires changes in the institutional, economic and legal dimensions of healthcare. What may seem to be purely technical problems soon become professional, organizational and ethical challenges.A less acknowledged issue is that successfully implemented information technology will affect our ideas of patients and of care. As the technology enters organizational practices, tasks and relationships change in unexpected ways (Vikkelso, 2005). Moreover, healthcare professionals, patients, administrators and politicians make new and sometimes conflicting demands on computer supported patient-centred care (Vikkelso, 2007). Accordingly, the effort to improve patient-centred care through information technology requires more than technical and institutional innovation. It requires negotiation of new priorities and perspectives on patient-centred care.There is, however, surprisingly little discussion of such substantial change processes in the research on health services and information systems. One reason is the lack of specific knowledge on the ways in which patients, professionals and health technologies co-constitute each other. This article, which analyses the challenges and transformations in four types of information infrastructure projects related to patient-centred care, offers empirical evidence in order to advance the discussion.Patient-centred care (PCC) is a widely used although broadly defined concept. Two overview articles suggest the breadth of the concept. Mead and Bower (2000) argue that PCC affects five key dimensions of the doctor-patient relationship: biopsychosocial perspective; patient-as-a-person; sharing power and responsibility; therapeutic alliance; and doctor-as-a-person. In contrast, Davis et al. (2005) claim that PCC means the following: superb access to care; patient engagement in care; clinical information systems that support high-quality of care, practice-based learning and quality improvement; care coordination; integrated and comprehensive team care; routine patient feedback to doctors; and publicly available information These two definitions of PCC indicate that the concept encompasses both the quality of the doctor-patient relationship and the entire organization of work and relationships related to the patient trajectory. Mead and Bower's definition may be seen as a philosophical one while Davis et al.'s version a managerial one.The growing interest in PCC coincides with the introduction and consolidation of information technology in the operations and governance of modern healthcare. Large databases, instant calculation, and electronic communication are now naturalized elements that increase the speed, distribution and specialization of healthcare services. Along with this development, healthcare has changed from a \"professional bureaucracy\" to an increasingly customer-oriented service network. The patient is no longer necessarily the passive recipient of diagnoses and treatment; now the patient may take an active part in choosing his/her care (Hardey, 1999; Josefsson and Ranerup, 2003; Lupton, 1997; Ranerup, 2008). The managerial version of PCC aims to integrate information technology in every link of the care chain in the belief that web-portals, distributed records, and online access facilitate relationships between professionals and patients by providing, for example, sufficient information, patient engagement and mutual feedback.In this article, I analyse four types of emerging, patient-centred information infrastructures:1. shared care record systems;2. internet health sites;3. online data access for patients; and4. electronic consultation systems.In describing the challenges and negotiations resulting from their use, I show that the categories of \"patients\", \"professionals\", \" health records\", and \"consultations\" are transformed in unexpected ways. My argument is that such transformations indicate that experimentation with patient-centred information technologies will prompt us to revise both managerial and philosophical ideas about PCC.\nTheoretical framework and method: The analysis in this study rests on two theoretical premises. First, the analysis adopts the view that design and implementation of information technology is increasingly a matter of introducing technology into an already filled space. New information systems must communicate and integrate with existing systems. Rather than being built as stand-alone systems, new information systems should take into account the myriad technical, semantic and institutional standards currently in operation (Ellingsen and Monteiro, 2006). Thus it is more appropriate to view the introduction of new information technology as an addition to evolving information infrastructures than as the implementation of discrete systems (Hanseth, 2002). The notion of information infrastructure addresses the basic arrangement of technical and social elements: \"the installed base\" that supports the information flow of a community (Ciborra et al., 2000). Moreover, information infrastructure emphasizes the relational character of information and communication; success depends not on the nature of its components but on its overall ability to advance meaningful and useful information exchange between distributed and heterogeneous parties (Star and Ruhleder, 1996).The second theoretical premise in this study is the recognition that technology and society are mutually constitutive. Technology contributes to the emergence of new social phenomena and qualities. Likewise, technology is only brought to work through the entanglement of social and technical elements (Latour, 1988). Design and implementation of technology is not a neutral activity; it is rather an active attempt to achieve particular social and material effects (Akrich, 1992). This attempt is, however, a process of negotiation where the technology must be adjusted and compromised in order to interest, persuade and align with social actors and material elements. The concept of translation, taken from actor-network theory, signifies the process of enrolling relevant socio-material actors in order to gain power (e.g. by becoming a preferred technology) at the cost of compromising original ambitions or intentions (Callon, 1986; Latour, 1991). Translation emphasizes that the constellation of technical and social elements involves subtle or radical transformation of all parties. In this way, technology not only supports social practices, it also changes them in unintended ways (Berg, 1999). By adding or removing elements - material or immaterial - from a network, the characteristics of the network change.This analysis focuses on the social and technical elements that are central to the mobilization of four types of healthcare information infrastructures. It also focuses on the accompanying subtle or radical translations of the basic healthcare categories of \"patients\", \"professionals\", \"health records\", and \"consultations\". The four information infrastructure projects were selected for two reasons. First, they are directly or indirectly related to the ambitions of PCC. Second, owing to their stage of completion, they are not purely \"desktop projects\". My analysis relies on the research literature on the four information infrastructure projects, the web pages and functionalities of Sundhed.dk (the Danish healthcare portal) and interviews with key actors at Sundhed.dk.\nFour types of emerging information infrastructures: Shared care record systems\nDiscussion: It is clear that further mobilization of information infrastructures for PCC means many challenges must be met and many problems resolved. It is also clear that a purely technical approach will not suffice. Acceptable circulation of information among healthcare parties depends, not only on computer systems architecture, but also on the development of semantic, legal and organizational standards, revision of payment systems, establishment of certification and access control organs, and a redrawing of organizational and professional boundaries. Furthermore, new information infrastructures for PCC will necessarily call into question basic features and structures of healthcare. The political aspects of this situation cannot be underestimated. The last two decades of the design and implementation of electronic patient records have shown that computerization of clinical records should not be left to computer scientists and a few dedicated clinicians. The successful transfer of health information systems from the drawing board to complex organizational and domestic settings takes more than skilful technical implementation. It requires thoughtful negotiations of clinical, ethical, administrative, economic and political boundaries.Future pervasive health technologies such as intelligent mobile devices and wearable networks will continue to develop and will increase the pressure for local and global reorganization of basic healthcare dimensions. In this environment, how will the information infrastructures support PCC? Although PCC as a concept has multiple meanings, it seems likely that none of the competing definitions will be supported in a straightforward way. Even if we could agree on a shared definition, we should be prepared to revise it as we gain experience from new information infrastructures. The successful introduction of new technology implies transformation of original intentions. Thus the emerging information infrastructures act as future-generating devices (Jensen, 2005).The four emerging information instructions explored in this article point to areas where transformations in healthcare are likely to occur. First, new information infrastructures will create more nuanced, composite patient identities than we now imagine. Patients will become informed in new ways and in that sense become more empowered. However, we cannot foresee exactly how, as they will also develop in different directions and focus on aspects of healthcare that are now not in focus. The very notion of the \"patient\" is likely to change as information infrastructures blur the differentiating categories of \"client\", \"citizen\" and \"customer\". Second, as patient identities change, professionals will assume roles that are currently not part of their repertoire, just as the content and division of work related to prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment will change. As far as the patient record, data will circulate much faster among more stakeholders, and the classic, mono-professional patient record will disappear, replaced by a distributed, multilayered textual universe. Finally, the encounter between the patient and the professional, the classic consultation format, will expand across time and space with new roles and responsibilities for both patients and professionals. The patient may very well become the physical centre of care as the concept of care takes on wholly new dimensions.\nConclusion: This analysis of four emerging information infrastructural projects has focused on their requirements and consequences for patient-centred care (PCC). These projects deal with basic elements and relationships in healthcare, and their realization involves a variety of practical, political and ethical challenges. However, even in their current form, we see some implications for the notion of PCC as far as the identity and role of patients, professionals, records and consultations. While the concept of PCC has multiple meanings, there appear to be two main approaches to PCC: a philosophical approach that emphasizes the alliance between the patient and the professional as equal and responsible persons (Mead and Bower, 2000); and a managerial approach that focuses on advancing the entire health system towards optimal care (Davis et al., 2005). Despite this difference, however, both approaches have a rather abstract, if fixed, definition of, for example, \"patient\" and \"care\". Furthermore, the practical differences or couplings between the approaches are unclear.In this article's focus on contemporary projects that seek to support PCC through information technology, I have described specific instances of the way patients and healthcare are mediated through information infrastructures. These descriptions throw both light and shade onto the present understanding of PCC. They also suggest that it will be not be easy to evaluate whether the new technologies lead to more \"symmetrical\" or \"optimal\" care. The chief conclusion of this article is that attempts to stimulate and support PCC through information technology invariably imply institutional innovation and translation of basic entities in healthcare. Rather than evaluating whether one meaning of PCC or another is promoted, we should attend to these qualitative shifts in the identity of the \"patient\" or \"professional\" and in the nature of \"care\". For instance, it is important to evaluate the specific changes in content matter when face-to-face consultation is replaced by electronic consultation. We should also examine the variations in care and in patient-professional relationships when some patients are very informed about and engaged in their cases, while others are unable to read their online files or to take advantage of the electronic empowerment opportunities.Even with the most carefully planned design and implementation processes we cannot foresee the creative ways in which information technologies will be employed and appropriated by users. Neither can we calculate all the possible difficulties that may arise. The imagination of computer supported PCC is simultaneously too conservative and too optimistic to guide the mobilization of useful information infrastructures. We should expect surprises and compromises in our vision of PCC as we explore, through detailed case studies, how its information infrastructures are realized.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to explore the challenges and transformations in healthcare resulting from building information infrastructures for patient-centred care.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Four types of information infrastructures are analysed with special attention given to the efforts and controversies related to their mobilization and to their consequences for patient-centred care. Data are gathered through a literature review and by empirical research.\nFindings: - The development of information infrastructures for patient-centred care requires mobilization of technical, legal, clinical and ethical standards as well as a change in organizational and professional boundaries. Furthermore, the mobilization of information infrastructures entails unexpected transformation in the nature of patients, professionals, health records and consultations.\nPractical implications: - Patient-centred information infrastructures call for institutional innovation and decision making regarding basic structures and relationships in healthcare. At the same time, the ambitions of patient-centred care should be broad enough to learn from the consequences of emerging infrastructures for the patient and professional identities and for the quality of care.\nOriginality/value: - The paper contributes to the understanding of healthcare governance by conceptualizing and empirically exploring the role of information infrastructure as a formative part of patient-centred care.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of the demographic transition on manufacturing: Effects of an ageing workforce in German industrial firms	[ "Demographics", "Older workers", "Employees", "Manufacturing industries", "Germany" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Several developments are currently reshaping the business environment that manufacturing companies are acting in. As most prominent issue, the technological state of the art changes rapidly; technological innovations have a significant effect on products and their underlying manufacturing processes. Besides, such technological change, issues such as ecological awareness and an increasing demand for both global sales and global sourcing challenge manufacturing companies in their quest for sustainable competitiveness. However, to our knowledge one of the important societal trends has not been taken into account prominently, despite its obvious potential to influence the manufacturing function substantially: the ageing of the workforce (Buck and Dworschak, 2003). This topic has neither entered the academic discussion, nor do practitioners actively embrace the phenomenon. The paper aims at rising practitioners' as well as researchers' awareness for the importance of the demographic transition for manufacturing, as it will definitely turn into a major challenge for industrial companies.\nDemographic change and industrial companies: Status quo and future developments\nTwo conceptions of the age/performance relationship: The traditional view on the performance of older workers\nAn empirical analysis of how older workers are perceived by manufacturing managers: Research instrument and data\nConclusions: The results of our empirical study have several implications regarding possible management reactions towards the inevitable ageing of the industrial workforce. First of all, it can be stated that the impact of the demographic transition will most probably pose fewer problems to the manufacturing function than to macro economic systems such as social welfare or pension schemes if the advantageous potentials of an ageing workforce are acknowledged and leveraged considerably. Older workers may necessitate an alternative to the physically very demanding working conditions on the shop floor. Except for very few situations such as blast furnaces, this seems to pose an ever decreasing challenge, taking into account flexible ways to mechanize and automate many workstations.Older workers have considerable benefits for their employers when a clearly quality-focused manufacturing strategy is followed. Experience, practical knowledge, discipline, reliability, punctuality, and quality awareness compose an ideal profile for a worker employed in high-quality manufacturing environments. In combination with their high social competence, this profile qualifies older workers for modern ways to organise the shop floor, e.g. with autonomous work groups or cellular manufacturing (Hyer and Wemmerlov, 2002). These concepts, in turn, enable the flexible and efficient manufacturing of high-quality products. Furthermore, they allow the implementation of the most promising concepts to enhance the productivity of an ageing workforce such as flexible work schedules and proactive knowledge transfer in, age-wise, heterogeneous work groups.Concerning the characteristics of older workers, the perception of the operations managers partially follows the \"decremental\" model of performance. Worker abilities that are reported to be low in the empirical investigation reflect the assumptions of this model. This is the case for the older workers' willingness to learn, their learning ability, and flexibility. When considering the importance of innovative technology in manufacturing processes, it has to be concluded that the perceived limitations of older workers concerning learning might lead companies to an only hesitant adoption of these technologies, probably resulting in decreased competitiveness. However, the perceived shortcomings can be assumed to be balanced by the advantages that are ascribed to older workers, and which have been laid out above in the context of quality-focused strategies. Besides, a possible shortage of younger and similarly qualified personnel, this seems to be a valid explanation, why such a big share of older employees works in the companies that were surveyed.The relevance of the two consequences that the directors of production report to be of highest importance is underlined by the age structure of the companies. Apparently, the situation in the manufacturing function differs from the initially presented \"general\" situation with many companies not employing older persons. In fact, the data of our study shows that many companies rely on a well mixed age structure in their manufacturing workforce. Since, it seems difficult to employ enough qualified younger workers, the share of older workers will presumably grow in the next years. With this trend the adaptation of working conditions to the characteristics of older workers though the application of appropriate concepts will be of even greater importance.The concepts assumed to represent the most effective reactions to an ageing workforce have only partly been implemented according to their assigned relevance. Especially, some instruments that are considered to be most effective when dealing with older workers (lifetime working accounts, the promotion of mental and physical health, and the design of ergonomic workplaces) have not yet been realized on an appropriate level and promise further improvements in the working conditions for older workers.Further research in this area should concentrate on two questions. First, the managers' perceptions can be contrasted with the self-assessment of the workers. This might deliver further insights about the situation of older in manufacturing processes. Second, longitudinal studies about changes in perception and actual conditions of older workers in manufacturing are missing. A challenge for those studies would be to exclude a \"survivalship bias\" that might otherwise hamper the validity of empirical studies.Our study has presented insights based on the estimations of directors of production in German companies. Certainly the German labour market is characterized by political peculiarities limiting the general transferability of concrete policy suggestions. Yet, the demographic transition is a long-term phenomenon that can be observed on a global scale with different countries being in different process stages at the same time. Hence, the phenomenon of an ageing population needs not be regarded as a specific German issue, but the results of this paper are basically transferable to other countries facing the consequences of demographic change in the near future. Putting the results of our study into a broader perspective, it becomes apparent that manufacturing will undergo dramatic changes on a global basis, and that the lack of a qualified, competitive workforce may become a major issue for a globalized economy that depends to a large extent on the human resource, despite all technological advancements.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the paper is twofold: to discuss characteristics and potential effects of an ageing workforce and to present the perception manufacturing managers have of the influence of demographic change on the manufacturing function.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The phenomenon of demographic change and the characteristics of ageing workers are presented based on a literature study. In addition, the results of a survey within German industrial firms are put forward, in which operations managers were asked about their perception of older workers in manufacturing.\nFindings: - Effects of the demographic transition will influence manufacturing companies in every economy. An ageing workforce is well suited to support quality-focussed manufacturing strategies. Yet, the adoption of new manufacturing technologies might be hampered by the older employees' unwillingness to learn that is assumed commonly.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The empirical research provides a first look at the substantial impact that demographic change will have on manufacturing companies. The discussion is based on trends in Germany and on the reported perceptions of German manufacturing managers; however, it is argued that implications can be transferred to other economies.\nPractical implications: - Practitioners will see the necessity to consider the impact of demographical change in future decisions. It is discussed which commonly held beliefs about older workers are justified based on scientific research.\nOriginality/value: - Focusing on the demographic transition, this paper adds an important aspect to the academic discussion of the future of manufacturing, highlighting the significant consequences that demographic change will have on manufacturing and suggesting concepts for addressing the challenge in practice. Furthermore, it provides first empirical results of the perception of manufacturing directors about this topic.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Information for decision-making in in-house and outsourced real estate management organisations	[ "Decision-making", "Information management", "Management", "Property management", "Real estate", "Commercial property" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, a growing question regarding the gathering of information in organisations has been evolving. Agerwal and Hauswald (2010) argue that one of the fastest growing problems in organisations is the lack of essential information to make informed strategic decisions. This closely relates to the arguments of Milgrom and Roberts (1986) who state that a common problem decision makers face is the need to rely on information provided by individuals who are affected by their decisions. McCarty et al. (2006) also concluded this in their study \"Transforming CRE Value Through Relationship Management\", wherein they consider information to be a critical success factor in real estate management.\n2. Theoretical background: This section consists of three parts which outline areas of interest for this paper: business-to-business information, information in the context of real estate management and the concept of incentives for information sharing.\n3. Research design and methodology: The basis of this article is an interview study conducted in 2014. The concern of the study was to identify how decision makers have insured the process of obtaining crucial information to make informed decisions. This has been studied by interviewing both the representatives of real estate owners and the management teams and by examining the decision makers' view regarding the information they prioritise and consider important for decision-making, while at the same time, investigating the management teams' perception of the decision makers' requirements and the management teams' incentives to share information.\n4. Findings: This section is divided into three parts:\n5. Discussion: The literature on real estate management portrays two ways of organising real estate management: in-house or outsourced. Palm (2013) concludes that both seem to work satisfactorily for all parties concerned; it is simply a case of two different ways to organise. However, these two ways of organising both have implications. One of them is how the decision maker secures the information flow to enable informed decisions. In the in-house setting, the decision maker relies on information from interested parties, but primarily generated from her own organisation. In contrast, in the outsourced setting, not only does the decision maker rely on information reported from an interested party but also the informant is from a third party with its own agenda. The question is how the decision makers in the two organisational settings ensure the ability to make informed decisions.\n6. Conclusions: As discussed previously, advantages and disadvantages regarding both ways of organising can be found for the decision maker to make informed decisions. These are summarised below (Table III).\n7. Implications for further research: The result of the study raises the question regarding how the customer and tenant experience the decision-making process. Do they consider in-house decision making to be more flexible and with shorter decision paths than in outsourced settings? Or do the customer and tenant perceive the decision-making process in the outsourced setting as more rigorous and well documented and thereby preferable? In this context, it would be interesting to make a case study with tenants that have experiences from organisational settings, perhaps where the real estate has been sold and the management has been altered.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the real estate owner (decision maker) insures being able to make informed decisions and how they differ according to organisational form.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research is based on an interview study of nineteen firm representatives, six decision makers and thirteen management representatives, all from Swedish commercial real estate sector.\nFindings: The study concludes that, regardless of organisational setting, the industry has a plan regarding handling information. The decision makers have all secured themselves access to the required/desired information. How this is done and what kind of information it is however differ, if the real estate management is in-house or outsourced. Furthermore, a clear focus on financial and contractual information is evident in both organisational settings.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research in this paper is limited to Swedish commercial real estate sector.\nPractical implications: The insight the paper provides regarding required information can shed light on how information systems are built and how to improve your information sharing.\nOriginality/value: It provides an insight regarding how the industry, depending on organisation setting, prioritises different information and how the decision maker secures access to it.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of HRD in university - community partnership	[ "Community engagement", "HRD", "Leadership development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The need for university-community partnership (UCP) has been a subject of discussion among scholars for time immemorial. For example, Daniel Coit Gilman highlighted this idea in his 1876 inaugural speech as John Hopkin University's first president by stating that\nThe North Minneapolis suburb: The North Minneapolis suburb of the city of Minneapolis in Minnesota, USA, is identified as one of the most under-resourced communities in the Saint Paul/Minneapolis metropolitan area. To help solve some of the pertinent problems of North Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota, in collaboration with the Minnesota State Government, the Minneapolis community and other organizations working within the local communities, is championing a cause to use local resources for mutual benefit. Consequently, North Minneapolis has for some time now been the target of many social-intervention programs seeking to improve lives.\nUniversity of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC): The birth of UROC can be traced back to a 2005 casual talk between the Mayor of Minneapolis R.T. Ryback, Jr, and University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks about the possibility of the university partnering with the city of Minneapolis to confront the complex problems of the city's most under-resourced communities in North Minneapolis (Bailey et al., 2009).\nProblem statement: Cities across the USA have expanded such that university campuses, which were once separated from the community, can no longer enjoy the solitude that previously defined them. Hence, the problems of the external community cannot be isolated from the university. The startling transition from the \"town and gown\" era (the metonymy that describes the academic and non- academic community) to the overarching synchrony between university campus life and the external community calls for the solidification of the UCP to help address some of the common community problems that impact campus life.\nPurpose of study: This paper seeks to identify ways by which the core functions of HRD can be used to enhance the UCP in lieu of the \"town and gown era.\" Furthermore, we seek to tout the need to extend HRD activities beyond the organization and leverage their knowledge and skills to spearhead community development agenda through coalition building between organizations, local universities and the community. This will ensure greater collaboration and help identify the best practices in using community resources for mutual benefit.\nMethodology: We reviewed and analyzed literature on UCP and discussed the need to extend HRD focus beyond the organization to include community development through coalition building. We used a single-case descriptive analysis to illustrate the critical role of human resource and leadership development in UCP. For the single-case descriptive analysis, we used the nomothetic approach to establish general principles and broad generalizations that apply across UCP, such as the institutionalization of UCP and models used by some universities for their UCP drive. The idiographic approach on the other hand was used to describe, analyze and explain the \"behavior\" of our case organization - the Robert Jones' UROC of the University of Minnesota and the Northside of the City of Minneapolis.\nInstitutionalizing university-community partnerships: a review of the literature: Community engagement has been a growing concern for universities around the globe. As indicated by Martin et al. (2005), in the period before World War II, American universities were separated from society not only by their geographical locations but also by their focus on research and publication to the neglect of community integration. Thus, most university campuses were separated from residential communities and focused on research and publication rather than community engagement. Interestingly, as the rural areas of the USA expanded speedily, with residential communities and businesses built closer to university campuses, the tall walls and iron gates could not salvage the separation between the university and the external community.\nHuman resource development in university-community partnership for leadership development: The enormity of community impact on university campuses cannot be ignored in planning and decision-making on academic matters. Thus, community problems affect campus life. The knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) of HRD scholars, students and practitioners can be extended to solving community problems. Considering the role of HRD in ensuring organizational effectiveness and managing the organizational learning systems, it is imperative that HRD and HRD related departments within the academic institutions and practitioners in the communities join in the amorous bid to foster strong partnerships between the university and community. Community development begins with developing the local human resource. This is another opportunity for the HRD field to bring to bear our knowledge and expertise in developing human resources and demonstrate HRD practice beyond \"the organization.\" With the belief that community development is the product of community engagement, which is intertwined with adult education (Green and Haines, 2015), HRD's involvement in the UCP drive is simply an extension of our expertise in adult education beyond the organization to impact communities.\nCommunity engagement defined: The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) defined community-engagement as \"the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people\" (CDC, 1997, p. 9). As indicated by the CDC, community engagement brings about ecological and attitudinal changes that are necessary to improve the well-being of the community and its members. A 1997 CDC report describes community engagement as \"partnerships and coalitions that help to mobilize resources and influence systems, change relationships among partners, and serve as catalysts for changing policies, programs, and practices\" (p. 9). It should be noted that no single definition can capture the entirety of community engagement. Thus, understanding community engagement requires exploring various models and definitions and applying the information obtained to specific situations within well-defined contexts.\nCommunity coalition action theory (CCAT): The 21 propositions outlined by Butterfoss and Kegler (2002) have been widely used by researchers and practitioners to achieve success in their community-engagement drive within specific contexts. These propositions are presented in Table I to explain the CCAT. Explicating their CCAT, Butterfoss and Kegler (2002) stated that,\nProposed model for university-community partnership: UCPs bring together a broad range of resources, both human and material, to help build the capacity for community development. Central to UCP is leadership development - the efficient use of resources for sustainable partnership rests on leadership that develops a comprehensive plan with a solid theoretical and scientific base. In line with this belief, we used the participative action research and a taxonomy based on five practices of engaged scholarship (Baker, 2004) to present a model to guide our UCP idea.\nEvaluation criteria: We propose a three-phase evaluation measure based on Butterfoss and Kegler's (2002) community coalition action model - these are formation, process and outcome evaluations. As indicated in Figure 2, the community context determines the evaluation to be used. We project an inclusive evaluation method that provides an opportunity for greater participation. The triangulation criteria that allow for the use of information from varied sources - both qualitative and quantitative - are recommended to ensure equitable participation at all three evaluation phases.\nImplications for human resource development research and practice: The orthodoxy of UCPs in the post-Cold War era has been enormous - it will not be an overstatement to describe the phenomenon as expeditious. It is clear and visible that almost every major university in the USA and other countries have established a center for community engagement or a related unit. Faculty, students, staff and academic departments' interest in the UCP drive presents a new dimension to research and learning in higher education. The UCP drive presents a new direction for HRD scholars and practitioners to register their presence and actively participate in the communities in which HRD is learned and practiced. Ironically, HRDs' involvement as a field of study and practice in the UCP drive is highly negligible - our search of the extant HRD literature identified a single article by Akdere and Egan (2005) as the sole HRD-related article that somehow focuses on UCP. We might have lost sight of other HRD scholarly and practitioner interest in UCP, but the veracity of our claim is strong.\nConclusion and recommendation for future research and practice: The UCP drive has attracted various departments on university campuses, who explore both public and private funding for research in this booming area. Most of the models and ideas used for the UCP drive are analogous to those learned in school and particularly used by HRD practitioners in organizations. Interestingly, our search indicated that HRD's interest in the UCP drive is negligible. In our view, the UCP idea presents a new frontier for HRD research and practice because there is both public and private funding that can be assessed through the right contacts and networks. Taking steps to assess such funds will enhance HRD research, enrich students' practical knowledge and provide opportunities for building viable networks with community leaders, businesses and local and state government officials and chronicle the relevance of HRD in community development.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to identify ways by which the core functions of human resource development HRD can be used to enhance the university-community partnership (UCP) in lieu of the \"town and gown\" era. Furthermore, the paper addresses the need to extend HRD activities beyond the organization and leverage HRD to spearhead the community-development agenda through coalition building between organizations, local universities and the community.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Literature on UCP is reviewed and analyzed, and the need to extend HRD focus beyond the organization to include community development through coalition building is discussed. A single-case descriptive analysis to illustrate the critical role of human resource and leadership development in UCP is done.\nFindings: HRD's interest in the UCP drive is negligible. UCP presents a new frontier for HRD research and practice because there is both public and private funding that can be assessed through the right contacts and networks.\nOriginality/value: The need for UCP has been a subject of discussion among scholars for time immemorial. However, the collapse of the \"town and gown\" era has inspired greater interest in UCP. HRD scholars and practitioners can leverage the expertise in applying andragogy principles, the focus on the adult learner and community leadership development to play a crucial in the UCP drive.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The missing link which was already there: Building operators and energy management in non-residential buildings	[ "Facilities", "Working practices", "Energy management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Jack Hug and Bruce Forbes (Hug and Forbes, 2000, p. 1.7) introduce a handbook of modern facility management with a nostalgic perspective on bygone times, when building operators still:[...] practiced stewardship of the facilities and managed financial and human resources entrusted to them, as if they were their personal assets. They had pride in ownership and pride in workmanship. The physical plant was their baby; the organization was their family. They led by example and, although quite informally, they taught others by coaching and mentoring.According to Hug and Forbes, during the last several decades this type of building operation, once hidden in the building's bowels somewhere near the boiler room, has been \"thrust in the middle of things\". In this process, the \"hands-on manager\" of the past has quickly become outdated:[T]he building engineer was primarily expected to perform in a stable, steady, consistent, according-to-the-book manner and only occasionally to react to change. Today, however, every successful facilities organization must be designed to respond to change as the norm, and it is even encouraged to create change (Hug and Forbes, 2000, p. 1.9).Thus, it would seem that the operator who \"would make continuous rounds, checking dials and gauges located on the equipment and recording the conditions observed\" (Hug and Forbes, 2000, p. 1.8) has given way to highly trained white collar professionals, leaving the hands-on tasks to advanced machinery and hired hands.While there is no doubt that profound changes building operation have occurred since the 1960s, in the present text we will argue that careful \"hands-on management\" in buildings stillplays an important role. Based on empirical observations in four large non-residential buildings, we will propose a positive role for building operation which combines change management with the old style \"hands-on\" approach in the service of energy conservation.But before we turn to this empirical exploration of four important, yet often neglected daily activities of building operators (which we call teaching, housekeeping, managing and juggling), in the next two sections we will show how building operation can act as a link between end-users and technology and how this is connected to the reduction of energy consumption. We conclude the text with a discussion of the instances of \"hands-on management\", which we have observed, their differences and commonalities and how they relate to changes towards more energy efficient buildings.\nEnergy and buildings: blind interplay: Users obviously shape the energy consumption of a building with their choices. Moreover, even if user interfaces are automated with \"intelligent\" systems, unexpected user actions, such as \"creative adaption\" or even outright sabotage of systems, are frequent. This class of user interferences is well known as \"coping\" (Heerwagen and Diamond, 1992) and as result of \"anti-programs\" (Latour, 1992), and active \"domestication\" of technologies (Berker et al., 2005; Silverstone and Hirsch, 1992). However, user behaviour - be it within or outside the expected range - is not a fixed entity but constantly influenced by a broad variety of variables many of which are directly related to the specific building and its installations, for instance the quality of its user interfaces (Jelsma et al., 2003; Norman and Draper, 1986), the degree to which users are able to control environmental parameters of their work spaces (Rowe and Dinh, 1999; Slater, 1995), and experiences with failures or bad indoor environmental quality (Fisk, 2002; Leaman and Bordass, 1999; Heerwagen, 2000).This mutual relation - that a building's performance is influenced by user actions and that user actions are influenced by a building's performance - is a common place. Architects, engineers, owners as well as occupants usually agree that the good interplay of technology and users in non-residential buildings is a desirable goal, in terms of both user satisfaction and smooth technical operation. However, the common goal is obscured by many problems.One of the factors complicating the good interplay of technology and use is that energy consumption must be understood as indirect consumption. Energy is not consumed directly, but rather as a means to reach specific goals such as maintaining a comfortable temperature and air quality, having sufficient lighting or writing on a computer. In non-residential buildings, sufficient heat and ventilation are essential for a comfortable working space. Looking at it this way, the end-user perspective on energy consumption is not about really energy but about everything else, above all comfort management.Since energy remains invisible to the end-user, the first challenge is to influence the users' comfort management in a more sustainable direction. Employing advanced energy controlling systems while giving end-users the possibility to manage these systems can be problematic. Unlike the case with users in private homes, the users of non-residential buildings have no personal responsibility for the amount of energy consumed, and the technologies are often complicated to manage. Besides, how are different views of comfort to be handled?Energy remains invisible to more than just end-users. Architects and engineers usually leave the building exactly the same moment when the occupants move in. This is the reason why they have to rely on descriptions of the users' needs and actions instead of observing them directly. Moreover, the often stated weak position of post-occupancy studies in building (Cooper, 2001; Zimmerman and Martin, 2001) indicates that standard building design prefers methods of user representation other than direct evaluation of buildings in use, such as building standards and technical norms. For instance, quantified standards about the users' thermal comfort zone \"represent\" the users\" real experience of thermal comfort in the building. Post occupancy evaluations and other social studies of energy use of buildings have shown how occupants are forced to \"cope\" with thermal discomfort (Heerwagen and Diamond, 1992), meaning that they have to make up for the difference between standards and individual experience. The more frequent use of post occupancy evaluations but also more extensive user involvement in innovation and user initiatives in building processes (Barrett and Baldry, 2003, pp. 119-139; Rohracher and Ornetzeder, 2002), could dramatically enhance the quality of user representations in building design.Unfortunately, however, to \"see\" each other does not suffice. While better representations of users and uses during the building phase - including learning from former projects - is a precondition to better building, there is no guarantee that all future uses can or should be represented during design and building. Non-residential buildings in particular are likely to become subject to new uses and users during their lifetime. Therefore, when designers and builders have left the building, the task of preparing for a good interplay between technology and users is not finished - no matter how well the designers have \"seen\" the users (Stewart and Williams, 2005). In this situation, in which a mutual blindness divides users and technology, a link is missing: a \"user-technician\" or \"super-user\" who \"sees\" the users as well as the technologies and who is managing changes of both parts. Building operators are obvious candidates for this task.\nBuilding operation as mediation: The introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) into building operation has given building owners new possibilities for management and maintenance (Barrett and Baldry, 2003, pp. 171-193). The main result has been increasing automation in day-to-day building operation. Instead of just doing odd jobs around the building, building operators are now more often in charge of operating advanced technical systems. Together with organisational changes like outsourcing of building management (Jensen, 2001; Usher, 2004) and new models of organising building management and operations like \"continuous commissioning\", it is obvious that the role of the traditional caretaker or janitor has changed over the last decades.Accordingly, handbooks of facilities management (FM) have been mushrooming, which promise to support the building operator in his or her increasingly complex work (e.g. Atkin and Brooks, 2005; Barrett and Baldry, 2003; Booty, 2006; Cotts, 1998; Langston and Lauge-Kristensen, 2002; Smith et al., 2001). Although it is outside the scope of this paper to assess these handbooks' ability to contribute to a more professional management of buildings, we can observe that they commonly have an overly technical view of the people involved in facilities management, both with respect to the building operations staff and the occupants. This is in spite of the occasional acknowledgement that \"soft issues\" of non-technical expertise have become increasingly important for the profession as FM has gained a stronger position within organisations (e.g. Atkin and Brooks, 2005, p. 193). More often, measurable aspects of work organisation like coordination, prioritization, flow (Cotts, 1998, pp. 186-7) and productivity (Langston and Lauge-Kristensen, 2002, pp. 9-14) are discussed in such a way that the occupant becomes a customer who has to be satisfied as cost-efficiently and quickly as possible (Barrett and Baldry, 2003, pp. 58-60; Cotts, 1998, pp. 280-5). Energy consumption, finally, is reduced to a question of technology only (Cotts, 1998, pp. 195-7). These abstract professional models of work organisation, however, do not always carry over into the actors' everyday work, which often is a world apart from the prescriptive models of FM handbooks. The following real-life cases of building operation of large non-residential buildings in Norway each reveal one aspect that has been systematically rendered invisible by the handbook versions of the work of building operators (Suchman, 1995). We will argue that these \"invisible\" aspects of the building operator's daily work are important in the mediation between technology and use with respect to energy consumption.\nRoles of building operation: The following study of building operators has been conducted as on one of the author's PhD work (Bye, 2008), which was part of a larger interdisciplinary project called \"Smart energy efficient buildings\", a project with contributions from architects, engineers and social scientists. Because limited previous knowledge about building operators from a social science perspective exists, this study is strictly exploratory. Our aim has been to record detailed information about the tasks and the \"daily life\" of building operators. The core data was collected through open-ended interviews of five building operators (there were two in one of the buildings). Additionally we used supplementary data from the larger \"Smart energy efficient buildings\" project on users and building operators, including 28 open-ended interviews of 42 respondents (end-users, building operators, and members of the different design groups). The different cases will be referred to as: \"the college\", \"the secondary school\" (SCH), \"the governmental building N\" (GN), and \"the governmental building M\" (GM). In each case we will particularly focus on the mediating activities of the building operator.Role 1: the teacher\nDay-to-day experience as resource for more energy efficiency: Our four cases imply little difference in regard to the daily activities of the building operators: They spent their workday at the buildings being in charge of building operation and responsible for the results. They could collect knowledge about how different parts of the building and different systems worked. Even if practical maintenance work was outsourced, they were in charge of administering this work.The first two roles which were observed here (teacher, housekeeper), built on the special knowledge our building operators had acquired after years of practise within \"their\" buildings. The \"teacher\" got to know his users through interacting with them, and the \"housekeeper\" knew his installations after having repaired and adjusted them year after year. While \"best practise\" usually refers to experience from a large number of trials, we encountered another meaning of \"best practise\" here: the continuous improvement of a building, which is built on intimate knowledge of its particular conditions, possibilities, and challenges. Both dimensions, the comparative one (as outcome of many independent trials) and the experience-based one (as outcome of incremental adaptation) - we maintain - are important to create the best possible building within a given situation. The teaching and the housekeeping role bear clear resemblance to the \"hands-on\" management which - as quoted in the introduction - today is easily dismissed as a thing of the past. However, our building operators were eager to learn, they attended courses, they were networked with colleagues from other buildings, they welcomed the new (\"if it works\"), and they acted as change agents both on the technical and the user side.The two other roles which we have called \"management\" and \"juggling\" were not by coincidence encountered in the operation of larger sites comprising a more heterogeneous building stock. Those operating the secondary school with its 27 buildings enjoyed support from the organisation's management and were able to build up solid in-house competence, while the college operation - endowed with fewer resources - was forced to rely to a larger degree on external contractors. As result, the latter had to deal additionally to the usual housekeeping, with a different kind of task: the hiring and monitoring of external expertise. Consequently, whereas building operation and the organisation's management were tightly aligned in the secondary school, the operators of the college's buildings were forced to juggle between the various actors and technologies, acting as a glue between elements which otherwise might dissipate. In the latter case, the operators' role as change agents was much less prominent than in the first one. However, this was not because they were still in the grip of an outdated understanding of their work as \"hands on\" management, but rather because of conditions which were outside their control.More specifically in regard to the buildings' energy efficiency, all our building operators had multiple roles as administrators, service personnel and technicians. Therefore, broad knowledge was essential. Building operators needed sufficient training in running the buildings' systems to fulfill their mediator role. At the same time, we have seen that it could be important for those who worked in building operation to have a commitment towards users (the teacher role) and technologies (the housekeeper role) as well as a feeling of ownership and resourcefulness (the manager role) and the competence to organise complex organisations (the juggler role) in order to create a more energy efficient building. Through their continued presence within the building, the operators encountered here had the possibility to come to realistic representations of users and thus to go beyond schematic images underlying the design of the building.As our cases show, building operators have the possibility of improving the interplay between technologies and users with or without extensive user involvement, and with or without advanced technological systems. The four roles which were described here are most likely only examples for many more activities in which building operators as \"hands-on\" managers (which does not exclude acting as professional change agents) have an underestimated potential of contributing to energy efficient buildings. This is because being able to \"see\" both users and energy, they were in a unique position to improve the interplay between technology and use and to contribute to more energy efficiency. Therefore, we strongly recommend rethinking the role of careful \"hands-on management\". It should still be considered as integral part of professional building operation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper analyses the daily activities of building operators and how they mediate between end-users and technological systems in order to make \"their\" buildings energy efficient.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The empirical data consists of four selected cases of non-residential buildings of different sizes.\nFindings: - The paper argues that building operators have the possibility of improving energy efficiency with or without extensive user involvement and with or without advanced technological systems.\nOriginality/value: - Starting from the practitioners' point of view a new perspective on the link between facilities management and energy efficiency emerges, which calls into question approaches which focus on either the behavioral or the technical side of a building's energy consumption.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An empirical analysis of the brand personality effect	[ "Brand image", "Experimental design" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.Since the concept of brand personality emerged over three decades ago, there has been a burgeoning interest in the subject among marketing academicians and practitioners (Aaker, 1997; Carr, 1996; Duboff, 1986; Durgee, 1988; Kassarjian, 1971; Levy, 1959; Ogilvy, 1988; Plummer, 1985; Sirgy, 1982). For example, consumer researchers have investigated how brand personality encourages self-expression and association (Belk, 1988; Kleine et al., 1993; Malhotra, 1981), and practitioners have speculated about the utility of brand personality in terms of product differentiation (Biel, 1993; Halliday, 1996). While there is general agreement that some brands can have personalities that are associated with positive consequences, evidence of such benefits has been somewhat threadbare.\nConceptual development: Recent research on brand personality defines the construct as \"the set of human characteristics associated with a brand\" and documents a stable set of personality dimensions that are thought to underlie the construct (Aaker, 1997). The brand personality dimension corresponds to the \"big five\" human personality structure developed by Norman (1963) and includes:* sincerity, typified by traits such as wholesome, down-to-earth, and honest;* excitement, typified by traits such as daring, imaginative, and exciting;* competence, typified by traits such as intelligent, secure, and confident;* sophistication, typified by traits such as glamorous, smooth, and charming; and* ruggedness, typified traits such as strong, masculine, and western.Aaker's (1997) brand personality scale (BPS) measures the extent to which a given brand possesses any of these personality traits. Aaker's work has inspired a spate of studies that seek to validate and refine the BPS across a variety of contexts and cultures; however, research in this vein generally diagnoses the nature of a brand's personality - not its impact on brand performance.Consumer researchers suggest that numerous benefits may accrue to brands with strong, positive brand personalities. A favorable brand personality is thought to increase consumer preference and usage (Sirgy, 1982), increase emotions in consumers (Biel, 1993), increase levels of trust and loyalty (Fournier, 1998), encourage active processing on the part of the consumer (Biel, 1992), and provide a basis for product differentiation (Aaker, 1996). Moreover, brand personalities, like human personalities, are thought to be comprised of traits that are relatively enduring.Despite a considerable amount of conjecture regarding the consequences associated with developing a strong, positive brand personality, the amount of empirical evidence supporting the premise that brand personality impacts business performance or consumer behavior is negligible. A handful of empirical exceptions suggest that consumers use a brand's personality to express themselves, and that some brand personalities can safeguard a brand against marketplace blunders and enhance brand name transferability to extensions in new product categories (Aaker et al., 2004; Aaker, 1999; Batra et al., 1993; Haigood, 1999; Phau and Kong Cheen, 2001). There is a clear need for empirical research that investigates the impact of brand personality on both individual-level (e.g. brand awareness and purchase intent) and product-level (e.g. brand equity and market share) performance measures.At the individual level, it is possible that brand personality influences consumers' perceptual processing of product information. Information about a brand's personality is not typical sensory information that enables an individual to see, hear, taste, smell, or feel objects (such as a product) in the world. However, most psychophysiologists would concede that one's perceptions have qualities that are not present in the physical attributes of the stimulus (Sekuler and Blake, 1994). Consequently, brand personality can be seen as a nonphysical piece of product knowledge that shapes perceptions about that product.Sekuler and Blake (1994) describe four ways in which knowledge may influence one's perceptions:1. By enabling categorization.2. By controlling attention.3. By guiding acquisition of sensory data.4. By supplying context for sensory data.The third mode is particularly useful for explaining how knowledge about a brand's personality might affect product perceptions. These authors suggest that helpful cues that are intrinsic to the stimulus itself may guide acquisition and processing of subsequent information.Research in marketing further suggests that a given product has intrinsic and extrinsic cues that have an impact on perceptual processing. Intrinsic cues typically involve the physical composition of a given product. They cannot be changed without altering the nature of the product itself and are consumed as the product is consumed. Returning to the soft drink example, intrinsic cues would include such attributes as flavor, color, texture, and degree of sweetness. Extrinsic cues are product-related but not part of the physical product itself (i.e. they are outside the product). For example, brand name is an extrinsic cue frequently used as a surrogate for intrinsic product attributes and as a proxy for product quality (Jacoby et al., 1978; Jacoby et al., 1977) when the consumer is operating without adequate information about intrinsic product attributes. This situation typically occurs:* when the consumer has little or no experience with the product;* when the consumer has insufficient time or interest to evaluate the intrinsic attribute; and* when the consumer cannot readily evaluate the intrinsic attributes (Zeithaml, 1988).In this light, consumers are also likely to rely on information about a brand's personality as a surrogate for intrinsic product attributes. That is, brand personality may influence product perceptions, especially when evaluating intrinsic product attributes is difficult.Evaluating intrinsic product attributes is often difficult for product categories in which differences among the intrinsic attributes of competing brands are hard to discern. Thus, in this instance, brand personality may provide the means for making a given brand stand out in the crowd. Stated differently, when intrinsic cues are very similar for competing brands, brand personality may create a basis for differentiation. For parity products, then, the presence of claims communicating a strong, positive brand personality (i.e. providing extrinsic and intrinsic cues) should lead to relatively higher product evaluations in comparison to the presence of claims that merely inform consumers about the product's features and benefits (i.e. provide intrinsic cues only). Based on the foregoing discussion, and consistent with prior research expectations, we offer the following main effect prediction:H1. When subjects are exposed to stimulus material featuring information about the product's features and the product's brand personality (versus stimulus information about the product's features only), their product evaluations will be significantly more favorable.\nMethod: Subjects and design\nResults: Manipulation checks\nDiscussion: The results of this study provide support for the research hypothesis that stimulus material containing information about a product's physical attributes and its brand personality is associated with higher brand attitudes and purchase intentions. A strong, positive brand personality also leads to more brand associations that are favorable, unique, strong, and congruent - thus enhancing brand equity. This effect (i.e. the BP effect) occurred regardless of which brand personality dimension was experimentally manipulated, suggesting that any brand personality, so long as it is perceived as being strong and favorable, is likely to be associated with positive consequences. Further, for product categories (like bottled water) where it is hard to distinguish competing products from one another by their attributes, a strong, positive brand personality may provide a basis for differentiation and a means for influencing consumer perceptions and preferences.Beyond the demonstration that a BP effect exists, this research has two other notable findings. First, subjects in this study perceived brand personalities as multifaceted like human personalities, even when only one distinct brand personality dimension was being manipulated. For instance, some subjects exposed to the ruggedness manipulation regarded Jatim's brand personality as being predominantly rugged, with traces of the excitement dimension. While no undesirable personality traits were assessed in the present study, it is also possible that some manipulations could have been regarded as possessing negative dimensions. Given brand personality's capacity to impact product evaluations, marketers must be mindful of the potential for consumers to derive unintended negative conclusions about the brand's personality from marketing communications.Secondly, it is interesting to note that regardless of the treatment condition, competence consistently received the highest importance ratings. This finding may be explained using the concept of the determinant attribute, which holds that the most important attributes are often not the ones that distinguish competing brands from one another. Lovelock (1984) provides the following example:Most travelers rank \"safety\" as their number one consideration for air travel. But since major US airlines are generally perceived as equally safe, safety is not usually any attribute that influences consumer choice between several major domestic carriers (p. 100).Determinant attributes (i.e. those that do determine choice) may be low on a list of priorities, but they are often the attributes that demarcate competing alternatives from one another (Lovelock, 1984, p. 102). So, for products like bottled water, which are perceived as being equally competent, other brand personality dimensions may be more effective in terms of differentiation. To illustrate, sophistication was perceived as being relatively less important than competence in the present study, but was associated with relatively higher purchase intentions.\nConclusions: Contributions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Seeks to provide empirical support for the \"brand personality effect\", that is, the direct influence that brand personality will have on a variety of consumer-driven outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Tests a series of hypotheses using experimental research design with 192 subjects.\nFindings: - Support is found for all proposed hypotheses. These findings indicate that brand personality will have a positive influence on product evaluations and that subjects exposed to a brand's personality will have a significantly greater number of brand associations; significantly greater proportion of brand associations; significantly greater unique brand associations; significantly greater proportion of congruent brand associations; and significantly greater proportion of strong brand associations.\nPractical implications: - This paper conceptually establishes brand personality and empirically demonstrates the brand personality effect on consumer-based outcomes. This finding strengthens the brand personality literature and establishes a baseline study for future empirical research.\nOriginality/value: - Brand personality has received levels of research from academics and practitioners alike, but this research presents the first empirical test of the direct effect of brand personality and how it drives consumer behavior.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Am I a student and/or entrepreneur? Multiple identities in student entrepreneurship	[ "University", "Entrepreneurship education", "Multiple identities", "Student entrepreneurship" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There can be little doubt that entrepreneurship education often challenges students to explore a new possible identity, being the identity of entrepreneur. While there recently has been a growing emphasis on that entrepreneurship education serves as an important space for identity work (Harmeling, 2011; Hytti and Heinonen, 2013; Fenton and Barry, 2014), this literature is still sparse considering the well-established and deep link between learning and identity development (Wenger, 1998). Identity is not a common issue in research on entrepreneurship education (Donnellon et al., 2014). Based on a literature review, Ollila and Middleton (2012) concludes that entrepreneurship research has so far failed to sufficiently link identity construction and entrepreneurship education.\nStudent entrepreneurship and identity: The process from student to student entrepreneur is under researched. Current discussion in relation to student entrepreneurship is dominated by a focus on the early phases of the student entrepreneurial process, analysing entrepreneurial intent among students (Krueger et al., 2000; Autio et al., 2001); effects of entrepreneurial education on students' entrepreneurial perceptions and skills (Collins et al., 2004; Peterman and Kennedy, 2003); and on attitudes and experiences of entrepreneurship (Jones and Jones, 2014); etc. The wider complexities, issues and processes of what are going on when students actually act as entrepreneurs, how they for instance convert intention into actual start-up activities, have seldom been studied (Nabi et al., 2006). Hannon (2005) notes it is of essential importance to produce more knowledge capturing the student entrepreneurial process as a whole, and also to develop further conceptual and theoretical ideas about this.\nThe multiple identity perspective: To take on the identity of \"entrepreneur\" may, indeed, be to take on any number of other identities, and to be entrepreneurial, may then be a form of identity construction. Recent contributions in entrepreneurship research also point this out and tie the entrepreneurial process to the identity discussion and vice versa (Down, 2006; Jain et al., 2009; Hoang and Gimeno, 2010; Phillips et al., 2013; Sarasvathy, 2008; Stepherd and Haynie, 2012). We define identity as the individual's sense of self in a setting (Weick, 1995), and each individual sense him- or herself in multiple ways accordingly to the heterogeneous social settings the individual participate in (Mead, 1934). A person has typical many social identities, roles and memberships, and studies of this multifaceted reality are essential to deeply understand individuals, processes and their outcomes (Ramarajan, 2014). An emphasis on multiple identities is important to entrepreneurship. After all, emerging entrepreneurs do not just sense themselves as entrepreneurs, they may also sense themselves as parents, artists, students, scientists, retired, etc. In addition, the entrepreneurial identity in itself confronts the individual with multiple tasks, sales, finance, marketer, etc., which may as well influence the sense of \"Who am I?\" Processes of transition, such as student entrepreneurship, are generally acknowledged to result in multiple agendas, since new and old somehow bump into each other (Hatch and Schultz, 2004), and in this process one can expect students to experiment with novel provisional selves that guides possible but not so far completely articulated professional identities (Ibarra, 1999). While any student holds multiple social identities and likely experiment with more than one possible self, these identities probable vary in significance in terms of the student's sense of self.\nA framework of multiple identity: From the above literature review we extract a framework, a sort of sense-making map, which can be used to comprehend and discuss the nuances of \"student\" and \"entrepreneur\". The framework is somehow our \"boxed-in\" and oversimplified interpretation of multiple identity construction in student entrepreneurship. It is not our intent to classify the complex multiple identity processes of student entrepreneurship but rather to highlight different aspects and forces that play a role in the constant internal and social contextual negotiation that takes place within students in the exploration of the possible identity of entrepreneur.\nTen illustrative cases: Previously completed empirical work on student entrepreneurial identity formation is applied to illustrate our conceptual framework. In order to set the record straight our aim is not to test the framework using the ten cases or to build new theory from the cases. We have presented our theoretical framework and constructs, and in this section we illustrate the framework in order to provide the reader concrete examples of how the constructs reveal themselves in the real life of student entrepreneurs. According to Siggelkow (2007) it is valuable to employ case illustration to get closer to and understand the rich everyday details and paradoxes of theoretical constructs.\nThe framework, illustrated: \"Student\" and \"entrepreneur\" is not a bed of roses\nConclusion, discussion and reflections: We can conclude that rather than emphasising the positive and synergetic aspects of the situation \"student\" and \"entrepreneur\", the student entrepreneurs foremost talk about fragmented selves, identity confusion, identity risk, identity concealment, work overload, stress and lack of transparency. They experience the university as a deterministic occupational structure that transforms students and makes them commit to a pre-defined, work-taker, identity. The potential of these young, future entrepreneurs is not fully exploited, and we can see from our second interviews with the student entrepreneurs that relatively few long-lasting organisations are the result. Students may end up toning down or abandoning either the student identity sense making or the entrepreneurial one, and as a result fulfilled neither their potential as entrepreneurs nor as students. An important explanation is that the Scandinavian University is not perceived as a \"safe\" place to explore the entrepreneurial identity at the point in time of the data collection.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study different aspects and tensional forces that play a role in the internal and contextual negotiation that takes place within students in the exploration of the possible identity of entrepreneur. It expands the knowledge of how the university context influences student entrepreneurial processes from a multiple identity perspective. The findings are related to discussions of entrepreneurship education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A conceptual paper that presents a framework on student entrepreneurial identity sense making that is grounded in a multiple identity perspective. The framework is illustrated by ten narrative cases on student entrepreneurship.\nFindings: The framework suggests four different ways students make sense of identity in the process of exploring the entrepreneurial identity along with their university studies. In this process students negotiate between the two identities of \"student\" and \"entrepreneur\", both demanding in time, effort and commitment, and they in different manners struggle with balancing university belonging and entrepreneurial distinctiveness.\nOriginality/value: The framework serves as a point of departure for discussing the psychological processes and tensions associated with students' entrepreneurial identity construction, and what it means to entrepreneurship education. It is suggested that universities to a higher degree have to view themselves as psychological institutional moratoriums and thus as platforms of identity explorations rather than deterministic systems preparing students for certain careers to support students in becoming entrepreneurs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A meta-analytic investigation of cyberloafing	[ "Meta-analysis", "Productivity", "Cyberloafing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Technological advances positively contribute to employee productivity in many ways, increasing accessibility of critical information, catalyzing task completion, and enhancing collaboration in a variety of ways (e.g. telecommuting, enabling virtual teamwork). However, jobs with frequent and convenient information technology access also provide employees with opportunities to misuse such technology. In a recent survey of over two thousand employed Americans, 62 percent of employees reported spending some of their workday on social networking websites, and 10 percent indicated that they spend 30 percent or more of their workday on these sites (Ethics Resource Center, 2012). Of those employees who were actively utilizing social media at work, only 14 percent limited their use to lunch hours or other unpaid time. Similarly, Salary.com's (2014) Wasting Time at Work Survey found that 89 percent of employees reported wasting time at work every day, with 57 percent reporting wasting at least an hour each day; all of the commonly preferred time wasting techniques consisted of visiting various webpages for personal purposes.\nCyberloafing: Lim (2002) originally conceptualized cyberloafing as employees' voluntary use of their organizations' internet access for nonwork purposes during work time or, more simply, the \"IT way of idling on the job\" (p. 678). Since cyberloafing was introduced in the academic literature, opportunities to engage in technologically-facilitated loafing have expanded greatly, resulting in a proliferation of conceptualizations of the construct. Many studies now define and operationalize cyberloafing more broadly to include behaviors that use information technology for purposes other than internet activity (e.g. nonwork-related computing; Bock and Ho, 2009), while others examine specific types of cyberloafing, such as social media use, that have risen in prevalence in recent years (Charoensukmongkol, 2014). Recent empirical work in this area has also broadened the construct definition to include additional devices that employees can utilize to cyberloaf (e.g. tablets, smartphones), no longer requiring that technology be organizationally provided. In fact, items in the most commonly used cyberloafing measures focus on specific activities but do not specify how employees obtained access to technology. These conceptual shifts reflect technological advances that have occurred in the past two decades. For example, in the early days of cyberloafing, internet access was less common and more expensive; therefore, employees' unsanctioned use of organizationally provided bandwidth was a prime concern. Today, with employees frequently bringing their own data-enabled devices to work, managers are concerned with other consequences of cyberloafing, such as time theft, productivity losses, or unsafe behaviors. Despite subtle differences among the many conceptualizations of cyberloafing and related constructs, they uniformly focus on employees using technological devices to facilitate a break or \"escape\" from work and attend to nonwork tasks. As such, these behaviors can be considered a form of withdrawal that is facilitated by information technology. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, we will inclusively conceptualize cyberloafing as employee behaviors that involve using information and communication technologies to engage in nonwork behaviors instead of working. This approach encompasses the many definitions encountered in our systematic review of the literature.\nMethods: Literature search and inclusion criteria\nResults: Table III presents meta-analytic results for the relationship between cyberloafing, demographic background, and employment variables. Gender and age displayed negligible relationships with cyberloafing (r=-0.07, -0.08, respectively), whereas education displayed a modest positive effect (r=0.11), signifying that more educated individuals engaged in greater cyberloafing. Employment variables also exhibited varied relationships with cyberloafing. Job tenure, organizational level, and income demonstrated negligible effects (r=-0.08, 0.08, and 0.05, respectively), indicating that cyberloafing is pervasive across various types of employees and organizational levels. However, hours worked per week demonstrated a small positive relationship (r=0.12) with cyberloafing, indicating that individuals engage in such behaviors as their time on the job/task increases.\nDiscussion and directions for future research: Results from this first meta-analysis of the increasingly popular cyberloafing construct yielded several noteworthy findings. First, although young, inexperienced employees (or specific generations and cohorts, such as Millennials) are often accused of greater misuse of information technology and increased cyberloafing, our results indicate that age, job tenure, and organizational level are unrelated to the phenomenon. This is particularly striking, given current, widespread concerns regarding the unprofessionalism of today's younger cohorts with regard to many workplace behaviors, especially those relating to information technology use (e.g. Center for Professional Excellence at York College of Pennsylvania, 2013). This disparity between coworkers' perceptions of younger employees' technology use and the lack of age effects in cyberloafing may be explained by the largely hidden nature of technology use. Younger employees might more readily adopt technology in general, which might be misinterpreted by colleagues as cyberloafing. In contrast to the negligible effects of age, education demonstrated a small positive effect on cyberloafing. Although surprising, the positive effect of job autonomy may shed some light on this finding, given the likelihood that individuals with higher education might hold positions granting them more opportunities to cyberloaf.\nConclusions: In this study, we meta-analytically summarized the growing literature on employee cyberloafing. Our findings suggest several important influences on these generally undesirable behaviors, including moderate effects of personality variables as well as strong effects of contextual influences (e.g. norms) and employee attitudes. Just as importantly, we identified many opportunities for future development of this literature. Investigations of cyberloafing are still in their nascent stages, and extensive research is needed to better understand these employee behaviors and their antecedents and outcomes. Prior to this study, the various studies on cyberloafing each created new frameworks based on a limited number of variables relevant to one specific foundational theory (e.g. theory of planned behavior). While continued development of this literature is necessary, we hope that these findings will aid researchers in developing frameworks more holistically and selecting variables based on evidence of their relevance to the relationship of interest. The present set of meta-analytic results can provide a starting place for a more empirically grounded approach to model formation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Cyberloafing, using technology to idle instead of work, is a particularly concerning issue for many organizations due to its perceived widespread impact on productivity. The purpose of this paper is to meta-analytically examine the growing literature on this construct in order to gain insights into its nomological network and guide future research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: After a systematic literature search, the authors conducted psychometric meta-analyses to estimate the relationships of 39 different correlates with cyberloafing. The meta-analytic database was comprised of 54 independent samples contributing 609 effect sizes.\nFindings: Results indicate that boredom, engagement, and self-control exhibit strong relationships with cyberloafing, but employees' attitudes surrounding and opportunities to engage in cyberloafing also proved powerful predictors. Contrary to common stereotypes, age and other demographic variables exhibited negligible effects. Employment variables (e.g. tenure, organization level, and income) were also negligibly related to cyberloafing. Emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness exhibited modest negative relationships with cyberloafing, whereas self-control demonstrated a strong negative relationship. Although cyberloafing strongly correlated with overall counterproductive work behaviors, the findings suggest it is unrelated to other components of job performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: Because the cyberloafing literature is in its early stages, the present study drew on a limited number of samples for several of the relationships analyzed. Rather than providing conclusive evidence of the nomological network of cyberloafing, these analyses reinforce the need for empirical investigation into several important relationships.\nOriginality/value: As the first quantitative review of the emerging cyberloafing literature, this study synthesizes related studies from disparate disciplines, examines the nomological network of cyberloafing, and highlights future directions for research into this phenomenon.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Performance modeling of the skim milk powder production system of a dairy plant using RAMD analysis	[ "Reliability", "Availability", "Chapman-Kolmogorov differential equations", "Dependability", "Maintainability", "Markov modeling" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The paper emphasizes the importance of reliability, availability, maintainability and dependability (RAMD) indices i.e. reliability, availability, maintainability, dependability, mean time between failures (MTBF), mean time to repair (MTTR) and dependability ratio parameters for ensuring failure-free operations of industrial systems. The reliability, availability, maintainability analysis of a system has great significance in recent years due to competitive environment as it is required to improve the quality of the product with reduction in maintenance, but the computation of these parameters for industrial system is based on theoretical models only and there is a need to measure the performance of industrial systems under real working conditions. The concept of dependability and dependability ratio is a new one in the world of manufacturing or production.\n2. Mathematical aspects of RAMD analysis: This section is devoted to some definitions concern with RAMD analysis for skim milk powder production system by assuming that the failure and repair rate of the component or subsystem is constant and follows exponential distribution.\n3. System description, notations and assumptions: 3.1. System description\n4. Mathematical modeling of the system: The mathematical modeling of the skim milk powder system is carried out using simple probabilistic considerations and Chapman-Kolmogorov differential equations are developed on the basis of Markov birth-death process. The data regarding failure and repair rates of subsystems are presented in Table I as discussed earlier in Section 1. The transition diagrams associated with subsystems (SS1-SS4) are drawn (Figure 3(a)-(d)) based on the notations mentioned in Section 3.\n5. Performance analysis: In this section, the RAMD indices for all the subsystems of skim milk powder system are computed by using the equations mentioned in Section 4 and results are tabulated in Table II.\n6. Discussion and conclusion: The RAMD indices for the subsystems of the skim milk powder production system revealed that the values of RAMD, MTBF and dependability parameters for subsystem SS1 is lowest than that of other subsystems while the value of MTTR parameter for subsystem SS1 is highest among other subsystems. It is concluded that subsystem SS1 is more critical and it is suggested that the management of the dairy plant should take utmost care of this subsystem to improve the overall performance of the skim milk powder system of dairy plant in real working conditions. The RAMD indices helps the plant personnel to predict the system behavior more precisely and hence future maintenance can be planned accordingly. The findings of this paper are discussed with the management of the dairy plant and these results are found highly beneficial to the plant management.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to compute RAMD indices to measure and improve the performance of skim milk powder production system of a dairy plant under real working conditions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The present work is carried out by developing performance model based on Markov birth-death process. The skim milk powder production system consists of six units. The first order governing differential equations are derived using the mnemonic rule and further solved to calculate RAMD indices i.e. reliability, availability, maintainability, dependability, MTBF, MTTR and dependability ratio for each subsystem of the system.\nFindings: The subsystem SS1 comprising of chiller and cream separator is the most critical from maintenance point of view, as the reliability, availability, maintainability, dependability, MTBF and dependability ratio indices are low as compared to those of other subsystems of skim milk powder production system of the dairy plant.\nOriginality/value: The RAMD indices of the present work is very useful for finding the critical subsystem and its effect on the performance of the system working under real working conditions. Further, based on findings the maintenance priorities for various subsystems can be decided.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Scrap loss reduction using the 5-whys analysis	[ "Lean production", "Error analysis", "Pareto analysis", "Quality", "Scrap rates/improvement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Lean manufacturing philosophy is at the forefront in today's operations management and quality improvement practices. It is characterised by its goal of maximising productivity (Brown et al., 2008). Its primary focus is to minimise wastage, reduce variation in standards and to improve production quality (Nave, 2002). It also reduces cycle time, increases flexibility, and improves productivity (Hobbs, 2004). Essentially, knowledge is distributed in lean manufacturing because reduction in waste is regarded as common responsibility for all employees in the organisation. It covers aspects of just-in-time (JIT) (Brown et al., 2008; Zhu and Meredith, 1995), workflow management, culture of minimum waste as well as continuous improvement. The driving force of lean manufacturing is the process of continuous improvement through the elimination of waste or non-value adding activities (Burton and Boeder, 2003). Eight types of waste categories that include defects were introduced in Burton's study. The scope of defects encompasses generating scrap, rework or paperwork errors. The thrust to eliminate waste especially defects is therefore at the heart of lean manufacturing; described by (Womack and Jones, 1996) as one of his five principles of lean manufacturing's philosophy, namely the fifth principle, which requires companies to strive for perfection by constantly removing layers of waste. In order to eliminate wastage problems or scrap losses, one must first recognise the root cause of the problem and attempt to solve the problem in a systematic way. In this regard root cause problem solving (RCPS) can be considered as a structured problem solving approach using simple standardised tools to identify and resolve critical problems encountered in manufacturing operations. The use of this approach leads to the improved factory efficiency, improved quality, lower scrap, superior customer service, and an improved work environment. Professionals often use RCPS to solve quality problems. RCPS analysis tools commonly used are cause-and-effect (CED) diagram, interrelationship diagram (ID), current reality tree (CRT) (Ishikawa, 1982; Mizuno, 1988; Goldratt, 1994; Doggett, 2005) and the 5-whys analysis (Pylipow and Royall, 2001; Nelsen, 2003; Pinsky, 2003).RCPS is a four-step process involving data collection, causal factor charting, root cause identification and recommendation generation and implementation (Rooney and Vanden Heuvel, 2004). The root cause failure analysis (RCFA), which is similar to the RCPS begins with the collection phase, followed by the analysis phase and ends with the solution phase (Ransom, 2008). This study has applied all the steps of RCPS to arrive at the solution obtained consequently.Quality professionals naturally implement root cause analysis with corrective actions as remedial actions when faced with manufacturing problems in world-class organisations (Pylipow and Royall, 2001). The 5-why analysis is commonly used in lean manufacturing. In essence lean manufacturing is an extension of the ideas of JIT. Taiichi Ohno the father of Toyota Production System (TPS) was an avid proponent of the 5-whys analysis tool of root cause problem solving (Alukal, 2007). The 5-whys analysis emerged as a result of Taiichi Ohno's observation in his days in Toyota that when mistakes happen in the production or manufacturing environment people would always blame one another. He realised that mistakes are inevitable and the best approach towards mistakes is to identify the root causes of the mistakes and act upon it (Ohno, 1988). His favourite tool to resolve problems at the manufacturing floor is the 5-whys analysis. Ohno's (1988) infamous example for illustrating his 5-whys analysis is as follows:Question 1: Why did the robot stop?Answer: The circuit is overloaded, causing a fuse to blow.Question 2: Why is the circuit overloaded?Answer: There was insufficient lubrication on the bearings, so they locked up.Question 3: Why was there insufficient lubrication on the bearings?Answer: The oil pump on the robot is not circulating sufficient oil.Question 4: Why is the pump not circulating sufficient oil?Answer: The pump intake is clogged with metal shavings.Question 5: Why is the intake clogged with metal shavings?Answer: Because there is no filter on the pump.The solution action for the scenario above (Ohno, 1988), would be to install the filter on the pump. However, in practice, the answer to all manufacturing related problems are not always simple, straightforward and self-explanatory as Ohno's example above.Correctly performed 5-whys analysis usually has a lot of depth and breadth. Indeed real root causes are normally deep and corrective actions at those deep levels are broadly based and long lasting. This is why a truly well performed 5-whys analysis is based on corrective action and could actually be viewed as both corrective as well as preventive action.\n2. Methodology: Vilfredo Pareto's (1842-1923), 80:20 rule was used in this study to analyse the main causes of scrap in XYZ's (not its original name) barrel production. The technique emerged as a result of Pareto's observation of the distribution of wealth in nineteenth century in Italy which showed that 80 per cent of the country's wealth was owned by 20 per cent of the population. This observed trend was later found to be representative of the distribution of other data populations (Pylipow and Royall, 2001). Among some common scenarios where this trend could be observed are:* 80 per cent of the total number of quality related problems are caused by 20 per cents of sources;* 80 per cent of the total sales of a company are originated from 20 per cent of its customers; and* 80 per cent of the numbers of absenteeism are caused by 20 per cent of the workforce.The Pareto chart is useful for non-numeric data, such as \"cause\", \"type\" or \"classification\" and is useful to prioritise where action and process changes should be focused and is commonly used for identifying the downtime and other wastages (Hall et al., 2000). The Pareto charts uses bar graphs to sort problems according to severity, frequency, nature, or source and displays them in order of size to show which problems are the most important. It is one of the most often-used statistical analysis tools within Toyota, which is simple, yet powerful. Upon identification of the main causes of scrap, the 5-why analysis was used to find out the root causes of scrap loss. In this regard, the classic as well as lean manufacturing approach to root cause analysis is to question \"Why?\" for five times, hence the 5-whys analysis. Prompt addressing of problems before asking enough why questions are often short-lived and will generally recur. The root cause of a particular problem, in this study, scrap loss, is usually deep and needs corrective as well as preventive action. In this study the 5-whys analysis is used to analyse the root causes of the scrap to identify the right solution to adopt.2.1. Study setting\nConclusion: The application of the 5-whys analysis provides a fact based and structured approach to problem identification and correction that focuses on not only reducing defects but also in eliminating them. In practice, most lean-based manufacturing firms aim to reduce the various wastes in their operations rather than to eliminate them. This study proves that sound understanding of the manufacturing operations and extensive explorations of all possible solutions reduces non-value-adding activities or waste using the 5-whys analysis. Permanent solutions that eliminate rather than reduce waste could be discovered and implemented successfully as well. In addition, it was also evident that inexpensive or zero cost solutions could be implemented to eliminate waste or defects. This approach can be extended to other areas in manufacturing industry to help improve the overall equipment efficiency, breakdown, time-loss, customer complaints, etc. The 5-why analysis approach is indeed a powerful tool that have enabled many companies to reduce their manufacturing cost such as illustrated in this study. Companies that employ TPS's lean-based manufacturing techniques like the 5-why analysis have benefited among others in reduced lead times, just-in-time management, decreased costs, levelled production, continuous flow production, increased job satisfaction for employees, higher productivity, lower inventories and higher quality levels (Kasul and Motwani, 1997). This study is also a response to the study by Tracy and Knight (2008) who observed the apparent gap between theory and practice of lean operations management. In particular their observation is that academic faculties are pre-occupied with teaching, and research largely unrelated to lean management practice and typically not trained in lean management was partly the drive that inspired two of the co-authors of this study to work together with a practitioner to solve a practical lean management problem.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to document an approach to reduce scrap losses using the root cause analysis technique in a lean manufacturing environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study uses lean manufacturing root cause problem solving (RCPS) technique. The study starts with the collection phase, followed by the analysis phase and ends with the solution phase. Supporting data are presented using a Pareto chart to prioritise wastage in order to be more focused for improvement. The Toyota Production System's 5-whys analysis is performed to analyse the cause of wastages, to formulate and implement corrective actions.\nFindings: - The application of the 5-whys analysis in a manufacturing industry (XYZ Corporation) provides a fact-based and structured approach to problem identification and correction that not only reduces, but also totally eliminates defects. Corrective action has permanently eliminated the top defect, which is the \"last piece material scratch\" and this results in zero scrap thereafter. In this study it was also proven that with sound understanding of manufacturing coupled with possible solutions using the 5-whys analysis the authors were not only able to eliminate waste, but also to do it with zero-cost.\nOriginality/value: - The approach documented in the paper can be extended to other areas in the manufacturing industry to help improve overall equipment efficiency, breakdown, time loss, customer complaints, etc.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"Authentic Alignment" - a new framework of entrepreneurship education	[ "Entrepreneurship education", "Authenticity", "Learning", "Assessment", "Instruction", "Constructive alignment", "Educational framework" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Entrepreneurship education (EE) in higher education continues to be of interest for policy makers, educators and researchers (e.g. Fayolle, 2013; Lackeus and Williams Middleton, 2015), particularly given recent calls to embed EE into the programmes of all students, irrespective of their chosen discipline or level of study (Rae et al., 2012). While this approach most likely holds many benefits for students and the economy as a whole, it comes at a time when the field of EE is still emerging and as such might pose challenging and potentially insurmountable issues for educators newly faced with the requirement to deliver some form of EE. One underdeveloped aspect of the field refers to the fact that its educational practices do not explicitly link to established and proven educational frameworks (Bechard and Gregoire, 2006; Fayolle, 2013; Jones et al., 2014).\n2. The setting: Authentic Alignment has been evolving since 2008, based on student feedback and the reflections and experiences of the practitioners and academics involved in the delivery of the final year, undergraduate, year-long unit called \"Graduate Enterprise\". Each year, the cohort comprises approximately 180 students enroled on various degree programmes within the faculties of business, engineering/computing, design and sports. Some of these degrees contain Graduate Enterprise as a compulsory unit, while others offer it as an elective.\n3. Literature review: conceptual frameworks in EE: Conceptual frameworks, which generally derive from theories and/or evidence in practice, enable educators to represent their complex field in a manageable way (Bordage, 2009). Hodges and Kuper (2012) identified an overwhelmingly large amount of existing frameworks and underlying theories as a critical challenge for educators, while Bordage's (2009) arguments complicated this issue further by establishing that frameworks only ever present incomplete views of reality, so that a combination of \"lenses\" or conceptual frameworks may be required to present a more realistic view of any given field.\n4. \"Authentic Alignment\": overview and discussion: 4.1 Overview of \"Authentic Alignment\"\n5. Summary and conclusion: This paper focused on an aspect of EE, which has hitherto been underdeveloped in the EE literature: the explicit link between EE practice and established educational theory. In order to address this gap in the EE literature, the authors reviewed a number of conceptual educational frameworks, which EE has previously mentioned but not explored in detail, and subsequently evolved \"Authentic Alignment\", a framework of education through entrepreneurship that is anchored in two established education theories: CA and Authenticity. The purpose of this paper was to propose Authentic Alignment as a novel conceptual framework of EE, which explicitly links EE practice to established and proven educational theory (Bechard and Gregoire, 2006; Fayolle, 2013). As such, the paper contributed pedagogical and theoretical value to the field of EE.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper seeks to address an underdeveloped aspect of entrepreneurship education (EE), which is still criticised for not explicitly linking educational practice with established educational theory. As such, the purpose of this paper is to propose a novel educational framework - Authentic Alignment - that the authors evolved based on their own EE practice, as well as two major educational theories.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A review of a range of conceptual educational frameworks in EE revealed a gap in the current literature, referring to the fact that practice is not sufficiently linked to sound educational theory. The paper combines a range of educational theories - predominantly Constructive Alignment (CA) and Authenticity - to develop a novel conceptual framework, termed \"Authentic Alignment\". The discussion of Authentic Alignment draws upon EE literature, as well as student feedback and the reflections and experiences of the practitioners and academics involved in delivering a higher education unit underpinned by Authentic Alignment.\nFindings: It is argued that Authentic Alignment coherently and explicitly links educational practice to major established educational theories and as such presents a valuable approach to education through entrepreneurship as it aligns authentic approaches to instruction, learning and assessment that strike a balance between resembling and being relevant for real entrepreneurial activity.\nPractical implications: The paper invites educators to draw upon Authentic Alignment for their own entrepreneurship units/programmes by customising the specific approaches to their own requirements, while retaining the underlying principle of constructively aligned authentic education.\nOriginality/value: By explicitly linking EE to CA and Authenticity, this paper introduces a novel educational framework that provides a valuable structure for education through entrepreneurship. The customisability of Authentic Alignment, however, suggests a wider applicability and is thus valuable also for education about and for entrepreneurship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Enhancing theory development in service research	[ "Collaborative theorizing", "Empeirical Knowledge", "Theoretical knowledge", "Theory development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nOverview: The first International Network for Service Research workshop was held at Karlstad in September 2014, with 37 renowned service researchers from 13 countries participating. The purpose of the network was to encourage collaboration across the various research centers and to strengthen the area of service research. One of the key areas to focus on for the future development of our field is theory. Consequently, the workshop included a collaborative session that focused on \"Enhancing Theory Development in Service Research.\" The session opened with a presentation by Rod Brodie that considered the issue of increasing research contribution by bridging theory and practice. For the remainder of the four-hour session, the participants were divided into five groups of five or six participants to plan essays.\nOpening presentation: increasing contribution by bridging theory and practice: In an article entitled \"Charting new directions for marketing,\" Day and Montgomery (1999) noted the disconnection between the process of theory formulation and theory testing and verification. They identified \"rethink the role of theory\" as one of the three most important challenges facing academic research in marketing if the discipline is to be relevant to marketing practice. A decade and a half since this call, little attention has been given to this issue in mainstream marketing or in research about service.\nFive essays: The authors who participated in the workshop had an open invitation regarding which aspect of theorizing in service research they wished to address. This led to diversity in topics. The first two essays adopt broad cross-disciplinary approaches, bringing in new theories and developing them from other areas. The third essay focuses specifically on the context for theorizing, while the fourth explores the use of meta-analysis to unify theory. The final essay is very broad and questions the current scope of theorizing in service research. It provides a call to action, adopting a theoretical perspective that reduces and prevents global service system failures that are the causes of poverty.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore enhancing theory development in service research and provide an overview of the five essays on theorizing initiated by the International Network for Service Research workshop, held at Karlstad, Sweden in September 2014.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A collaborative theorizing process which was initiated at the Karlstad, Sweden workshop.\nFindings: Six (five from the event and the introduction) original and provocative essays that explore different aspects of theorizing in service research.\nOriginality/value: Exploring how a collaborative approach to research can be used.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Information confusion and intention to stop using social networking site: a moderated mediation study of psychological distress and perceived novelty	[ "Information confusion", "Psychological distress", "SNS using intention", "Perceived novelty" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Social networking site (SNS) has been an important part of many people' lives in modern society. Several SNSs such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, WeChat and so on have changed our lives in many ways. People use SNS to interact with friends, connect with people around the world, build and maintain relationships, share information and knowledge, seek entertainment and conduct businesses with customers without geographical barriers (Kujur and Singh, 2017). However, Solomon (2018) stated that people live in a state of sensory overload in the current Internet environment. People on average expose to about 3,500 pieces of information every single day. Computer users often visit more than 40 websites a day. Every day, people send, receive and search information an amount of more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data. Approximately 400m photos are posted on Facebook, 80m on Instagram and 500m tweets are sent every day. About 300 h of video is uploaded on YouTube every minute (Kotler and Armstrong, 2018; Michael, 2017). People are living in a very rich and diversified information world. However, people may encounter a problem of \"information confusion,\" which is defined as a conscious condition that an individual may encounter when exposed to too similar, too much and too ambiguous information (Walsh et al., 2007). In SNS environment, information confusion may be a serious problem due to overload and mixed information people share and receive every day (Bill, 2010; Jasper, 2009; Michael, 2017). Unfortunately, none of previous studies have examined how information confusion affects users' psychological outcome and their behavioral intention on SNS environment. Therefore, to shed a new light on our understanding of the effect of information confusion on SNS environment, this study investigates the impact of information confusion on psychological distress, which in turn affects users' intention to stop using SNS.Furthermore, in a rapidly changing technology environment, people have too many choices of SNS for their preferences (Facebook, Twitter, WeChat, etc.). Competing alternatives of SNS and high frequency of usage may create feeling of boredom and uninterestingness. People demand for newness and novelty (Michael, 2017). New function and unique experience will help to attract users' attention and remain their interest to continue using SNS (Luqman et al., 2017). Perceived novelty may play an important role in determining users' outcome on SNS. Thus, this study takes perceived novelty into consideration and investigates the moderating effect of perceived novelty on the relationship between psychological distress and stop using intention and on the indirect effect of information confusion on stop using intention through psychological distress.The contribution of this study is twofold. First, this study determines the effect of information confusion on users' psychological outcome and behavioral intention, which has not been explored in prior SNS literature. Information confusion may be a serious problem on SNS in the current Internet environment; however, its influence on users' psychological outcome and behavioral intention has been unclear. Lack of empirical research has provided very little knowledge for our understanding of the effect of information confusion. In this study, it is argued that information confusion will enhance users' psychological distress, which in turn increases users' intention to stop using SNS. Thus, findings of this study will benefit researchers and practitioners who may be interested in studying the issue of information confusion on SNS. Second, given the importance of novelty and newness for attracting and improving users' experience on SNS, very little empirical studies have explored how users' perceived novelty influences the link between psychological outcome and behavioral intention of users on SNS. Therefore, this study will contribute to our knowledge of the effect of perceived novelty. Our findings may benefit researchers and practitioners to improve their decision-making in enhancing users' experience on SNS.Following this introduction, theoretical background and hypotheses are developed in the second section. In the third section, data collection and measures are discussed. Empirical results are presented in section fourth. Discussion and conclusions are discussed in the final section.\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: 2.1 Information confusion\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample and data collection\n4. Empirical results: 4.1 Descriptive statistics\n5. Discussion and conclusions: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between information confusion and users' intention to stop using SNS with a moderated mediation effect of psychological distress and perceived novelty. Results show that information confusion was positively related to stop using intention. Furthermore, psychological distress was found to have a mediation effect between information confusion and stop using intention. In addition, perceived novelty moderated the link between psychological distress and stop using intention. Moreover, perceived novelty also moderated the indirect effect of information confusion on stop using intention through psychological distress. Findings of this study provide important theoretical and managerial implications. 5.1 Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: People are living in a very rich and diversified information world. However, they are facing an explosion of information on social networking site (SNS) bombarding them every day. People get confused when they expose to similar, overloaded, ambiguous and misleading information. Unfortunately, the effect of information confusion on users' psychological outcome and behavioral intention has been absent in prior literature. Thus, this study investigates the relationship between information confusion and users' intention to stop using SNS with a moderated mediation effect of psychological distress and perceived novelty.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study uses questionnaire survey to collect a sample data of 380 Facebook users in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling is used to test hypotheses in this study.\nFindings: Empirical results show that information confusion has a positive influence on stop using intention. Furthermore, psychological distress is found to have a mediating effect in the link between information confusion and stop using intention. In addition, perceived novelty moderates the relationship between psychological distress and stop using intention. Perceived novelty also moderates the indirect effect of information confusion on stop using intention through psychological distress.\nOriginality/value: The influence of information confusion on users' psychological outcomes and behavioral intention has not been determined in prior literature. This study is one of the first studies that provide empirical evidence to clarify the relationship between information confusion and users' intention to stop using SNS. Furthermore, this study helps to clarify the mediating and moderating mechanism of psychological distress and perceived novelty in this relationship. By investigating the issue of information confusion and its impact on users in SNS environment, this study provides implications for researchers and practitioners regarding management and development of SNS.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Outsourcing contracts as instruments of risk management: Insights from two successful public contracts	[ "Outsourcing", "Information management", "Risk management", "Contracts" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Highly visible failures of information systems (IS) in recent outsourcing contracts in the public sector have brought the risks associated with this management practice into focus. For example, the State of Connecticut abandoned its entire outsourcing program after large sums of money were already invested (LeSueur, 1999). The county of San Diego, California has had numerous problems with their seven-year, $644 million outsourcing arrangement with a consortium led by Computer Sciences Corporation, from which they are still trying to recover (Field, 2002). Such failures are not limited to US public sector organizations. The British Ministry of Defense spent PS130 million on a centralized inventory and asset management system, but it was never completed and they were only able to salvage PS12 million in hardware from the project (Arnott, 2003). These and other well-publicized failures have fueled the public perception of sloppy management practices in public organizations. However, the Gartner Group predicts that by 2005, 75 percent of enterprises will fail to recognize and mitigate the risks associated with outsourcing (Murphy, 2003).There has been considerable research on IS outsourcing in the academic literature. Some researchers have focused their attention on the elements of a successful sourcing decision drawing from the management literature (Lacity and Willcocks, 1998) while others have examined the methods of making the outsourcing decision drawing from economics literature (Willcocks et al., 1996). Previous literature has examined IS outsourcing and its impact upon organizational strategy (Grover et al., 1994) while others have focused on the knowledge impacts of outsourcing various business processes (Willcocks et al., 2004). Other researchers admonish organizations to maximize flexibility and control (Lacity et al., 1995) to ensure success.Additional research focused on highlighting the differences of IS outsourcing in the public versus the private sectors. This research has shown that more managers are moving toward outcome-based contracts as a way to shift risk to the vendor (Currie, 1996). Research in the public sector reveals that its distinct contexts influence both the direction and degree of IS outsourcing (Willcocks and Currie, 1997). Finally, there has been considerable interest in public sector outsourcing as a strategic partnership (Willcocks and Kern, 1998), while others have emphasized the factors that influence these relationships (Kern and Willcocks, 2002).Any large IS outsourcing engagement has many project management documents (requests for proposals, proposals, contracts, etc.), but it is the importance of contracts highlighted in previous research (Lacity and Hirschheim, 1993) that drives this paper. Lacity and Hirschheim (1993) note that every manager they interviewed stated that the contract was the most important element of a successful outsourcing relationship because it \"established the balance of power\" between the parties. Clearly, the contract plays a key role in defining the outsourcing relationship. Yet previous research has not made a rigorous and systematic analysis of contract verbiage and semantics with regard to risks and management strategies. This paper focuses on the contract as a mechanism for addressing risks associated with IS outsourcing as well as a tool for implementing management strategies to address these risks. Our reason for investigating contracts is the central role they play in the structure and management of IS outsourcing arrangements. We look at the contract to uncover both its strengths and limitations as a mechanism for managing the outsourcing engagement. What management strategies can be effectively specified in a contract? What risks and management strategies cannot be addressed in the contract? Finally, we seek to understand whether all risks must be addressed in order to have a successful engagement. This research begins to draw boundaries around contracts as a means to address the risks associated with IS outsourcing.In order to help advance the discourse on risk management strategies in IS outsourcing, we conducted an empirical analysis of two outsourcing contracts, each with a total value over $10 million, from Alberta, Canada and Texas, USA. We use executed contracts from two public jurisdictions to help ground the research in practice, while drawing extensively on previous literature to ground the paper in theory. Content analysis is used to identify what IS outsourcing risk factors and management mitigation strategies are specified in the contracts. This analysis highlights the gap between management strategies recommended in current literature and the actual practice of writing contracts to address those strategies. Our interest is restricted to the examination of the role contracts play in addressing risks and specifying risk management strategies that are appropriate to the scope of the outsourcing engagement.A key element of this research centers on the concept of a successful engagement. For the purposes of this research, a successful outsourcing contract is one that has been in place for more than two years and the outsourcing organization is satisfied with the vendor's performance and intends to renew the contract. While this is a crude definition, it is easily applied and difficult to refute.\nFramework for analyzing risk factors: Several researchers have offered risk analyses of IS outsourcing (Lacity et al., 1995; Earl, 1996; Aubert et al., 1998; Aubert et al., 1999; Bhattacharya et al., 2003) while others have examined the process or results of outsourcing in different environments (Aubert et al., 2001; Rohde, 2004). The framework for IS outsourcing risks analysis that we use in this research was developed by Sullivan and Ngwenyama (2005). This is the only framework we have found that collects all of the risks and management strategies identified in the scholarly literature on IS outsourcing into a single, organized structure. This framework defines seven IS outsourcing risk categories and numerous risk factors. It facilitates the analysis of documents relating to IS outsourcing. This framework is presented in Appendix 1.The framework organizes and consolidates both risks identified in the literature and the management strategies suggested to address these risks into a format that facilitates the analysis of textual data. This framework has been used previously to analyze outsourcing guidelines published by public sector jurisdictions (Sullivan and Ngwenyama, 2005). While policy guidelines are more abstract conceptualizations of what could go wrong and ways to deal with these situations, contracts focus on concrete actions and outcomes that are either required or prohibited. Contracts represent an actual transaction in a real situation and may differ from the policies under which they were created.The research on transaction costs specifies cost drivers such as:* search and information costs;* bargaining costs; and* policing and enforcement costs (Coase, 1937; Williamson, 1975; Williamson, 1979).While contracts often do not address the issues related to search costs, they can address monitoring and management costs. All parties to the contract must agree to its terms and conditions as well as the rights it affords and the obligations it imposes. This is very different from the unilateral perspective of policy guidelines. The contract allocates and balances the actual costs of the transaction between the parties. While policy guidelines are easy to promulgate, contracts require the agreement of other parties in an arms-length transaction. Therefore, what is promulgated and what is agreed upon are often very different things. This research aims to explore risk issues as they relate to contracts and determine the risks that can or cannot be addressed effectively in a contract.Categories of risk\nResearch method and empirical materials: The research method\nThe contract analysis: Contract background\nConclusions and contributions: The analytical framework used in this paper constitutes an attempt to unify the disparate research regarding the risks of IS outsourcing and the appropriate means of addressing these risks. Our focus is the outsourcing contract as an instrument to formulate and define management strategies used to address the risks inherent in the practice of outsourcing. While we observe significant differences in the research literature and practice, we also see that transaction cost theory and contract theory play significant roles in IS outsourcing and the implementation of risk management strategies. There are significant conflicts in the outsourcing literature regarding flexibility and completeness in the contract. Lacity and Hirschheim advise outsourcing organizations to avoid signing incomplete contracts and to fully specify all aspects of the contract, particularly in the area of performance metrics (Lacity et al., 1995). Contract theory states that a complete contract is one that \"specifies every possible state of the world\" (Schwartz and Scott, 2003). However, flexibility in the contract implies room to change goals and objectives as well as the ways to achieve them. This leaves many organizations in the difficult position of trying to balance these two conflicting objectives within the same contract. It is important to note that ambiguity in the contract is often a sign of flexibility and trust in the relationship (Sumantra and Moran, 1996; Bernheim and Whinston, 1998; Koh et al., 2004; Miranda and Kavan, 2005). In addition, some scopes of work can and should be rigorously defined and complete, while others cannot be so specific. By conducting an analysis of actual outsourcing contracts, we have discovered additional risk management strategies that have not been presented previously in the scholarly literature. Specifically, we have found the following management strategies to be absent from the extant research:* Termination assistance clause requiring the vendor to assist in the transition to another vendor to avoid lock-in due to high switching costs.* Posting a confirmable letter of credit on a prime bank as surety of performance to ensure vendor solvency and adequate performance under the contract.* Prompt notification of changes in financial position or adverse developments to ensure vendor solvency.* Specification of commercially available alternative technologies to avoid vendor lock-in due to asset specificity or proprietary technology.* Certification of compliance with all local, state, and national laws relating to public contracting to ensure against vendor opportunism.We have provided IT managers responsible for developing outsourcing contracts with guidance and suggestions for ways to implement management strategies to address the most significant risks associated with outsourcing IT functions. This research highlights some of the more innovative approaches to writing contracts that need to evolve as the technological landscape changes and the needs of the outsourcing organization develop over time.Finally, this paper has attempted to demonstrate the effectiveness of using content analysis on business documents as a way to rigorously compare academic theory with actual practice so that theory can be extended.Limitations and suggestions for future research\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine contracts in public jurisdictions to compare academic theories related to outsourcing risks and risk management strategies to current practice in order to extend and refine theory concerning what risk management strategies can, or should, be included in outsourcing contracts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An automated content analysis tool is used to rigorously compare contract documents in two public jurisdictions to a comprehensive outsourcing risk framework from previous research.\nFindings: - The findings indicate that although IS outsourcing risk factors are widely acknowledged in the literature, they are not fully specified in the outsourcing contracts that are implemented in some public organizations. This research surfaces some of the differences in the techniques implemented through actual contracts to manage the risks inherent in IS outsourcing, including some strategies not previously identified in the literature. Also, not all risks need to be addressed in the contract to have a successful outsourcing engagement.\nPractical implications: - The improved framework for thinking about risk management strategies in the contracting process shown within the paper can provide important ideas and insights for managers contemplating or renewing outsourcing engagements.\nOriginality/value: - This paper uses content analysis to rigorously compare academic theory to actual practice to extend theory. Specifically, it discovers several risk management strategies that have not been presented in previous research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Inspection tables for single acceptance sampling with crisp and fuzzy formulation of quality limits	[ "Acceptance sampling", "Fuzzy hypotheses", "Hypergeometric test", "Sampling plans", "Statistical quality control" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The hypergeometric test is often applied in the field of statistical quality control as a right-tailed test of significance with the hypotheses H0: pp01 and H1: p>p11 with p01p11. The parameter p represents the true fraction of defective items in the considered population (usually a lot), while the parameters p01 and p11 are user-specified quality limits for p. Testing the null hypothesis H0 vs the alternative hypothesis H1 is solved in the common way, which in particular implies that both hypotheses are based on crisp sets. However, this crisp separation of both hypotheses is less desirable for many applications and should therefore be replaced by a fuzzy separation. This idea originally comes from the fuzzy logic (first, introduced by Zadeh, 1965, see also Zadeh, 1995, 2015), which is the generalization of the bivalent Boolean logic. Furthermore, a test of significance usually controls only the type I error, the producer's risk, but not the type II error, the consumer's risk. This partial control is, however, very disadvantageous for many applications and can be resolved via another test method, an alternative test (also known as hypothesis testing by controlling both error types).\n2. Basic concepts of fuzzy set theory: In contrast to classical set theory, where sets are defined as collections of objects (elements), whose membership in sets takes values one (or zero), the theory of fuzzy sets permits a gradual assessment of the membership for each element of the (crisp) universal set in a respective (fuzzy) subset. The degree of membership of elements in a fuzzy set is described with the help of a membership function valued in the real-unit interval [0, 1], where 0 stands for non-membership and 1 for full membership in a set.\n3. Generalized hypergeometric alternative test with fuzzy hypotheses for right-tailed test problems: To make statements about the true unknown parameter p=M/N (with 0MN and\n4. Binomial operating characteristic function type Wise: The binomial operating characteristic function type Wise (WBinOC) is an OC function based on the binomial distribution. In contrast to the binomial OC (the type-B OC) as a function of the fraction p, the WBinOC Ln,c depends on a linear monotonically increasing function\n5. Sensitivity analysis of exact acceptance sampling plans: Central needs for practical applications of the generalized hypergeometric test introduced in Section 3 can be found for instance in the field of statistical quality assurance, which is in particular the maintenance of constant product quality to externally imposed quality standards and therefore one of the superordinate objectives of any company (see Montgomery, 2012). The statistical quality control in the form of acceptance sampling as a receiving inspection (also as a manufacturer inspection) supports this objective mostly by using a hypergeometric or binomial test of significance with crisp complementary hypotheses. The respective test makes use of random sampling (except for a total inspection because of high cost and time effort or potential damage of lot items) to get a decision of lot acceptance or rejection. This type of acceptance sampling is carried out given a fixed sample size that implies statistical security for the producer's risk (rejection of a good lot), but not for the consumer's risk (acceptance of a bad lot). The form of an alternative test (in particular hypergeometric test with non-complementary hypotheses) is, however, less common in practice, by reason that this test implies an increased computational effort in relation to the determination of the sampling plan and usually a disregard of the indifference zone. However, this trend can be changed by using the generalized hypergeometric alternative test with fuzzy formulated hypotheses. On the one hand, the control of the consumer's risk would be possible here, which is of high practical interest, and, on the other hand, a non-empty indifference zone could be considered by user. For example, a company would accept or refuse lots with a fraction defective, which is a bit greater or less than contractually agreed for lot acceptance or rejection. Moreover, existing expert opinion can be used directly by a company via formulation of membership functions for fuzzy hypotheses, in order to increase the efficiency of decision making in procurement and production. Further, the developed test can be used as a basis for construction of p control charts, since fuzzification of control charts enjoys increasing popularity in recent years, not least because of its enormous application potential (see Cheng, 2005; Gulbay and Kahraman, 2006; Shu and Wu, 2010; Sorooshian, 2013).\n6. Comparison of exact and approximative acceptance sampling plans: The sensitivity analysis discussed in Section 5 is based on studies of exact sampling plans, i.e. the calculations are made using the HypOC. However, the determination of exact sampling plans can require much computation time, especially with increasing lot sizes in combination with lower specifications for both generalized error criteria. Consequently, a consideration of exact sampling plans can be readily replaced by approximative sampling plans, if they provide a high approximation quality and entail a significant reduction in computational effort. An appropriate approximation function, which satisfies both requirements, is the WBinOC presented in Section 4.\n7. Description and use of inspection tables: As discussed in Section 5, for specified quality limits p01, p00, p10, p11[?][0; 0.1] and risk levels a, b[?]{0.05; 0.1} and a given lot size N[?][100, 100,000], Tables IV-IX (as also Tables X and XI for selected quality limits) provide an exact sampling plan (n, c), which contains the appropriate sample size n and the corresponding critical value c. In a similar way a respective approximative sampling plan can be find in Tables XII-XVI (as also in Tables XVII and XVIII for selected quality limits).\n8. Conclusion: A conventional statistical model of hypothesis testing is a test of significance, which performs at a selected significance level a. It usually controls the type I error, but not the type II error. An alternative test can ensure simultaneous control of both error types, but at the expense of a higher inspection effort or disregarding of the indifference zone. A generalized alternative test with fuzzy formulated hypotheses can, however, provide the control of both error types as also the consideration of the indifference zone simultaneously for the smallest possible inspection effort.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to construct innovative exact and approximative sampling plans for acceptance sampling in statistical quality control. These sampling plans are determined for crisp and fuzzy formulation of quality limits, various lot sizes and common a- and b-levels.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use generalized fuzzy hypothesis testing to determine sampling plans with fuzzified quality limits. This test method allows a consideration of the indifference zone related to expert opinion or user priorities. In addition to the exact sampling plans calculated with the hypergeometric operating characteristic function, the authors consider approximative sampling plans using a little known, but excellent operating characteristic function. Further, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis of calculated sampling plans is performed, in order to examine how the inspection effort depends on crisp and fuzzy formulation of quality limits, the lot size and specifications of the producer's and consumer's risks.\nFindings: The results related the parametric sensitivity analysis of the calculated sampling plans and the conclusions regarding the approximation quality provide the user a comprehensive basis for a direct implementation of the sampling plans in practice.\nOriginality/value: The constructed sampling plans ensure the simultaneous control of producer's and consumer's risks with the smallest possible inspection effort on the one hand and a consideration of expert opinion or user priorities on the other hand.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Burden or blessing in disguise: interactions in supply chain complexity	[ "Complexity", "Food processing industry", "Case study research", "Supply chain complexity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The negative performance impacts of supply chain complexity (SCC) such as higher costs (Wu et al., 2007), lower delivery performance (Vachon and Klassen, 2002), schedule attainment or customer satisfaction (Bozarth et al., 2009) are well established in theory and practice. At the same time, however, organizations struggle to mitigate the possible negative effects of SCC as it is difficult to trace the performance impact to individual aspects. For example, globalization has led to growth in both organizational product range and number of target markets, which in turn increased the complexity of the supply base in terms of the number of, the degree of differentiation between and level of inter-relationships among suppliers (Choi and Krause, 2006). What becomes apparent is that the level of SCC and its performance outcomes are influenced by interactions. Complex systems theory has long acknowledged this notion of interactions between system elements as a determinant of complexity and consequently performance (Simon, 1962). Given the role and importance of interactions in systems theory, it is surprising that this is hardly covered in SCC research to date (Vachon and Klassen, 2002; Bozarth et al., 2009).\n2. Theoretical background: The notion of complexity can be traced back to the seminal paper of Simon (1962), who argued that complexity regards non-simple interactions between elements in a system which explain a systems' behavior. In the 1990s systems thinking was extended to complex adaptive systems theory and acknowledged that systems co-evolve with their environment due to interactions between the system and its environment (e.g. Holland, 1992). Interactions that lead to complexity can be internal and external to a system, based on the principles of self-organization or co-evolution (Choi et al., 2001; Pathak et al., 2007). In a self-organized system no single actor dictates the collective behavior; patterns are created through simultaneous and parallel activities of multiple members (Choi et al., 2001). This prevents chaos and facilitates a state of equilibrium in the system (Anderson, 1999). As such, self-organization enables a system to function without external control due to internal control over interactions between elements within the system (Surana et al., 2005). We label these horizontal interactions. Co-evolution, in contrast, refers to interactions among the system and the environment and therefore entails interactions between multiple levels (McCarthy, 2004). Here, environmental forces require agents within a system to make changes, which in turn induce changes to the environment (Choi et al., 2001; Pathak et al., 2007). We refer to these as vertical interactions. For further reading, we refer to the complex adaptive systems literature (e.g. Holland, 1992; Anderson, 1999; Choi et al., 2001).\n3. Methodology: While the importance of context in SCC has been highlighted in previous research (e.g. Gerschberger et al., 2012; De Leeuw et al., 2013), we do not know the exact influence of it on SCC. Therefore, our study requires the exploration of the phenomenon (in this case SCC) within its real-life setting. Consequently, we adopt a multiple case study design which is particularly suitable when the boundaries between a concept and the context are not well understood (Yin, 2009).\n4. Findings: interactions in SCC: Aiming to explore interactions of SCC from the perspective of a manufacturing plant we find that organizational, food, market and production strategy characteristics influence dynamic and/or detailed complexity across the plant, supply chain and environmental level. In outlining our findings, we first describe vertical interactions (i.e. across levels for each type), followed by horizontal (i.e. across types for each level) and diagonal (i.e. across types and levels) interactions, which emerged during data analysis.\n5. Discussion: In line with the aim of this paper to explore the interactions between and across types and levels of SCC at manufacturing plants our study contributes valuable empirical insights to the concept of SCC. In particular drawing on the notion of interactions from systems theory, we provide detail on the horizontal, vertical and diagonal interactions of SCC which show that SCC is not a cumulative concept; our findings highlight the importance of considering SCC over different levels, i.e. plant, supply chain, and environment rather than in isolation as influences go across levels in both direction (from high level to low level and the other way around). Additionally, (we are one of the first to study the influence of context specificity (here food processing) on SCC that has been mentioned in previous research (De Leeuw et al., 2013; Gerschberger et al., 2012).\n6. Conclusion: In this paper, we set out to empirically explore interactions between types and levels of SCC. Informed by the systems theory principles of self-organization and co-evolution we found that there are horizontal, vertical and diagonal interactions that buffer or amplify SCC. Hence, individual aspects of SCC are not independent and should not be addressed separately. Moreover, this paper creates awareness that complexity is not necessarily a \"bad thing\" and that - driven by interactions - the individual aspects of SCC do not contribute linearly to higher levels of SCC.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: While systems theory explicitly considers interactions as part of a system's complexity, supply chain complexity (SCC) is mostly conceptualized and measured as a linear summation of several aspects. The purpose of this paper is to challenge the general understanding by explicitly investigating interactions between and across different types (detail and dynamic) and levels (plant, supply chain, environment) of SCC.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An exploratory multiple case study methodology is adopted drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews with respondents from eight manufacturing plants in the food processing industry.\nFindings: On the one hand, it is found that different types add and increase overall SCC. On the other hand, the study also shows the opposite: interactions between detail and dynamic complexity can reduce the overall SCC experienced. Additionally, the findings highlight the specific food processing characteristics such as the variability of quality and quantity of raw materials that underlie interactions between types and levels of SCC.\nOriginality/value: This study adds to theory by empirically showing that interactions across and between types and levels do not automatically increase, but might also reduce SCC. As such, the findings contribute new detail to the concept of SCC: aspects of complexity do not necessarily add up linearly. Additionally, this study is one of the first to demonstrate how specific contextual aspects from the food processing industry relate to SCC.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Worker resistance and response to the crisis of neo-liberal capitalism	[ "Union", "Workplace conflict", "Restructuring", "Western Europe", "Employee attitudes", "Economic models" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since late 2007, capitalism in the global north has undergone its most profound crisis in a generation. This has taken the form of a sustained economic, ideological and political crisis for an advanced form of neo-liberalism. The financial crisis became an economic crisis precipitating an age of austerity, sending shockwaves through not just the financial services sector, but also through manufacturing, construction, retail and now the public services and state sectors. The crisis of - and for - capitalism is also equally a crisis of - and for - organised labour, rather than an opportunity, if organised labour is unable to effectively reject and resist capital's terms for resolving this crisis. When some critics initially thought they were living through the end of \"the end of history\", to use Francis Fukuyama's well-known phrase, they were rudely jolted and, thus, informed shortly afterwards by the reality that there was to be no revenge of history for capitalism would not implode solely under the weight of its own contradictions. So thus far, even sympathetic and engaged observers would have to conclude that the ability of organised labour to offer widespread, let alone effective, resistance has been shown to be left badly wanting. For example, in Eire pay cuts and tax rises have been imposed upon working people, with the only signs of overt conflict being a number of large demonstrations in Dublin to protest this and the election of five far left members of the 166-strong lower house of the Irish Parliament in the February 2011 general election. A public sector-wide strike for March 2009 was called off by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in order to return to the social dialogue of social partnership. Revolution does not even seem to appear to be on the fringes of the radar screen of organised labour. Political reform been no more forthcoming as the mainstream political parties of the right, centre and left continue to win office and on platforms of quintessentially continued neo-liberalism. In western Europe, and in regard of the response from organised labour, the one exception that almost proves the rule here would appear to be Greece. But even with nine general strikes in 2010, the austerity onslaught has still continued under a formally social democratic government. It remains to be seen what the outcome of the bitter and extensive workers' struggles of June and July 2011 are. One of the main jobs of social scientists is try to understand what has happened and why, no matter if the values and effects of the phenomenon clash with their personal held convictions and preferences. The edition of Employee Relations on worker resistance and response to the crisis of neo-liberal capitalism is a case in point.Taking its starting point as the historical memory of earlier periods when worker and working class resistance was both more widespread and effective to previous crises, the underlying approach has be to pose the questions as to why resistance has been so timorous this time round while at the same time trying to use - in a counter-factual way - that resistance which has taken place to probe the absence of wider and more extensive resistance elsewhere. In this edition, not all countries and not all developments in and of western Europe have been covered (sic.). Rather, and arising out of a symposium organised by myself at the European Congress of the International Industrial Relations Association in Copenhagen in July 2010, this edition comprises a selection of papers which examine some of the salient developments in Belgium, Britain, Eire, France and Spain, with one paper providing a comparative analysis across Poland, Portugal, Britain, Italy and France. The initial stimulus to the organising of the symposium was the simultaneous occurrence of high-profile workplace occupations with bossnapping concerning 3M, Sony, Continental, Kleber-Michelin, Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Scapa in France, and the occupations at the Visteon and Vestas factories in Britain. Given the historical transition of these and other western European economies from being significantly based upon manufacturing to being significantly based upon services (private and public), it became apparent that observers could rightly make the deduction old fashioned occupations of factories were neither possible nor practical despite the limited evidence to the contrary. This seemed all the more so to be the case when considering that the outputs of a service-based economy are often - though not always - infinitely more mobile and less tangible in the physical sense while the workplaces and worksites in which these services are created and distributed from are less spatially fixed. Herein lies a challenge to organised labour, especially in the case of outsourcing and offshoring, as how to re-evaluate and re-configure the tactics which allow it to raise the costs of capital leaving one geographical site as well as raise the costs establishing operations in another.The collection of papers looks at different aspects of resistance, with the evaluation of the application and outcomes of the tactic of the occupation running through many. In the paper on Belgium, innovations in how existing institutional rights are exercised and deployed by unions indicate not only creative thinking, but also the development of effective leverage. In the paper on Britain, the clutch of occupations studied need to be held in regard of the more widespread phenomenon of concession bargaining over pay and working time - in other words, compromises with employers which have resulted in extensive pay freezes, pay cuts and (uncompensated) short-time working. The paper on Eire (the Republic of Ireland) begins by advancing the conceptual understanding of the occupation tactic in terms of bargaining leverage before highlighting that even where occupations are deployed, the existence of third parties like the Labour Court and Labour Relations Commission are important in directly and indirectly exercising this leverage over employers. This contrasts with the situation regarding the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) and the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) in Britain which politically and legally are unable and unwilling to play such roles. The paper on France suggests that the existence of laws that subsequently prove to be weak in their protective capacity may be a significant trigger to collective action. The implication is that the dashing of expectations of protection from capital which arise as a result of the awareness of rights can precipitate collective anger and collective action rather than individual resignation and individual retreat[1]. This may be as or more important than any sense of collective memory arising from the waves of occupations in France in 1936 and 1968, or kidnapping of managers in the 1970s (Bintliff, 2009; Pernot, 2010), especially as the pervasiveness and persuasiveness of these is - all other things being equal - likely to decline over time. Nonetheless, there are still more deeply engrained traditions of direct collective action in the political culture of French society than in Britain, for example. Bossnapping and occupation as a form of the physical sequestration of capital and the managers of capital appeared to also be seen as legitimate in France - according to Bintliff (2009):A poll this week showed almost half of those interviewed believed that actions such as bossnapping were acceptable.The existence of such rights enshrined in law - and then the dashing of the expectations that come with these - in France draws attention to a contrast with the situation in countries like Britain where such rights are fewer and less efficacious with the outcome that expectations of protection from capital are also correspondingly lower and lowered. Therefore, this offers as much purchase as the following:Could \"bossnapping\" a la francaise come to the UK? Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, thinks not. \"The French have a certain way of doing things\" he says. Mr Barber says we cannot rule out more outbursts of anger such as the sit-ins by workers at Visteon, the car parts maker, over redundancy terms. Occupations are rare here, however (Groom, 2009).The paper on Spain emphasises that the cultural settings and connotations of tactics in the repertoire of workers are dynamic and develop across time and space. This is a response to the import of the collective memory of the past and its varied application by new groups and in new situations. Finally, the paper compares the use of collective and individual means of dispute resolution in five countries and how these can be best understood in relation to variance across and between these countries in regard of regimes of industrial relations and labour regulation. This again raises the issue of the inter-relationship between rights and expectations, on the one hand, and consciousness and action on the other.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this editorial is to introduce the special issue on \"Collective worker responses to redundancy and restructuring\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The editorial provides an overview and introduces the papers which make up the special issue.\nFindings: - The six papers facilitate a deeper understanding of the issues and dynamics involved in worker resistance and response to the crisis of neo-liberal capitalism.\nOriginality/value: - The paper highlights how the papers in the special issue add new insights into the topics at hand.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Revisiting women managers and organisational acceptance	[ "Women", "Managers", "Career development", "Organizational culture", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The numbers of women in senior management or executive roles remain low in Australia, the UK and the USA (Wood, 2008), despite decades of equal opportunity and affirmative action legislation. There is no adequate explanation that sufficiently justifies this ongoing phenomenon, despite the huge extant literature that has arisen in this field.\nBackground to the Australian research project: Judi Marshall was specifically referring to women who had left their senior management roles in her 1991 study, however in the present study, women who left their organisations, started their own businesses, retired, or remained in their roles at the time of the final interviews were included in the sample.This research project has spanned three stages over a decade. The first stage of the longitudinal research was conducted in Australian organisations in 1996 and surveyed middle managers drawn from 24 well-known large Australian organisations. The primary aim was to examine whether gender differences in relation to attitudes to promotion existed between a sample of middle managers in Australia. A survey was undertaken, and over a thousand (1150) questionnaires were administered, with 507 completed questionnaires being received; a response rate of 44 per cent (Wood and Lindorff, 2001).Results of the survey indicated that there was a high proportion of respondents, both male (83 per cent) and female (76 per cent), who aspired to a more senior role in management throughout their careers (Wood and Lindorff, 2001). This may indicate that a higher proportion of both sexes believed there were opportunities for career advancement, or at least that the respondents were motivated to achieve that goal when the research commenced in 1996.Two follow-up research projects created an opportunity to assess the numbers of managers who had actually been successful in achieving the career advancement the majority of the sample had sought. In addition, the follow-up studies allowed participants to reflect on the journey they had undertaken over the previous ten years throughout their careers, and to record their feelings and attitudes. In phase 2 of the study in 2004, a telephone interview was conducted with 30 respondents from the original sample, to explore perceived factors that had facilitated and hindered their success (Wood, 2006).In the final stage 3 of the research, a qualitative follow-up study of a self-selected group of managers who had participated in the two earlier stages outlined above, was carried out to assess career advancement outcomes over a decade, as well as reflections of organisation life over this period. The details provided below relate to the third and final stage of the research project.\nMethodology: A follow-up letter was sent to all of the participants in the second stage of the research, and 16 managers expressed an interest in participating in the third and final stage of the research. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with this group of 16 managers in 2006 (Wood, 2007).Procedure\nResults and discussion: An analysis will be made of the data gathered through interviews in the third stage of the longitudinal study with the Australian female managers in relation to the predictions made by Judi Marshall in 1991. Her contention was that organisational resilience, maintained through a slow to change culture, would continue to cause difficulties for women in organisations to be accepted and valued within their roles (Marshall, 1991). This assertion will be tested through analysing the responses of the six Australian female managers, reflecting on their experiences in their management roles over a period of ten years. Of necessity, such analysis will involve subjectively interpreting the data and drawing from this the cultural milieu in which the interviewees had worked. To elucidate the experiences of these managers, selective quotations will be presented.In the Australian study, of the six female managers who participated in the third stage of the research, only two had aspired to a senior management role. One of these female managers achieved her goal of a senior management promotion during the ten years of the research project. However, this goal was not achieved within her nominated timeframe, but took six years to accomplish. Of the remaining five women in this sample, three women felt they had worked at senior management levels at some stage in their careers, and two women had not been successful in reaching a senior management role during the previous ten years.While these figures look very positive in terms of outcomes for women's career advancement in management roles, a deeper analysis of some of the comments given by these women throughout their interviews reflects the actual organisational culture in which they work(ed), suggesting that even when women are successful in terms of their career advancement, they may still operate in an organisational culture which is often negative, creating an environment in which it is difficult to thrive. The realities of their working lives, even when they had managed to achieve \"success\" through receiving a senior management role within their careers, appears to illustrate an organisational resilience to involving women in organisations on equal terms. The results are reported in three categories; successful achievement of senior management promotion over the previous ten years; achievement of a senior management role at some time in their careers and women who had not achieved a senior management promotion.Successful achievement of senior management promotion over the previous ten years\nConclusion: It seems evident that organisational resilience, maintained through a medium of culture continued to create difficulties for this small group of Australian female managers. Only 1 woman achieved a senior management role in the ten years spanned by the three-stage research, although three other women felt they had achieved such a role earlier in their careers. This group of three did not aspire to further senior management roles at the time of the initial research in 1996.Despite the degrees of success enjoyed by 4/6 women in this sample, as defined by career advancement to the role of senior manager, there are clear indications that organisational resilience \"[...] to involve women in organisations on equal terms has still not been achieved\" (Marshall, 1991, p. 5). Although this quote is now 18 years old, it appears to be just as relevant today.The interviewees shared stories of difficult organisational cultures, changes in values, and an undervaluing of female managers. Job stress was commonplace, and the lack of support received from management was a negative factor in these workplaces.Other stories illustrated the acceptance of bullying or inappropriate behaviour and the power of politics within the workplace. Environments described as \"toxic\" were evident when powerful people were opposed. It would appear that organisational cultures existed where inequalities were perpetrated through selection and recruitment practices, which went unchallenged as the organisational norm.Organisational culture still appears to be a very relevant theme when female manager's experiences are taken into account. It seems that there remains an inability to recognise women's talents fully, or perhaps this may be more accurately expressed as a \"[...] covert, persistent resistance\" referred to by Marshall (1991, p. 5) previously. Within the transcripts of the female managers' interviews, while there is clear evidence that there may be a recognition, and a utilisation of the talents displayed by competent female managers, this does not always result in promotion to a more senior role - even when the manager expresses a desire to achieve such a goal.Even when promotions to senior management did occur, these women spoke of numerous occasions where organisational culture and gendered practices have resulted in very few women actually obtaining these more senior roles, and those that do often require on-going negotiation to ensure that equity is achieved with male colleagues in similar positions. This illustrates that \"[...] women's talents are still not fully recognised\" (Marshall, 1991, p. 5).Of the 30 managers who were followed up in 2004, 68 per cent of males had aspired to a senior management promotion in 1996, compared to 55 per cent of female managers. More than a half (58 per cent) of the male managers had achieved a senior promotion, compared to only 27 per cent of female managers. Of interest is that male managers achieved their promotion after only 2.5 years, whereas female managers took 4.3 years to achieve the same status (Wood, 2006). This would suggest that women continue to be seen as not as acceptable as men in senior management positions, as Judi Marshall perceived was the situation in 1991. These figures, combined with the qualitative results outlined above, may indicate that women are seen as increasingly threatening as they near senior levels (Marshall, 1991, p. 6).Organisational culture continues to operate as a factor in influencing the \"'will' or intent to involve women in organisations on equal terms\" (Marshall, 1991, p. 5). Despite the fact that in Australia, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 (Cth) and the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986 legislation have now been in place for over 20 years, an interpretation of \"covert, persistent resistance\" by organisations is compelling when the above data is considered.Recent research has underscored that masculine attributes continue to be seen as a \"fit\" in a management career, moreso than feminine characteristics (Lyness and Heilman, 2006). Perhaps this is the covert value system that underpins the organisational resilience that acts to limit the acceptance of women into organisations today, as it was when Marshall (1991) reported this almost 20 years ago.\nImplications for further research: The findings in this study are drawn from a very small sample of six Australian female managers, reflecting on the previous ten years of their managerial careers. Obviously, no generalisations can be made from this study, and further research on a wider sample is needed to ascertain if the negative aspects of organisational culture are widespread across industries, regions and countries.However, this study reports that in this small sample, women continue to have their managerial career advancement impacted by negative aspects of organisational culture, and that the predictions made by Marshall (1991) in this regard have been borne out. The question is: what will it take to actually change this practice?Systems have been introduced to bring about effective change, such as the system that operates in Australia with the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA), and some positive changes have been noted. Key aspects covered in reporting to EOWA currently include composition of the workforce, staff consultation, issues for women relating to various employment matters (including selection and recruitment practices, internal promotion policies, and training and development opportunities), actions taken, evaluations of actions, and plans for future actions (EOWA, 2009). These areas are influential in the career advancement of women in management, and are likely to reflect the overt organisational culture.Such a reporting system is a great advance toward achieving equal opportunity for women in the workplace. However, some authors have suggested that EEO has become watered down in its intent; as it does not appear to deliver what it has promised in recruitment, promotion or retention of women (e.g. French and Strachan, 2007).Other researchers believe the legislation lacks the strength to ensure that significant organisational change does occur, concluding that there has been a focus on \"effort\" as opposed to \"outcomes\" geared toward making significant changes (e.g. Fastenau, 2006).Therefore, a reporting system aimed at capturing the overt and covert organisational cultures needs to be strong enough to address the above criticisms. Possibly stronger sanctions could be imposed on organisations which do not comply with the legislation, such as being excluded from obtaining Government tenders or contracts. Another option may be to ensure accountability is built in for various levels of management in each department. One way of achieving this could be to introduce compulsory audits to monitor pay equity in organisations. These practices may go some way to reduce the impact of negative organisational cultures, and will allow women to achieve their optimal performance in an organisational culture which is nurturing and supportive; this would be a step in the direction of creating real \"equal opportunity\" for women in the workplace.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to revisit earlier predictions by Judi Marshall in 1991 to explore whether similar issues were evident in a sample of contemporary female managers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Qualitative data from six Australian female managers who had participated in a longitudinal study over a period of ten years were examined. Career advancement aspirations and outcomes were compared with those of male managers, and reflections on the managerial role, and organisational practices were sought.\nFindings: - Examples of organisational resilience \"to involve women in organisations on equal terms\" were evident in all the six female managers in the study. In addition, even when levels of success were achieved, it could be questioned whether these women could be seen as \"definers of meaning (or culture)\".\nPractical implications: - Organisational culture appears to continue to create difficulties for contemporary women in management. A system of accountability is strongly recommended, based on a similar reporting programme adopted by the Equal Opportunity for Woment in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) to measure the equal opportunity programmes on offer in the workplaces of organisations with 100 or more employees.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is highly original as it seeks to compare predictions made by an eminent UK scholar in the field of women in management in 1991 with the experiences of a small sample of contemporary Australian female managers over a ten-year period in their management roles.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An empirical survey of the perceived benefits of implementing the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) in Hong Kong	[ "Hong Kong", "Building maintenance", "Building inspection", "Building management", "Building safety", "Old private buildings" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Buildings provide a safe and comfortable environment for living, working and other human activities. However, they will become dilapidated as time goes by and may pose danger to the residents or even the general public. There is a close linkage between the built environment and people's state of health (Schmitt et al., 1978; Tanaka et al., 1996; Yau et al., 2009). The problem of building decay has long emerged in Hong Kong, and it is not difficult to find some dilapidated buildings which lack proper building management and/or maintenance, especially in the old districts such as To Kwa Wan, Mong Kok, Wan Chai and Kwun Tong (Choi, 2008). Poor upkeep of buildings may threaten public safety and health and the residents themselves. It should be an imminent need for addressing this long-standing besetting problem of building neglect and deterioration, particularly to those existing old private premises.\n2. Literature review on building maintenance and repair: 2.1 Current situation of building decay in Hong Kong\n3. Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme: With the purpose of engaging the whole community in putting into place long-term measures to resolve the problem of building neglect and deterioration, the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau conducted a two-stage public consultation in 2003 and 2005, respectively (Development Bureau, 2010a). Based on a community consensus reached through extensive public consultations over the years, the government, in mid-2007, announced a plan to legislate for the implementation of the MBIS.\n4. Research methodology: An industry-wide empirical questionnaire survey was conducted from March to April of 2013 in Hong Kong to collect the views and opinions of various key project stakeholders on the perceived benefits of implementing MBIS within the construction community. A total of 13 perceived benefits of MBIS identified from the contemporary literature constituted the basis of the survey questionnaire, followed by a \"pilot\" survey with some well-experienced experts in new building construction or building repair and maintenance to verify the adequacy of items and clarity of the survey form. So, the final survey form was found sufficient, clear and appropriate.\n5. Presentation and discussion of survey results: Results derived from the analysis of empirical questionnaire survey were cross-referenced to the published literature wherever appropriate. In this study, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the 13 rated benefits of MBIS was 0.837, which was much higher than the threshold value of 0.70, according to Norusis (2002). It was indicated that there is acceptable internal consistency (reliability) in terms of the correlations amongst the 13 individual benefits, and the 5-point Likert scale used for measuring the MBIS benefits is reliable and internally consistent among the responses at the 5 per cent significance level.\n6. Conclusions: The primary objective of this paper was to review the current state of development of MBIS in Hong Kong and to investigate the major potential benefits of implementing MBIS, as perceived by the key project stakeholders in either new building construction or building repair and maintenance. A total of 13 statements describing various benefits of MBIS were compiled and ranked by a group of target industrial practitioners with direct hands-on experience in either new works or building management or repair/maintenance works via an empirical questionnaire survey. It also aimed to compare the ranking patterns and to test for any significant agreements or disagreements among the survey respondents in terms of their current residence and their organizational groups.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the current state of building decay in Hong Kong, and attempts to identify and analyze the perceived benefits of implementing the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) via an industry-wide empirical questionnaire survey.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 340 professional respondents who have gained hands-on experience in either new building works or building management or building repair/maintenance were requested to complete a survey questionnaire to indicate the relative importance of those benefits identified in relation to MBIS. The perceived benefits were measured, ranked and compared according to the different roles of industrial practitioners, and between the residents in private premises and those in public estates.\nFindings: The survey findings suggested the most significant benefits derived from implementing MBIS to be: raise the overall building safety toward residents and the general public; create more job openings and business opportunities in building repair and maintenance services; and MBIS is an effective solution to address the problems with building decay (e.g. dilapidation and control over the existing unauthorized building works). The results of factor analysis indicated that the 13 perceived benefits of implementing MBIS were consolidated under three underlying factors: addressing building dilapidation and assuring building safety; improving the living environment and upgrading property values; and creating more job openings and business opportunities.\nSocial implications: As MBIS was officially launched on June 30, 2012, it is expected to be one of the proposed effective measures in resolving the long-standing problems of building neglect and deterioration in Hong Kong and overseas, especially to those existing old private premises.\nOriginality/value: In the long run, the number of prematurely ageing buildings would be reduced, and the service life span of existing private premises would be prolonged. This is in line with the sustainability principle of providing a better living and the working environment within the community as a whole.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Market power and relational conflicts in Russian retailing	[ "Russia", "Retailing", "Channel relationships", "Retailer‐supplier relationship", "Market power", "Negotiated exchange", "Relational conflicts" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Russian retail sector faced continual confrontations and conflicts in retailer-supplier relationships. These conflicts reflected a power imbalance that originated from a fundamental transformation of supply chains. After a decade of supplier dominance in the Russian consumer market during the 1990s, suppliers' channel power largely withered away in the 2000s. This redistribution of power between retailers and suppliers should be understood as a transition from supplier-driven to buyer-driven commodity chains (Gereffi, 1994). It reflects a global change in the role of retailers from mere service providers to market makers (Hamilton and Petrovic, 2011).A new power imbalance emerged with the rise of new multiple-store companies that demonstrated accelerating growth in Russia in the 2000s, with 40 to 50 per cent increases in sales annually (Radaev, 2005, 2007). Multiple-store companies providing economy of scale, sustainable channels for sales, and higher quality of customer service became increasingly attractive for suppliers and consumers. As a result, leading retail companies improved their bargaining capacities and established new rules of exchange. They imposed new contract requirements, according to which suppliers had to pay entry fees to see their commodities on store shelves, secure the gross margin of a buyer if sales of a commodity were less than expected, pay retroactive bonuses for the increase in sales if a new product was commercially successful, and contribute to retailers' costs, for example, by covering the losses from theft at the trading floor. The main objective of the new rules is not only to redistribute the value added but also to establish control over suppliers' behaviour. The rules are aimed at making this behaviour more predictable, overcoming overt resistance and covert opportunism, and thereby improving retailers' performance (Kelly, 1991).Suppliers often perceive new institutional arrangements and payments as unjustified demands. As suppliers' bargaining power is limited, they insist upon federal government intervention to handle disputes. As a result, after prolonged and heated political debate, a new Federal Law on State Regulation of Trade in the Russian Federation was approved in December 2009 to restrict the activities of multiple-store companies. Thus, state regulations have been brought back to the sector of the Russian economy that had become the most liberalised and privatised since the beginning of the economic reforms in 1992 (Radaev, 2011).A similar debate on the impact of slotting allowances took place in the US in the early 2000s. In that case, the US Senate entrusted the Federal Trade Commission, as an anti-trust regulator, to examine the situation. The Federal Trade Commission spent three years on research and produced a report in 2003 that reached no definite conclusions (Klein and Wright, 2007). In contrast, almost no research was performed in Russia to substantiate the major legislative provisions. Retail chains' dominance in the market is normally taken for granted in Russia today. Highly politicised and populist statements in mass media on the profound and unquestionable power of retail chains are obviously biased in favour of domestic producers' interests. However, there is a remarkable absence of any reliable quantitative data to support this view except for fragmented anecdotal evidence providing very little opportunity for generalisation. Surprisingly, this problem has not received noticeable coverage in the literature (for exceptions, see Dzagurova and Avdasheva, 2010; Radaev, 2007, 2011). Economists traditionally pay little attention to the domestic trade in Russia, and sociologists and marketing researchers focus mainly on the preferences of retail stores' customers and neglect B2B relationships. We would like to fill this gap with the help of original empirical data collected for this study.\nConcepts: We build the conceptual foundations of the study from three related sources. First, we address power/dependence theory, defining power as the ability to overcome a partner's resistance (Emerson, 1962; Cook and Emerson, 1978; Molm, 2003). The power of an actor resides in its partner's dependence. It is directly proportional to the motivational investment of the exchange partner and inversely proportional to the partner's ability to access alternatives that create opportunities to exit the relationship (Emerson, 1962, p. 32).Second, we refer to the new institutionalism in economic sociology (DiMaggio and Powell, 1991; Fligstein, 2001). This concept demonstrates how incumbent firms establish their market power by imposing new rules of exchange on power-disadvantaged partners despite their resistance, while their direct competitors borrow these new rules without coercion as a result of mimetic isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1991). The effectiveness of power use depends strongly on the capacity to establish the legitimacy of the incumbent claims among exchange partners and third parties that can intervene or have interests at stake (for example, the state controlling bodies).Third, we incorporate theories of channel power and conflict elaborated in the marketing literature (Gaski, 1984). They reveal how channel members control other members' marketing decisions (El-Ansary and Stern, 1972) and how coercive sources of power affect conflict in the market channel (Lusch, 1976), meaning that power use should not be treated as an entirely negative factor (Hingley, 2005, p. 849). We believe that a marriage of these diverse perspectives could be beneficial for understanding the investigated issues.The first question for our study is: how do newly emerging multiple-store companies use their bargaining power in negotiated exchanges? Our second question is: what factors facilitate a diffusion of new institutional arrangements introduced by retail companies? Finally, we aim to determine the impact of new contract requirements on relational conflicts.We apply the following approach in this paper. Power-advantaged parties impose new rules of negotiated exchange, including both formal and informal arrangements. On the formal side, they include additional contract requirements for power-disadvantaged parties (economists define them as \"vertical restraints\"; Dzagurova and Avdasheva, 2010). These new institutional arrangements are aimed at redistribution of value added and control over opportunistic behaviour of the exchange partners. When the power-advantaged party fails to provide legitimacy for these new rules and the power-disadvantaged party perceives these rules as unjustified demands and \"discriminatory practices\", relational conflicts arise. Tensions in the supply chain may result in political intervention and legislative change intended to balance channel relationships, as happened recently in Russia.\nMethodology: Because the collection of data on dependence and control from a single source may produce common-source biases (Provan and Skinner, 1989, p. 209), we use the same questionnaire to survey both suppliers and retailers and persuade exchange parties to describe their relationships from two opposite sides. We assume that the more discrepancies exist in the respondents' estimations, the more attention should be paid to that aspect of the relationships (Bloom et al., 2000).Data sources\nFindings: To reveal how market power is used in negotiated exchange, we examine the scope of new rules imposed by retailers as a power-advantaged party. We will refer to the percentage of respondents that meet additional contract demands in their relations with large exchange partners and reveal the factors driving the diffusion of new formal rules of exchange. We also describe the results of nonparametric tests in cases with significant differences. For detailed descriptive statistics on relationships with large and small exchange partners, see Table I.Pricing requirements\nDiscussion and conclusions: Since the beginning of the 2000s, a new power imbalance has emerged that has allowed retail chain stores to impose new formal rules of negotiated exchange according to which suppliers are obliged to provide additional marketing payments and price discounts to sign procurement contracts. New formal rules of exchange are widespread indeed, though their diffusion in Russia is very uneven. Not all requirements are imposed on suppliers, as was postulated in H1, inspired by the statements of public officials in the mass media.Large retailers prove to be more demanding with regard to many of the considered rules, whereas the demands of small retail companies are more modest. This result indicates that mimetic isomorphism, which stimulates small companies to imitate the rules of exchange established by the market leaders, has serious limitations. Suppliers' resource dependence is related to retailers' size, meaning that retailers' size is an important dimension of market power and our H2 should be rejected.The most striking evidence against our initial expectations formulated in H3 is that small suppliers do not confront new contract arrangements more often than large suppliers do. Moreover, in case of slotting allowances and nonpaid promotional services, large suppliers agree to additional obligations more often (pricing requirements are almost universal and, therefore, insensitive to suppliers' size). This evidence requires additional explanation. A simple reference to the existing power imbalance does not work here, or rather, a power/dependence argument should be more complicated. Our interpretation is that retailers do not select small suppliers on the basis of financial capacities, as they are often unable to pay slotting allowances or provide significant marketing budgets. Small suppliers are allowed to enter the supply chain if they demonstrate an ability to meet functional standards, including on-time deliveries, standardised quality of products, proper conditions of storage and transportation, packing and packaging. Extra marketing payments are expected from the large suppliers that have significant marketing budgets, strive to extend the range of the supplied items, and are ready to pay for the shelf space needed to increase their sales. Finally, large suppliers may use slotting fees to push their smaller competitors out of the market (Bloom et al., 2000).We can make an important refinement to the power-dependence argument here. The proposition that the less powerful actor should provide a better offer is valid for exchange parties, but not for competitors. Among competitors, it is more powerful actors that can take the initiative and suggest better offers (that are inappropriate for less powerful competitors) to secure their place in the market channel. Therefore, slotting allowances and promotional payments are not confined to extortion of value by retailers or by their willingness to reduce competition on the retailers' side (Shaffer, 1991). This statement is supported by the supply-side model explaining the emergence of slotting allowances by the increase in the supply of new products, which is not accompanied by an increase in sales per store (Sullivan, 1997). This sort of argument is also developed in the promotional shelf space model, which argues that neither retailers nor final consumers are interested in paying for the increasing variety of products, leaving this responsibility to producers given that slotting allowances are positively related to manufacturers' profit margins (Klein and Wright, 2007). We believe that these arguments are relevant to the Russian situation.When formulating our H4, we assumed that the transition to direct arrangements between producers and retailers makes the situation of trade mediators more difficult. Therefore, distributors/wholesalers are supposed to offer better deals and comply with additional contract requirements. However, this proposition was unsubstantiated in our research. No noticeable differences between producers and distributors were revealed.A great deal of data support H5, assuming that grocery chain stores negotiate better deals with their suppliers than retail companies in the home electronics sector. This argument is valid for all four clusters of new rules at a high level of significance. The results obtained are consistent with the more general vision that the grocery sector is a buyer-driven commodity chain while the electronic sector presents an example of a producer-driven commodity chain (Gereffi, 1994; Radaev, 2007).Surprisingly enough, the perceptions of the contesting parties (retailers and suppliers) are fairly similar. Retailers do not conceal their requirements. The only important exception are the slotting allowances, whose legitimacy suppliers perceive as questionable. Thus, a major part of our H6 should be rejected.The level of retailer-supplier conflicts is high, and new contract requirements imposed by retail companies affect the emergence of retailer-supplier conflicts. However, the impact of this factor is relatively small and confined to slotting allowances, which lack legitimacy in suppliers' opinions. This result contradicts an initial statement made in H7, which is only partially supported by the empirical evidence.In addition, we have to correct H8. Contract infringement has much more significant predictive power, demonstrating a robust positive effect on the probability of conflict emergence. It is remarkable that it concerns not only suppliers' inability to deliver their goods on time but also retailers' inability (or unwillingness) to pay for these goods on time as prescribed by the contract. All in all, contract execution is a more important issue for conflicting parties than contract terms and conditions as such.It is noteworthy that retailers and suppliers do not differ significantly in this respect. When we tested our model for the whole sample, the regression coefficient of the retailer/supplier variable was not significant. Exchange partners find themselves in a symmetrical position with regard to compliance or non-compliance with the contract requirements.When making this conclusive statement, we by no means deny the importance of problems caused by new institutional arrangements associated with the power imbalance and numerous discriminatory pressures of retail companies. We merely argue that the increased bargaining power of chain stores and their use of this power should not be viewed as the sole source of all troubles in the market exchange, as is the case for many experts and policy analysts in Russia.\nLimitations and future research: The presented research has obvious limitations. Data were collected from two sectors of retail trade in one country, namely, Russia. An analysis of other non-food sectors and cross-country comparisons may reveal a variety of relationship patterns.The investigation of channel power and conflicts is confined to formal contract arrangements. Informal and shadow institutional arrangements (for example, the widespread practice of taking kickbacks by the managers on the buyers' side) are left for another study.Conflicts are measured on the basis of market sellers' perceptions. This analysis could be supplemented with objective measures like temporary stops or complete dissolutions of exchange relationships.Our survey was conducted in a time of increasing tensions in retailer-supplier relationships but before the financial crisis and legislative changes. Further research is required to determine the impact of the financial crisis and adoption of restrictive federal legislation on channel relationships.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine new rules of exchange in retailer-supplier relationships imposed by the retail chains, to analyse factors facilitating this institutional change and to reveal the links between channel power and relational conflicts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Survey data were collected from 500 managers of retail chains and their suppliers in five Russian cities. The sample includes firms of different sizes that sell food and home electronic appliances. After the diffusion of new contract arrangements is examined, logistic regression models are constructed to evaluate major sources of relational conflicts.\nFindings: - The findings indicate that power-advantaged firms disseminate new rules of exchange effectively. However, relational conflicts largely originate not from these new demands but from the frequent contract infringements by both exchange parties.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study is confined to two sectors of retail trade in one country. Further research is required to determine the effects on channel relationships of the financial crisis and of the adoption of restrictive federal legislation.\nPractical implications: - Practitioners should recognise the need to provide socio-political legitimacy for the new rules of exchange. Otherwise, they may face relational conflicts and provoke restrictive state regulations. Public officials should know that relational conflicts may originate largely from opportunistic behaviour by exchange parties rather than from abuse of market power.\nOriginality/value: - This paper presents the first systematic quantitative study of retailer-supplier relationships in Russia. It investigates institutional change and relational conflicts as perceived by both exchange parties.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Purchase offering quality: The effects of buyer behaviour on organizational supplying behaviour	[ "Satisfaction", "Purchase offering quality", "Supplier value" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The purpose of this work is to develop a framework for understanding the effects of buyer behaviour on suppliers, with a view to improving external resource management through an enhanced ability to influence supplier behaviour. Two main contributions are offered. First, two new concepts are introduced; \"purchase offering quality\" which refers to the collection of costs and benefits embodied in the characteristics and behaviours that buyers present to suppliers, and \"supplier behavioural intentions\" which refers to the responses of suppliers to those offerings. Second, a general framework is developed for understanding the effects of buyer behaviour on organizational supplying behaviour - a term first coined in Ramsay and Wagner (2009). The paper proceeds with a review of the relevant literatures, the delineation of a research gap, a short exploration of key epistemological difficulties dealing with the presentation of novel concepts and the effects of social acceptability bias (SAB), and a discussion of the implications for research and practice.\n2 The literatures and research gap: This paper explores the nature of supplier perceptions of, and responses to, buyer behaviours and characteristics. The International Journal of Production & Operations Management has become an extremely rich source of research into buyer-supplier interactions, and in the last five years it has offered 48 empirical papers throwing light on the way suppliers respond to buyers (see Appendix 1). However, the insights into supplier perceptions and responses that have been generated are, in the main, incidental side-effects of research into other phenomena. For example, Gomes and Dahab (2010, p. 59), mention in passing that they are interested in how buyer and suppliers: \"[...] weave relationships between firm capabilities and agree on how those rents are distributed among partners\", but the main focus of that paper is unambiguously on the effects of modularity. Modi and Mabert (2007) describe how supplier development practices affect suppliers, but are primarily interested in the practices rather than their effects, and so on. There is a small body of work in the operations management (OM) field employing the concept of \"supplier responsiveness\". Tachizawa and Thomsen (2007), for example, examined the influence of uncertainty on strategy choices for improving supplier responsiveness to schedule fluctuations. Harrison (1996), looked at supplier responses to schedule instability and (Holweg, 2005a, b) investigated the speed with which car industry suppliers respond. In their investigation of supplier responsiveness these, and related, papers thus concentrate on a variety of supplier capabilities. However, to be \"responsive\" a supplier has to be not only capable of responding but also willing so to do. None of the literature referred to above deals with a supplier's willingness to respond to buyer demands. Indeed, the OM field displays a low level of interest in supplier needs, interests and preferences in buyer-supplier interactions. Appendix 1 shows that there were 21 IJOPM papers concentrating on the buyer's perspective in buyer-supplier interactions, and only six focused on the supplier's interests. Many of the dyadic treatments also stress the buying organisations' perspective. This buyer-centric bias is even more pronounced in other parts of the literature. In one extensive survey of the American buyer-supplier related OM publications (Terpend et al., 2008, p. 42) found that the overwhelming focus was on the interests and behaviours of buyers, and only six out of 151 articles employed a dyadic approach that sought supplier opinions. There is thus an overall bias towards the interests and needs of buyers that would be readily understood in marketing journals, but is not so easy to explain in the OM field. Perhaps, as Hald et al. (2009) suggested, this derives from the tendency of academics to treat buyer-supplier relations as though they were agent-principal interactions, with the buyer (principal) simply issuing instructions to their suppliers (agents). This in turn may well stem from the overall focus in management research (clearly present in Appendix 1) on the behaviours and concerns of large and very large companies. For such companies, with their abundance of purchasing power, the principal-agent model may be reasonably accurate. However, the overwhelming majority of companies in every economy are SMEs (BIS, 2010), and even large companies have to deal with some suppliers who are not willing to be entirely subservient to the buyer's wishes. So there are strong grounds for paying attention to supplier interests and preferences.\n3 Concept definition and development: 3.1 Purchase offering quality\n4 The purchasing perspective: The concepts and interrelationships described in the preceding section are illustrated in the model shown in Figure 2.\n5 Epistemology and relevance: 5.1 Comprehension\n6 Concept comprehension: The nine remaining suppliers were interviewed with the modified questions, and the transcripts revealed the following results.\n7 Implications of the test: 7.1 For future causal analysis\n8 Conclusion: The model shown in Figure 2 is of a general form intended to be applicable to interactions between any kind of buyer and supplier, in any type of market. Because it refers to an enormous range of possible sources of supplier costs and benefits it would be of extremely limited use in causal research. The kind of inferences that one might draw from it would be so anodyne as to be of little interest to practitioners. Thus, one might ask if purchase offering quality were positively related to the sum of benefits a supplier enjoys, or if supplier value and supplier satisfaction were positively correlated and so on. Future causal research is likely to focus on more idiosyncratic market and interaction circumstances where specific factors such as dependence, power and length of relationship have been identified as being of particular significance to the trading partners. However, the most pressing future research need may be to find out which of the overall concepts shown in Figure 2 has the greatest impact on supplier behavioural intentions. This could be then be used to guide more focused causal investigations into particular trading relationships for different markets, and eventually individual practitioners.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to explore the supply chain management problem of understanding the response of suppliers to buyer behaviours and characteristics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper reviews the relevant literature in search of references to critically assesses the effects of applying the mirror images of the concepts of customer value, satisfaction and product or service quality, developed in the field of marketing, to the field of operations management.\nFindings: The study suggests that the new concept of purchase offering quality is worthy of further development in the supply chain management area and that supplier value and supplier satisfaction are useful concepts for understanding supplier behavioural intentions.\nPractical implications: The study will help organisations to improve supply chain performance through an enhanced ability of organisations-as-buyers to influence supplier behaviour by modifying aspects of their own behaviour. It should be of particular interest to all organisations in their dealings with recalcitrant and unresponsive suppliers, or buyers with very low levels of power trying to improve the responsiveness of more powerful suppliers.\nOriginality/value: The paper introduces two new concepts: \"purchase offering quality\" that describes supplier perceptions of the characteristics and behaviours of buyers offering supplier benefits, and \"supplier behavioural intentions\" that is a term referring to the responses of suppliers to buyer characteristics and behaviours. This work can form the foundations of an extensive area of new study into organisational supplying behaviour.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Country-level corporate governance and foreign direct investment in Africa	[ "Foreign direct investment", "Ethical behaviour of firms", "African economies", "Country-level corporate governance", "Efficacy of corporate boards" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Foreign direct investment (FDI), a major constituent of globalization and of the world economy, is a driving force behind job creation, progress in technology, productivity enhancement and, eventually, economic growth (Anyanwu, 2012). Its role in economic development, foreign exchange stabilization, investments and tax revenue mobilization in both developed and developing economies cannot be overemphasized (Anyanwu, 2012; Quazi, 2007). Particularly, it plays a significant role in development issues in African economies, which encompass job creation, human capital development, efficiency enhancement, transfer of modern technology and global economy integration (Dupasquier and Osakwe, 2003; Anyanwu, 2003, 2012).\nTrends of foreign direct investment in Africa: Over the years, African economies have witnessed an increase in foreign direct investment. However, there have been inconsistencies in the trend of foreign direct investment inflows to these economies largely due to country specific characteristics. This section presents how our sampled African economies; Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Cote D'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe have fared regarding This section presents a trend analysis of FDI/GDP ratio of our sampled economies for the period 2009-2015. In all figures, the vertical axes portray FDI/GDP ratio and the horizontal axes depict the period of the study.\nLiterature review and hypotheses development: Good corporate governance is increasingly becoming a relevant determinant of foreign direct investment as the objective of multinational corporations have shifted from market as well as resource-seeking motive to efficiency-seeking orientation (Dunning, 2002). This means that the conventional determinants of foreign direct investment such as market seeking, natural resources seeking and good infrastructure, as well as low cost of labor, are increasingly becoming less essential while good corporate governance is becoming more important (Loree and Guisinger, 1995; Addison and Heshmati, 2003; Becchett et al., 2007). However, empirical studies of the relationship between country-level corporate governance and foreign direct investment are limited, with just a few studies in support of the notion that good corporate governance institutions improve foreign direct investment in economies (Globerman and Shapiro, 2003; Biglaiser and DeRouen, 2006; Gani, 2007; Staats and Biglaiser, 2012). The prevailing opinion is that economies characterized by good corporate governance structures tend to attract more foreign direct investment (Globerman and Shapiro, 2002; Globerman et al., 2004). This is because foreign investors believe their investments cannot be protected in an economy characterized by poor corporate governance structures (Globerman and Shapiro, 2003). Jones and Pollitt (2004) argue that the failure of corporations across the globe is as a result of corporate governance lapses in economies, and therefore, instituting good corporate governance structures in countries is germane for the sustenance of corporations, which will ultimately safeguard the interests of foreign investors.\nData and model specification: Our paper uses annual panel data of 40 African economies for the period 2009-2015 and from two main data sources (Table I). Whilst the dependent variable of interest in this paper is foreign direct investment inflow, the independent variables of interest are country-level corporate governance variables of efficacy of corporate boards, protection of minority shareholders' interests, ethical behavior of firms and regulations of the securities exchanges. In addition, whilst data on foreign direct investment inflows was extracted from the World Development Indicators by the World Bank, data on country-level corporate governance indicators were extracted from the World Competitiveness Report via the World Economic Forum's Opinion Survey. This opinion, a global ranking extending more than 32 years, was selected because it provides both quantitative and qualitative features of a country's business and economic environment. It offers a comparative assessment of the economic and business prospects of the included economies. However, there are some limitations associated with this index:\nSummary statistics: We present the descriptive statistics for our study, which spans 2009 to 2015. These are presented in Table II. The mean value of foreign direct investment for our sampled African economies for the period in review is 5.5 per cent. This implies that even though African economies are attracting foreign direct investment, its level in relation to other continents is low. This finding is corroborated by the work of Bokpin et al. (2017), which recorded a mean of the FDI/GDP ratio of approximately 5 per cent for the period, 1996-2011.\nEmpirical results: Now, we present and discuss the results from our empirical estimations. The results are shown in Table IV. As stated earlier, we present a systems GMM regression. We discuss the results based on how the average (composite index) of the country-level corporate governance variables influences the level of foreign direct investment and proceeds to discuss how each of the corporate governance variables influences the level of foreign direct investment in our sampled African economies over the study period. This is because while we recognize that the composite index of the corporate governance variables could possibly have a significant impact on the level of foreign direct investment in our sampled African economies, touching on the individual country-level corporate governance and their impacts on foreign direct investment could help us test our formulated hypotheses.\nConclusions for policy implications: The study had sought to establish the relationship between country-level corporate governance structures and the level of foreign direct investment in Africa. Our results show that economies that are characterized by firms that behave ethical tend to attract more foreign direct investment. In addition, our results reveal that when boards of firms in an economy are effective in their dealings, it contributes to a high level of foreign direct investment inflows to the economy. Further, the findings highlight that, economies that are characterized by high protection of minority shareholders' interests tend to attract more foreign direct investment. However, our study reveals a significant negative effect of effectiveness of regulation of securities and exchanges on the level of foreign direct investment. This result may be attributed to political interferences in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of regulations of securities and exchanges. For policy implications, the results significantly suggest that reliance on country-level corporate governance structures by African economies can project the continent to attract the needed foreign direct investment for economic growth. It is advised that good and implementable corporate governance structures devoid of political interferences should be put in place in African economies, if the aim of using foreign direct investment to mitigate poverty by 2015 as part of the Millennium Development Goals is to be attained. The following specific measures are suggested to African economies:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the link between country-level corporate governance and foreign direct investment in African economies for the period 2009-2015.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use annual panel data of 40 African economies over the period of the study and use the system generalized method of moments (GMM) to establish the relationship between country-level corporate governance and foreign direct investment.\nFindings: The authors find that African economies characterized by firms with high ethical values tend to attract a great deal of foreign direct investment. In addition, they highlight that when an economy is associated with effective corporate boards, it tends to attract much foreign direct investment. Further, this study reveals that the level of minority shareholders' interests' protection in an economy has a significant positive relationship with foreign direct investment. Finally, they document a negative relationship between effectiveness of regulation of securities and exchanges and foreign direct investment.\nPractical implications: It is advised that sound and implementable corporate governance structures devoid of political interferences should be put in place in African economies, if the aim of using foreign direct investment to mitigate poverty by 2015 as part of the Millennium Development Goals is to be attained.\nOriginality/value: Empiricists have devoted considerable effort to estimate the factors that influence the level of foreign direct investment into African economies without taking into consideration the corporate governance structures in these economies. However, this paper seeks to examine the relationship between country-level corporate governance structures and foreign direct investment in African economies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Franchising decision support system for formulating a center positioning strategy	[ "Artificial intelligence", "Fuzzy logic", "Decision support", "Franchising model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In a highly competitive environment, the franchising business model becomes an efficient choice for companies to expand their business scale and market share at a rapid rate. In order to join the franchising business, interested parties (i.e. franchisee) pay a monthly franchise fee to the product owners or service providers, known as franchisors, so as to operate the same type of business at their own cost (Combs et al., 2004; Watson and Johnson, 2010). In such practice, the franchisees can lower the startup and operation risk by taking advice from the franchisor, such as marketing strategy formulation, resources allocation, promotion and advertising activities (Barthelemy, 2008; Sigue and Chintagunta, 2009).\n2. Literature review: From the franchisors' perspective, franchisees are considered as one of the most important customers, as well as the business partners, within the company. Building and handling customer relationships are the main foci in the business world. Using customer information wisely to build relationships is widely adopted by successful companies (Xu, et al., 2002). It is also suggested that AI would increase the business opportunities and, thus, transform the way to handle customer relationships (Ngai, 2005). In order to design a better solution for a franchising company, past literature on the existing franchising business, DS on center positioning strategy and the application of AI techniques are reviewed.\n3. Architecture of FDSS: In order to support the franchising business model, a FDSS is designed to determine future development plans and center positioning strategies for the franchisor. By adopting this system, the franchisor can examine the performance of all franchisees while the collected data are converted into useful knowledge for decision making. Hence, a constructive marketing strategy is provided according to the individual condition of the franchisee. The FDSS comprises three modules, which are Data Collection and Storage (DCSM), DADA, and DS. Figure 1 shows the architecture of FDSS.\n4. Case study: In order to validate the feasibility and performance of FDSS, the system was applied to the private education industry in Hong Kong. Dr I-Kids Education Center, which is a private education center, was established in Hong Kong in 2004. It provides a good learning environment by offering a wide range of tutorial courses for students in kindergarten, primary and secondary school so as to fulfill their needs in learning. These tutorial courses include English Phonics, Chinese and English writing, Cambridge English, Mathematics and Oral Presentation. Based on a good reputation in the private education industry, Dr I-Kids Education Center has further expanded its business and started to adopt a franchising system since 2007. After paying a monthly franchisee fee, franchisees are eligible to make use of the resources and teaching materials provided by Dr I-Kids Education Center to run the business. Up to now, there are over 20 centers distributed in the districts of Hong Kong.\n5. Results and discussion: By repeating the dual-fuzzy approach for all 18 districts in Hong Kong, the result of profitability analysis and competition analysis are discussed in order to provide DS function for the expansion plan of Dr I-Kids Education Center.\n6. Conclusions: In order to expand the business at a rapid rate using minimum resources, the franchising business model is considered as one of the possible solutions. By attracting interested parties to be franchisees, the franchisees can operate the business using the same brand name and the resources provided. The franchisor does not have to operate the business directly but needs to provide DS and guidance to franchisees. In such a sense, the franchisor is expected to have good strategic planning for future development.\nAcknowledgments: The authors thank the Editor-in-Chief and reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions that have improved the paper's quality. The authors would also like to thank the School of Information Science and Technology of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Dr I-Kids Education Center (Dr I-Kids), for support in this research. Special thanks go to Miss Doris Ho (Director of Dr I-Kids) and Miss Yoko Chong (ISE Alumni) for their arrangement and assistance provided in this research. This work is also supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71371190) and School of Advanced Computing, SYSU under Grant No. 2015-28000-71010004.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a franchising decision support system (FDSS) for future development planning by center positioning strategy formulation under a franchising business model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The system makes use of data collected from the franchising business and external environment analysis for decision making in center positioning problems. The fuzzy logic approach is integrated into the system for analyzing the geographical market dynamics including profitability and competitiveness in the district concerned. To demonstrate the application of the proposed FDSS, a case study is conducted in a Hong Kong-based franchising private education center, i.e. Dr I-Kids Education Center.\nFindings: The tailor made FDSS helps to facilitate the business operations of the franchising education center and develops a district positioning model for the centers located in the 18 districts of Hong Kong. The findings provide a solid foundation for marketing strategy and expansion direction formulation.\nOriginality/value: Due to the globalization of business, managing a growing franchising business model becomes challenging to the franchisor. In order to fully leverage the merits of the franchising system, an intelligent decision support model, focusing on making strategic development plans, is needed so as to expand the scale of business efficiently.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Supply chain integration in omni-channel retailing: a human resource management perspective	[ "Human capital", "Supply chain integration", "Omni-channel" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Omni-channel retailing (OCR) is viewed as an enabler to facilitate retailers to increase customer loyalty, enhance customer satisfaction and improve economic performances (Melacini et al., 2018). However, the channel alignment is a complex task because each channel presents different features, for example, the offline channel is characterized by less order quantity and product self-pick-up, whereas the online channel presents larger order quantity and home delivery (Verhoef et al., 2015; Chopra, 2016). The distinct characteristics of two channels indicate that the transition from multi-channel to omni-channel (OC) requires the joint efforts of every operation process in an entire supply chain (Murfield et al., 2017). Therefore, supply chain integration (SCI) is the key to achieving successful OCR. Furthermore, offline retailers have relatively simple requirements for employees that mainly focus on strong practicality (Kim and Kim, 2012). However, OC retailers require multi-skilled talents that understand information technology and participate more in the supply chain design to achieve precision marketing for customer's demand (Lee, 2017; Verhoef et al., 2015). Therefore, individual capability is an enabler for SCI in the context of OCR.\nLiterature review: HC in OCR\nConceptual model: This research aims to identify the relationships between HC, SCI and FP in the context of OCR. On the basis of DCV and the characteristics of OCR, the conceptual model is illustrated in Figure 1, and the rationales of the hypothesized model are explained below.\nMethodology: Research process\nResults: Preliminary study\nDiscussion: Critical HC to SCI\nConclusion, implications and future research: Applying DCV, this study identifies the relationships among HC, SCI and performance in the context of OCR. The results revealed that the capital of both managers and employees affects SCI, generating significant influence on FP when implementing OC strategy. Moreover, this study found the moderating effect of PV on the relationship between HC and SCI in OCR.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply the dynamic capability view to identify relationships between human capital (HC), supply chain integration (SCI) and firm's performance. It also examines the moderating effect of product variety (PV) on these relationships in the context of omni-channel retailing (OCR).\nDesign/methodology/approach: An empirical study was conducted based on survey research. In total, 230 retailers in China's market adopting omni-channel strategy were surveyed to examine the hypotheses proposed in our conceptual model using statistical techniques.\nFindings: This study reveals that HC has a positive impact on SCI, and the impact of employees' capital is greater on the success of SCI than that of managers' capital. Moreover, the results confirm that SCI facilitates the achievement of superior performance. Organization integration contributes the most to performance improvement in OCR. Additionally, this study identifies the positive moderating effect of PV on the relationship between HC and SCI, while the moderating effect is insignificant to the influence of SCI on performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: We obtained valuable insights for both academicians and practitioners. On the one hand, this could be an early attempt as an interdisciplinary study to empirically analyze supply chain management in OCR from human resource perspective. It reveals the importance of human resource management (HRM) and the contribution of SCI to OC retailers. Therefore, this study fills current research gaps. On the other hand, this study provides several practical insights to top management: the importance of improving an individual's competency to sustain a retailer's dynamic capability; and the importance of strengthening the organization's integration to better achieve effective SCI in OCR. Additionally, this study proposes future research based on its limitations.\nOriginality/value: SCI is investigated in the context of OCR from the HRM perspective. Moreover, this study reveals the importance of HRM and discusses the moderator's effect in OCR.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Marketing relationships in Brazil: trends in value strategies and capabilities	[ "Value analysis", "Corporate strategies", "Competences", "Emerging markets", "Economic trends" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Creating superior market value is fundamental for a company's long term success and survival (Slater and Olson, 1997; Woodruff, 1997). In the 1980's, the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group (IMP) recognized that in business markets, long-term relationships are generally established between buyers and sellers. These relationships were increasingly characterized by the use of higher value added exchanges, higher integration and mutual dependence (Gummesson, 1987; Hakansson, 1982; Harker and Egan, 2006). Over time, the expansion of the relationship research and concepts created a belief that in most firms the relationship strategies would predominate over transactional strategies (Harker and Egan, 2006). This belief of relationship predominance was based primarily on the theoretical and empirical work based in Europe and the USA, both with very highly advanced market economies, and on B2B firms that tend to focus on high value added offerings.In particular, B2B marketing and exchange relationships have been seen to range from transactional to more cooperative/relational (Gronroos, 1991; MacNeil, 1980). The evolution of B2B relationships from transactional to relational has been identified in Brazilian industry where research shows a movement from transactional to high forms of relationships, closer bonds and longer-term relationships (Grisi and Ribeiro, 2004). Similarly, Brazilian firms are developing both vertical and horizontal relationships that improve collective resources and improve global competitiveness (Mesquita and Lazzarini, 2008). Rossetti and Alvaro (2007) found that the industry sector leaders in Brazil anticipate increasing their value added service components from the current level of 21 per cent of offering to 42 per cent by 2010. But, firms in the middle of the market, with respect to performance, will reduce their service offerings by 13 per cent over the next three years.Although the widely held view is that firms should bond, develop relationships and offer high value added offerings, various B2B firms may operate as commodity providers or with a combination of many strategies. Gronroos (1991) suggested that various forms of marketing strategies coexist within a company and are described along a continuum from transactional marketing strategy to relationship marketing strategies. How firms perceive their strategies in an emerging and dynamic market such as Brazil could mean that they perpetuate their current strategies and evolve into new strategies in the future. But, to date there is no research that reports the expectations of their strategies over the coming years or the competencies firms believe will drive higher performance. One question of interest is whether this movement to highly intertwined relationships (MacNeil, 1980) and value added relationships is reflected in the current and future strategies of firms in emerging markets. Also, to what degree do firms in an emerging market anticipate future uses of higher value added strategies? These questions are important to address as emerging market firms begin to explore new forms of B2B relationships and develop their marketing competencies to match those relational forms.Taking into account the need to generate knowledge about the business market within the Brazilian context, the current research aims to identify value strategies that the firms are currently practicing and the types of strategies they anticipate using over the next ten years. The study also aims to evaluate those marketing capabilities perceived to be important performance drivers and which are related to the key value strategies that they anticipate into the future.We begin with an overview of value strategies and marketing capabilities, the focal issues in this investigation, and follow with an overview of the Delphi methodology used in this study. The third section presents the findings related to the managers' and executives' responses regarding their anticipated trends and required competencies. The last section provides implications for research and practice as well as a conclusion.\nValue framework: strategies and capabilities: Value framework\nMethodology: The primary objective of this exploratory study was to elicit the opinions of experts on the trends in value strategies, relationships and capabilities in the B2B arena over the next ten years. The study was conducted using a Delphi method with a panel of marketing experts working for companies in Brazil. An intentional sample was used (Churchill and Iacobucci, 2003) to select 30 key informants based on their experience and knowledge, and responsibility for the relevant marketing practices. The respondents' firms listed in Table II, come from the 500 largest companies in Brazil according to the 2006 ranking of Exame Magazine (2006). Among the respondents, 7 per cent were the company president or chief executive, 11 per cent were vice-presidents, 53 per cent were directors, and 29 per cent were senior managers. The companies cover various B2B industry segments with 72 per cent product firms and 28 per cent were service firms. Finally, the firms represented both large and medium sized nationally controlled firms and foreign controlled firms, with 52 per cent being large foreign companies, 29 per cent are large national companies and 19 per cent are mid size national companies.A Delphi technique was chosen as it is considered an appropriate qualitative methodology when dealing with complex problems and designing future scenarios (Feres Sobrinho, 1977). The application of the Delphi method involved successive iterations of mailed questionnaires to the group of experts. This Delphi method requires considerable reflection and extensive knowledge about the market and the multiple rounds allowed the structuring of a non-interactive group communication process. To guide them in their initial assessments of future value strategies, the respondents were given the definitions of the four value strategy categories of commodity, added value, performance value and value co-creation as defined in Table III. These categories were reviewed with various experienced marketing managers prior to the data collection stage to insure they represented relevant strategies in the Brazilian context. For capabilities, the respondents were asked to describe the capabilities required in their own words. At each round, the data underwent analysis to categorize and reduce the data into common themes. In each subsequent round, respondents were given a new version of the content to assess. The respondents were asked to review the new categories to reassess their responses, compare them to the arguments put forth by the other panel members, and to add new questions if necessary (Vergara, 2006). This procedure was repeated until a group consensus was reached, or a good understanding of the different scenarios was achieved as suggested by Linstone and Turoff (1975) and Kayo and Securato (1997).To avoid bias and increase trustworthiness, all experts and their responses remained anonymous, the standard for competent and ethical practice (Seidman, 1998). For inter-rater reliability, we adhered to two conditions proposed by Marques and McCall (2005), the use of multiple reviews of the data and accounting for the different themes and configurations of the themes in the reduction of the themes.\nFindings: Anticipated value strategies\nConclusion: The panel of experts showed that Brazil is practicing market strategies that follow the same trends as New Zealand, the USA and Argentina. Compared to the study by Pels et al. (2004), it is expected that more intense relationship strategies will be practiced in Brazil, as 42 per cent of revenues will stem from performance value and value co-creation strategies. In their Argentine sample, results show that relationship and network strategies prevail among local and small size companies. In our study, we found out that, in Brazil, more relationship strategies prevail among national large size and mid size companies. Also different from Argentina, the companies that tend most to practice commodity strategies in Brazil are large size ones, mainly those under foreign shareholder control. In Argentina, local and small side companies prevail in this group.Findings show that commodity practice in Brazil far exceeds that of New Zealand, the USA and Argentina. It is the Brazilian experts' opinion that 32 per cent of company gross revenues will stem from commodity strategies, and 26 per cent of gross revenues will stem from value-added strategies. Although the data is not related to revenues in the other studies, it is relevant that the number of companies with predominantly transactional practices is low. In Argentina, the number amounts to 18 per cent of the companies and 25 per cent in New Zealand and the USA.The panel of Brazilian experts in this study also showed that the three marketing capabilities thought to be most relevant to company performance in the coming ten years are:1. value identification and monitoring;2. market intelligence;3. relationship and performance value.The capabilities mentioned above were also identified as being relevant in a study carried out in the USA (Oliva, 2005) where study participants stated that the capability to understand customers' needs and value drivers will only be successful if they are based on knowledge of customer operations and the economic contexts. This shows the relevance of developing methodologies to demonstrate and document the value proposed and the impact generated in customers' operations.Brand, image and organizational alignment were also business capabilities that were highlighted in our study as being among the five most relevant capabilities leading to company performance. However, they were ranked as the capabilities where the companies felt they performed the worst. Therefore, they deserve special attention in relation to knowledge development and the methodologies applied. Brand and image deal with market communication that aims to strengthen the brand, the image and the reputation; to increase the company's share of mind, as well as to promote the customer's emotional engagement. Business alignment is the capability of the organization to align its business model so that it will be able to deliver and extract value from its relationship with the client.Despite the qualitative nature of the expert panel, important information about issues that pertain to organizations that deal with business markets was obtained through the data and the subsequent analyses carried out. Based on such information, some themes seem to hold priority in knowledge generation and in the development of proprietary methodologies for business markets. First, market intelligence and management that is aligned to corporate strategies is viewed as a necessary capability. The processes of learning, analyzing and choosing market opportunities that are aligned to company strategies have been a challenge to managers. Secondly, defining and managing value proposals require enhanced capabilities. Such capabilities include: identifying value attributes, differentiating value delivery, developing performance metrics, and capabilities in documenting and pricing the value generated. Finally, organizational alignment seems to be a determinant factor to companies that are involved in these markets. It seems to be of fundamental importance to find new organizational frameworks or new business models that support more relational strategies. Noteworthy is that, in business markets, the organizational alignment that guarantees that the value proposal is delivered is also one of the most relevant sources in building a company's image and reputation.Also noteworthy is that innovation and calculation methods to assess return on investment in marketing have not shown up in the study as relevant aspects for the coming years. It is also curious that ethics and responsible management is considered the most desirable aspect of management, but the capabilities to develop and deliver that capability are not chosen as key drivers of superior performance. However, these three themes have sparked great attention from academics in the last few years and are considered leading-edge themes.Future research could examine the strategies used to develop firm capabilities. What processes do they undertake? How do they train to develop the capabilities? Another possible avenue of research is to evaluate individuals' capabilities as they relate to the value strategies of the company. What methods do they use to evaluate the capabilities and to train to the needed levels of competency? Future studies could broaden the sampling to see if the strategies reported are reflected among a broader range of companies. That could be used as a benchmark of value strategies among the high performers across business sections. Finally, monitoring of the progression of value strategies would be interesting. Do firms progress through the different strategies sequentially or do they adopt the strategies based on the specific clients and their existing levels of capabilities? One final reflection is that Brazilian firms do recognize the importance of higher value added strategies for their future revenues. The transition from commodity to value co-creation or the co-existence of multiple value strategies is evident in Brazilian companies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of value strategies among international and national firms in Brazil by exploring the trends in value strategies for use in future marketing relationships and the capabilities necessary to implement those value strategies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study uses a Delphi technique to elicit the opinions and perceptions from a group of B2B marketing experts. An iterative data collection with 30 senior executives of national and foreign, mid- and large size firms in Brazil was used to explore the strategies firms use, the types of key capabilities, and the capabilities that drive performance.\nFindings: - The findings show that both national and international firms in Brazil expect to continue to use commodity strategies as their primary relational form, but move toward the higher value added strategies. Higher value added strategies are expected to account for 42 per cent of the respondent firms' relationships in the coming years. Firms rated \"methods to identify and monitor\" and \"marketing intelligence\" as the two most important capabilities for driving performance. An additional finding is the distinction between firms' self-evaluations of capability competence and the capabilities that drive performance.\nPractical implications: - The study provides insight into the links between value strategies practiced and the marketing capabilities required to support those strategies.\nOriginality/value: - The study provides practitioner insights into the practices and trends in the use of value-driving and value-creating strategies among firms in a big emerging market, Brazil.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Regenerative futures	[ "Futures", "Forecasting", "Sustainable development", "Forward planning", "Regenerative" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The consequences of unsustainable human behaviours have resulted in the global arrival at an unprecedented environmental precipice. The impacts of climatic change necessitate a particularly urgent and collective response. Conventional approaches to sustainability that seek to mitigate or neutralise harm are insufficient to address the accrued ecological and social debts of human activity. A fundamental shift in mindset is required to realise the potential for humans to act as embedded actors within an array of social and natural systems. Frameworks that help to operationalise this shift are necessary; however, these must also overcome increasingly entrenched feelings of overwhelm and futility to deliver a message of hope and empowerment. Achieving a system state of resilience across communities that is proactive and anticipatory is essential. Existing regenerative approaches, including regenerative design and development and regenerative sustainability provide alternative frameworks for action, articulating pathways to transformation. Additionally, futures thinking has the potential to facilitate a departure from a \"business as usual\" approach to sustainability practice.\nMoving from \"sustainable\" to regenerative: It is clear that new ways of thinking about sustainability are urgently required to create what Bussey describes as an \"open and dynamic space for cultural evolution and social learning\" (2014, p. 2). Frameworks that recognise concepts of human interdependence and facilitate the progression towards positive, collective goals are needed, ultimately culminating in resilient communities. The concept of regeneration is useful in this context. In the literal sense, it is the process of bringing new or more vigorous life. The term brings forth concepts of re-birth, reformation and restoration. When explored from a spiritual standpoint, it may denote a realignment with a deity and socially, it may describe the reduction of poverty and the subsequent reclamation of greater social choice. Whilst similar to associated concepts including restoration, regeneration describes positive, ongoing transformation and a sense of interactive adaptability. It is a dynamic and continuous process; regeneration is not simply \"achieved\" rather continues to be achieved. It is complex, multi-faceted and has the capacity to strengthen over time. When viewed from the perspective of pressing, current environmental challenges, regeneration not only brings a sense of hope and empowerment but also reinforces the importance of smaller actions.\nRegenerative design and development: Regenerative design and development are established fields that approach human behaviour from the perspective of hope and potential. They are underpinned by ecological thinking, or:\nInforming futures concepts in the regenerative context: Existing regenerative fields undoubtedly provide exciting and fundamentally different approaches to human behaviour in the context of the pressing environmental challenges currently facing the planet. Providing a hopeful and uplifting narrative, these fields challenge the mechanistic approach to sustainability that remains prevalent. It is contended, however, that futures thinking and methods (Slaughter and Bussey, 2005) could bring further richness to regenerative thinking and practice. While the future cannot be predicted, it can be understood, explored, mapped and even created (Slaughter, 1998). In this way futures studies acknowledges the multiple and invites us to analyse alternative futures in a deep, layered manner. In the context of transitioning to more hopeful and regenerative ways of engaging with the natural world, futures studies provides the \"tools for human beings to grasp their historical predicament, respond to it and move on to new stages of civilised life\" (Slaughter, 1998, p. 373). It provides a framework for empowerment and acknowledgment of our collective and active role in shaping the future. Indeed, futures studies helps to overcome deterministic views of the future, embracing a view that the future is in fact plural \"futures\" (Ramos, 2006). Futures thinking particularly challenges the prevailing views that are collectively held around \"time\" and \"reality.\" A broadening of these notions in the context of regeneration, informed by robust futures theory, provides an opportunity for greater richness and ultimately transformation. Informing futures concepts in this context are summarised in Table 3.\nConclusion: Ongoing research is necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of a regenerative futures approach for both existing and planned communities. Opportunity also exists to integrate regenerative futures principles into existing community planning tools, rating tools and frameworks. What is clear, however, is that pressing environmental challenges require ongoing evaluation of the way in which humans interact with each other and the social and natural systems of which they are a part. An empowering narrative of hope and possibility is needed to overcome pervasive feelings of either denial or overwhelm and conceptual models that provide a framework for facilitating this positive and ongoing transformation are required. Regenerative thinking and practice provide such an alternative. The addition of greater futures perspectives in this context has the potential to further challenge and broaden prevailing concepts of reality, possibility and time. Embracing the unknown and the unknowable, regenerative futures provides a hopeful yet robust approach to conceptualise truly sustainable communities. More importantly, it provides a framework to achieve alignment between vision and reality, focussing on the deep individual and collective transformation that is required to achieve a process of continuous regeneration.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate how futures concepts may further existing regenerative sustainability thinking.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper reviews existing regenerative fields, including regenerative design, regenerative development and regenerative sustainability as alternatives to conventional sustainability practice. It considers futures concepts that may deepen regenerative thinking and practice to develop a regenerative futures conceptual model.\nFindings: This paper demonstrates how regenerative fields and futures studies have the capacity to reciprocally inform one another and builds upon this relationship through the development of a regenerative futures conceptual model.\nOriginality/value: This paper makes a number of theoretical contributions. First, it demonstrates how regenerative fields and futures thinking may reciprocally inform one another and, subsequently, enrich regenerative practice. Second, by drawing from futures thinking, it questions and ultimately lengthens notions of reality and time from a regenerative perspective. Finally, through the proposal of a regenerative futures conceptual model, it offers an alternative lens to analyse human behaviours and their associated impacts. In this way, it introduces a theoretical model that is focused on deep individual and collective transformation and a starting point for future research and refinement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Feeling responsible vs acting responsibly: contributions of a leadership programme	[ "Organisational development", "Penitentiary organisation", "Responsibility", "Strategy implementation", "Leadership development and training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: \"Ethics is about actions and behaviour, and much less about principles\" (Hoebeke, 2004, p. 84).\n1. Introduction: This paper describes the impact of a leadership programme, four years after its implementation in a penal institution. In this type of bureaucratic and procedure-based organisation with its steep hierarchy and forceful authority, employee cynicism and indifference are a constant threat. The leadership programme is related to theory, which is reviewed in the first part of this paper. It centres on Hoebeke's concept \"ethical responsibility in one's own work system\" (2004). In the second section, we show how this concept of responsibility is related to the responsibility aspects in the leadership programme. In the third section we describe the case. The question was: how can the culture of mistrust and cynicism in a penitentiary organisation be transformed into a culture of trust and acting responsibly? This was realised through the strategic organisational development intervention of the leadership programme. In the fourth section of this paper we will give the floor to the governor, unit manager, department heads and employees of the organisation themselves. From the three in-depth group interviews, held in 2009, four years after delivering the programme, it is made clear how the central concept of assuming responsibility for one's own work system has become a real life force in the organisation.\n2. A human measure of responsibility: Throughout the in-company leadership programme \"Working together, building together\" a human measure of responsibility plays a central role. This human measure consists of the personal responsibility for what someone says, does and thinks within the context of the work system of which one forms a part. We base ourselves on the ideas on responsibility of Luc Hoebeke here. Hoebeke himself describes them as follows: \"Looked at from a systemic perspective I can only assume ethical responsibility for what I do and do not do, for what I say and do not say, and never for the consequences of those things [...] For me, ethics is about actions and behaviour, and much less about principles\" (Hoebeke, 2004, p. 84). What appealed to us in this definition is that Hoebeke translates responsibility into concrete, daily human actions in one's own work system. Hoebeke distinguishes between traditional thinking about responsibility, based on principles and ethical responsibility, which expresses itself in concrete actions: acting responsibly or actually taking up responsibility (concrete and practical) versus merely feeling responsible (conceptual or analytical). Varela (1999) describes this as a distinction between \"coping behaviours and abstract judgment\" (Varela, 1999, p. 19).Traditional thinking about responsibility\n3. The leadership programme: In this section we introduce the leadership programme \"Working together, building together\" as a strategic organisational development intervention. We describe what its key concepts are and how these are related to Hoebeke's vision of responsibility.The development of \"negative capability\"\n4. Case: leadership programme in a penal institution: The organisation we present in this case concerns a Dutch penal institution. It is a half open institution for male convicts. This means that prisoners work outside the prison during daytime. The organisation hierarchy consists of four layers:(1) the governor (or director) of the organisation;(2) unit managers who lead several departments;(3) department heads who manage their own department; and(4) employees who execute concrete tasks, for example guarding prisoners.A penal institution is a closed society with strict rules concerning safety. This kind of organisation's culture is usually characterised by steep hierarchy, bureaucracy, forceful authority and relationships based on power differences. Cynicism and indifference are constant threats, as is finger pointing. This was also the case in the penal institution we introduce.In this organisation the notion of personal responsibility had little meaning for the employees. Cynicism, indifference and a growing feeling of an unsafe working climate caused a situation which asked for an intervention. In 2005 the governor of the penal institution saw as a possible answer to the endemic employee cynicism: the programme \"Working together, building together.\" \"I found the concepts [of the leadership programme] to be the most fitting answer to the rampant cynicism in the organisation,\" he says now. \"A good example of this cynicism is that jokes were always being made about everything - which only resulted in people not feeling the need to assume responsibility. Responsibility was always being placed outside oneself; concepts like leadership and so on could never be the subject of any fruitful discussion. Even your own behaviour was never the subject of discussion; it was always about the other guy, about your colleague. So an ever less safe climate began developing, a climate which also lacked integrity.\" The governor wanted to create a more positive and a safer working climate, in which trust would replace cynicism as the dominant factor. \"A safe organisation is an organisation which permits one to learn from one's mistakes [...] if mistakes are not permitted [...] that is what dominates the entire process of policy-making [...] then you trigger a quest for zero percent risk, and you can never find that zero.\" The focus of the governor on creating a strong organisation with honest leaders can be compared to what Collins calls \"level 5 leadership,\" in which personal modesty is combined with a strong professional will and commitment to build a viable organisation (Collins, 2004).The strategic implementation of a culture of acting responsibly in the form of the leadership programme took place in 2005. The governor himself (we name him L in this case) was familiar with the programme, since he had taken part in it six years earlier. The unit managers of the organisation also had taken part in this programme in earlier years. In 2005, there were ten department heads. Five of them participated in the leadership programme in that year, on a voluntary basis. The programme was not meant for non-managerial employees.Table I illustrates the career movements of L in this organisation. In this paper we describe only location A, with L as the governor: from 2006 onwards. Until 2000, L had been a unit manager in location A. Then he became the governor of location B: from 2000 until 2005. Here, L initiated the leadership programme for both locations. The programme took place in 2005 and the interviews were held in the beginning of 2009.In 2006, a year after the intervention, the organisation[1] faced the threat of closure because of empty cells. A new strategy was needed. The development and execution of a new strategy was co-created with the department heads, who had developed a sense of responsibility and had become sparring partners for the governor. Employing people with the right attitude - and at the same time keeping an eye on the hard facts - are essential for being able to adjust to a changing environment (Collins, 2004). The governor was able, in close cooperation with the unit managers, department heads and the Workers Council, to first downsize the institution for male convicts. Then he enlarged the organisation by creating accommodation for young offenders, a completely new \"market\" for this organisation. This new strategy offered a better opportunity for safeguarding the continuity of the \"business.\" In the process, new job opportunities were created: the security department saw a growth from 20 to 60 employees. This strategy shows that the situation the organisation faced was approached from a perspective of choosing out of abundance, meaning acting from trust and possibilities, instead of acting from a perspective of decision making in scarcity (Jansen and Jagers, 2007; Hoebeke, 2004).In 2007 a one-day training was offered to all employees of location A. This training was initiated as the result of an employee engagement survey and it was not related to the leadership programme \"Working together, building together.\" Everyone (all layers of the organisation) took part in this training. It turned out that there was fertile ground for this training: despite its short duration, it had a lasting effect. Its theme centred on \"Speak, Discuss and Agree\"; the term \"SDA\" was coined. The governor was able to ensure that this initiative meshed well with the \"Working together, building together\" programme. This short programme also contributed to the transition from a culture of cynicism and gossiping to one marked by responsibility and results.In 2009, four years after the leadership programme, we held three in-depth interview rounds with the following persons:(1) The governor and one unit manager.(2) Four department heads who had participated in the programme in 2005, which amounts to 57 percent of all the department heads in 2009. In 2009, there were seven department head, of whom five had participated.(3) Six non-managerial employees who had not been involved in the training at all.\n5. Department heads and employees tell: In this section we give the floor to the governor, the department heads and the employees we interviewed. They describe how the concept \"responsibility\" is alive in their organisation and show how certain key concepts from the \"Working together, building together\" programme still play a role in their daily conversations at work.We do not pretend to be able to offer a direct link between the 2005 programme and the work practices in 2009, when we held the interviews. In the following we wish to show what assuming personal responsibility with regard to thinking, doing and acting looks like in the everyday practice of an organisation.Responsibility for \"way of being\" and result\n6. Reflections and conclusions: We started this case study by describing the old culture in a Dutch penal institution. The organisation was characterised by steep hierarchy, forceful authority, rules and procedures. A lack of employee responsibility, finger pointing and cynicism were constant threats to its organisational health. For the governor this was the reason to request an intervention: the leadership programme \"Working together, building together,\" for department heads. In this 2005 programme, acting responsibly and looking at one's own contribution to concrete results were central themes.Four years after the delivery of the programme, we interviewed employees, department heads, a unit manager and the governor. It became clear that the concepts of the leadership programme were still alive and had defeated employee cynicism, the lack of integrity and the unsafe working climate. Important terms like \"never-ending game,\" \"attitudinal aspects of leadership\" and \"assumed threat\" were even frequently used. Both leaders and employees in the organisation do seem to act responsibly now, and together create a cooperative working climate. One of the interviewees said \"You have a greater sense of safety with relationships than with a locked door,\" in other words, you benefit more from mutual trust and a positive working relationship than from rules and procedures. Also, a far-reaching new strategy has been implemented based on responsibility, trust and cooperation between the governor, unit managers, department heads and the Workers Council. This resulted in a great sense of long-term continuity for the organisation at large. On a practical level it resulted in flexible types of prison cells, for adult and youth delinquents, and it had expanded the various job opportunities.The interviews make two more things clear. Department heads see the relationship between their own \"way of being\" and the results they produce, and how these results can impact the organisation and its working climate in a positive way. They now experience meaningfulness and satisfaction in the context of a bureaucratic organisation full of rules and procedures. The programme turned out to be an effective antidote to employee cynicism, complaining and gossiping, because people are now proud of what they do.Second, department heads (and to some extent also employees) have developed the ability to look at themselves and their own actions, without judging what one does, without opinions and \"funny\" remarks. This creates \"space\" in the minds of all employees in which one can clearly see what is going on, and also, what is needed and effective in a specific situation, apart from one's own judgements, parochial interests and opinions. In other words, the level of intra-organisational power play, prototypical in a setting like this, had been greatly reduced.What makes all the concepts of the leadership programme last in people's minds, even after four years? We think it is because of the fundamental approach of this programme: the focus on one's \"way of being\" in relationship with behaviour and results. Behavioural patterns and automatic reactions are examined at their roots: one's way of being, which is rooted in one's fundamental convictions and attitudes. A change in these convictions and attitudes can have an enormous impact on one's behaviour, the result one produces and the relationship one creates.Working with the rules, and therefore with the relationships with one another, that is what a bureaucratic, hierarchical organisation constantly has to wrestle with. The kind of programme we described in this case, which offers to regain assuming responsibility in one's own work system, could probably also have a positive influence on other bureaucratic or hierarchical organisations. Why? Because it contains a collective training that appeals to people's need for a productive and human approach to working and personal accountability: responsibility for one's own daily work system (Hoebeke, 2004).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to address the effects of a unique leadership programme, four years after its delivery: in a Dutch penitentiary organisation. This intervention was initiated because of a felt lack of safety in an organisation that was characterised by steep hierarchy, forceful authority, constant employee cynicism and indifference. The focus of the intervention lies on actually assuming responsibility and producing the intended, strategically relevant results.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - First we sketch Hoebeke's ideas on \"responsibility in one's own work system\" (Hoebeke, 2004). We show how these ideas are related to the leadership programme. Next we illustrate the programme's effect with quotes from three in-depth group interviews with the penitentiary's governor, unit manager, four department heads and six employees.\nFindings: - The interviews show that acting responsibly has become a living concept in the sense that is now being explicitly used among employees in all layers of the organisation. Employees and managers have learned to translate responsibility into concrete and relevant results. A new strategy for the continuity of the organisation has been co-created with all management levels and the Workers Council and it has been implemented successfully. The intervention also defeated the cynicism and lack of integrity in the organisation.\nOriginality/value: - This case shows that being trained in the ability \"to be present with reality\" and actually assuming responsibility for the relationship between one's own \"way of being\" and the results one produces had a lasting, positive impact on an organisation and its people.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Curriculum innovation in undergraduate accounting degree programmes through "virtual internships"	[ "Online learning", "Accounting education", "Scenario-based learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Undergraduate degree programmes in accounting are expected to provide high-quality education that prepares students for entry into their chosen profession (Jackson et al., 2014; Kavanagh and Drennan, 2008). This general expectation is the result of the specific views of students and employers. Student expectations are focused on the development of the skills and knowledge that are necessary to enter the workforce successfully (Gibson, 2010; Rosenberg et al., 2012). Employers, on the other hand, expect graduates to possess a strong soft-skill base in the areas of teamwork, problem solving, analytical assessment, and communication (Australian Association of Graduate Employers, 2011; Clarke, 2009; Jackson et al., 2014). In addition, graduates are expected to solve complex non-routine problems through the integrated use of technical knowledge and well-developed soft-skills (Jackson and Chapman, 2012; Robst, 2007; Sondergaart and Murthi, 2012). Although student expectations are outcome oriented and employers frame their expectations around the skills/knowledge required to achieve these outcomes, the need for well-educated work-ready graduates forms the core of both expectation sets.\n2. Assessment of traditional accounting degree programmes: Traditional undergraduate accounting degree programmes are often focused on training, rather than education (Boyce, 2004; Evans, 2010). Traditional programmes are focused on training because the mastery of technical knowledge is widely regarded as their most important learning outcome (Boyce et al., 2012; Gray and Collison, 2002). Given that a training focus implies that learning activities are aimed at the development of a narrow set of technical skills for subsequent repetition in the workplace (Evans, 2010), improvements in the workplace readiness of graduates would be expected. However, traditional degree programmes continue to be criticised for their inability to create work-ready graduates (Howieson, 2003; Rosenberg et al., 2012; Sondergaart and Murthi, 2012). In addition to this general criticism, traditional degree programmes are seen to lack soft-skill development opportunities (Gray and Collison, 2002), as well as contextualised learning activities that encourage students to engage with the profession (Fleming, 2008; Guile and Griffiths, 2001).\n3. Curriculum renewal through virtual internships: The current paper aims to address the criticisms levied against traditional training focused degree programmes. To address existing criticisms, undergraduate accounting programmes are conceptualised as educational activities aimed at the integrated development of technical knowledge and workplace-related soft-skills. Following recommendations in the literature (e.g. see Boyce, 2004), virtual internships are designed as immersive scenario-based learning environments that utilise proven strategies to achieve highly contextualised learning outcomes. This focus ensures that the strengths of traditional undergraduate accounting programmes are incorporated into a contemporary learning model that addresses the concerns of students and employers.\n4. Key advantages of virtual internships: Undergraduate accounting programmes are often delivered in a complex environment, shaped by large class sizes (Freeman, 2010), a high proportion of international students (Hancock et al., 2009; Ryan, 2010), and a wide variety of career pathways for graduates (Gray and Collison, 2002). The virtual internship model is well suited to address the challenges of this environment because it replicates the advantages of real-world work experience by contextualising the development of technical skills in a virtual workplace simulation. In addition, the adoption of the virtual internship model is likely to increase student engagement (Clarke, 2009), leading to improved learning outcomes and reduced attrition (Kuh et al., 2008). Engagement levels and the ability of students to navigate real-world work environments are improved because virtual internships require students to resolve complex technical problems through the integrated application of principles-based information and workplace-related soft-skills (Riebe et al., 2010; Robst, 2007).\n5. Key obstacles for the creation of virtual internships: Although the current paper suggests a movement away from traditional accounting education programmes towards a teaching model based on virtual internships, it is unlikely that virtual internships are able to address all criticisms levied against traditional accounting degree programmes in all situations. As a result, virtual internships should only be viewed as one potential avenue through which existing criticisms may be addressed. Practical obstacles for the creation and implementation of virtual internships relate to the identification of relevant graduate skills, the ability and/or willingness of academics to adopt a virtual internship model, and the willingness of students to engage with virtual internships.\n6. Conclusion: This paper presented a novel approach to education for undergraduate accounting programmes. The outlined virtual internship model has substantial advantages over traditional accounting education programmes because learning activities are embedded in an immersive workplace simulation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss major criticisms of traditional undergraduate accounting programmes and to introduce virtual internships as a curriculum innovation that addresses these criticisms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The main aim of the paper is to inspire curriculum innovation in accounting programmes though the introduction and discussion of virtual internships as a contemporary teaching model.\nFindings: The paper provides a detailed outline of the virtual internship model, its advantages and disadvantages, and its development in practice.\nOriginality/value: The paper is likely to be most relevant for academics in undergraduate accounting programmes because it provides a practical guide to the development of this curriculum innovation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How organization justice and perceived organizational support facilitate employees' innovative behavior at work	[ "Organizational justice", "Innovative behaviour", "Organizational culture", "Affective commitment", "Perceived organization support" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Employees' innovative behavior (IB) has immense significance for organizational effectiveness and its survival, which ultimately leads an organization toward sustainable development (Oldham and Cummings, 1996; Scott and Bruce, 1994). IB generates new ideas, including efficient multitasking processes and job-related managerial motivation (Amabile et al., 1996). In order to mobilize the innovation process, many organizations take into consideration the various actors that assist them in the development of employees' IB (Martins and Terblanche, 2003). Researchers argue that organizations progress further when their employees are ready to contribute beyond their formal job descriptions (Organ, 1988; Podsakoff et al., 2000). In today's changing and competitive business world, organizations require their employees to become social entrepreneurs (Bies et al., 2007; Bornstein, 2004) and employees are expected to improve their organizations' processes by producing and implementing innovative solutions that enhance both customer satisfaction and services (Dean and Kretschmer, 2007). These contemporary changes in work arrangements have brought to light the importance of perceptions of justice, fairness, and moral values in management discourse (Viswesvaran and Ones, 2002). Organizational justice has been explored in the literature of organizational behavior as a possible system that oversees the adverse effects of organizational politics (Byrne, 2005), encourages mutual understanding in employer-employee relationships (Andrews and Kacmar, 2001), diminishes ethical uncertainty (Cavanagh et al., 1981), reduces stress (Ferris et al., 1996) and creates employees' positive attitudes and IB (Cohen-Charash and Spector, 2001; Colquitt et al., 2001).\nLiterature review: Landry and Vandenberghe (2009) proposed that organizational commitment is the psychological state that characterizes the relationship between employees and employers. A considerable amount of research has been conducted regarding employees' commitment, which also suggests how employees can become more affectively committed to their organization (Allen and Meyer, 1990; Meyer et al., 2002). In general, affective commitment refers to the level to which an employee feels emotionally attached to or identifies with the organization (Meyer and Allen, 1991). Recent studies suggest that affective commitment has a negative relationship with employee turnover and a positive relationship with job performance (Meyer et al., 2002; Riketta, 2002) and is rooted in the concept of exchange (Meyer and Allen, 1991). If employees perceive their work experience to be positive, they will most likely want to stay in the organization and will be more willing to utilize their efforts in the interest of the organization. In comparison with other commitment types, this has continuously been observed as one of the best predictors of organizational behavior (Chen and Francesco, 2003).\nResearch methodology: Sample and procedure\nDiscussion: In the modern business environment, employees are endeavoring to achieve high goals and IB in order to be considered capable and professional in a highly competitive work environment (Kim et al., 2017). The main purpose of this research was to analyze how judgments about organizational justice engender IB and employees' affective commitment in Pakistan, with its own cultural context, and to examine the mechanisms by which organizational justice transmits its effects on IB and organizational affective commitment. We combined the POS and organizational justice literature to describe the motivational sources of organizational commitment and employees' IB. We theorized that social exchange in an employment relationship may be started by an organization, through fair treatment of its employees. A significant and stimulating finding is the variance in the observed aspect of organizational justice. This study found that employee of local businesses and ones predominantly operating within Pakistan perceive organizational justice in different settings than the employees working in a predominantly individualistic culture. The results from this study support past research recommending that development of organizational affective commitment should contribute to boosting employees' IB (Jafri, 2010). The findings from this study provide information for human resource managers. Using SET, this study claims that, when employees create valuable relationships at work, a mutual understanding develops, which is advantageous for both the employee and the organization (Cole et al., 2007; Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005; Maurer et al., 2002).\nPractical and managerial implications: The conceptual model developed in this study has important implications for organizations. Using POS as a mediator, our exploration provides various managerial recommendations. From a theoretical perspective, the relationship between organizational justice, affective commitment and IB has been greatly upheld in a Western cultural context. This research was carried out in the Pakistani cultural context, where individuals working in a profoundly collectivistic culture (Hofstede, 2001) generally do not expect the organizations simply to be fair, rather they want their organizations to treat them like family (Den Hartog et al., 1999; Yoon and Thye, 2000). Therefore, the mediation impact of POS suggests that the Pakistani employees expect their organizations to provide them with valuable support instead of simply being fair. In addition, managers need to understand that positive IB supports the employees' capability to resolve problems in the workplace (Carmeli et al., 2006; De Jong and Den Hartog, 2010; Janssen, 2005) and, as such, provides employees with an enabling environment through the steps suggested above.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships among organizational justice, innovative organization culture, perceived organizational support (POS), affective commitment and innovative behavior (IB). The mediating role of POS is tested within the relationship of justice dimensions, affective commitment and IB.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data for this research were collected from 367 managerial and executive employees working in manufacturing and IT sector firms in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was utilized to test hypothesized relationships.\nFindings: Results indicate that organizational justice (distributive, procedural and interactional justice), innovative organization culture and POS are significantly related to affective commitment and employees' IB. The findings also showed that organizational justice stimulates employees' affective commitment and IB through mediating POS as well as directly.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study is its cross-sectional design and self-reported questionnaire data. This study is also limited to manufacturing and IT sector in Pakistan. Therefore, other sectors and geographical locations could be chosen for future research using a bigger sample size.\nOriginality/value: This study makes important theoretical contributions using social exchange theory. It also expands the research in the area of organizational justice dimensions, organizational culture and POS as antecedents of affective commitment and IB. This study is an exceptional investigation of justice, organization culture, POS, commitment and IB in the Pakistan cultural context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

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