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Engaging employees in China: The impact of communication channels, organizational transparency, and authenticity
|
[
"Employee engagement",
"Authenticity",
"Social media",
"Communication channels",
"Organizational transparency"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Academics and professionals across management and communication fields have increasingly recognized significant contributions of engaged employees to organizations. Employee engagement contributes to organizational growth, profit, and productivity (Harter et al., 2002), organizational citizenship behavior, customer satisfaction (May et al., 2004; Saks, 2006), and employee retention (Berger, 2011). Engaged employees are attentive, dedicated, and absorbed in their work roles; they feel a deep and meaningful connection with the organization; and they are willing to give extra time, effort, and initiatives to contribute to organizational goals (Saks, 2006). Given the importance of employee engagement in achieving the organization's business success, a growing number of studies have explored the sundry factors that drive employee engagement, including leadership, communication climate, supervisor relationship, work environment, and job characteristics (Men, 2012; Parsley, 2006; Saks, 2006). Notably, a missing factor from these efforts, however, is whether and how the organization's selection of internal communication channels could affect employee engagement.\nLiterature review: Internal communication channels in the social era\nMethod: To answer the research questions and test the hypotheses, a web-based survey was conducted in November 2013. The study population comprised employees who work for medium and large corporations from a variety of industries in China. Respondents were recruited from an online panel through an international research firm. To achieve a representative sample, stratified and quota random sampling strategies solicited replies from Chinese respondents from different age groups, genders, corporate sizes, incomes, and educational levels. A final sample size of 406 was achieved (55.2 percent male and 44.8 percent female, medium age group is from 35 to 44 years). A total of 61.3 percent of the respondents were from companies that have over 500 employees. Approximately 70.6 percent of the respondents held a bachelor's degree. The respondents were employees working in various corporations, having an average company tenure of 16 years.\nResults: Internal communication channels in China\nDiscussion and conclusion: This study explored the channels companies in China to communicate with their employees and the effects of communication channels and transparent and authentic communication on employee engagement. The findings provide additional insights into the current literature on employee communication and transparent and authentic communication. In addition, this study also adds to the body of knowledge on employee relations and social media use in contemporary, non-Western society in the Web 2.0 era.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: Academics and professionals across management and communication fields have increasingly recognized significant contributions of engaged employees to organizations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of communication channels, and communication attributes of transparency and authenticity on employee engagement in China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A web survey was conducted with 407 employees randomly selected from a variety of medium-sized and large corporations in China.\nFindings: The study results show that face-to-face interactions and social media are the most effective channels in building organizational transparency, authenticity, and engaging employees in China. Organizational transparency and authenticity demonstrate strong positive effects on employee engagement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.\nOriginality/value: This study was among the first empirical attempts to examine the impact of corporate communication channels on employee engagement in China. It also contributes to the growing literature on corporate transparency and authenticity, two of the major communication trends identified in the twenty-first century.\n",
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] |
Transformational leadership in organizations: an environment-induced model
|
[
"Transformational leadership",
"Business environment",
"Organizations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The absence of research on the effect of the external environment on the emergence of transformational leadership \"is typical of organizational behavior research, which, for the most part, draws an artificial boundary between organization and environment, thereby failing to consider that organizational behavior might be as much a product of the forces outside of an organization as it is a product of the organization itself\" (Dietz et al., 2003: 318). Some researchers, however, have advocated the inclusion of environmental antecedents in the study of organizational behavior (i.e. DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967; Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978). This is particularly important in today's competitive environment where external constituencies pressure companies for financial performance and social responsibility. Bennis and O'Toole (2000) have identified hypercompetition, Internet era volatility, turboglobalism, and billion-dollar mergers as factors leading to the diminishing half-life of executive tenure. The authors have also attributed CEO's churning (CEO's excessive turnover) to shareholders' impatience, especially for financial results. In addition to shareholders, other constituencies such as customers and the public demand more socially responsible actions from organizations. Thus, ignoring the impact of the external environment on the emergence of transformational leadership in organizations is both conceptually limited and practically risky.\nEnvironmental challenges facing organizations: The construct of volatility of the external environment is used to characterize an ever-changing and uncertain external environment. The volatility of the external environment influences how organizations restructure themselves to cope with changes or to anticipate them. Fulmer, Gibbs, and Goldsmith (2000, p. 57) note that globalization, deregulation, e-commerce, and rapid technological change are forcing companies to reevaluate the way they operate. Milliken (1987) makes the distinction between objective environmental uncertainty and subjective environmental uncertainty. The former refers to objective features of the external environment, whereas the latter concerns organizational members' perceptions of the external environment. Jauch and Kraft (1986) note that technological uncertainty can be objectively measured by exploring the activities of firms applying for patents. The authors also contend that the rate at which different firms patent their mistakes and successes and the degree to which new patents diverge from previous activities and those of other firms, indicates a measure of disparity and volatility in this area.Environmental uncertainty refers to assigned probabilities as to the likelihood of future events (Duncan, 1972; Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978). Milliken (1987) defines uncertainty as an individual's inability to accurately predict something. Environments perceived as highly uncertain will likely be viewed as very risky, as contexts in which a few erroneous decisions could result in severe trouble and possibly put the survival of organizations at risk (Waldam et al., 2001, p. 136). There are various types of perceived uncertainty about the environment including technological uncertainty, consumer uncertainty, competitive uncertainty, and resource uncertainty (Milliken, 1987). Volatility and complexity may make the environment less predictable (Milliken, 1987) and may influence the type of leadership emerging within the organization. In a volatile environment, new management styles that enable intangibles to be developed and dynamic capabilities to be practiced are clearly critical (Teece, 1998). Organizations cannot initiate such strategic re-alignment without the presence of a transformational leader. Gibbons (1992) considered environmental complexity and scarcity as external factors influencing the form of the required transformational leadership.\nTransformational leadership: Transformational leadership refers to a leadership type in which leaders possess charisma and provide intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration and inspirational motivation to followers (Bass, 1985, 1998; Burns, 1978; Avolio and Bass, 1988, Bass and Avolio, 1994; Bass et al., 1987; Bennis and Nanus, 1985; Burns, 1978; Pawar and Eastman, 1997; Tichy and Devanna, 1986; Yukl, 1989). Transformational leaders create a dynamic organizational vision that often necessitates a metamorphosis in cultural values to reflect greater innovation (Pawar and Eastman, 1997). Transformational leadership also seeks a bonding between individual and collective interests allowing subordinates to work for transcendental goals (Bass, 1985, 1998; Pawar and Eastman, 1997). Bass (1985) considered charisma as one of the four characteristics of transformational leadership. Charisma is a fire, a fire that ignites followers' energy and commitment, producing results above and beyond the call of duty (Klein and House, 1995).A dimension closely related to charisma is the provision of inspirational motivation. Inspirational motivation requires that the leader energize members of the organization. Transformational leaders communicate clearly the importance of the company's mission and objectives to employees. Such clear communication allows employees to strive, and often reach, beyond their prescribed duties. In explaining intellectual stimulation, Bass (1990, p. 21) notes that \"intellectually stimulating leaders are willing and able to show their employees new ways of looking at old problems, to teach them to see difficulties as problems to be solved, and to emphasize rational solutions\". In addition to providing inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation, transformational leaders provide individualized consideration to followers, showing respect and dignity and serving as mentors. Transformational leaders create a dynamic organizational vision that often necessitates a metamorphosis in cultural values to reflect greater innovation (Pawar and Eastman, 1997, p. 83).In a study of 78 managers, Howell and Avolio (1993) found that transformational leadership directly and positively predicted unit-level performance. Transformational leaders are effective for several reasons. They are able both to unite followers and change followers' goals and beliefs (Kuhnhert and Lewis, 1987). For Conger and Kanungo (1988), transformational leaders portray vivid representations of a future vision for followers. Because such leaders are able to formulate a clear and compelling vision, they are likely to motivate employees to share that vision. Transformational leaders motivate subordinates to perform beyond expectations (Bass, 1985). According to Pawar and Eastman (1997), the effectiveness of a transformational leader is the result of three factors; the organization's relative position on the continuum of organizational receptivity (openness to change), the degree of correspondence between the transformational process required by the organization's position and the transformational leadership process actually undertaken, and the transformational leader's capabilities for undertaking the appropriate transformational process. Flexibility ensures that the organization has the capacity to act proactively or respond quickly to changing competitive conditions and thus build or maintain a competitive advantage (Hill, 2000). A transformational leader inspires change in the entire organization and creates a vision for both managers and employees. However, the external environment in which the organization operates plays a role in rendering executive actions more or less effective (Duncan, 1972).\"Transformational leaders attempt and succeed in raising colleagues, subordinates, followers, clients, or constituencies to a greater awareness about the issues of consequence. This heightening of awareness requires a leader with vision, self-confidence, and inner strength to argue successfully for what he/she sees is right or good, not for what is popular or is acceptable according to established wisdom of the time\" (Bass, 1985, p. 17). The transformational leadership paradigm focuses more on what the leader accomplishes, rather than his or her personal characteristics. In turbulent environments, transformational leaders are likely to be more effective because they seek new ways of working, seek opportunities in the face of risk, prefer effective answers to efficient answers, and are less likely to support the status quo (Lowe et al., 1996, p. 387). They may therefore react effectively to changes in the external environment or anticipate them.Transformational leadership may take several forms. Burns (1978) identified two types of transformational leaders: the reformer and the revolutionist. \"The reformer operates on parts whereas the revolutionist operates on wholes. The reformer seeks modifications harmonious with existing trends and consistent with prevailing principles and movements. The revolutionist seeks redirections, arrest or reversal of movements and mutation of principles\" (Burns, 1978, p. 170). Pawar and Eastman (1997) also identified two dimensions of transformational leadership: context-harnessing transformational leadership and context-confronting transformational leadership, similar to Burns's reformer and revolutionist types. Context-harnessing transformational leadership would emerge when receptivity is high, whereas context-confronting transformational leadership would emerge when receptivity is low. Under high receptivity, the transformational leader relies on the context to initiate change, whereas under low receptivity, the transformational leader undertakes a destructive process to induce changes (Pawar and Eastman, 1997). Although this categorization was based on transformational leadership that emerges under organizational context, we believe that a model of the effect of external environment on the emergence of transformational leadership should consider both the effect of receptivity and the different types of transformational leadership that may emerge. Thus, we develop a conceptual framework that integrates the external environment and organizational members' receptivity in the emergence of transformational leadership. We call this model an environment-induced model of transformational leadership.\nThe environment-induced model: The main thrust of the environment-induced model of transformational leadership (see Figure 1) is that the volatility of the external environment influences the emergence of a particular form of transformational leadership. We argue that when the external environment is perceived as volatile leading to unpredictability, the dominant form of leadership would be transformational. In developing this model, we argue that transformational leadership is not a personal characteristic that a leader possesses; rather, it is a behavior induced by the environment that the leader and the organization face. External factors such as technological changes, globalization, stiff competition, and the like are objective factors that create an objective uncertainty. Objective environmental uncertainty leads to perceived environmental uncertainty. Perceived uncertainty refers to the lack of confidence about one's knowledge (Jauch and Kraft, 1986). To the extent that organizational members perceive the environment as volatile and uncertain, they are likely to accept new ways of operating in order to adapt to this environment.As illustrated in Figure 1, perceived external environment influences the emergence of three types of transformational leadership, revolutionary-transformational leadership, evolutionary transformational leadership, and transgressor-transformational leadership. This relationship between perceived external environment and the type of transformational leadership is moderated by organizational members' receptivity. In the following lines, we explain each of the three types of transformational leadership.Revolutionary-transformational leadership emerges to re-align the organization to adapt to changes in the external environment. The revolutionary-transformational type of leadership has the appropriate managerial mind-set that allows the creation of strategic flexibility and develops human capital to have the skill sets appropriate to respond to a dynamic environment (Hill, 2000). The revolutionary-transformational leader also attempts to shape and create environmental circumstances (Avolio and Bass, 1988). Such leadership helps the organization anticipate changes in the external environment. Because old cognitive anchors (Bogner and Barr, 2000) are ineffective, organizational members would accept the transformational leader's vision. Transformational leadership cannot emerge without a high degree of receptivity by internal stakeholders - employees and managers. Thus, the model contends that receptivity will act as a moderator of the relationship between volatility of the external environment and transformational leadership. The volatility of the external environment, putting pressure on the organization to adapt, would increase the level of receptivity.In a volatile environment, the organization's survival is at stake and organizational members may have a poor understanding of both the changes in the external environment and how to respond to them. Because the organization may face a do or die situation, organizational members have no choice but to rely on a leader whose vision when implemented would ensure survival. However, when the environment is less volatile, organizational members may be receptive only to changes that directly benefit them. A volatile environment does not necessarily create a new interpretation but alters a significant proportion of the frameworks that have been used to make interpretations in the past, rendering them ineffective (Bogner and Barr, 2000). To the extent that such cognitive frameworks become ineffective, their use may be counterproductive. In nonreceptive contexts, even transformational leadership fails to generate commitment of organizational members, no matter how appealing and appropriate the vision (Avolio and Bass, 1988). Pawar and Eastman (1997) considered receptivity to transformational leadership as an important factor facilitating the emergence of transformational leadership. They referred to organizational receptivity to transformational leadership as the extent to which an organization responds to or aids the transformational leadership tasks such as articulation of vision, instilling new values and ideology, and bonding of individual and collective interests. Thus, the volatility of the external environment may influence organizational members' receptivity to transformational leadership. When the external environment is volatile and the future of the organization is at stake, organizational members may easily accept the effort of a transformational leader to re-align the firm by introducing major changes. Thus, we formulate the following proposition:P1. Revolutionary-transformational leaders would emerge in organizations operating in highly volatile environments and whose members have a high degree of receptivity.\nImplications for research and practice: Building on the statement that transformational leadership emerges under conditions of environmental uncertainty, we have developed a model that identifies three types of transformational leadership, revolutionary, evolutionary, and transgressor. This model can spur future research on the emergence of transformational leadership in organizations and provide lessons for management practice.Implications for research\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact of the external environment on the emergence of particular forms of transformational leadership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To develop a conceptual model, the extant literature on environment and transformational leadership was used. Specifically, the focus was on the constructs of volatility of the external environment, environmental uncertainty, and existing models of transformational leadership.\nFindings: - In this article, an environment-induced model of transformational leadership was developed, which identifies three types of transformational leaders - revolutionary, evolutionary and transgressor. Revolutionary transformational leaders are likely to emerge in organizations operating in volatile environments and whose members show either a high or a low degree of receptivity. However, evolutionary-transformational leaders are likely to emerge in less volatile environments whose members show a high degree of receptivity, and transgressor-transformational leaders would emerge in less volatile environments whose members show a low degree of receptivity.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This model is a conceptual one and has not been empirically validated yet. However, the model's propositions have implications for research. Organizational scholars may empirically test the extent to which firms' external environments influence the types of transformational leaders that emerge within them. They may also assess the extent to which the external environment facilitates employee acceptance of particular forms of transformational leadership.\nPractical implications: - Knowing the external environment of a firm may help select the appropriate type of leaders needed to move the organization ahead. For instance, when organizations face high volatile environments, they may be well advised to select revolutionary-transformational leaders as CEOs or change agents.\nOriginality/value: - The value of the present article lies in the fact that it binds together the literature on the firm external environment and transformational leadership. Thus, the article helps reduce the artificial boundary between macro and micro issues in the study of organizations.\n",
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A comprehensive approach to quality management of intensive care services
|
[
"Health services",
"Hospitals",
"Quality management",
"Performance management",
"Barbados"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recently, there has been an increased need for intensive care units (ICU) owing to aggressive therapeutic interventions for critically ill patients (Barbieri et al., 2003). Critical care is one of healthcare's high-technology and high-budget areas, and most countries strive hard to cope with increasing demand for ICU facilities (Hariharan et al., 2007). On one hand, ICU availability may be the primary issue (especially in the developing world); while on the other, unit performance is a wider global issue. Optimal healthcare process performance is essential if services are to remain competitive. Today's healthcare providers deploy quality management tools and techniques to improve customer satisfaction, although not routinely (Lurie et al., 2002). Data-Attitude-Tools, Deming's \"plan, do, check and act\" (PDCA) cycle, Utilization Review and Management have been applied to healthcare services (Van Matre, 1992; Feeney and Zairi, 1996; Berwick, 1998). Continuous quality improvement (CQI) has been applied to many healthcare areas most notably in Emergency Departments (Re and Krousel-Wood, 1990; Fernandes and Christenson, 1995, Fernandes et al., 1996).Applying quality management tools and techniques to improve performance is relatively new to intensive care services. Peer-review process, a common method to identify ICU deficiencies (Stow et al., 2006), is usually done at mortality/morbidity meetings, case conferences and reviewing patient data. Another performance evaluation method is applying various prognostic models (Becker and Zimmerman, 1996). Clinicians may use physiological scoring systems for assessing illness severity and relate them to outcomes. In fact, models such as the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) and the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) have been continuously evolving to improve their ability to assess ICU performance (Moreno et al., 2005; Zimmerman et al., 2006). Despite their refinement, by applying stricter statistical criteria, most prognostic models are plagued with the so-called \"goodness-of-fit\" issues. This implies that models may not be able to predict outcomes when applied to a different case-mix other than the one used to design them (Sherck and Shatney, 1996).Using prognostic models, clinicians determine the unit's expected mortality and then compare it with observed mortality. If the observed mortality is higher than expected for instance, it may only point out generally that there may be unit deficiencies. This approach does not identify ICU specific problems and does not provide a framework for adopting strategies needed for correction and improvement. Unit managers may have to design their own framework from performance appraisal to the strategy implementation. Hence there is a need for a model that provides all quality improvement aspects as an all-inclusive package for the manager. Our earlier research applied analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for ICU performance measurement through benchmarking input, processes and output (Hariharan et al., 2005). Although the proposed framework identifies issues needing to be addressed, it does not suggest a project management framework to plan, implement and evaluate improvement projects. Therefore, there is strong need for a comprehensive quality management approach to improve ICU performance. Our objective, therefore, is to help ICU clinicians identify quality issues, identify improvement projects, plan, implement and evaluate those projects in order to improve performance.\nMethod: Our study adopts an interactive approach involving stakeholders (clinicians, hospital managers, patients and their relatives) and group consensus to develop the model and use it to derive improvement measures. We formulated the model using the following steps (also shown in Figure 1):1. A system is selected for study on the basis of its performance.2. The causes for not achieving desired performance are identified using a cause and effect diagram.3. A logical framework (LF) is then developed using cause and effect diagram information.4. A detailed project plan is developed.5. Improvement projects are implemented and evaluated to determine progress.6. Continuous quality improvement is implemented through repeating the cycle dynamically.The following paragraphs explain the cause and effect diagram, LF and the combined cause and effect diagram and LF.The cause and effect diagram\nMethod: Identifying reasons for not achieving desired performance using a cause and effect diagram\nDeveloping a LF for planning, implementing and evaluating improvement projects: A LF was developed, which formed the entire improvement project's objective planning parameters (Figure 3). Subsequent planning, design and implementation brought about the desired improvements.\nResults: Information collected using surveys, audits and hospital records regarding all quality improvement parameters were applied into the logframe to determine if there was any difference after the quality improvement exercise. The same parameters were re-measured in 2004 and compared with the 2002 results (before improvement measures were implemented), which revealed performance improvement. Currently, the project is at various levels of implementation in the hospital. More staff have been recruited; salaries and incentives increased, which in turn motivated staff. An ad hoc ICU director was appointed who coordinated many quality improvement measures. Treatment, admission and discharge protocols were formulated. An antibiotic protocol was implemented with the hospital microbiologist's help, baseline infections and resistance patterns in the ICU have been set.Each quality improvement activity was implemented through detailed planning, designing and procurement. We use a communication improvement activity as an example (Figure 4). The ICU we studied is an open unit and patients are managed by both ICU physicians and the admitting physicians. This activity's main purpose was to improve communication between ICU and interdepartmental staff as well as patients and surrogates. Initially, in order to develop the project scope, the cause and effect diagram was used from which the LF (Figure 4) was developed. The LF acted as initial project plan, which helped to develop a detailed plan.Subsequently, the following processes were adopted to implement effective communication:* Identify ICU stakeholders.* Identify each stakeholder's communication requirements.* Identify current communication means (software, hardware and protocol/process).* Identify communication gaps using the expectation vs perception survey (Table II).* Suggest and implement improvements (software, hardware, protocol and training).* Measure performance after implementation and show improvement.The following paragraphs demonstrate each step.Identifying ICU stakeholders\nDiscussion: Healthcare delivery is broadly a continuous service and any model for improving healthcare should not ideally be a \"one-time\" approach. There should be periodical healthcare service problems reviews from a stakeholder perspective for CQI. Our model offers a new approach to ICU CQI. Quality improvement from concept to implementation is a challenging task. It involves not only fostering a learning culture in the organization but also planning and implementing a framework for each concept. Healthcare quality is usually assessed using three parameters: structure, process and outcome (Donabedian, 1988). Currently, outcome-based models dominate ICU performance measurement and quality improvement. These outcome-based models exclusively consider binomially either \"death\" or \"survival\" as a quality indicator; however they may not be useful by themselves as an overall performance indicator (Glance et al., 2002). In fact there is opinion that prognostic models most often evaluate ICUs as highly performing and there could be a grade-inflation effect if units are assessed only according to outcome (Popovich, 2002). Hence, quality improvement measures should include two other parameters: ICU infrastructure and care process. Our earlier research applying an analytic hierarchy process for performance evaluation also found that care process is an important parameter (Hariharan et al., 2005).A recent study identified the most important ICU \"quality indicators\" and found that intensivist availabiliyu (hours per day), patient-to-nurse ratio and patient/family satisfaction measurement were four major indicators (de Vos et al., 2007). Intensive care patients and the family members' opinion and satisfaction are one of the most important ICU quality improvement aspects (Gallesio et al., 2006). The Society of Critical Care Medicine Task Force in the USA recently provided an overview for quality improvement using a step-wise approach, although no specific framework or model was recommended (Curtis et al., 2006). Additionally, the Task Force also identified four steps for sustaining this program:1. determine whether the target is changing;2. modify behavior change strategies to improve or sustain improvements;3. focus on interdisciplinary collaboration; and4. develop and sustain support from hospital leaders.The present framework, with minimal modifications to suit the local perspectives, could enable such programs in any ICU. Several units in a particular region could apply this model uniformly to compare their individual quality improvement measures. Multiple-hospital collaboration is found to be important for improving critical care delivery processes (McMillan and Hyzy, 2007).Applying a LF model to the ICU is a global approach necessitating appraisal of all three healthcare delivery quality measures. When different ICU management dimensions are taken into perspective, it offers improvement measures in many areas that have been missed using routine peer-reviews and audits. One of the present model's many benefits is that it includes issues that would not have otherwise received adequate attention. Establishing good communication between staff, patient and surrogates is an important quality improvement measure that may not have been prioritized if other quality improvement methods were chosen. Communication was recognized to be deficient and the present approach of addressing this issue specifically dealt with the problem. The exercise enabled us to establish effective communication between staff, patients and surrogates shown by surveys conducted before and after implementing the measures. This approach helped us to formulate short-term and long-term improvement measures. Additionally the model enabled us to follow-up quality improvement activity on a continuous basis.\nConclusion and recommendations: The LF offers a uniform model that can be applied to most ICUs. It is also possible to incorporate the model into IT, creating an automated application, which facilitates monitoring implementation leading to further quality improvement, thus making this a CQI exercise. Continuous quality improvement requires regular and concurrent performance appraisal. Data collection and analysis can show that improvement measures have been appropriately and effectively implemented (Slovensky, 1996). Although our model could be applied to any ICU, we recommend that it is tailored taking into consideration local and regional factors governing individual ICUs. Additionally, in ICUs where software application and electronic data are available, this facility may enhance the model's application, which was lacking in our situation. We also recommend that surveys for constructing the model and ascertaining its effectiveness should be tailored to suit the ICU's needs, given that stakeholder views may vary according to different healthcare systems. Nevertheless, the combined cause and effect diagram and LF analysis is an effective framework for improving ICU services. It provides an objective framework for planning and evaluating improvement projects. Similar approaches could be adapted to other units to improve performance.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive framework for improving intensive care unit performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study introduces a quality management framework by combining cause and effect diagram and logical framework. An intensive care unit was identified for the study on the basis of its performance. The reasons for not achieving the desired performance were identified using a cause and effect diagram with the stakeholder involvement. A logical framework was developed using information from the cause and effect diagram and a detailed project plan was developed. The improvement projects were implemented and evaluated.\nFindings: - Stakeholders identified various intensive care unit issues. Managerial performance, organizational processes and insufficient staff were considered major issues. A logical framework was developed to plan an improvement project to resolve issues raised by clinicians and patients. Improved infrastructure, state-of-the-art equipment, well maintained facilities, IT-based communication, motivated doctors, nurses and support staff, improved patient care and improved drug availability were considered the main project outputs for improving performance. The proposed framework is currently being used as a continuous quality improvement tool, providing a planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating framework for the quality improvement measures on a sustainable basis.\nPractical implications: - The combined cause and effect diagram and logical framework analysis is a novel and effective approach to improving intensive care performance. Similar approaches could be adopted in any intensive care unit.\nOriginality/value: - The paper focuses on a uniform model that can be applied to most intensive care units.\n",
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] |
Network ties and transactive memory systems: leadership as an enabler
|
[
"Leadership",
"Groups",
"Network ties",
"R&D",
"Transactive memory system"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The use and popularity of networks among researchers in the social sciences has intensified in recent years. Prior studies by sociologists, anthropologists, and economists use the theory of network ties (NT) to demonstrate the nature and effect of interaction and exchange that take place between individuals (Katz et al., 2004). The concept of network dates to the 1930s and is an element belonging to social capital. It is strongly related to frequency of interaction and communication between team members (Chiu et al., 2006). Further, connections developed in the network are seen as interpersonal cohesion characterized by social interaction (Huang, 2009). Significant conceptual, empirical, and technical advances have thus created great interest in analyzing networks (Wolfer et al., 2015).\n2. Literature review and hypothesis development: 2.1 Connection between NT and TMS\n3. Methods: 3.1 Sample and procedures for data collection\n4. Data analysis and results: 4.1 Data analysis\n5. Discussion: In this study, we have investigated the relationship between NT and TMS, analyzed from the dimensions of TMSS, TMSCR, and TMSCO (H1, H2, and H3), using LDR as a moderating variable (H4, H5, and H6), in Spanish university R&D groups. Analyzing TMS from a multidimensional perspective permits us to obtain individualized conclusions for each dimension. This type of analysis contributes more information to the variable and to analysis of group work. Specifically, for the field of group research, our results represent a valuable focus for studying the internal relations of groups and their processes. We have focused on group theory, specifically on the theory of internal networks for small groups, due to the lack of research analyzing small networks as teamwork (Borner et al., 2010; Lungeanu and Contractor, 2015).\n6. Conclusions: The study's conclusions show that LDR is perfectly applicable to the university R&D environment because society today requires new leaders who can confront a knowledge-based reality (Garcia-Morales et al., 2008). Further, its connection to cognitive variables such as NT and TMSCR and TMSCO is positive. The autonomy of the members of university R&D groups makes leaders' constant influence unnecessary. Thus, our result is innovative in contributing to a new management focus oriented to the researchers' autonomy, specifically in relation to TMSS. As the literature does not mention studies that have tested these effects empirically, our study contributes information to this theoretical gap.\n7. Implications for research, practice, and/or society: The study provides significant contributions to practice. The results on moderation indicate that R&D groups should form internal research networks that allow TMS. It also shows that TMS will become stronger as long as group LDR within R&D enables them to develop. Therefore, the networks that have developed to become much stronger lead in TMS. Leaders should know how to motivate and teach, and how to involve others in a common project (Senge, 1990). Such skills are important for university R&D because of way in which TMS facilitates working in a group. The results described can guide group leaders of university R&D. Our study findings can be used to develop a specific program for individual leaders of a university R&D groups to obtain better results in their group. Further, a leader with knowledge of networks and TMS can lead his or her group more effectively. Thus, the groups provided better results to society.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between network ties (NT) and transactive memory systems (TMS), observed through three dimensions - specialization (TMSS), credibility (TMSCR), and coordination (TMSCO) - in the presence of leadership (LDR) as a moderating variable, in university research-and-development (R&D) groups.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data are composed of 257 university R&D groups. To confirm the hypotheses, the authors use multiple linear regression analysis with a moderating effect.\nFindings: The conclusions show that the relationships between NT and two of the three dimensions of TMS (TMSCR and TMSCO) are significant when LDR is included as a moderating variable. Although the effect of TMSS is positive, it is not significant. Including the interaction element enables better explanation of two of the dimensions of TMS in the sector analyzed. Thus, LDR is perfectly applicable to the university R&D environment.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research has several limitations that suggest further possibilities for empirical research. The limitations include the cross-sectional nature of the research and the judgment of a single manager as the basis of the perception analyzed for each group.\nPractical implications: The authors provide several implications for R&D practitioners. The results of this study could be validated in other universities in other geographic areas, enabling better generalization and applicability of the results. The results described may serve as a guide for group leaders of university R&D. This research helps us to see the importance of LDR in forming internal research networks that help researchers to perform common projects in order to obtain better results in the group. Thus, the groups provided better results to society.\nOriginality/value: No studies have tested the moderating effect of LDR in university R&D empirically. The results provide information to fill this gap and demonstrate the applicability of LDR as a key element in the organization, improvement, and cohesion of R&D groups.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Developing the CSO case studies
|
[
"CSO",
"Collaboration",
"Local experience",
"Community action",
"Risk reduction"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The original impetus for this Special issue followed the publication of a paper entitled \"Let's talk about you [...] Opening space for local experience, action and learning in disaster risk reduction\" (Gibson and Wisner, 2016) (DPM Journal 2016). From invitations sent out in late 2016 by the guest editors to more than 20 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) with past or ongoing collaboration with the Global Network for Disaster Reduction (GNDR)[1] \"Views from the Frontline\" and \"Action at the Frontline\" programmes[2] - which have often served as a catalyst to independent actions - 11 of these CSO submitted draft proposals describing a wide range of aspects of, and issues around their work that they felt would best illustrate their practical experience of working with and encouraging community-driven actions.\nTelling it how it is: From the outset, the intended focus of the case studies was firmly on local reality, and not necessarily on \"good news\" outcomes. The editors encouraged the authors to write about their real experience, the good and the bad, and about the barriers they have confronted and how these experiences have helped them and, in turn, communities, to identify local issues, problems and priorities, and through this process, to collectively define actions to overcome or reduce the risks they face.\nConclusion: In developing the CSO case studies, the purpose has been to encourage the authors to critically explore their own example of \"local experience\" and to deepen our understanding of how communities actually assess and address their local reality and the challenges they face.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline the iterative process which led to the production of the case studies prepared by Civil Society Organisations which are at the core of this Special issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The development of the papers has been a process of \"case study authors\" peer group (editors included) exchange and discussed development, in a reactive or \"stepwise\" process encouraging authors to develop their material to reflect very varied contexts and cases related to community-driven actions and vulnerabilities.\nFindings: The collaborative process has enabled authors to develop and share both the breadth and depth of complex local issues that address emerging vulnerabilities and barriers to community-driven action.\nOriginality/value: Encouraging local authors to critically explore their local experience and action has deepened our understanding of how communities actually assess and address their local reality and the challenges they face, whether these are locally considered as \"disasters\" or not, or indeed seen as long-term evolving risks and threats to survival.\n",
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How important are different socially responsible marketing practices? An exploratory study of gender, race, and income differences
|
[
"Segmenting",
"Socially responsible marketing"
] |
[
{
"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.\nConsumers and socially responsible marketing: Consumers can be understood as being stakeholders within the marketing process regardless of whether they use a given firm's product or service or not. As part of the marketing exchange, it is expected that consumers more actively seek to maximize self-interest. As a result, mass-merchandisers such as Wal-Mart have found that price is the preeminent factor for motivating its target audience. From this narrow perspective, it is unclear whether price-conscious consumers are aware of, or are influenced by, elements beyond price and the product. Significantly, much of the research on socially responsible marketing and income tends to focus on attempts by marketers to satisfy the needs of low-income consumers, including those at the \"bottom of the pyramid\" (Pitta et al., 2008; Prahalad, 2004). This stream of research focuses on customer wants, as perceived by marketers, and explores ways to satisfy those wants in order to develop markets more thoroughly. Marketers spend a great deal of effort seeking to develop products or adjust ingredients or package sizes in order to lower costs and thus become affordable to the poorest consumers. In practice, one example of this approach has been to provide shampoo in single-usage sachets that would be cheap and could be discarded after use. Yet, in this pursuit of specific consumer interests, marketers paid little attention to the environmental effects created by immense numbers of discarded packages. Another example that highlights an attempt to market a more affordable product to \"poorer\" consumers is the \"Nirma\" detergent made in India. An entrepreneur created Nirma to compete with Hindustan Lever's market-leading detergent, Surf. To be price-competitive in these highly price-sensitive markets, Nirma does not contain many of the costly ingredients and safeguards incorporated in its more expensive rival. As a result, Nirma can cause blisters (Ahmad and Mead, 2004), but despite this harshness, the poor embraced it solely because they could afford it (Karnani, 2007).\nDemographic influences on the importance of socially responsible marketing practices: A number of research streams have considered the perspectives of various stakeholder groups, such as investors and managers, toward socially responsible marketing practices. For example, a subset of the corporate social responsibility literature has investigated the financial behaviors of \"socially responsible investors\" (SRI). This research has established a clear link between a firm's corporate social responsibility efforts and SRIs' investment decisions (Sparkes, 2003). For example, Cheah et al. (2011) found that younger SRIs, with higher incomes and education levels, view socially responsible firms at least as positively as they do other, more profitable firms. Research investigating managers' perceptions found that male and female managers differ in the importance they place on corporate social responsibility and ethics for achieving organizational objectives (Singhapakdi et al., 2001).\nStudy: Survey data was collected during an annual summer arts festival in Baltimore, Maryland. \"Artscape\" is a free arts festival that attracts over 350,000 visitors over a three-day period. According to a study published by Forward Analytics (2009), audience demographics at Artscape are similar to those of the 2010 US census. The researchers were positioned amongst the artists exhibiting at the festival, and were based in a private exhibition tent provided by Artscape. Study participants were recruited as they roamed the festival and as they walked past the tent. The festival intercept was conducted by two of the authors and two research assistants. Respondents over the age of 18 were approached and asked if they wished to participate in a study on corporate marketing practices. All participants received beverages upon entering the tent and were directed to an Apple iPad computer on which they could complete the survey on Qualtrics. Overall, 232 participants completed the survey over the three-day weekend. (For sample demographics, see Table I.)\nAnalyses and results: Social responsibility consumer segments\nConclusion and implications for marketers: Our results confirm the importance of household income, gender, and race as important demographic factors in understanding consumers' perceptions of socially responsible marketing practices. Figures 1 and 2 show that differences among demographic groups in how consumers view efforts at socially responsible marketing are quite stark. For example, Figure 1 reveals interesting patterns regarding gender and income as they impact the importance consumers place on different socially responsible marketing practices. Middle- and higher-income females can be accurately described as Fully Committed. In contrast, low-income males (and, to a lesser extent, low-income females) appear to be most interested in organizations' charitable giving practices. Consistent with both social role theory (Eagly, 1987) and Jones's (1991) notion of \"proximity\", men transition from Moderates to Impersonals to Employment Non-Discrimination Concerns as their income rises. Similarly, Figure 2 demonstrates that as income rises, Black consumers' concern switches from charitable giving to employment non-discrimination. Consumers from other races are likely to be either Fully Committed, Moderates or Impersonals, irrespective of their income levels. Our findings empirically demonstrate that consumers' income, gender, and race are influential determinants shaping the importance consumers place on different socially responsible marketing practices.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance consumers place on various types of socially responsible marketing practices, and whether the level of importance varies by gender, race, and consumers' income.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was designed that asked subjects their attitudes toward the various social marketing practices that were uncovered through an analysis of recent literature from ABI-Inform, Fordham University's Center for Positive Marketing and focus groups. The survey was administered to 232 subjects and included information regarding race, gender, and income. Survey results were analyzed using latent class analysis (LCA). The results of the LCA were used to develop a correspondence analysis map.\nFindings: The results confirm the importance of key demographic factors (income, gender, and race) in understanding consumers' perceptions of socially responsible marketing.\nResearch limitations/implications: One limitation is that the sample was collected in Baltimore, Maryland and not entirely representative of the population of the USA. Another limitation is that consumers' perceptions of socially responsible marketing are only captured at one point in time rather than showing the evolution of a belief.\nPractical implications: Marketers need to target their messages carefully if they are promoting socially responsible marketing as a differentiating factor. Understanding how each demographic group responds to these socially responsible marketing messages can assist managers in their promotional efforts.\nOriginality/value: Limited research has been completed that segments the market with regards to socially responsible marketing options. The research explores these segments by surveying active consumers.\n",
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Hazard perceptions and preparedness of Taranaki youth
|
[
"Youth",
"Risk assessment",
"Strategic planning",
"Hazards"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This study gathered information from students from Taranaki, New Zealand, regarding levels of hazard awareness, risk perceptions, knowledge of response-related protective behaviour and household preparedness, and assesses whether there are differences in these factors between the three locations and students who have and have not participated in hazard education. This purpose of this evaluation is to determine whether students who participate in hazard education have better awareness of hazards in their area, have more reasonable risk perceptions and are better prepared than students who have not participated in hazard education programmes.Public education campaigns aimed at adults to increase their hazard awareness and preparedness are often evaluated (e.g. Anderson-Berry et al., 2003; Turner et al., 1986; Faupel et al., 1992; Lopes, 1992; Mileti and Darlington, 1995; Mileti and Fitzpatrick, 1993; AC Nielsen, 2003; Farley, 1998), however, the effectiveness of school-based hazard education programmes is infrequently reported (Finnis et al., 2004; Johnston and Houghton, 1995; Ronan and Johnston, 2001, 2003). As hazards do not necessarily occur when families are together at home, it is as important for youth to be aware of and prepared for hazards as it is for adults, so that they can respond and cope effectively to an emergency situation. Having both adults and youth educated in, and undertaking hazard preparedness measures promotes overall personal, family and community resilience.The Taranaki Region of New Zealand is susceptible to a range of hazards, the most significant of which are flooding, earthquakes, high winds (tornadoes and cyclones) and volcanic eruption (Taranaki Civil Defence Emergency Management Group, 2004). In the last ten years, 77 weather warnings have been issued by the MetService for the region. Five major floods have occurred in the last 20 years, with the most recent in 1998. Storms with high winds were experienced in 1996 and 1997 from the remains of Cyclones Fergus and Drena. Inglewood was hit by a tornado in 1990, and a swarm of tornadoes crossed the region in 2007. Felt earthquakes average seven a year, with a magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurring in the region in 2005. At the centre of the region lies Mt Taranaki, an andesitic stratovolcano, that may well erupt within the next 50 years according to geological records (Turner et al., 2007). Studies have shown that previous eruptions deposited ash as far as Auckland (over 250 km away) (Shane, 2005) and have generated numerous debris avalanches and lahars (Neall and Alloway, 1993).Hazard education in New Zealand is currently a minor part of the curriculum and is not widely taught in schools. Until 2002, hazard education was taught in New Zealand schools as part of an integrated social studies syllabus in Years 7 to 10 (ages 11 to 14), then as part of the geography syllabus, an elective subject, from Years 11 to 13 (Macaulay and Logie, 1996). In the current National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) curriculum, hazard education and civil defence issues may be addressed through the science curriculum in years 4 to 13, however, civil defence and natural disasters are only given as \"sample learning contexts\", and do not have to be included in science education. New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management found that several issues precluded hazard education being commonly taught; the information does fit link with curriculum, there is competition for class time with in the set curriculum, there is limited interest and commitment from teachers, are limited and inconsistent resources, and though different age groups need to be targeted, written material tends to be produced for adults and not children (Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management, 2003). To address these issues a new school resource specifically targeted at children aged 10-13 years of age and designed to be better integrated with the school curriculum was launched in 2007 (Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management, 2006). Within the region, the Taranaki Regional Council has been active in promoting volcanic hazard education in primary and secondary schools by providing teachers with resource kits and guided fieldtrips to the volcano.Although education is being provided, little is known about whether it helps students better understand hazards and be prepared. This lack of demonstrated effectiveness may also be a contributing factor to its lack of inclusion in the curriculum. Examining whether or not hazard education is beneficial can either provide a case for more strongly embedding it into the curriculum if it is working, or a reason to withdraw or redevelop it if no benefit is found. Of course there is no true test of the benefit of hazard education until students have experienced a hazard and it can be determined whether they acted and coped better than students who had not participated in education. Until this happens, the benefit of education and resilience potential can be nevertheless assessed by examining the difference in levels of accurate hazard and safety behaviour knowledge and levels of preparedness between students who have, versus those who have not participated in hazards education.This study supplements other investigations recently undertaken in New Zealand and the USA that have measured youths' risk perceptions, hazard awareness and preparedness and identified factors contributing to vulnerability in communities (Ronan and Johnston, 2001; Ronan et al., 2001; Johnston and Benton, 1998; Johnston et al., 2001; Johnston and Houghton, 1995, Finnis et al., 2004).\nMethod: Procedure\nResults: Participants\nDiscussion: Hazard awareness and risk perceptions of the students, collectively, are reasonably accurate with the exception of flooding. Although the last major flood to occur in the region was in 1998, Taranaki is subject to high rainfall and localised flooding can occur regularly. Tsunami is perceived as a greater risk to Opunake students due to the town being located on the coastline. Students in Inglewood perceive the risk of tornadoes greater than other students due to their first hand experience of the tornado that struck the town in 1990. Hazard education was found to impact awareness of the risk of volcanic eruptions and storms with high winds. While volcanic eruption does pose an extreme hazard, flood awareness and risk perceptions need to be raised as this is a more commonly occurring hazard.Although, on average, the students have a good knowledge of both vital and total safety behaviours, some students are still unaware of any, or are aware of very few, correct behaviours. Participation in hazard education was found to increase participating students' knowledge of safety behaviours.Household preparedness measures reported by the students were low. This may be a poor representation of what preparedness items are actually kept in the home, as students may not be aware of what measures their parents or caretakers have undertaken. Some families might be more active in including their children in preparedness activities. Some may not wish to \"frighten\" their children by being seen preparing for a disaster so do not involve them. Some families will just be poorly prepared. Students who have participated in hazard education programs, however, did report their household having a higher number of preparedness measures. This education may lead children to discuss the program with their household, as found by Ronan and Johnston (2001), which encourages family members to undertake some preparedness activities.Family emergency plans and practises are poorly reported among the students. School practices were reported by nearly all the students presumably as fire drills are compulsory in all schools. It is uncertain why there are some distinct variations in the frequencies of reported household emergency plans between the three towns. Students in Stratford tend to be more certain of not having a readiness plan, whereas students in Inglewood appear to be more certain of not having evacuation plans. Students in Opunake may be more likely to have plans about where to meet because it is an isolated community, with the potential of easily being cut off from the rest of the region. It is not on a main highway and is surrounded by rivers and the ocean. Hazard education was not found to have much of an effect on emergency plans and practices, the exception being school practices. As part of the education program, students may have been required to participate in a school- or classroom-based emergency drill. These results demonstrate that future education programs need to include or change program components in order to encourage household planning and practices.Since this study was conducted, a new education program has been introduced into New Zealand primary schools, which may address some of the flaws in the old programs and curriculum. As yet, no study of the effectiveness of this new program has been conducted, only a survey of teacher/school satisfaction (Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management, 2006). Not only does an assessment of the new program need to be undertaken immediately, but a longitudinal study should be done to observe whether what students have learned is remembered for a long time or if hazard education needs to be re-introduced within the high school curriculum.\nConclusions: This study has shown that students who have participated in hazard education programs have better knowledge of safety behaviours and report higher levels of household preparedness. Hazard education was found to influence students' hazard awareness and risk perceptions for some hazards, however awareness and risk perceptions of more salient hazards such as flooding remain poor. Household emergency plans and practises were reported to be uncommon and the numbers of students reporting having plans and participating in practices were unaffected by hazard education.Overall, Taranaki students who have participated in hazard education programs are likely to be more resilient in the event of a disaster because of their better knowledge of safety behaviours and higher household preparedness. However, levels of resilience could be further increased if aspects of hazard education programs, such as reviewing all hazards Taranaki is subject to, and encouraging students to develop and undertake family emergency plans and practices, were to be incorporated or revised. This study has established that hazard education in Taranaki schools has been beneficial, and that programs should be continued and children encouraged to participate in them.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between participation in hazard education programs and levels of hazard awareness, risk perceptions, knowledge of response-related protective behaviour and household preparedness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A questionnaire examining various measures including participation in hazard education programmes, risk perceptions and household preparedness was delivered under teacher guidance to high school students in three different locations in the Taranaki Region of New Zealand. A total of 282 valid questionnaires were returned. Data were analysed by means of chi-squared, t-test and ANOVA.\nFindings: - Students who have participated in hazard education programmes are more likely to have better knowledge of safety behaviours and higher household preparedness. However, even with hazard education, some aspects of hazard awareness and the uptake of family emergency plans and practices were found to be poor. Overall, hazard education was found to be beneficial and helps to create potentially more-resilient children and communities.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research is limited to the views of the students. The study would benefit from a parallel study of parents or caregivers to give a more accurate report of household preparedness and family emergency plans and practices. The research highlights areas of change for future hazard education programmes and provides support for the continued inclusion of this topic in the curriculum.\nOriginality/value: - The paper offers insight into the effectiveness and benefit of incorporating hazard education into the school curriculum in New Zealand.\n",
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Destructive leaders inflict perpetual cycle of illness and cure on organisations
|
[
"Narcissism",
"Baron munchausen",
"Destructive leaders",
"Feedback loop"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The medical phenomenon of \"Munchausen syndrome by proxy\" provides an explanation for how leaders can create an imaginary culture of sickness that spreads through organizations.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: Organizations face great dangers when they appoint leaders who exhibit personality disorders. Narcissistic leaders can inflict a constant cycle of sickness and therapy through their destructive leadership. The author of this research paper uses the medical phenomenon of \"Munchausen syndrome by proxy\" (MSBP) to explain how this process works.\nPractical Implications: The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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A framework of intangible valuation areas and antecedents
|
[
"Intangible assets",
"Drivers",
"Critical success factors",
"Modelling",
"Value analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Intangible assets have been identified as the most critical resource of today's business enterprise. Yet, most businesses cannot clearly define this business driver. Businesses have not defined what an intangible asset is, or the best approach to valuing intangible assets. The business enterprise in this knowledge era has a need to become \"intelligent\" about its environment to gain knowledge from its environment and subsequently value its intangible resources. Businesses need to look inward and rigorously scrutinize their business processes/functions to: codify business intelligence and place emphasis on the synthesis and simulation of its processes/functions; embody certain features that are essential when modeling business activity; and provide definitions, attributes and constraints of business intelligence that align with the performance of the business. Intangibles are significant factors in value creation within the business enterprise and need to be managed like traditional factors of labor, capital and raw materials (Von Krogh et al., 1998). Successful management of intangible assets within the business is to positively affect the performance and market valuation of a business enterprise (Sullivan, 1998).This paper presents the first step to constructing a performance based intangible asset valuation approach that models intelligence within the context of the business enterprise, identifies the independent components of business intelligence, and establishes the capability to determine the importance of interactions between intangible mechanisms, processes, intangible representation and goals of the enterprise that compose the basic concepts of business intelligence - being knowledgeable about the how, who, what, why, when and where that surrounds the business processes/functions performed to successfully get the product/service out the door.\nFramework of Intangible Valuation Areas: The Framework of Intangible Valuation Areas (FIVA) is an initial step toward the development of a network and dynamic model to value and report intangible assets. FIVA leverages existing balance scorecard valuation models and business value chain models by extracting their value components and aligning them with performance-based activities to define a common Intangible Asset Taxonomy (IAT) of value drivers of intangible assets shown in Table I.Knowledge management practitioners and academics validated the taxonomy and the IAT was then used to construct FIVA using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). AHP represents decisions in a hierarchical form (Saaty, 1980). The hierarchical structure of AHP provided a decision hierarchy to allow objectives, sub-objectives and alternatives to be compared on a pair wise basis with respect to the element in the next level of hierarchy using a ratio scale. The methodology to construct FIVA uses a bottom-up structuring that identifies the advantages and disadvantages of each value driver of intangible assets to identify the KM objectives shown in Table II.FIVA aligns the value driver of intangible assets with KM objectives. The combination of the value drivers of intangibles and the KM objectives are depicted in Figure 1. The FIVA model is a tool that provides significant insight into the value drivers of intangible assets that contribute towards the achievement of a specific KM objective. The design of the FIVA model supports a dynamic mix of value drivers of intangible assets based on the business environment. FIVA is a validated framework for organizing and studying the breadth of intangible assets to surface and organize intangible asset measurement and performance indicators.The FIVA model provides familiar concepts to represent the complex business enterprise and divides the business enterprise into its discrete activities. FIVA provides a path to examine groupings of business activities and establish boundaries that align with both tangible and intangible drivers of value. FIVA incorporates intangible assets in the business enterprise value chain, which is a first step to aligning intangible assets to value creation and business strategy. The alignment of intangibles with strategic objectives and value drivers allows companies to focus their resources and activities on a set of objectives to achieve them more effectively and efficiently. FIVA supports a more fluid value network model that reflects the knowledge age business enterprise.The antecedent of FIVA is a concept that allows a business to identify and link performance measurements/indicators to its intangible value drivers and subsequently capture measures to monitor and evaluate leading and lagging indicators in the achievement of its knowledge management strategy. The paragraphs that follow describe an approach at identifying knowledge assets that is supported by the eight value drivers of the FIVA model and discusses the interactions between the value drivers that generate numerous business value exchanging activities.\nAntecedents of intangible value drivers: Green (2004) has shown that a standard, consistent intangible asset taxonomy model can account for more intangible value drivers enabling business strategy than any individual intellectual capital scorecard based measurement model. However the antecedent components or resources of those value drivers are still unknown or at least implicitly understood. The next step is to identify the knowledge assets or the levers that these value drivers are based on.In addressing the deficiency of both intellectual capital management (ICM) and knowledge management in illuminating causal relationships between operational levers and ICM models, Bontis et al. (1999) indicate that there are two sets of variables in managing intellectual capital (IC):1. the value-creating path or focus areas that generate value; and2. the key/critical success factors (CSF) and indicators that contribute to the value-creating path.Both the value-creating path and the underlying CSF are chosen based on the strategy of the organization. Figure 2 shows the process of designing and implementing an IC management/valuation model. Similarly, Powell (2004) suggests developing a knowledge matrix to help us define what knowledge to manage and integrating it to the strategic imperative of the organization. Powell (2004) refers to content areas in his matrix that resemble to a great extent the value drivers validated by Green (2004).The scope of this study is the identification of resources that knowledge workers leverage in performing their tasks and enabling the value proposition of the organization. The goal is to link knowledge assets (i.e. critical success factors) to their associated work functions and activities within the context of strategic intent. Green's (2004) FIVA provides the glue between strategic intent and required knowledge assets. Green suggests that FIVA could be extended to represent the different business performance focus areas and critical success factors. Both the performance focus areas and critical success factors can be derived from the interaction of the different value drivers. The IC process model and the knowledge matrix offer a systematic way for identifying the intangible resources (i.e. focus areas and critical success factors) or \"any factor that contributes to the value generating processes of the company\" (Bontis et al., 1999). Table III presents a proposed matrix of value drivers that defines 36 business performance/learning focus areas.The first row in Table III depicts the interaction of employees with the different value sources of the organization (i.e. customers, competitors, external and internal stakeholders, and internal structure). The domain of this interaction will be called the \"list of operational knowledge assets\" (LOKA). LOKA represents a set of performance focus areas and related critical success factors at the operational level that individual workers can leverage to facilitate organizational performance. The value of this interaction makes intuitive sense (Zack, 1999); the firm that knows more about its customers, products, technologies, markets, and their linkages should perform better. The interaction between employees (i.e. the first cell in Table III) is excluded because its domain is covered under the interaction of employee and partners. Partners represent both the external and internal stakeholders of the organization.\nA list of operational knowledge assets (LOKA): The real motive in constructing IC models is learning (Sveiby, 2001). A valid question to ask in finding out value creation opportunities within each performance/learning focus area is: What learning elements that drive value need to be captured when value sources interact with each other? For example, what is the value of learning when employees interact with customers, competitors, colleagues, processes, etc.?The following two leading questions guided the conceptualization and operationalization of the proposed index:1. What is the performance/learning focus area resulting from the interaction of employee-\"value driver\"?2. What knowledge (i.e. critical success factors) do employees need to leverage within that focus area?Performance/learning focus areas can be thought of as strategic imperative objectives. Hunt's (1999, p. 144) review of strategic theory describes a firm's strategic imperative as: \"sustained, superior financial performance [...] that [...] can be achieved through a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace\".CSFs refer to ingredients, components, drivers, contingencies, critical elements, and core competencies that need to be present in order to achieve success (Rockart, 1982; Antony and Banuelas, 2002; Andal-Ancion et al., 2003; Hong and Kim, 2002). Overall, the definition given by Rockart (1979, p. 85) will be used to conceptualize the domain of CSF for each performance focus area: \"the limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the organization\".For example the performance/learning focus area resulting from the interaction of employees and customers was found in the marketing literature and is referred to as customer intimacy. Kampmeier (1997, p. 75) conceptualize customer intimacy as \"find out what your customers really want that they don't already have and find a way to provide it, such that value exceeds cost for both parties\". The operationalization question is: What are the critical success factors in achieving effective customer intimacy? Kampmeier (1997) describes three different types of customer knowledge that drive customer intimacy:1. interpersonal knowledge;2. understanding customer needs; and3. understanding customer business.Through literature review of many disciplines - strategic and operations management, human resources and competency management, marketing, information technology and stakeholder theory - six performance focus areas and 27 critical success factors were identified. The review and analysis of the literature on the interaction between employees and product/service resulted in new product development and innovation as the performance/learning focus area. However the critical success factors for effective new product development and innovation span the whole spectrum of employee-\"value driver\" interaction investigated under the scope of this study. To satisfy discriminate validity considerations, new product development and innovation was excluded as a distinct performance focus area. The six performance focus areas and 27 critical success factors established the tentative or theory-based list of operational knowledge assets (LOKA).Validating the theory-based tentative LOKA\nEmpirical validity of LOKA: In accordance with research practice (Carpenter, 2003; Diamantopoulos and Winklhofer, 2001; Pulakos and Arad, 2000) the empirical validity of the proposed LOKA is tested. A survey instrument is developed and administered to a larger scale sample. The purpose of the survey is to collect quantitative data to evaluate the relationship of the knowledge asset antecedents (i.e. performance focus areas and critical success factors) with the FIVA-based value drivers and business performance measures. Questionnaire items were developed for each of the CSF categories identified from the focus groups data analysis. Respondents indicated the degree of leveraging each critical success factor on a six-point Likert scale (i.e. from 0=non-applicable to 5=very high). The survey also collected data on the average three-year performance of the business sectors relative to the competition on different IC and business performance measures (e.g. profit growth, brand name recognition, retention of key people, etc.).The results of the survey evolved into a structural model specification (Figure 4). The specification consists of seven structural models that depict the hypothesized relationships between the knowledge asset antecedents and intellectual capital (IC) and business performance measures. Partial least square (PLS) analysis was used to assess the structural model. PLS is suitable for explaining variance (R2) and subsequently useful for exploratory studies where theory building/development and prediction are the main focus. PLS provides the predictive power of the model, which depends on the strength of the path coefficients and loadings. In addition PLS can run models with both reflective and formative constructs and is free from parametric assumptions (i.e. can be used with both small and large samples) (Chin, 1998a, b; Gefen et al., 2000; Chin and Gopal, 1995; Barclay et al., 1995).Structural model results\nResearch limitations: Focus group results cannot be easily generalized. However, the receiver of the results can make the judgment on whether they can be transferred to another environment (i.e. management level, type of knowledge workers, organizational, and/or cultural) provided the context, research method, audience and other factors influenced this study apply to the new environment (Krueger, 1998). Therefore the results of both the focus groups and structural equation modeling should be interpreted within the scope of the sample population used. At the same time, it is recommended that focus groups and structural analysis are conducted in the same or other environments and the results compared. Overall, both FIVA and LOKA are generic models which can be applied across different types of organizations, knowledge workers and countries.\nConclusion: Although strategy, leadership and other tangible factors of production (i.e. monetary and physical assets) have and will always proclaim their contribution to business performance and organizational success, the people factor has become the dominant driver for organizational success. This is especially true in a knowledge-driven economy where the most valuable assets of the company (i.e. intellectual brainpower and capacity) can walk out of the door overnight. A recent publication from the Hay Group (2004), a global organizational and human resource consulting group, discusses the importance of people management and alignment with strategy by stating that \"while the role of human capital in driving business performance is widely recognized, human assets are less well understood and less well managed in many organizations than financial or operational factors\". Research so far has only touched the surface of this problem by testing empirical models of intellectual capital using reflective indicators as proxy measures. This study aims at pushing research in the field one step forward by testing empirical models of intellectual capital using formative indicators as antecedents to intellectual capital proxy measures and financial indicators. These antecedents comprise the suggested list of operational knowledge assets (LOKA) leveraged by human capital. A first attempt in developing a list of operational knowledge assets could provide a common ground for understanding the levers behind human capital performance and their impact on the organization's value proposition.\n",
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},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to develop a list of operational knowledge assets as antecedents to a validated common taxonomy of intangible strategic value drivers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Qualitative data from focus groups was collected to validate a theory-based list. The list contains the value generation activities (i.e. performance focus areas) and their respective critical success factors emerging from the interaction of eight validated intangible value drivers. Two primary questions were addressed at the focus groups: What performance focus areas does the organization need to focus on?; and What knowledge do employees need to leverage within each focus area? Data were analyzed using template analysis. Structural equation modeling using PLS was performed to develop a theory about the impact of the list of operational knowledge assets on intellectual capital and business performance measures.\nFindings: - A validated list of knowledge assets called the list of operational knowledge assets (LOKA) was developed comprising 31 categories (i.e. critical success factors) grouped into seven value generating activities (i.e. performance focus areas). The thematic dimensions of each category surface internal views of a business that define the strategic and operational value drivers that are aligned with organizational performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The list is not an exhaustive one but rather a template that can be adapted based on the industry investigated. The scope of the study was focused on the high-tech federal contractors in the USA. Therefore the results and related models of this study are generic in nature. Future research could focus applying the study on different environments (i.e. organizational, cultural, type of knowledge workers) and compare results.\nPractical implications: - The paper could improve managers' understanding of the human capital drivers on performance and thus facilitate better resource allocation on human capital management practices, technology investments, process improvements and business intelligence functions.\nOriginality/value: - The list of operational knowledge assets presents a first attempt in addressing the lack of understanding of the knowledge assets that managers need to leverage at the lowest level of operational granularity.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Abusive supervision and frontline employees' attitudinal outcomes: The multilevel effects of customer orientation
|
[
"Customer orientation",
"Abusive supervision",
"Employee silence",
"Capacity to satisfy customers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Frontline employees (FLEs) are frequently considered the face of service organizations and, in many cases, are the first and only representation of the organization (Stock et al., 2017). A service organization's ability to develop a competitive advantage often hinges on the provision of high-quality service. In this regard, service employees' proactive and discretionary behaviors have a direct influence on customers' overall experience (Chang et al., 2018). The nature of FLEs' jobs entails that they interact with customers on a frequent basis (Stock et al., 2017). As such, they have access to a multitude of opportunities to influence customer experiences and identify methods by which work processes and procedures can be improved (Chang et al., 2018). However, there is significant evidence to suggest that FLEs do not consistently share their ideas with decision-makers and managers; in fact, despite substantial evidence of the desirable effects of employee voice, employees are typically very reluctant to voice their opinions and feedback (Detert et al., 2010; Morrison and Milliken, 2003; Morrison, 2014).\nMethod: The study participants were selected from FLEs working in the hospitality industry (small- and medium-sized cafes and restaurants) within the UAE. The food and beverage sector is one of the fastest-growing industries in the region, especially in Dubai and Sharjah. The number of cafes and restaurants in Dubai has reached 11,813 and Sharjah has also exhibited a sharp increase in the number of cafes in the area (Sadaqat, 2019). The hospitality sector in the UAE uses expatriate workers as FLEs, thus our sample comprises only expatriate workers. The organizations' participation in the research was secured through the authors' personal and professional contacts with the respective organizations. Participation was completely voluntary and all respondents were assured that their responses would be kept confidential. The participants were informed that there were no right or wrong answers to the survey questions and that their individual responses would never be made public. The participants did not receive any monetary incentives for taking part in the study. The employees returned the completed responses in a sealed envelope directly to the authors' professional contacts.\nResults: To determine the distinctive characteristics of our constructs, we carried out a confirmatory factor analysis. The data fitted well with the four factors model (abusive supervision, customer orientation, employee silence and capacity to satisfy customers) (kh2 = 235.463 df = 129 kh2/df = 1.82, SRMR = 0.04, CFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.05). Four factors model was compared with competing models. As shown in Table I, our four factors model represents the best-fit model. All standardized loadings of the measurement items were significant and ranged from 0.59 to 0.93, thereby indicating convergent validity (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). Finally, we conducted a common latent factor test in structural equation modeling, whereby all items were loaded on a common latent factor. We compared the fit of model with common method factor to our four factors model. Two models were not significantly different from each other, which shows the absence of common method bias in our study (Richardson et al., 2009).\nDiscussion and conclusions: Using social exchange theory, this study demonstrated that supervisor abuse affects frontline hospitality employees' capacity to serve customers by suppressing their willingness to voice concerns and suggestions for improvement. These effects were significant within both high and low customer-oriented work environments; however, a stronger effect was observed in low customer-oriented organizations. The data used in this study were collected from 335 FLEs of 57 hospitality organizations and a multilevel analysis was performed to assess the effect of cross-level interaction between organizational customer orientation and individual perceptions of abusive supervision. These findings make several theoretical contributions to the existing hospitality literature and have practical implications for the management of hospitality organizations. These are outlined below.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine a moderated mediation model that explains how abusive supervision influences employees' capacity to satisfy customers (via their silence behavior) and how a customer-oriented work climate moderates the indirect influence of abusive supervision on frontline employees' (FLEs) capacity to satisfy customers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A time-lagged design was used to collect data from 335 FLEs of 57 hospitality organizations. A multilevel analysis was performed to test the hypotheses underpinning the study.\nFindings: The findings revealed that employees are more likely to remain silent when they experience abusive supervision and this silence directly affects their ability to serve customers. The effect that abusive supervision has on silence behaviors is stronger when organizational customer orientation is low.\nPractical implications: The study findings can provide hospitality managers with a better understanding of the complex relationship between supervisory behaviors and the organizational environment and how these factors influence employees' discretionary behaviors (e.g. decision to intentionally withhold information) and capacity to serve customers.\nOriginality/value: The findings provide a novel contribution by explaining how abusive supervision affects hospitality employees' capacity to serve customers and when this effect is more pronounced. These findings highlight that hospitality organizations need to understand that when leader behavior does not align with what is prescribed for a customer-oriented service climate, the benefits of a favorable work climate do not exist.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Access to bank finance for UK SMEs in the wake of the recent financial crisis
|
[
"Credit rationing",
"Access to finance",
"Demand for finance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Four-and-a-half years into the global financial crisis (GFC), starting from September 2008, the induced economic recession for a duration of six quarters and contributed to a fall of 6.4 per cent in GDP, and the UK economy has still not recovered to its pre-GFC level. As a reflection to the credit crunch, regulators across the world have imposed more stringent capital adequacy requirements, which lead to an increasing unwillingness to lend to the personal and business sector during, and even after the crisis (Armstrong et al., 2013; Fraser et al., 2015). Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs, businesses with 0-249 employees) are particularly prone to a contraction in credit supply given their high-risk exposure (Bank of England, 2011, 2013, 2015; Cowling et al., 2012). Even though financial institutions have recently shown an increased tendency to advance credit, firms without surplus cash balances were still quantity constrained as seen in the considerable decline in loan to value rates. Bank of England figures show that net monthly flows of small business lending fell from PS7.4 bn in 2007 to an overall net repayment of PS3.9 bn in 2009 (Bank of England, 2011), and a further net repayment of PS2.1 bn in November 2012 (Bank of England, 2013). Further, more SMEs were found to be discouraged from borrowing after the GFC, because of a potential mismatch between their perceptions on capital availability and the true supply of credit (Cowling et al., 2016).\n2. SME credit supply and demand during a recessionary environment: The subject of financial constraints or credit rationing has been the focus of a considerable body of theoretical work, and the existence of credit rationing has been examined extensively (Berger and Udell, 1992; Cowling, 2010; Goldfeld, 1966; Jaffee, 1971; Jones-Evans, 2015; King, 1986; Slovin and Slushka, 1983; Sofianos et al., 1990). Previous literature generally focuses on the supply side of credit market and assumes that information-based problems discourage banks from advancing as much credit as entrepreneurs with potentially viable investment opportunities demand even when they are willing to pay more for loans (this is classic Stiglitz and Weiss, 1981, credit rationing). This supply side \"funding gap\" has been excessively used to justify government intervention to increase lending, regardless of the creditworthiness of borrowers (Baldock and Mason, 2015; De Meza and Webb, 2000; Fraser et al., 2015; Jones-Evans, 2015; Nightingale et al., 2009). Whilst the UK market has seen a significant decline in the flow of external funding to SMEs during and in the aftermath of the financial crisis (Armstrong et al., 2013; Bank of England, 2011, 2013, 2015; BIS, 2013; Cowling et al., 2012; Fraser et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2015), this may further limit the growth of the small business sector (Fraser et al., 2015).\n3. Data and variables: 3.1 Sample\n4. Multivariate regression results: Here we econometrically model the demand for and supply of external debt finance between July 2011 and March 2013, the third and fourth years after the latest crisis. By definition, the outcome of a finance application is only recorded if a firm actually sought finance (Cosh et al., 2009). As both of the dependent variables are by construction binary variables, a probit model with selection[2] is used and the maximum likelihood coefficient estimates are shown in Table III. We use this econometric method, to test for sample selection effects given the possible non-randomness of loan application decisions. We are particularly interested in how demand and supply changes when the economy moves deeper into a prolonged downturn so we are particularly interested in the time dynamics. For the identification to be valid, the model requires that the selection (i.e. demand) equation includes at least one variable that is not included in the main probit (i.e. supply) equation. Here we use 12 geographical region indicators as the demand-specific variables in the model as they are found to be significantly associated with loan demand but have no explanatory power for loan supply. Moreover, we analysed both the full sample of SMEs (Models 1 and 2) and a subsample excluding zero-employee firms (Models 3 and 4): the findings are reasonably similar.\n5. Discussion: We find that that even in the economic downturn after the GFC the majority of firms that seek bank loans receive them. It is very clear that banks take any evidence of risk and financial delinquency very seriously and this forms a huge part of their decision to lend or not to lend when presented with a loan application. Stability and track record, captured in older firms, also gives banks a greater sense of security when deciding to lend or not. Further re-assurance is gained when a key member of the ownership team has a financial qualification. But it is also clear that high-risk and/or low-quality firms who seek funding are increasingly less likely to get loans.\n6. Conclusion: This paper investigates how entrepreneurs' demand for external debt finance changed as the economy continued to be mired in its third and fourth years into the GFC and whether or not external finance has become more difficult to access given the prolonged recovery of UK economy to the pre-recession peak. Using a large data set of over 30,000 UK SMEs covering a two-year period immediately after the latest GFC, we find an increasing trend for loan demand the further away from the recession. The characteristics of loan seekers are generally in line with previous studies, that smaller firms follow a pecking order in their financing decision-making; and SMEs with lower firm-level risk and better credit history are more likely to apply for finance. However, we also find that higher credit risk (measured by Experian credit ratings) leads to higher loan demand in our sample period, providing support for the risk-shifting hypothesis.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how entrepreneurs demand for external finance changed as the economy continued to be mired in its third and fourth years of the global financial crisis (GFC) and whether or not external finance has become more difficult to access as the recession progressed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a large-scale survey data on over 30,000 UK small- and medium-sized enterprises between July 2011 and March 2013, the authors estimate a series of conditional probit models to empirically test the determinants of the supply of, and demand for external finance.\nFindings: Older firms and those with a higher risk rating, and a record of financial delinquency, were more likely to have a demand for external finance. The opposite was true for women-led businesses and firms with positive profits. In general finance was more readily available to older firms post-GFC, but banks were very unwilling to advance money to firms with a high-risk rating or a record of any financial delinquency. It is estimated that a maximum of 42,000 smaller firms were denied credit, which was significantly lower than the peak of 119,000 during the financial crisis.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides timely evidence that adds to the general understanding of what really happens in the market for small business financing three to five years into an economic downturn and in the early post-GFC period, from both a demand and supply perspective. This will enable the authors to consider what the potential impacts of credit rationing on the small business sector are and also identify areas where government action might be appropriate.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A meta-analysis of e-health applications acceptance: Moderating impact of user types and e-health application types
|
[
"Technology acceptance model",
"Meta-analysis",
"E-health",
"Moderator analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Electronic health (e-health) applications refer to the set of software applications that deliver tools, processes, and communication systems to support electronic healthcare practices (Liu et al., 2011). These applications enable the transmission and management of healthcare-related information (Blumenthal and Glaser, 2007) and as a result contribute toward improvement in patients' health and medical practitioners' performance. The use of information technology in the healthcare sector is growing heavily (Ben-Assuli and Leshno, 2012), leading to profit maximization, cost saving, quality improvement, achievement of a seamless healthcare continuum, and increased patients engagement in their own healthcare (Garg and Agarwal, 2014; Buntin et al., 2011). E-health applications have not only gained popularity at healthcare centers but have also been accepted for homecare and for information seeking by general public (Huang, 2013; Hung et al., 2012; Sun and Rau, 2015).\n2. TAM and related theories: TAM was proposed by Davis (1989) to study the role of human behavior attributes in the acceptance of an information system. TAM is an adaptation of a psychological theory, the theory of reasoned action (TRA). TRA states that a person's actual behavior is determined by his or her intention to perform that behavior (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975).\n3. Review process: This research paper has followed the guidelines provided by Kitchenham and Charters (2007) for reviewing the existing literature on e-health applications acceptance. The guidelines suggested a number of activities involving development of review protocol, selection of studies for review, extraction of data and synthesis of results from those studies, and making report of the findings. The rest of this section explains all of these activities and the method undertaken to conduct them in detail.\n4. Results: 4.1 Overview of studies\n5. Conclusions: The objective of this research was to synthesize the findings of several independent studies on e-health applications acceptance and draw general conclusions from them. This research was an attempt to explore the mean effect sizes of the TAM based causal relationships in e-health application studies and to explore whether there were any moderators impacting these relationships. The review of the present literature on e-health applications acceptance encompassed 111 peer-reviewed academic studies that had quantitatively investigated the e-health applications acceptance with more than 11,800 observations. These studies were inputs for the empirical data analysis of this research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The increasing importance of electronic health (e-health) has raised the significance of exploring the factors influencing the users' acceptance of e-health applications. There has been an extensive usage of the technology acceptance model (TAM) in e-health applications acceptance research. However, not all TAM relationships are borne out in all the studies. There is a variation in predicted effects in several studies with different user type and application type. The purpose of this paper is to bridge a research gap by providing a holistic view of the e-health applications acceptance research by integrating the findings of existing relevant literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A statistical meta-analysis of the effect size of causal relationships between common TAM constructs was conducted on 111 peer-reviewed academic studies published in various journals.\nFindings: The results confirm the validity and robustness of the TAM in e-health applications acceptance research. Further, a moderator analysis based on user type and e-health application type demonstrated that the effect size of causal relationships between TAM constructs majorly depends on the user type, but not on e-health application type.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research provides a ready reference of the existing studies on e-health applications acceptance to the researchers. Further, if researchers or practitioners want to learn more about the particular user or application type, they may find the results valuable.\nPractical implications: This research suggests that the general public can be used as the surrogates for patients in e-health applications acceptance research. The implementation strategy found successful for medical staff may not work for general public and patients. This research also suggests ways to enhance acceptance of e-health applications among different user groups.\nOriginality/value: The research is original and is based on the existing literature and its interpretation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Taking measure: the link between metrics and marketing's exploitative and explorative capabilities
|
[
"Market orientation",
"Marketing metrics",
"Financial metrics",
"Marketing exploitation",
"Marketing exploration",
"Training and compensation metric orientation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: We have two streams of marketing. One is \"ready, aim, fire,\" which is marketing we know [...] the other is \"ready, fire, aim.\" That is, things we don't know but we believe we have to at least try so we stay current and fresh and new in the marketplace. If you hold the new tools to the same standard as the old tools, you actually won't do many new things. ~ Michael Linton, when Chief Marketing Officer of Best Buy.\nTheory and hypotheses: The focus of our research is on the role of metrics in marketing adaptation. We first discuss research related to metrics and make the case for studying two dimensions of importance, namely, metrics use, particularly its classification into marketing and financial metrics use and metric orientation, conceptualized as an emphasis on metrics in compensation and the amount of training received on using metrics. This is followed by a review of the literature on marketing adaptation and its components of exploitation and exploration. Finally, and based on these sections, we present our arguments and related formal hypotheses for the relationships - shown in the conceptual model in Figure 1 - that we investigate.\nMethodology: Sample\nAnalysis: We estimate our conceptual model in Figure 1 with partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM), using SmartPLS 3 (Ringle et al., 2015). A key reason for using PLS-SEM is that it allows for the estimation of formative constructs - two of our focal constructs related to metrics use are formative - without any identification issues, unlike covariance-based (CB) SEM. This advantage of PLS-SEM stems from its variance-based approach, which treats constructs as weighted composites of their indicators or item measures; CB-SEM, on the other hand, considers constructs as common factors that explain the covariances between its associated indicators. Hair et al. (2017b) also find that PLS-SEM has greater statistical power, producing lower Type II errors (or false negatives) particularly with smaller sample sizes, while being as good as, if not better than CB-SEM in avoiding Type I errors (or false positives).\nResults: Measurement model\nDiscussion: A key aspect of organizing for marketing excellence is ensuring that the marketing organization actively engages in learning, through its adaptive capabilities of exploitation and exploration (Moorman and Day, 2016). Scholars acknowledge that knowledge plays an important role in encouraging these capabilities (Vorhies et al., 2011). Yet, how metrics - part of the organization's formal control mechanism used to generate such knowledge - contribute to this effort is not well understood. Our study addresses this gap by testing a conceptual model (Figure 1) where two aspects of metrics, namely, metrics use - broken down into marketing and financial metrics use - and metric orientations driven by training and compensation, are posited to be differentially associated with marketing exploitation and exploration. Results from a survey of managers show support for many of our predictions (Table 3). The theoretical and practical implications of these results and those related to our hypothesized moderation effects (Table 4 and Figure 2) shown in Figure 1, as well as limitations of our study and suggestions for future research, are discussed in the sections that follow.\nLimitations and suggestions for future research: Future research could extend our conceptual model to understand the impact of marketing and financial metrics on adaptation at the level of each marketing activity, such as the 4P's, by using specific metrics associated with them (Mintz and Currim, 2013). Studies could also identify configurations of firms defined by, for example, metrics use, based on how well they achieve outcomes such as adaptation (Frosen et al., 2016, se fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis for this purpose). Research should also extend our study by exploring additional moderators with respect to the focal main effects of our conceptual model. Given that these main effects are hypothesized under the assumption that the knowledge, mindsets and cultural contexts created, differ with the type of metric emphasis, it is likely that facets such as leadership style, managerial capital and organizational and national culture, affect these relationships (Atuahene-Gima, 2005; Broekhuizen et al., 2017; Germann et al., 2013; Homburg et al., 2012; Moorman, 1995; Raisch and Birkinshaw, 2008; Stathakopoulos, 1998). Such findings would further deepen our understanding of the chain of productivity with respect to metrics, while providing marketing managers practical recommendations for making their emphasis beneficial. In this regard, researchers could also conceptualize marketing and financial metrics use as reflective constructs, with indicators that measure the distinct knowledge and mindsets engendered by their use, thereby, more directly capturing the rationales that we proposed for their differential effects.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: While metrics are becoming increasingly important for marketing's relevance, there is also a need to understand how they, as enablers of learning, affect marketing's adaptive capabilities that ensure its long-term success. Therefore, this study aims to test the association of marketing and financial metrics use and the metric-based orientations of training and compensation, with two key marketing routines - exploitation, i.e. the perfecting of existing activities while allowing for incremental adaptations and exploration or experimentation accompanied by radical adaptation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study gathers data from 205 managers and uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships.\nFindings: Marketing metrics encourage both forms of marketing adaptation. Financial metrics use discourages exploration. Market orientation and long-term orientation strengthen (weaken) the positive (negative) relationship between marketing (financial) metrics use and marketing exploration. Metric-based training is more positively associated with both adaptive capabilities than a metric-based compensation orientation, albeit weakly.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study's central proposition - that different metrics or metric orientations are associated with distinct types of knowledge, interpretations, mindsets, motivations and cultural contexts - provides a deeper theoretical understanding of the pathways by which a metric emphasis affects marketing adaptation.\nPractical implications: Marketing managers should emphasize marketing metrics and training more than compensation, to promote marketing exploitation/exploration, while exercising caution in overstressing financial metrics given their negative association with exploration. This latter negative relationship can be weakened (as can the positive one between marketing metrics and exploration be strengthened) with increased market orientation and long-term orientation.\nOriginality/value: This study addresses the research gap regarding the relationship between metrics as a configurational element of marketing organization and marketing adaptation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
University spaces for entrepreneurship: a process model
|
[
"Entrepreneurial education",
"Innovation spaces",
"Entrepreneurship spaces",
"Co-working spaces"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Universities are enhancing entrepreneurship education by constructing dedicated spaces and these efforts are spreading across the educational landscape (Greene and Rice, 2011). This study explores spaces dedicated to entrepreneurship education and these are diverse, including materialization spaces (e.g. makerspaces), pre-incubators, incubators and accelerators, mixed-use facilities and dorms. The underlying motivation to build entrepreneurship spaces seems to range from fostering entrepreneurial activity to encouraging multi-disciplinary work (Beynon et al., 2014; Bruneel et al., 2012). This evolution toward the construction of physical space is consistent with increased focus on learning by doing (Jones et al., 2017; Kassean et al., 2015) and enhanced demands for university engagement in job and wealth creation (Hewitt-Dundas, 2012; Foss and Gibson, 2015).\nInnovation and co-working spaces: Given the centrality of innovation and creativity in entrepreneurship, the aim is to consider what makes a space innovative and to discover how space encourages entrepreneurial activity. Prior research on the topic is fragmented (Oksanen and Stahle, 2013), but studies indicate that physical environments have an impact on individual well-being and behaviors (Jackson et al., 2017), including creativity, social interaction, work performance and satisfaction (McCoy and Evans, 2002). As such, a process model to guide practitioners, needs to explore how physical environments assist innovation processes and the literature on this topic is introduced next.\nIn search of a model of entrepreneurship spaces: Fayolle (2008; Byrne et al., 2014) developed a model aimed at guiding the design of entrepreneurship education programs. The model was sourced in the initial literature search and was later found to be useful for organizing the research data and to guide the design and development of a model for practice. This model is useful because it builds on five main questions that need to be addressed to systematically \"bound and organize the educational design process\" (Toutain et al., 2014, p. 34):\nMethodology: Research context\nDiscussion of results: A process model of entrepreneurship spaces\nConclusion: There is a genuine desire among universities to provide dedicated spaces for entrepreneurship education (Belitski and Heron, 2017). Despite this trend, entrepreneurship education research is rather silent on questions relating to spaces. This is unfortunate given that universities are investing significant money on such spaces. The study aimed to fill this gap, with a particular interest in developing a model, which can assist the design and develop such spaces. The task was not straightforward given the multiplicity of spaces and the various functions they seek to fulfill. To better \"bound and organize\" (Toutain et al., 2014, p. 34) the space design process, the work first investigated what makes a space conducive to innovation, creativity and cross-disciplinarity, three central conditions to support entrepreneurial activities (Lackeus and Williams Middleton, 2015). Next, this approach adapted Fayolle's (2008) model of entrepreneurship education to the particular needs of entrepreneurship spaces by adding two additional questions and presenting it as a process model. There are two outcomes of the work.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore trends in entrepreneurship spaces developed by universities to support entrepreneurship education. It identifies characteristics that make a space conducive to innovation and explains whether current spaces adequately conform to those characteristics. More generally, this paper seeks to clarify what is being built, for which purposes and with what results.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Given the novelty of this research, the paper uses a multiple-method approach to allow for an iterative examination between theory and data. Multiple data and methods were used, including an action research method, a systematic survey of 57 entrepreneurship spaces at US universities and a thematic and content analyses of interviews carried out with individuals directly involved in the functioning of such spaces.\nFindings: The paper presents a prescriptive model aimed at guiding the practitioner in the design of an entrepreneurship space. It identifies five types of entrepreneurship spaces that differentially support entrepreneurial activities and rely on different characteristics. These characteristics are centrally important for innovation and entrepreneurship spaces.\nPractical implications: There are a number of practical implications from the work. It identifies key challenges in the design of entrepreneurship spaces and shows which questions to consider in the decision-making process.\nOriginality/value: The paper advances research on entrepreneurship spaces, an important yet poorly understood phenomenon. It reviews and introduces the literature on how space can support innovation, entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial \"spirit'\" and proposes a typology of entrepreneurship spaces, providing a path toward more robust and comprehensive theory building.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The influence of national cultural values on the use of rewards alignment to improve sales collaboration
|
[
"Cross-cultural management",
"Masculinity",
"Culture",
"Sales management",
"National cultures",
"Individualism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Inter-functional coordination is a key component of a market orientation that enhances business performance (Narver and Slater, 1990). Thus, developing coordination, cooperation, and collaboration across departments is a valuable objective for businesses to pursue. The evolution away from a transaction-focussed sales organization toward a relationship-oriented focus (e.g. Drollinger and Comer, 2013) suggests that sales should collaborate well across the marketing organization to develop long-term relationships with customers. However, its ability to achieve a climate of collaboration and cooperation across functional areas is often problematic due to differences in how each area views the importance of their own function and the ineffectiveness of the other's function (e.g. Rouzies et al., 2005; Le Meunier-FitzHugh et al., 2011; Kotler et al., 2006).\nConceptual background: The conceptual framework developed in this study focusses on the interplay between: sales collaboration, rewards alignment, which serves as an integrating mechanisms, and national-level cultural influences. The explanations underlying the conceptual framework presented in this study (Figure 1) are grounded in theories that suggest inter-functional coordination in an organization enhances business performance (Narver and Slater, 1990; Rouzies et al., 2005), and that national cultural values influence firm-level behavior (Hofstede, 2001; Sagiv and Schwartz, 2007). Extensive research has been conducted on each concept, although independent of each other. We seek to understand how a managerial tool (rewards alignment) designed to enhance inter-functional coordination performs in the context of varying national cultural environments. We begin by reviewing the friction that often exists between the sales division and the rest of the organization.\nResearch hypotheses: Sales collaboration and firm performance\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Table III reports descriptive statistics and correlations between variables. The results for the full maximum likelihood HLM analysis are reported in Table IV. We report the unstandardized coefficient results, because, in HLM, standardized coefficients are problematic due to the variance partitioned across different levels (Steenkamp and Geyskens, 2006).\nDiscussion: Shapiro (2002) posited that when an organization lacks collaboration and cooperation between the sales division and other organizational areas, the company's strategy will be inconsistent and weak; and execution of the firm's strategy will be flawed and inefficient. The empirical findings of this study illustrate that increased collaboration by the sales division with the rest of the organization, especially the marketing division, improves overall firm performance. This relationship has been examined in other research (e.g. Dewsnap and Jobber, 2000) and is confirmed by the results of this study.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how national cultural values affect sales collaboration directly and how it interacts with the firm's reward structure. The results are linked with firm performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The conceptual framework is tested on a large sample of sales organizations across 26 countries. Due to the nested nature of the data, hierarchical linear modeling is used to test the hypothesized framework.\nFindings: Sales collaboration is positively related to firm performance, while individualism and masculinity are negatively related to sales collaboration. Rewards alignment leads to greater sales collaboration and is particularly important in highly individualistic and masculine societies.\nPractical implications: The study identifies rewards alignment as an actionable management tool to foster greater sales collaboration and, in turn, enhanced firm performance. The study suggests that this is particularly important in cultures associated with high individualism and masculinity. These two values can hinder sales collaboration within the firm, but firm practices (rewards alignment) can counter societal tendencies.\nOriginality/value: The effects of cultural values have been neglected in prior research on sales collaboration and firm performance. The findings in this study suggest that culture is important and, at times, it can be beneficial for the organizational culture to counter the dominant national cultural values.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Improving the quality of Business Process Models: Lesson learned from the State of the Art
|
[
"Quality improvement",
"Business process modelling",
"BPMN models",
"Model quality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A Business Process (BP) covers different dimensions of an enterprise, such as functional, organizational, behavioral and informational (Curtis et al., 1992). Regarding their complexity and importance for enterprises, business process management (BPM) approaches emerged to help enterprises maintain their BPs. According to Aalst \"BPM supporting business processes using methods, techniques, and software to design, enact, control, and analyze operational processes involving humans, organizations, applications, documents and other sources of information\" (van der Aalst et al., 2003). According to this definition, BPM starts with the BP modeling stage that could use methods, techniques and tools to produce a BP model. Such a model will support activities like implementation, deployment, execution, and continuous improvement (i.e. the BP lifecycle Weske, 2012). Thus, it is fundamental for enterprises to guarantee that their BP models are of a high quality. A high-quality BP model is, also, required to guarantee its acceptance by end users, which help avoid common BPM problems, like model reality divide where the modeled and executed processes are not aligned (Schmidt and Nurcan, 2009).\n2. Analysis criteria: This section introduces business process model and notation (BPMN), the de facto standard for BP modeling, prior to discuss the proposed analysis criteria used to compare the existing approaches for BP model quality improvement.\n3. Guidelines for BP modeling: 3.1 Description of the proposed modeling guidelines\n4. Refactoring the BP models: 4.1 Description of refactoring techniques\n5. Transformation rule-based improvement: 5.1 Description of the proposed approaches\n6. BP-Quality for the improvement of the quality of the BP model: Despite the important number of works in the field of BP model quality improvement, there are several issues that need to be addressed. Indeed, there is still a lack of an adequate solution that enables designers to improve the quality of their BP models. Such a solution must consider the particularities of each BP especially its quality weaknesses. In fact, like any BP improvement activity, quality improvement has to start with the identification of quality weaknesses (Leopold et al., 2016; Dumas et al., 2018) that must be overcome to enhance the quality of the BP model. As such, BP quality starts with the qualitative evaluation to determine these potential weaknesses. This evaluation is ensured thanks to a set of quality metrics described in the next section. In addition, this evaluation is automated by means of a dedicated tool named BP-FuzzQual (cf. Section 6.2). By analyzing the evaluation results, BP-Quality identifies the potential quality weaknesses in the BP model. Then, it addresses them using either modeling guidelines, refactoring techniques or transformation rules, as discussed in Section 6.3. Figure 1 outlines the different steps that help achieve a sound improvement of a BP model quality. These steps as well as the used material are detailed in the remainder of this section.\n7. Framework validation: 7.1 Validation methodology\n8. Conclusion and discussion: The quality of a BP model is critical to the successful achievement of the model's lifecycle phases. The higher the quality is, the \"easier\" the BP execution and evaluation become. The literature refers to different techniques that aim at improving a BP model quality (Mendling et al., 2010; Sanchez-GonzaLez et al., 2013; Yahya et al., 2017). Some techniques assist BP engineers develop high-quality models while others propose metrics to assess the quality. This paper considers the former techniques by presenting an inventory of existing approaches dealing with BP quality improvement. Indeed, the most cited works as well as the newest ones are considered by this study. In this context, three types of techniques for BP models quality improvement, namely, modeling guidelines, refactoring techniques, and transformation rules, are described. To assist designers understand the benefits and the limits of each technique, the three techniques are examined using a set of analysis criteria. Table VI presents a comparison of the different works discussed in this paper.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: The quality of a Business Process (BP) model is vital for the successful accomplishment of all its lifecycle phases. Indeed, a high-quality BP model makes its implementation, execution and evaluation easier. In the literature, the improvement of BP model quality has been dealt with using several techniques. For instance, modeling guidelines, refactoring techniques, and transformation rules are the most used ones. The purpose of this paper is to exploit existing initiatives in this field to help designers improve their BP models.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper draws up a systematic inventory of the existing approaches to improve the quality of BP models. Moreover, it provides a comparative evaluation with the aim of identifying the particularities of each approach as well as the common gaps in the state of the art. Finally, it proposes a guiding framework, called BP-Quality, that supports designers in improving the quality of their BP models.\nFindings: The usability of BP-Quality is illustrated through a case study and a set of experiments. The preliminary experimental evaluation of this guiding framework shows encouraging results.\nOriginality/value: The proposed guiding framework has the merit of exploiting existing initiatives in the field of BP quality improvement. In addition, it customizes and optimizes the quality improvement process according to the particularities of each BP model.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Terminal reliability assessment of gamma and extra-stage gamma networks
|
[
"Networks",
"Multistage",
"Interconnection",
"Reliability",
"Terminal",
"Stages",
"Switching elements",
"Communications",
"Network operating systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: A major challenge in designing large-scale parallel/distributed systems is the construction of an interconnection network to provide inter-processor communication and in some cases, memory access for the processors (Duato et al., 1997). High frequency and large amounts of data transmission are major factors for designing interconnection network systems. Interconnection networks provide communication among processors, memory modules, and other devices in parallel computer systems. Among several advantages of multistage interconnection networks (MINs) are: high reliability through backup and redundancy, high speed in data transmission, maximum performance through interconnection among processors, and low cost (Choi et al., 2002; McMillen, 1984; Sengupta and Bansal, 2001). This paper presents a methodology for the reliability evaluation of a specific structure of MINs, known as gamma and extra-stage gamma networks.MINs connect input devices to output devices through a number of switching stages in which each switch is a crossbar network. The properties of MINs can be broadly divided into three categories: one-path MINs (non-redundant), two-path MINs, and multi-path MINs (redundant) (Blake and Trivedi, 1989a, b; Booting et al., 1989; Fard and Gunawan, 2005; Gunawan, 2008c). A multi-path MIN is composed of switching elements (SEs) with at least three inputs and three outputs. The multiple path MINs provide multiple paths between each input-output pair of the network. Gamma and extra-stage gamma networks belong to this category (El Sayed et al., 1999; Lee and Hegazy, 1986; Parker and Raghavendra, 1984).In general, a single-path MIN only has a single path from a particular processor to a particular set of memories. A multi-path MIN consists of switches that have multi inputs and multi outputs. Therefore, the cost of hardware is higher for a multi-path MIN than that of a unique-path MIN in terms of number of stages, number of switches per stage, and the size of the SEs. These are some of the principal factors that contribute to the switch complexity of a MIN. However, the multiple path systems have higher flexibility of data transmission. The major consideration in the design of the network is keeping the switch and link complexity as low as possible (Arzilawati et al., 2011; Gunawan, 2008a; Kamiura et al., 2000; Raghavendra and Varma, 1989; Sharma et al., 2008).Terminal reliability, generally used as a measure of robustness of a MIN, is the probability of the existence of at least one fault free path between a designated pair of input (s) and output (t) terminals (two terminal) (Fard and Gunawan, 2005; Yeh et al., 2002). This is denoted by Rst(G), where G is the network representing the system. A network G can be directed or undirected. In a directed network, there is at least one directed path between s and t. Different reliability measures and performance analyses of MINs have been studied in recent years (Fard and Lee, 2001; Gunawan, 2008a, b). The terminal reliability of MINs can be defined as the probability that at least one path exists from a particular processor to a particular set of memories.The following assumptions are commonly made for the terminal reliability evaluation of MINs (Blake and Trivedi, 1989a):1. All failures are statistically independent.2. All SEs are substantially less reliable than the links.3. Each SE in the MIN has two states: failure, or operational with a known reliability.4. All SEs are identical and have constant exponential failure rates.5. The SEs are not repairable. Source and terminal switches are always in operating condition.6. A SE is in a failure state when it cannot perform any of the connection functions.The next section presents gamma network structure with an example demonstrating the routing pattern.\n2 Gamma network: A gamma network is an interconnection network connecting N input switches to N output switches (El Sayed et al., 1999; Parker and Raghavendra, 1984). It consists of (log2N)+1 stages with N switches per stage. In all but the first and last stages, each SE consists of three input and three output switches. The SEs of the first, or input stage, consist of one input and three outputs, and the last stage consists of three inputs and one output switches. The gamma networks are structured in such a way to allow for redundant paths between the input and output switches, leading to a high fault tolerance.Reliability evaluation of large-scale gamma networks could be really tedious, since there could be many alternative routes connecting two specific SEs (source and terminal). In this paper, a method for identifying different routes from each source to each destination based on routing tags is discussed. Then, the corresponding terminal reliability can be evaluated according to routes leading to a specific destination.2.1 Routing pattern in gamma network\n3 Terminal reliability of gamma network: The terminal reliability of the 8x8-gamma network for different tag values computed by generating all possible paths between each source and destination pair of the network of Figure 1 is summarized in Table II.Expressions for terminal reliability evaluation of each tag value are developed based on network reliability methods, such as path method, cut set method, or conditional probability procedure (Fard and Lee, 2001; Gunawan, 2008b). For a tag value of 2, there are three paths connecting four SEs of four stages as shown in Figure 2. The single switch at stage \"0\" is connected in series to a single switch at stage \"1\", and they are in series with the two parallel SEs at stage 2, and this is connected in series to a single switch at terminal stage 3. Therefore, the reliability expression for tag value 2 is r2 (1-(1-r)2)r=2r4-r5.Likewise, the reliability expression for tag value 3, using path method is: r2(3r2-3r3 + r4)=3r4-3r5 + r6, where the first r2 represents the source and terminal reliability and the remaining term is the reliability of stages one and two in series as shown in Figure 3.Table III presents the evaluation of terminal reliability of the 8x8-gamma network for various tags, as a function of the reliability of a SE. The terminal reliability is calculated by conditioning a stage and proceeding through all possible combinations of the network and assuming that the SE at the input and output stage work for the system to be operational. It can be observed from the table that as the number of possible paths increases for different values of tags, the terminal reliability also increases. The terminal reliability graph for the tag value 0, 1, and 2 is shown in Figure 4 accordingly.\n4 Extra-stage gamma network: Gamma network is based on the (+-)2i connection patterns. In such a network there exist multiple paths to connect a source s to a destination t, except when s=t. The number of paths for (s,t) is a function of the tag value (t-s) modulo N, and the size of the network N (Lee and Hegazy, 1986).An extra-stage gamma network is constructed by adding an extra stage to the original gamma network as shown in Figure 5. Multiple paths are provided for all the tag values including 0. The extra stage can be any stage out of n=log2N stages of the original network. The extra stage of 0, 1, -1 connection patterns gives the most uniform distribution, and also results in a 1-fault tolerant interconnection network.Figure 5 also shows that there are nine possible paths for s=3 and t=3 connection pair. This is one of the advantages of the extra-stage gamma network compared to the original gamma network, that has only a single path when s=t. The numbers of paths for different tags in the extra-stage gamma network are presented in Table IV.The computation of terminal reliability of the 8x8 extra-stage gamma network for various tags, as a function of the reliability of a SE is shown in Table V. Let q be the probability of a faulty switch. The terminal reliability evaluation of the 8x8 extra-stage gamma network for different tag values are presented in Table VI, respectively.In general, it can be seen from the Table VI that the terminal reliability of the extra-stage gamma network is much lower than that of the gamma network. In this case, the extra-stage provides more possible paths for each tag value, and hence leads to more SEs subject to failure. It can be observed that the number of possible paths of the extra-stage gamma network for the tag value 0 is nine, compared to that of the gamma network that only has one path. The terminal reliability graph for the tag value 0, 1, and 2 is shown in Figure 6.\n5 Comparison: A comparison between terminal reliability of the gamma network and the extra-stage gamma network, as a function of the reliability of a SE for the 8x8 case using the tag value 0, is shown in Figure 7. It can be observed that the terminal reliability of the 8x8 extra-stage gamma network is lower than that of the 8x8 gamma network, and the difference between the terminal reliability of both networks reduces as the reliability of SEs increases.\n6 Conclusions: In this paper, terminal reliability as a function of the reliability of a SE of MINs is analyzed. Terminal reliability, generally used as a measure of robustness of a MIN, is the probability of existence of at least one fault free path between a designated pair of input (s) and output (t) terminals. The fault-tolerance and terminal reliability capabilities as well as the reliability of these networks are evaluated. It is observed that the additional stage provides more redundant paths in the networks. Therefore, an additional stage leads to extra paths and improves the system's fault tolerance. It has been shown that in a shuffle-exchange network systems, an addition of an extra stage leads to higher terminal reliability of that network (Fard and Gunawan, 2005). However, the additional stage does not necessarily improve the terminal reliability of the gamma network. The additional stage could add to the switch complexity and increase the probability of a path failure as well. Therefore, the extra-stage gamma network has multiple paths in every source-destination pair including the case when the tag value is 0, that is, when (s=t).\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - Multistage Interconnection Networks (MINs) are a class of network systems designed to improve communication in large-scale parallel processing systems. These networks facilitate the communications to perform a single overall task in a parallel processing system consisting of a large number of processors that are working together. The purpose of this paper is to discuss two types of MINs: gamma networks and extra-stage gamma networks. It is shown that a specific modification in the structure of a standard gamma network will add multiple paths from a specific source to a specific destination.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The terminal reliability of these networks are evaluated and analyzed in terms of the number of their paths connecting a source i, i=1, 2, ... , N to any terminal. Numerical examples are also given to demonstrate each network's performance.\nFindings: - In this paper, terminal reliability as a function of the reliability of a switching element of MINs is analyzed. Terminal reliability, generally used as a measure of robustness of a MIN, is the probability of existence of at least one fault free path between a designated pair of input (s) and output (t) terminals. The fault-tolerance and terminal reliability capabilities as well as the reliability of these networks are evaluated. It is observed that the additional stage provides more redundant paths in the networks. Therefore, an additional stage leads to extra paths and improves the system's fault tolerance. It has been shown that in a Shuffle-Exchange Network Systems, an addition of an extra stage leads to higher terminal reliability of that network. However, the additional stage does not necessarily improve the terminal reliability of the gamma network. The additional stage could add to the switch complexity and increase the probability of a path failure as well. Therefore, the extra-stage gamma network has multiple paths in every source-destination pair including the case when the tag value is 0, that is, when (s=t).\nOriginality/value: - Other authors have not done this kind of research analysis.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Adopting situationally relevant modes of music information at different stages of information-seeking processes: A longitudinal investigation among music students
|
[
"Music",
"Relevance",
"Music information",
"Information seeking",
"Information search process",
"Music students"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Kuhlthau's (2004, p. 112) information search process (ISP) model suggests that information types at varying levels of abstraction may have differentiated interpretations during information-seeking process, and that these interpretations can undergo change as such processes progress. Music is a domain where information resides not merely in written language. In their works on musicology and musical semiotics, Bengtsson (1977) and Tarasti (1994, p. 4) state that musical knowing transpires through sign systems such as music notations, aural experiences and gestural language of music making. This suggests that the interpretation and relevance of music information of varying kinds may change during an information-seeking process. When juxtaposing the dynamic nature of relevance suggested in the ISP model with the above multifaceted notion of music information of musicology and musical semiotics, an anomaly becomes apparent. Prior studies have left open the following question: which modes of music information are viewed as situationally relevant during the different stages of information-seeking processes?\nLiterature review: Modes of music information\nMethods: Research question\nFindings: The findings section is organized as follows. First, the summary of participants' self-assessments regarding the progress of their information-seeking tasks is presented. Second, descriptive statistics regarding the changes of the participants' thoughts, actions and emotions between data collection phases are presented to demonstrate whether they - in line with Kuhlthau's (2004) ISP model - indicated progress in the task performance. Third, the perceived importance and situational relevance of the music information modes are reviewed. The situational relevance of modes of music information is qualitatively described with illustrative extracts taken from the empirical data. Lastly, the results are summarized per music student group to provide an overview on how situationally relevant modes of music information are adopted at the different stages of information-seeking processes among music students representing the fields of music performance, music education and music theory and composition.\nDiscussion: The most significant factor affecting the situational relevance judgments of music information were the context, namely the nature of the participants' tasks. Music performance students focusing on music education focused on the symbolic information modes and saw the enactive and iconic modes as less important. DocMus students focusing on music performance as well as students of music theory and composition viewed the enactive and iconic modes as important, but for different reasons related to the requirements of their task at hand. Furthermore, especially among DocMus students, the situational relevance type of the information modes could change significantly after and during the task-stage of focus formulation. This further supports the finding of prior research that it is useful to approach the concept of relevance as a context-sensitive and process-oriented user construct (Bateman, 1998; Vakkari and Hakala, 2000).\nConclusion: This paper presents an account of how situational relevance of diverse music information modes changes in the ISPs of music students representing the fields music performance, music education and music theory and composition. The findings demonstrate that not only the modes of music information were seen as situationally relevant for different reasons by the three participating music student groups at the initial stage of task performance, but also that the situational relevance of the information modes was perceived differently between the music student groups as their tasks progressed to focus formulation and post-focus stages. The findings highlight the potential of context-sensitive approaches to music information seeking and the importance of conducting longitudinal studies elaborating how situational relevance may undergo changes during information-seeking processes.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of situational relevance by examining how modes of music information are viewed as situationally relevant at different stages of information-seeking processes among music students.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Empirical data of the present longitudinal study were collected in two phases by utilizing questionnaire and interview methods. Informants comprised of 14 university-level music students representing the fields of music performance, music education and music theory and composition. Modes of music information were approached through the information typology presented by Rousi, Savolainen and Vakkari.\nFindings: The findings indicate that not only the modes of music information were seen as situationally relevant for different reasons by the three participating music student groups when at the beginning of their tasks, but also that the perceived situational relevance of the information modes underwent changes as their tasks progressed to focus formulation and post-focus stages.\nResearch limitations/implications: Due to the small number of participants, further research is needed to verify the results concerning the differences in information-seeking processes between diverse music student groups.\nOriginality/value: The paper showcases that approaching music information through frameworks that classify information sources at diverse levels of abstraction enables an accurate description of information-seeking processes and illuminates context-sensitive development of situational relevance of music information of diverse modes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Building high-performing teams rapidly
|
[
"Discovery",
"Performance",
"Synergy",
"Creativity",
"Team working",
"Strategy",
"Competitive strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: I have developed a unique recipe - a set of tools, techniques and processes - that creates a high-performing team in four hours. It has been successfully applied to over 1,000 groups of employees from PAs and night-shift print workers through all the management and executive grades to core decision-making units (CMDUs). Many of the groups have had up to four different staff levels represented and many have included culturally very diverse individuals.That the recipe is successful is not in doubt. I would quote Martin Pexton, former Personnel Director of Allen & Overy (a global city law firm), Development Director of London Merchant Securities, and Managing Director of LMS Capital:Rupert's principles and approach worked every time across job levels and national cultures. When his techniques have been practised sufficiently to become habitual, they result in huge leaps forward in creativity and decision-taking. They also refresh the parts other approaches cannot reach, building strength and confidence for both the team and the individual. Creating and being part of a great team produces better results, makes work more rewarding and helps people to grow.In this article, I set out the four key steps you need to take to produce a high-performing team out of any group of individuals, for whom you have now, or in the future, a co-ordinator or staff leadership role.Winning Ways to Work (Eales-White, 2011) also caters for the situation where you are a facilitator, trainer, teacher, lecturer, tutor or sports coach, who is not a member of the group - you are building into a high-performing team in four hours. In the detached role, you can build many groups simultaneously into high-performing teams.These four key steps are:1. create the right environment;2. promote group discovery;3. harness the power of process; and4. carry out a review.First of all, however, we consider the prior requirements before running the workshop, which can take place in a syndicate room in your place of work.\nRecognise the limitation in group size: If you want to create an effective team, there is a limitation on the numbers (including yourself) that comprise the unit. Of the 1,000 groups I mentioned, the smallest group size was four and the largest group size was seven. The reason why we have a cut-off of four is that you need a critical mass of group members to produce the benefits of effective group working.The reason for the cut-off of seven is because of what happens when you are part of an effective team. It is a wonderful, exhilarating and rewarding experience, as Martin Pexton mentioned. Without consciously recognising it, your ego becomes suppressed, as your needs are being met by the power of the group. Your focus becomes external rather than internal. You become very aware of other group members and want to help them. There is a limit to how many people we can become aware of at the same time.\nAct as a co-ordinator: Your role is as co-ordinator of process rather than controller of people, as proved in the case study, \"Learning from my mistakes\" (Box 1).\nPrepare for the workshop: You need to get a date in diaries for an on-site half-day for all the team-members. All they need to know is that the objective of the half-day is to improve team-working, which could, of course, be very good to start with. You will need a separate meeting room with table and chairs, one flip-chart, plenty of flip-chart pens and spare flip-chart paper.You will also need Blu-Tack or masking tape to hang your output around the walls. There should be no individual pieces of paper or individual writing, apart from you as the co-ordinator or any designated scribe during the actual event.Coffee, tea and so on should be on tap and a 15-minute break built into the time-table.All mobiles should be turned off and there should be no external interruptions. It is absolutely essential that the entire group is together (body and soul) throughout the half day - apart from the official break.\nStep 1: Create the right environment: You tell the group that \"We are going to share from our experiences of working in a great team (any team - work, school project, sports, social, whatever - in our past) what were all the attitudes we adopted and actions took when we were in that team\".List them on a flip-chart and ensure at least one action is derived from each attitude. For example, \"Show each other respect\" is an excellent attitude. The action that demonstrates that attitude is to listen. (The open question to trigger the response is \"How do we show respect?\")Given that everyone consciously commits to these attitudes and actions, any breach is unintentional and everyone agrees to the rule that anyone in the group can point out (in a warm tone of voice) any unintentional breach, which tend to be few and far between and die away completely.If an individual repeats a positive action 21 times, according to research carried out by the Neuro-Linguistic Programming Society, the behaviour becomes habitual. What happens is that positive enabling beliefs form in the subconscious to ensure this habitual behaviour continues ad infinitum, replacing any negative, implicit, limiting beliefs that may have existed, without any need for the individual to recognise their existence. Hence Martin Pexton's comment: \"When his techniques have become habitual, they result in huge leaps forward in creativity and decision-taking\".\nStep 2: Promote group discovery: You set out the rules of the group discovery technique (GDT) which are:* separate out exploration from evaluation;* stamp on criticism;* help develop others' ideas; and* be creative on assumptions.To demonstrate the power of being creative on assumptions, you can use what are called \"lateral thinking questions\" that supposedly have \"one right answer\", and are, actually, \"creative thinking scenarios\" with many right answers. For example, consider the scenario. \"A man sold his dog, and was killed on the way home\". Being creative on assumptions:* It could have been a very valuable dog, and the man was mugged (and died) on the way home for the money.* It could have been a large, angry dog, which had escaped from its new owners, and carried out a fatal revenge attack on his former master.* It could have been a particular breed of dog, for example a husky, and the man had sold the lead dog of his sled and had fallen in a crevasse and died, or a guide dog, as his master was blind, and the blind man had been run over on the way home - and so on.Here are seven more creative thinking scenarios you can use to practise. The number of scenarios used should match the number in the group, giving an opportunity for each member of the team to act in the co-ordinating role.1. A little girl, standing with her two parents by a river, looks at their reflection in the water, and says: \"I can see all four of us\". There are only three people present.2. A woman enters a field, and immediately dies. The pack on her back is empty.3. A man and his golden retriever dog were found dead in the middle of a field. The man was wearing wading boots. No one else was around.4. A deserted yacht is found floating in the middle of the ocean and around it in the water are a dozen human corpses. There is no danger aboard the yacht and the yacht is not defective.5. A farmer has two pigs. He sells them both on the same day at the same market, and each was sold for a fair price. Yet, when he sells them he gets 100 times more for one than the other.6. A woman knocked on a stranger's door and asked to use the bathroom. She came out and killed the man with an axe.7. A swimmer swam the 100-metre freestyle in a new world record. The pool, water and ambient conditions were all acceptable. The record was not allowed to stand.Notes\nStep 3: Harness the power of process: The seven-step strategic planning process is as follows:1. Identify the single most important strategic issue the group wants to address.2. Develop statement of intent with time-frame.3. Determine what success looks like.4. Determine how to measure success.5. Determine what needs to be done to achieve success. Use GDT to come up with as many ideas/suggestions as possible.6. Agree the top four priorities for implementation.* Each individual in the group determines the four priorities they would personally select for implementation, allocating 4 points to their first choice, 3 to their second, 2 to their third and 1 to their last choice.* When every individual has made their decision, each comes to the flip-chart and puts the number against the ideas selected.* The four ideas with the highest aggregate totals become the priorities.1. Develop the process plan for each priority area. For each priority area, determine:* What should be done first and why?* What should be done second and why?, and so on.* Then complete each plan by putting approximate timings for the sequence of activities.Note\nStep 4: Carry out a review: To ensure you finish on a high, you only accentuate the positive (as to be expected). Specifically, you ask the team and yourself two questions.1. What are all the things we have done well as a team to produce this excellent performance?2. What should we do to perform even better as a team?\nConclusion: You have now built a high-performing team in four hours. However, given that there are always shocks to the system, you and your team members will need to learn how, individually and collectively, to deal with sudden change, perceived negatively to ensure that the team goes from \"strength to strength\" - see reference.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of the paper is to share the recipe that enables a team-builder to build in the workplace, out of any group of individuals, a high-performing team in four hours.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - After a period of research and testing, the recipe was formulated and successfully implemented over a 15-year period with more than 1,000 groups.\nFindings: - The recipe confirmed the research findings by A.J. Romiszowski that the effective team improves the intellectual and creative thinking skills, as well as the sociability, of the individual.\nPractical implications: - The recipe enables radical improvement in individual, team and organisational performance.\nOriginality/value: - The recipe is unique and is the only methodology to enable a high-performing team to be built rapidly, delivering to any organisation a quantum leap in individual and team performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A mobile service using anonymous location-based data: finding reading rooms
|
[
"Evaluation",
"User studies",
"Mobile services",
"Design and development",
"Usability",
"Indoor location-based services",
"Location-based services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the past few years, mobile technology has advanced significantly. Accordingly, mobile devices play a more and more important role in business, education, and personal life (Gao et al., 2014, 2012; Andresen et al., 2007; Kukulska-Hulme et al., 2009). Mobile services can be defined as services that are used in various settings on mobile platforms and are intended to increase efficiency and effectiveness. For example, location data has little value alone, but when it is used to expand the various mobile services through timely, personalized content according to users' context, it offers great value for the users.\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Location-based services\n3. Presentation of the mobile service: finding reading rooms: This mobile service is able to retrieve the anonymous user location data for a given room, and the user's current position via the installed Cisco Analytics server on a university campus in Norway. The server collects data from Wifi access points around the university campus, logging MAC-address, location and time of every Wifi enabled unit in the vicinity of the access points, and provides the data for other services in an anonymous fashion. The goal of this mobile service is to offer a mobile service by presenting these data in a simple and elegant way to solve the issue of finding available reading rooms.\n4. Evaluation on the mobile services: The results from the usability and the technology acceptance test of the mobile services are presented in this section.\n5. Conclusion and future study: This research is designed to develop a mobile service to solve the problem of finding an available reading room that has a great importance to university students. This study presents a pioneering effort in developing and testing on a university campus. First, the mobile service, finding reading rooms, based on anonymous location-based data was presented. Then, both the usability test and acceptance test were carried out with some students at a university in Norway. These results demonstrated students' intention to use this mobile service to help them find reading rooms on a university campus. The results also indicated that there might be other contexts where anonymous location-based data are also useful. The similar mobile services can be developed for other contexts, such as, hospital complexes, shopping malls, and airports.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a mobile service, based on anonymous location-based data, to help students find available reading rooms on a university campus. To evaluate this mobile service, both a usability test and a technology acceptance test were carried out.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research followed a design science approach, including developing a prototype and evaluating the developed prototype.\nFindings: The results from the usability test indicated good usability of the developed mobile service. The results from the technology acceptance test demonstrated students' intention to use this mobile service. Most respondents indicated that they would like to use this mobile service to find available reading rooms when they are on campus.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results imply that there are other contexts where anonymous location-based data are also useful. A similar mobile service can be developed for other contexts, such as, hospital complexes, shopping malls, and airports.\nOriginality/value: To the authors best knowledge, the authors have not found any mobile services aiming at counting the density of people residing in a room by using anonymous user location-based data on a university campus. This research fills this gap by developing the mobile service, called finding reading rooms.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Social entrepreneurship in tourism: applying sustainable livelihoods approaches
|
[
"Rural development",
"Tourism",
"Social entrepreneurship",
"Participatory action research",
"Hospitality management",
"Sustainable livelihoods"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A number of researchers argue that sustainably managed tourism, including the hospitality industry, has the potential to provide employment opportunities, infrastructure and financial gains to marginalised rural communities in developing countries (Sloan et al., 2014; Butler and Hinch, 2007; Zeppel, 2006; Torres and Momsen, 2004). Increasing attention is directed towards social entrepreneurs (SEs) and their importance in leveraging such positive effects for communities in developing countries (Sloan et al., 2014; Kokkranikal and Morrison, 2011). As has been emphasised in the context of appraising the building of capacity for rural tourism development, a comprehensive framework is needed to analyse the overall impact tourism might have on the sustainability of livelihoods (Bennett et al., 2012). We argue that this also holds true for related social entrepreneurship in tourism. Sustainable livelihoods approaches (SLAs), which have developed since the 1980s, enable to analyse the sustainability of livelihoods holistically (Bennett et al., 2012; Scoones, 2009, 1998; Chambers and Conway, 1991), and to draw conclusions for short-term actions and long-term policy developments. A livelihood:\nMethodology: Research approach\nFindings: interaction and interdependency of tourism, livelihood assets and institutional structures and processes: Vulnerability context: history of South Africa, marginalisation and agriculture\nDiscussion: So far, researchers have mostly either elaborated on the connections between SLA and tourism (cf. Bennett et al., 2012; Newton and Franklin, 2011; Tao and Wall, 2009; Shen et al., 2008; Simpson, 2007), or on the role of social entrepreneurship in tourism (cf. Sloan et al., 2014; Ergul and Johnson, 2011; Tucker, 2010). However, Kokkranikal and Morrison (2011), in their research on \"the role of entrepreneurial innovation in tourism development through the facilitation of community networks\" (p. 151), have used the concept of SLA to discuss whether and how an SE can affect livelihoods in general, but without providing details, how this could relate to the various elements of the SLF. In contrast, the study presented here has focused on how the entire SLF can be used in a specific context, while taking into account the broader historical perspective and the general living conditions and vulnerability context of the women participating in the agricultural programme of GTF. With respect to livelihood assets, we confined the research to those induced or affected by the SE, allowing us to focus on the interrelationships between the affected households of participating women and the social entrepreneurial structures. This approach is more in line with Shen et al. (2008), who have proposed an SLF for tourism, adding tourism as an influencing factor around the entire framework and replacing the physical livelihood asset (compare DFID, 1999 for the original SLF) with an institutional asset that provides for \"people's access to tourism markets, tourism benefits sharing, and access and participation in the policy-making process\" (Shen et al., 2008, p. 27). This specific SLF configuration may be very well applicable to frame contexts in which a community directly participates in tourism activities through their own entrepreneurial actions (cf. Kokkranikal and Morrison, 2011). However, within the Grootbos context, this is not the case. We argue that depicting the detailed relationships between tourists, the SE and livelihood assets, including physical assets, is primordial to a thorough analysis of the transforming structures and processes, which should be of particular interest, as they influence the households' access to assets and thus mediate the ability of households to pursue (or not) certain livelihoods strategies, as Scoones (1998) argues. Furthermore, using tourism as an overall influencing factor on the entire SLF, as Shen et al. (2008) suggest, does not necessarily provide a differentiated view on the given context, because tourism may only influence particular parts of the SLF. Overall, the application and amendment of the SLF to a tourism and social entrepreneurial context proves to be a sensible, yet, so far, rather rare approach.\nConclusion: This paper presents a rather unique case study, as it covers the following key issues: the backdrop of extreme socio-economic inequality in South Africa, encompassing a wide gap between rich and poor and the legacy of apartheid with its persisting influence on the socio-cultural conditions of black and coloured communities and its difficult implications for any developmental project to target but a few of the most urgent issues. In our case, the SE was aware that the local community had only limited access to food and employment, and one main intention was to assist women living in deprived conditions become more self-reliant in food production through hands-on training. Yet, at the same time, the SE had the aim to bestow the hospitality business with a competitive \"green edge\" in the form of a sustainable local food production unit.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate whether the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) enables an analysis of the complex interrelations and interdependencies between social entrepreneurs (SEs), destination communities' livelihood assets and related transforming structures and processes. SEs in tourism are regarded as drivers for linking destination communities with enterprises, aiming to create economic benefits and livelihoods.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were gathered through participatory action research at a tourism lodge and its foundation, which facilitated agricultural training, and by conducting in-depth interviews with ten key stakeholders. The sustainable livelihoods framework (SLF) served as the theoretical framework.\nFindings: The SLA enables an analysis of interrelations and interdependencies between various stakeholders and to visualise the way SEs forge the impacts tourism has on livelihoods. The agricultural project did not reach its full potential because of, amongst other factors, competing aims between the profit and non-profit business, resulting in the lack of a clear vision and strategy. Additional challenges were dependency on external funding and a lack of reciprocal communication between the stakeholders involved.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research is based on one case study, and findings cannot be generalised. Future studies should develop the SLF further, possibly through adaptation and integration of other tools.\nPractical implications: The SLF enables researchers to integrate local knowledge and participatory research methods, thus facilitating engagement and learning between different stakeholders.\nOriginality/value: Through empirical research, this paper adds valuable insights into the applicability of the SLF in the context of social entrepreneurship in tourism.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
News articles as a platform for library resource endorsement and dispersion
|
[
"Events",
"Library resources",
"News",
"Information dispersion",
"Interlinking",
"News digest"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The news is the primary source of current information in the society and is procured by the libraries in different forms for serving daily information to the users. Most of the libraries have a newspaper section and some also provide news-clipping service. The implication of information technology in the libraries has helped them to offer daily online news/e-newspapers through the library website to the users irrespective of geographic location and time. But the question lies why will the users come to read print or e-newspapers/online news in the libraries/library websites, as they are available easily?\n2. Review of related literature: Asare-Kyire et al. (2013) examines the collection, storage, preservation and other management practices of newspapers at the Serials Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Library. It reveals that the newspapers are subscribed, received and collected on a daily basis, thus creating a huge collection. It further reveals that the newspapers are bound annually, which makes it bulky and is therefore not easy to handle. The study also reveals cost, preservation and space challenges as a result of the annual mounting volumes. Kobusingye (2016) in his study examines the access and use of newspapers at Makerere University Library as well as justifies the need for and against the print newspaper subscriptions in light of the available online versions. The study establishes that the participants have different reasons for their preference of certain newspapers and versions. Reasons range from the quality of information, language of the newspaper, the ease of access to a given newspaper and the infrastructure. Panda and Swain (2011) state the growing demand of e-newspapers over the conventional newspapers. Their study emphasizes on the role of information professionals in disseminating information through e-newspapers. The study focuses on the advantages of e-newspapers like links to other relevant supplementary information for complete reading, inclusion of multimedia files and hyperlink features. These articles state the importance of e-newspapers over print ones as well as the problems faced by the users in handling newspapers.\n3. Objectives of the study: The study aims to enhance news service of the libraries to promote and increase utilization of the news acquired by them. The study focuses on making news digests as a channel for the library for better propagation of information from its possessions. The major objectives of the study are:\n4. Scope and limitation: The study aims to digest news and connect them with library resources and events. A flowchart has been designed for this purpose. Online news applications, digitized library resources/online resources/e-resources, events and online public access catalog have been taken into consideration for designing the flowchart.\n5. Methodology: The present study is a theoretical explanation from the point of view of increasing the use of news acquired by a library and its resources. The proposed study states a flowchart for processing of news from various sources and visions to make news digests a platform for the dissemination of library resources.\n6. Flowchart of news and resource digest: The news digest will be prepared to congregate all the news from various sources which will be selected by a library for better propagation of information. It will also act as an interface through which the users can access former and contemporary related news, library resources and events. In this study, a flowchart has been designed to show how the news digests will be prepared from the daily news in an automated fashion and will interconnect them with library resources to provide virtual reference service. This flowchart aims to ensure maximum connectivity and extraction of new, innovative, unique and authentic information from news, library resources and events.\n7. Library's news digest: The library's news digest will be a list of news digests with textual summary, photos, audio and videos on a particular topic which will be collected from different news applications in a particular span of time of a day. Each news digest will mainly contain links to related multimedia files, which will include news of similar string, abstracts of the resources of the library and events. The digests of the news will be comprehensive and impactful so as to disburse complete information on an issue along with its previous and contemporary connections. Basically, the digest tends to reflect the central theme to provide the user an overall idea to save their time. The uniqueness of the library's news digest will be:\n8. Advantages of library's news digest: Each and every individual of the society intends varieties of information. The responsibility of the library is to alleviate their information needs and enhance their knowledge. A library can prepare its own news digest to provide the most authentic, compact and rich information content to the users. The news digest will be a bridge to the library resources and other allied news and events also. It will be beneficial both for the library and its users. The advantages are discussed below.\n9. Concluding remarks: All the news will get its reader, and the readers will also get complete information on a news from different sources in one destination, i.e. library. In the era of information explosion, the initiative of the library to provide online news digest service along with the references of the library resources and events can be a means to foster rich information to the patrons. Through this digest, the library can cater the needs or growing interests of the users on a subject. The users can also get the assistance of the library professionals to get maximum information in the least time. The participation of the library by making news as a channel to reach users will help to endorse the library resources. This will make the users library oriented and will increase the utilization of the library resources. The users will rely more on the libraries, as the searching and reading time of the users will be saved. The library will enhance the users' information interest and orientation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to make news as a platform for the libraries to transmit information from the library resources and events to the huge mass of the society. The focus of the study is to design a flowchart of digesting the daily news and interlink them regularly to the library resources and events to build up a chain of development on a topic, enhance the easy promotion of the library resources to the public and offer them easy access to information.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is a theoretical explanation from the point of view of increasing the use of news acquired by a library and its resources. Literature on news-clipping service of the libraries, various news-clipping software and the trending online news applications have been studied extensively to ensure a harmonic design of the proposed flowchart.\nFindings: The findings of the study describe the news digests that are expected as the outcome of the flowchart. The significant features and advantages of the news digests have also been discussed in the study.\nResearch limitations/implications: The limitation of the study is that the flowchart which has been designed and described in this study is a blueprint. It has not been developed in real and has not been tested. But from the library's perspective, if the flowchart is developed and implemented in each library, it will maximize the utilization and consumption of information from the news and library resources.\nOriginality/value: News applications are dynamic and often publish similar or ambiguous news which is difficult for an individual to identify. Moreover, the libraries mostly provide news-clipping service. If the libraries can collect the news and process them in their own way, it can extract the complete and actual information. The libraries can also tag their possessions for complementing each news digest and thus providing the users for accessing an authentic content of information.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Examining customer evaluations across different self-service technologies
|
[
"Customer satisfaction",
"Customer intentions",
"Interactive voice response",
"Invariance testing",
"Online service",
"Self-service technologies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Self-service technologies (SSTs), or technological interfaces that enable customers to generate benefits for themselves without the presence of the organisation's personnel, are commonplace today (Beatson et al., 2007; Curran and Meuter, 2005). SSTs are diverse, including automated hotel check-in/check-out kiosks, automated telephone banking, automated teller machines (ATMs), retail self-scanners and online ticketing (Ostrom et al., 2002). In classifying the different SSTs, a key categorisation variable applied is the type of technology used, e.g. Internet, interactive kiosk and interactive voice response (IVR) (Dabholkar, 1994; Meuter et al., 2000).\nTheoretical background: Inherent within the definition of SST is the concept of \"self\". SSTs inevitably require customers to increasingly participate in the service encounter (Curran and Meuter, 2005; Meuter et al., 2005). Value is created through customers' performance using technology supplied by the organisation (Dabholkar, 1990; Xue et al., 2005). Customers can effectively then be considered as \"partial employees\" of the organisation (Bettencourt, 1997; Xue et al., 2005), i.e. they temporarily participate in service production by contributing resources, such as effort.\nHypotheses development: Antecedents to customers' SST satisfaction: IVR and online services\nResearch method: The AFL offers season ticket passes at both club level and at the broader sport level. AFL \"members\", as they are called, hold the broader-level season tickets that are managed by the sports governing body, rather than a specific team. This arrangement is possible because of the history of the AFL. Its rise to a national competition involved the incorporation of teams from various state-based leagues. The strongest of these leagues was in the state of Victoria, which contributes 12 teams to the national competition. Eleven of these teams play all homes games out of just two shared stadiums, both in the city of Melbourne. This has allowed membership packages to be developed that allow access to all games at these two stadiums. Similar examples might be stadium memberships (e.g. the Marylebone Cricket Club memberships at Lord's). It is the holders of this broader membership that are the focus of this study. The product is complex, involving many events and different additional options (e.g. dining, guest passes), thus providing a vibrant context to study SST use.\nAnalysis results: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion and managerial recommendations: The aim of this study was to test a model of the antecedents and consequences of customers' satisfaction across different SST types - IVR and online SSTs - offered by a single service provider. Supporting a \"range\" of SST channels is no longer an option for organisations, including the AFL; rather it is a necessity (Wang et al., 2012). However, SSTs have the potential to erode customer satisfaction and loyalty. We argue that organisations do not know enough about the antecedents of customer satisfaction across different SST types to successfully manage these varying technologies. Our study findings have begun to address this gap.\nLimitations and future research directions: The implications of this study are tempered by several limitations. These include the questionable accuracy of self-reports, although CMV was not found to be an issue, and the use of a single service context. In addition, we measured AFL customers' word-of-mouth intentions as opposed to studying their actual behaviour, although we did track customers' actual reuse of both the IVR and online SSTs in the subsequent football season. Another potential limitation is that the complexity of the service being offered by each SST will influence the antecedents of customer satisfaction. For instance, customers making complex calls may be more likely to rate IVR systems negatively (Alcock and Millard, 2006). However, we did not measure the \"purpose\" for which customers were using the respective SSTs. Finally, we collected data on members' satisfaction antecedents in relation to inbound (and not outbound) IVR only; organisations may also place outbound IVR calls to customers (e.g. a reminder that their membership is due for renewal).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine the influence of different self-service technologies (SSTs) on customer satisfaction with and continued usage of SSTs. Specifically, it compares an interactive voice response (IVR) SST and an online SST from the same provider to assess how to manage these parallel SSTs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A tracking study was used, beginning with a survey of n = 957 SST users to test a model pertaining to SST satisfaction across IVR and online SSTs. These SST users were then tracked over 12 months. The association between customer satisfaction with and continued usage of the SSTs was examined using behavioural data from the service provider.\nFindings: While the overall model was found to be valid across both types of SSTs, perceptions of factors including ease of use, perceived control and reliability differed for IVR and online SSTs. Satisfaction with SSTs is linked with users' continued use of SSTs, but is not a barrier to users' adoption of newer SST forms.\nResearch limitations/implications: Highlighting the rapid developments in this field, a new SST was introduced by the provider to respondents during the 12-month tracking period, thus complicating the results. Further studies could include the customer purpose for using SSTs as a variable.\nPractical implications: The findings offer support for organisations offering a suite of SSTs, even if they serve the same purpose. Customers evaluate SST types differently, and even satisfied SST users switch to different SSTs when they become available. Allowing customers to choose the SST that best suits them appears to be good practice.\nOriginality/value: This study develops a comprehensive model of customer SST satisfaction that is used to undertake a comparison of two different types of SSTs, which has been missing from prior research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Structured clinical audits: Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, UK: A response to Collins et al. (2005), "Improving the reporting of clinical audits in the NHS", Clinical Governance: An International Journal, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 190-5
|
[
"Clinical audit",
"Clinical governance",
"National Health Service",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The authors recently reviewed all the clinical audits conducted by the anaesthetic department at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, from August 2004 to July 2005 against recommendations of Collins et al. (2005). The Queen Victoria Hospital is a tertiary centre for faciomaxillary, major plastics, hand and corneoplastic surgery. This report presents the results of our findings.The anaesthetic department (with 16 consultants and nine Specialist Registrars) holds monthly audit meetings, which all the staff are expected to attend. There is a nominated lead consultant who coordinates audit activities and chairs the audit meetings. Formal minutes are taken, which are circulated and are available on the intranet. Risk areas are identified, audit projects are suggested and the aims and methodology of all proposed projects are presented during the audit meetings. A consultant is nominated to supervise each audit project. Details of the projects are forwarded to the audit department for inclusion on the centralized clinical audit database. Further details of the projects are included in the Trust's annual clinical audit report, where audits that have failed to complete are also detailed. The audit department is available to give support with data collection and analysis of results.All completed audits are presented in audit meetings, suggestions are discussed, action points are decided and re-audit timetables are agreed on, if required. Full copies of audit reports are kept in a separate folder on the anaesthetic department intranet. The action points are followed up at subsequent audit meetings.\nMethods: The standards against which we evaluated the audits are as follows:1. Is there a system of recording for ongoing and completed projects?2. Is the audit part of a centralised record kept with the audit officer?3. Does audit have sufficient methodological details to make it easy to repeat?4. Does the audit have an action plan for recommendations?5. Were action plans followed up?6. Is there a plan to repeat or is it a repeat audit?\nResults: A total of nine projects were started during that time period. The details are given in Table I. Seven of these nine had an audit proposal form filled in, their methodology discussed and a consultant nominated as lead.Two projects were re-audits. The re-audit of anaesthesia for cataract surgery showed failure to reach target for starvation for patients undergoing local anaesthesia. Forty-six per cent (up from 41 per cent in last audit) of patients undergoing cataract surgery under local anaesthesia were unnecessarily starved. As a consequence, we have now made patient information systems better and we randomly audit starvation times for these patients every year to improve service.The second re-audit was of resuscitation equipment at the Queen Victoria Hospital, which showed that now we have better position of and access to resuscitation trolleys. There have been improvements in training for automated external defibrillators for staff because it is a part of mandatory basic life support training in hospitals. There is no plan to repeat the audit in the near future.The comparison of the haemocue and laboratory service for preoperative haemoglobin determination audit showed variation in values with haemocue from laboratory services. As a result we have decided to carry on with laboratory-based haemoglobin measurements for infants. There is no plan to repeat the audit.The audit of paediatric venous access equipment showed that different areas stored different types of cannula and there was trouble finding the right venous cannula in emergency situations. The audit recommended making an inventory of required cannulae and having a specialised tray ready for paediatric venous cannulation. An inventory was created after departmental discussions and now we have a special paediatric venous access tray ready on the wards.The audit of neuropathic pain after hand injury and nerve repair showed that 13.7 per cent of patients suffered from pain four months after injury and had inadequate access to pain clinics. This audit has made the basis for a research trial for early intervention for chronic pain for hand injury patients.The audit of return to theatre with haematoma following bilateral breast reduction surgery showed that our rate is comparable to national rates, and there is no plan to repeat the audit.\nDiscussion: Clinical audit is a tool that helps to assess whether recognised standards are met and what aspects of care need to improve. It also helps to target improvement activities where they will have the most impact. The 1989 White Paper Working for Patients (Secretaries of State for Health, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, 1989) established a clear vision for the development of audit within the NHS. It stated that every doctor should participate in regular systematic medical audit. A First Class Service (Department of Health, 1998) embedded clinical audit as a pillar within clinical governance. The profile of audit was heightened by the Bristol inquiry (Department of Health, 2002), which stated that clinical audit should be compulsory for all healthcare professionals. For many an audit is reduced to a theoretical exercise that has no implication for clinical practice. \"Although organisationally widely championed in the NHS, audit and evaluation appears routinely to fail to stimulate and spur the implementation of any practice improvement for end-service users\" (Kellett et al., 2005).We have presented this audit of audits in a departmental audit meeting, and discussed the problem of unfinished projects. Now all trainees are advised to leave all the data and material related to audit projects in the department when they leave the hospital, so another trainee can take up the project and finish it. By auditing all the audits we have highlighted small but significant practice improvement brought about by audits in our department. We have also showed that a structured audit programme driven by local issues has enabled our services to improve continuously. The usefulness of audits cannot be underestimated. Audit can be a very important tool that promotes improvement in the NHS, but it requires adequate training, more support and better organisation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To audit all the clinical audits conducted by the anaesthetic department at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, from August 2004 to July 2005 against recommendations published in the paper \"Improving the reporting of clinical audits in the NHS\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The standards used were a central system of recording ongoing and completed projects, adequate methodological details with each audit, action plan with each audit, follow-up of action plan and closing the loop for each audit.\nFindings: - A problem was identified regarding unfinished projects when trainees move on to other hospitals. Changes have been made to solve that problem.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Only audits from one department were audited. If all the audits from the whole hospital are examined, more problems with reporting audits may be found.\nPractical implications: - A structured audit programme driven by local issues has enabled the study department's services to improve continuously.\nOriginality/value: - This paper tries to show the usefulness of audits in bringing improvements to the NHS.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An exploratory study of factors that affect the research progress of international PhD students from the Middle East
|
[
"Study completion hindrance",
"Doctoral program",
"Middle East countries",
"Nvivo",
"Thesis writing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Factors influencing university students' academic performance have been of interest to researchers for many years (Hopkins et al., 1958; Rennie and Brewer, 1987; Valero, 2001). These studies have, among others, attempted to shed light on the factors that help or hinder postgraduate and undergraduate students' academic journeys. Much of existing literature in this area describes the important role played by research supervisors in the successful completion of research projects and thesis writing (Kam, 1997; Seagram et al., 1998; Ours and Ridder, 2003; Ives and Rowley, 2005; Manathunga, 2005; Kearns et al., 2008; Ho et al., 2010; Wright, 2010). Studies also reveal that the presence of an involved and supportive advisor contributes greatly to the successful completion of research (Maher et al., 2004). Among the variables that students have cited as important in determining their academic success are supervisor commitment, frequency of consultations and duration of contact between supervisors and students (Mohamed et al., 2012).\n2. Methodology and data collection: The main purpose of this study is to examine the factors that negatively affect the research progress of PhD students from the Middle East pursuing their studies in a renowned university in South East Asia. As with many other studies pertaining to the issue of doctoral pedagogy, (e.g. Ho et al., 2010; Ives and Rowley, 2005) the current study is a qualitative enquiry that looks into the critical incidents to understand the difficulties that PhD students from the Middle East face while conducting their research. Ho et al. (2010) had also employed the same technique in their research.\n3. Result of the study: This study aims to investigate the perspectives of PhD students from the Middle East on the kind of barriers they face/had faced during their candidature in a popular South East Asian university. Similar to the previous studies, the following factors: student characteristics, family commitment, financial sources and research barriers, were the themes that emerged from the data that was analyzed via Nvivo. There was no indication of departmental characteristics as a contributing factor. However, an additional two themes that have been cited in earlier findings were observed, namely, supervisors and psychological barriers.\n4. Discussion and conclusion: The current study has attempted to shed light on the factors that negatively influence the study progress of PhD students from the Middle East. As Owler (2010) asserts, writing a PhD thesis is not always a smooth, efficient process for many students. Based on this assertion, this study attempts to highlight the different set of barriers that PhD students from the Middle East experience compared to others. Six main themes have emerged from the content analysis of the transcribed interviews: student characteristics, financial problems, research barriers, family commitment, psychological barriers and the role of supervisors. The first four factors cited concur with previous studies. However, two additional themes emerged in the analysis which are: the negative impact of supervisors and psychological barriers which the students believe negatively influence their research progress.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Despite the critical issues involving Middle East countries such as war and a drop in currency exchange rates, a large number of students leave their country to pursue a higher education abroad, every year. The purpose of this paper is to understand the difficulties that these students face while conducting their research in a foreign country and in doing so hopes to enhance a greater awareness of the kind of hindrances they face to complete their studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The respondents of this qualitative study are PhD students from the Middle East who were studying in a public university in Southeast Asia. This university has recorded an increasing enrollment of international students, particularly from the Middle East in the last few years. Data were collected using a series of unstructured interviews that elicited information on critical incidents that characterized the kind of difficulties students had to face in their research. The data obtained was further analyzed using a qualitative software package - NVivo (QSR International, 10).\nFindings: Six main themes emerged from the content analysis of the interviews, which are the role of the supervisor, student characteristics, family commitments, financial problems, psychological and research barriers which provide a holistic picture of student perspectives on the factors that affect research progress. While these students might have faced difficulties that might have been cited in existing literature, this paper argues that the respondents have indicated experiencing psychological barriers that were not described in earlier studies, such as the state of mind they were in as a result of being worried for family members due to war or violence in their home countries, drop in currency exchange rates and difficulties in acquiring money due to international sanctions imposed against their countries.\nOriginality/value: This study provides important insights on the factors that affect the progress of PhD students from the Middle East, while at the same time revealing a serious gap in supervisors' role which can contribute to the delay in the research progress of PhD students.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Connecting corruption to ethnic polarization and religious fractionalization
|
[
"Corruption",
"Fractionalization",
"Polarization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Rajeev (2003) notes that corruption is a common feature for most developing countries because of soft governmental policies. Corruption, such as bribery, is viewed by the general public as a common phenomenon. Because of inefficiency and lengthy legal procedures, threat of punishment is not taken seriously. Rajeev focuses on two factors that sustain corruption. The first one is the negligible probability of being held responsible for corruption. The second factor is concerned with none significance of potential penalty when compared to the present value of the loss. Rajeev cites as an example the prevalence of bribes to evade taxes in India.\n2 Focus: Dincer and Payne (2010), henceforth DP, investigated the connection between religious diversity and ethnic polarization with corruption. They note that two competing indexes are used in the empirical research. The first is the fractionalization index (FI) and the second is the polarization index (PI). DP explains that the FI index measures the probability that two individuals in a country selected randomly belong to two different religious groups, and is found by the formula: Equation 1 where nij denotes the population share of the jth group in a given country. The maximum in equation (1) is reached when in a country, every individual belongs to a different religious group. High probabilities indicate high levels of diversity, which could lead to conflict.\n3 Research methodology: Two statistical techniques are employed for analysis. The first is testing for equality of means by the three categories HDI, income and developing countries. The best known way to do this is one-factor analysis of variance. The second technique is linear regression, connecting the two indexes with corruption for all 127 countries in the sample.\n4 Results: Tables I and II provide descriptive statistics for ethnic polarization and religious fractionalization, giving, in each case, the mean, the standard deviation and the coefficient of variation (CV). Panels A and B in the tables provide the information for HDI and income. For both HDI and income in Table I, the means gradually increase from the high level to medium level to the lower level, moving from 0.262 to 0.510 to 0.806 for the HDI classification and moving from 0.174 to 0.253 to 0.418 for the income classifications. Similar trends are observed in Table II for fractionalization. The indication here is that probabilities of polarization and fractionalization move upward as one moves from higher levels to lower levels in HDI and income.\n5 Concluding remarks: This paper, through the use of data on 127 countries supplied by DP on polarization, fractionalization and corruption aligned countries into groups. The grouping was in accordance to HDI, income and developing countries. The two statistical approaches employed were the analysis of variance and regression methodology. The results of the analysis of variance indicate that in the majority of cases differences between the groups were highly statistically significant. The regression methodology results indicate significant positive relationships between corruption and polarization and corruption and fractionalization. The regression methodology identified countries that scored higher or lower values than expected.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The paper aims to investigate the connection between corruption and ethnic polarization and religious fractionalization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Analysis of variance and regression expectation models were used to identify groups of countries for their similarities and differences.\nFindings: Results show that significant statistical differences exist between the countries grouped by human development, income and developing countries. Countries with expectations higher or lower than the norm in corruption were identified.\nOriginality/value: The paper highlights the connection between corruption and ethnicity for some 127 countries.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Multi-level alignment model: transforming face-to-face into e-instructional programs
|
[
"Project management",
"Computer based learning",
"Learning",
"Organizational change"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The increasing dependency on computer technology in business has created the necessity for companies to provide constant training for their employees. Capability in this technology is necessary in jobs at almost any level, and the constant change in technology requires life-long learning in order to keep employees current (Aggarwal, 2003).\nChanging organizations: Organizations in the present-day business climate are constantly challenged by change, not change that resolves itself into a period of stasis, but change that continuously erodes control, change that actually prevents the establishment of a status quo (Akkermans and van Helden, 2002; Byham, 1999; Harrison et al., 2000; Nah and Lau, 2001; Ulrich, 2000). Global trade and a competitive market contribute to this new reality, but the change leader is technology, which has made businesses with global reach commonplace phenomena.Companies now have to face the fact that the basic processes that drive their production and maintain their market position have to be changed. This requires the development of new employee skills and redesigned processes, but most of all it requires the development of a new way of thinking. The environment is rapidly evolving, and the elementary rule of survival in evolution is adaptation. Companies who find new ways to think and act will survive. Those who do not will not (Akkermans and van Helden, 2002; Nah and Lau, 2001; Ulrich, 2000).Because technology plays such a crucial role in this climate of change, some mastery of technology is necessary for success, but control of technology is only the beginning. Real competitive advantage comes from molding employees into a workforce that competently functions within the new parameters of society (Colvin, 1997). Collard (2002) corroborates this viewpoint, arguing that, in crisis situations, actions must be quick and sure, which in turn requires continuous, clear, and immediate communication.\nProject management in changing organizations: To further complicate matters, to adapt to the new demands, organizations have to implement structural changes in the ways they use to accomplish results. Byham (1999) elaborates on need for changing in relation to the means they use to select their top leaders, who used to manage most of the organizations' projects. Succession plans have been the most common strategy used by organizations to fill their top leader positions. Nowadays, however, with the flattening of organizational hierarchies, a factor in the constant change that organizations are having to face, it is more frequent to find people moving laterally within the organization than upward, as happened in the past. Succession plans have become obsolete in this environment.Consequently, project management tasks normally executed by managers are now transferred to team leaders. Managers have the power of position. They control the organizational reward/punishment system (i.e., hiring, firing and promoting). Project team leaders have a much more fluid control, they lack the power of position and have to find other ways to motivate the team to strive for quality and effective completion of the project tasks (Donnelly and Kezsbom, 1994; Larsen, 2004).These project leaders have to perform the tasks involved in project management, which means controlling a project by establishing and employing a system of principles and techniques. This requires documentation of all the project-related minutiae: detailed plans, needs and provisions, work flow, roles and scope of responsibility of each person involved. Each project has its own unique process of execution, which terminates with the delivery of the project results (Dick et al., 2005; Pitagorsky, 1997). Projects involving the changing of existing face-to-face training programs to online delivery or the development of new online programs add unique challenges that project managers must resolve. In addition to the usual business of producing effective training programs that will satisfy the client, who asked for an upgrade of job-specific skills, knowledge, and abilities, project leaders must incorporate the new skills demanded by the use of emerging technology.\nTraining programs: Societal changes have created a broad general need for more training, and the web-based variety is especially suitable for this need:* About 85 percent of jobs today require after-high-school training, up 20 percentage points since 1991.* One-time training is not enough; changes occur so rapidly that about half of all employee skills need updating within three to five years.* More older people, working adults, are attending colleges now, and that segment of the college population is growing faster than any other.Online training has unparalleled flexibility of access and capacity for instant, centralized updating, which makes it extremely attractive in a climate of rapid change. These elements make a rich contribution to learner satisfaction as well, for many of the learners are mature, working people who sandwich their study time between other activities that are equally important to them (Blake et al., 2003).One of the first tasks of a project manager when leading the development of a training program is to define the characteristics of the tasks ahead. The five major phases of instructional system design (ISD) models are:1. Analysis2. Design3. Development4. Implementation5. Evaluation (Dick et al., 2005).Each of these phases has specific actions to be performed, and each of these actions, to contribute to maintaining the effectiveness and survival of the project, requires identification and alignment of stakeholders (Villachica et al., 2004). In addition, when designing web-based applications to be effective one should incorporate into the instructional design process three steps of web-based instructional design:1. Information design - defining the product2. Interaction design - describing how it should work3. Presentation design - describing how it should look (Kristof and Satran, 1995).The most important element in all the developmental phases, however, is understanding the end users and delivering training that satisfies their needs (Forger, 2004; Preece et al., 2002). This paper proposes a model that includes all of these elements and shows their interrelationship (Table I).Analysis\nConclusion: Success in adapting existing or creating new training programs for online delivery depends on the concerted efforts of various personnel, not just the training developers. In effect, for this type of project the training developers must organize, motivate, and maintain a team of diverse people who also have a stake in the project's positive outcome. For example:* Resource providers, to supply equipment and services* Trainees' supervisors, to mitigate learner resistance* Developers of previous content, to integrate existing material* Analysts of previous training needs, to utilize their knowledge of the organization* The trainees, who must acquire ownership of the project goals in order to learn wellThrough the involvement of these human resources, the project developers can avoid the mistake of generating the attitude within the client organization that the training is a remedy imposed by strangers and make it instead an effort of internal cooperation.This mutual effort is credible and achievable because the project goals are wholly or partially shared by various corporate operational units, each with its own needs and political reality. This multiple linkage makes goal achievement complicated and requires project leadership not only to recognize and appreciate the unique constitution of each unit, but also to employ the analysis and communication skills necessary to minimize the potential discord of the units' differences and to capitalize on the strengths that their diversity can contribute. Because of this complex involvement of a variety of stakeholders, project management must continuously inform and interact with stakeholders to align them with the project plan, and eventually weave their contributions into the final training product.An early version of this paper was presented at the 5th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training: ITHET 2004, 31st May-2nd June 2004, Istanbul, Turkey.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To suggest to others in the field an approach equally valid for transforming existing courses into online courses and for creating new online courses.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using the literature for substantiation, this article discusses the current rapid change within organizations, the role of technology in that change, and the consequent necessity of transforming existing face-to-face training into or creating new online courses. Further, it proposes a training model that explains the role of the principles of project management and instructional design and how to apply them to achieve this transformation and/or creation.\nFindings: - This approach, which is based on the author's years of experience as an instructional designer and teacher and verified by recognized authorities in the field, combines the practice of project management, instructional design (both traditional and online) to produce a training model suited to today's business environment.\nOriginality/value: - The model portrayed by this paper provides a rationale for melding the principles of various disciplines and sub-disciplines, thereby producing a means to evolve training into a form more capable of satisfying current industrial needs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Fuzzy inference system application for failure analyzing in automobile industry
|
[
"Automobile industry",
"FMEA",
"Quality",
"Fuzzy inference system",
"Fuzzy rule base",
"Mamdani system"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Today, the automobile market is filled with different car brands and, consequently, its customers are of high switching power from one brand to another. In such a market, quality plays an important role in winning the customers' loyalty. The loyalty, in turn, successfully tackles most of competitive pressures. Thus, active companies in the automobile industry should highly be careful of their customers' mental image of quality.\n2. Literature and applications: The first introduction of FMEA was in the 1940s (Su et al., 2014). Then, in the 1960s, it was applied in the aerospace industry (Bowles and Pelaez, 1995). The next reported application has been in the automotive industry since the 1970s (Gilchrist, 1993; Narayanagounder and Gurusami, 2009). For example, Ford Motor Company widely used FMEA to rank failures of its process and design in 1977 (Sharma et al., 2005). In the 1990s, Far Eastern automobile manufacturers extensively improved their quality and reliability problems using FMEA (Johnson and Khan, 2003). In addition to the aerospace and the automotive applications, this method has been widely used in different practical areas such as the mechanical, medical technological, nuclear, electronic, and chemical industries (Liu et al., 2013, 2014).\n3. Traditional FMEA: The most important indicator of traditional FMEA is mainly its RPN, calculated according to the following equation:(1)\n4. Fuzzy rule-based FMEA methodology: The Fuzzy FMEA method, in fact, takes the advantages of application of FIS in traditional FMEA. The FIS method is, in turn, based on the fuzzy sets theory, introduced by Zadeh (1965, 1975a, b, c). Indeed, the fuzzy sets theory is a generalization of the classic sets theory (Rafie and Namin, 2015), providing the opportunity of dealing with incomplete information (Rafie and Namin, 2015) as well as uncertainties and ambiguities of humans' judgments (Buckley, 1985; Buyukozkan et al., 2004; Ghorbani et al., 2013). The fuzzy approach also benefits from linguistic variables as the simplifying tools for dealing with experts and taking their judgment without too much efforts (Roszkowska and Kacprzak, 2016). Linguistic variables help to compute with words (Herrera and Herrera-Viedma, 2000; Herrera et al., 2009; Martinez et al., 2010) based on fuzzy sets theory; hence, experts prefer working with linguistic variables to dealing with real numbers (Aiwu and Hongjun, 2015).\n5. Case study: 5.1 Description of the studied processes\n6. Discussion: One of the major results of using fuzzy FMEA, in comparison with traditional FMEA, was elimination of the similar RPNs, related to the failure modes of B and F. In fact, while having different occurrence and severity scores, these two failure modes were ranked fifth. However, according to fuzzy FMEA, failure mode F was ranked as the fifth and B as the eighth. The reason of such priority reduction from five to eight in the case of B is the fact that in the new system (the fuzzy inference engine), the expert team mentally determined a more relative weight for the severity factor than for the others. This higher weight is, in fact, considered when designing the rules. Therefore, while having less occurrence scores, failure modes F, I, and G, respectively, received higher priorities than B.\n7. Conclusions: In this research, a comparative analysis of fuzzy and traditional FMEA has been presented. To this end, the opinions of a six-member team have been used to determine proper fuzzy sets as well as the fuzzy rules base. Then, results of the two methods have been compared. Findings indicate that the fuzzy FMEA technique, by considering a more relevant importance weight for severity, solves the problem of facing with the two superficially identical priorities of the B and F failures. Nevertheless, the prioritization of fuzzy FMEA is highly in accordance with that of traditional FMEA in the first five priorities, i.e. E, D, A, C, and F. This shows that the fuzzy inference system has accurately been designed in this study.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Nowadays, quality is one of the most important key success factors in the automobile industry. Improving the quality is based on optimizing the most important quality characteristics and usually launched by highly applied techniques such as failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA). According to the literature, however, traditional FMEA suffers from some limitations. Reviewing the literature, on one hand, shows that the fuzzy rule-base system, under the artificial intelligence category, is the most frequently applied method for solving the FMEA problems. On the other hand, the automobile industry, which highly takes advantages of traditional FMEA, has been deprived of benefits of fuzzy rule-based FMEA (fuzzy FMEA). Thus, the purpose of this paper is to apply fuzzy FMEA for quality improvement in the automobile industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Firstly, traditional FMEA has been implemented. Then by consulting with a six-member quality assurance team, fuzzy membership functions have been obtained for risk factors, i.e., occurrence (O), severity (S), and detection (D). The experts have also been consulted about constructing the fuzzy rule base. These evaluations have been performed to prioritize the most critical failure modes occurring during production of doors of a compact car, manufactured by a part-producing company in Iran.\nFindings: Findings indicate that fuzzy FMEA not only solves problems of traditional FMEA, but also is highly in accordance with it, in terms of some priorities. According to results of fuzzy FMEA, failure modes E, pertaining to the sash of the rear right door, and H, related to the sash of the front the left door, have been ranked as the most and the least critical situations, respectively. The prioritized failures could be considered to facilitate future quality optimization.\nPractical implications: This research provides quality engineers of the studied company with the chance of ranking their failure modes based on a fuzzy expert system.\nOriginality/value: This study utilizes the fuzzy logic approach to solve some major limitations of FMEA, an extensively applied method in the automobile industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The relationship between financial development indicators and human development in India
|
[
"Causality",
"India",
"Financial development indicators",
"ARDL",
"Human development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nI. Introduction: The relationship between financial development and economic growth has received emphasis from numerous empirical and theoretical academic works since the nineteenth century. Some of them suggest that financial development is an essential and significant element for economic growth and a well developed financial system has a positive impact on economic performance by enhancing intermediation (Levine, 1997; McKinnon, 1973; Schumpeter, 1911; Shaw, 1973; Singh, 2008). Since the emergence of the endogenous growth theorists in the early 1990s, the link between human capital (HC) and growth has also been widely acknowledged in the literature. Evidences suggest that economic growth enhances human development in the long run. Researchers agreed that financial development is an essential element in economic growth and a well developed financial development has a positive impact on economic performance by enhancing intermediation efficiency through reduced transaction and monitoring costs (Zaman et al., 2012). The relationship between economic growth and human development suggest that nation may enter either into a virtuous cycle of high growth and high growth of human development or a vicious cycle of low growth and low human development (Ranis, 2004).\nII. Literature review: Since the revolutionary contributions of Schumpeter (1911), Robinson (1952), Goldsmith (1969), McKinnon (1973) and Shaw (1973) on the relationship between economic growth and financial development has remained an important issue of debate among researchers and policymakers.\nIII. Data source and methodological framework: III.1. Data and variable identification\nIV. Empirical results: IV.1. Stationarity test and lag length selection before co-integration\nV. Conclusion: The objective of the study is to empirically investigate the influence of financial indicators on human development in India by using the annual data from 1980 to 2012. Specifically, the study explores the influencing direction between different financial indicators and human development and compares the magnitude of different indicators on human development. For this purpose the study uses domestic credit to private sector to GDP ratio; Domestic credit provided by banking sector as a share of GDP and the ratio of broad money supply (M3) to GDP ratio as the proxy for financial development indicators and the HDI is used as a proxy for human development indicator. The data is analyzed with econometric techniques, including ARDL approach to co-integration, Granger non causality test and variance decomposition, etc. The ARDL bound test approach confirms the long run relationship between HDI and financial development indicators. The direction of the causality among the variables is tested by granger non causality test. The results of causality suggest that unidirectional causality runs between financial development indicators and HDI. The result of variance decomposition analysis concludes that the broad money supply (LM3/GDP) is the only indicator, among all the financial development indicators, has the largest share to influence changes in human development, i.e., 64.7977 percent.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial development indicators and human development in India using annual data from 1980-2012.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The Ng-Perron unit root test is used to check for the order of integration of the variables. The long run relationship and short run dynamics are examined by implementing the ARDL bounds testing approach to co-integration. Granger's non-causality test and variance decomposition techniques are also used to examine the impact of financial development indicators on human development.\nFindings: The results confirm a long run relationship among the variables. The results of granger non causality indicate that unidirectional causality runs from financial development indicators to human development index (HDI). The variance decomposition analysis shows that among all the financial indicators, broad money supply (M3) has the largest contribution to changes in human development in India.\nResearch limitations/implications: The present study recommends for appropriate reforms in financial market to attain sustainable human development in India. The findings will be useful for India's policy makers, in order to maintain the parallel expansion of financial development and human development.\nOriginality/value: This paper is first of its kind to empirically examine the casual relationship between financial development indicators and human capital development proxied by HDI in India by using modern econometric techniques.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Forecast for financial services in 2010: no room for laggards
|
[
"Off shore investments",
"Compliance costs",
"Customer Relations",
"Emerging markets",
"Payments"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Looking ahead to the end of the decade, the shifting centers of gravity in financial markets will likely transform the financial services industry. Building a business with strong foundations in mature markets allied with a fit-for-purpose emerging markets operating model is likely to distinguish leaders from followers. The race to be successful by the end of the decade needs to be high on the corporate agenda, with actions and priorities set now to ensure the hallmarks for success will be in place by 2010.\nMarket drivers: New asset classes: changing the center of gravity\nAging populations: turning silver into gold: Members of the wealthiest generation the world has ever seen are now quitting their jobs and preparing for a long, indulgent retirement, a phenomenon for which few financial services institutions are fully prepared. Baby boomers will be the wealthiest retirees the world has ever seen. In Australia, for example, over four million boomers are worth an estimated $1 trillion[6].Today, the financial services industry is largely designed to serve customers who are accumulating and holding assets for the long-term. It is not designed to serve retiring baby boomers, who will steadily consume their assets over the next few decades. Major opportunities to turn silver into gold include:*Increased savings and faster returns. Over the next few years, capital markets are likely to see a large influx of retirement-related funds as people who have neglected their nest egg try to catch up. People will be particularly interested in products that offer a chance for higher-than-average returns.*Healthcare. When people get older, they need product offerings that address their greater need for short- and long-term healthcare.*Investments and financial planning. As boomers get closer to retirement, they need to manage their retirement assets more closely. Financial institutions can act as advisers, helping pre-retirees plan for the future, shifting asset allocations at the point of retirement, capitalizing on the rollover and inheritance boom, helping with business sales/successions, and consulting with clients who find themselves suddenly wealthy.*Finding ways to release capital and pass wealth to next generation. Often assets are tied up in houses or other illiquid assets. Financial services organizations need to innovate to find new ways to help their aging customers release this wealth for their own consumption, healthcare and children. Such products must, however, be seen as fair by regulators. In the UK, for example, equity release mortgages, whereby house owners can turn their property into cash by giving up some ownership rights early, have been growing rapidly among the older population. Regulators are, however, raising eyebrows about whether the potential drawbacks of these products have been adequately disclosed to consumersBox 2.\nEvolving payment systems: Today, each market area of the financial services marketplace has its own separate payment infrastructure that is often analog and paper-based rather than digital. The opportunity is to eliminate or at least truncate paper as early as possible in the payment process and to interconnect these systems exposing inefficiencies and bringing huge productivity and risk mitigation benefits.Payment processing is also becoming increasingly commoditized as banks lose their government-mandated monopoly on clearing payments between individuals and businesses. Banks currently derive as much as 40 percent of their total revenue from handling payments[8]. But banks are no longer the only game in town. Credit card processors such as First Data Systems and EuroConnects have quietly built up substantial payment operations. Internet-based services such as PayPal continue to increase their share of the payments business.The single Euro payment area (SEPA) will accelerate this trend, attempting to create a standardized payment environment across Europe that drives down payment revenue and margins.As payment systems change, financial institutions will need new strategies to protect and sustain their revenue flows. Most banks are aware of the problem and are actively taking steps to address it. In a recent study, 63 percent of bankers said they have completed - or plan to complete - upgrades to their payments systemsBox 3[8].\nEmerging markets: opportunities, but no guarantees: As emerging markets mature, they will provide western financial institutions with tremendous growth opportunities. But success is by no means guaranteed. Demand for financial services in emerging markets is being driven by rapid increases in GDP, disposable income, and personal savings. In fact, by 2010 the middle classes in India and China are each expected to be larger than the entire US population[10].The restructuring of China's banking industry has created new opportunities for foreign firms to participate in investments and transactions, and many expect access barriers to fall after the full opening of China's banking sector in 2007. For example, 71 percent of surveyed securities firms say China will be very important to their business in 2010[11].In India, competition, privatization, economic growth and an influx of foreign capital is igniting the market for financial services. According to the Reserve Bank of India, the nation's total bank assets rose from $187.2 billion to $373.8 billion between 1998 and 2003, a staggering compound annual growth rate of 14.8 percent. And by 2007, India's banks are forecasted to have assets of $546.4 billion, a 192 percent increase in just nine years[12].Success in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China will hinge on understanding and catering to local needs, and, as always, carefully minding the details of execution. In particular, financial services firms will need a proven and repeatable model for exporting business process and systems into new markets, combining a firm's best existing practices with new practices from the outside. In most cases, existing business models are designed for mature western markets with high wealth, low growth dynamics. The high growth, low wealth emerging markets will require a different operating model.There are three options for market entry strategies - acquisitions, joint ventures and organic growth. Much is already known about acquisitions and, to a degree, joint ventures. However, acquisitions can be expensive and governments can prevent their best financial institutions from market forces, meaning organic growth is likely to become a more common, if unknown, market entry tool for financial institutionsBox 4.There are five phases to organic entry into emerging markets:1. Opportunities must be evaluated based on their relative growth rates and potential fit with the business areas of the financial institution.2. The right management team must be in place, getting the right blend of local and international management skills.3. Financial institutions must establish strong governmental relationships.4. They must also identify the parts of the market where existing propositions work best and how much modification needs to be made to existing product sets.5. An infrastructure has to be built beyond the initial beach-head into the country.\nOperating challenges: In addition to the major market trends, there are a number of operating issues that are having a big impact on the way financial institutions do business. These issues present significant management challenges, yet they also provide major opportunities to improve efficiency, service, financial performance and competitive advantage.Offshoring: releasing the value\nInternal control: a springboard to improved operating performance: In the past some, financial institutions have viewed regulatory compliance as little more than a \"necessary evil\". But by 2010 internal control systems and processes needed to achieve compliance will also be used to boost a company's efficiency and performance.The breadth of compliance now being demanded of an international business is extremely significant, the highest profile and most significant new rules being Sarbanes-Oxley for the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registered companies, to Basel II (for banking institutions) and Solvency II (for insurance companies) not to mention IFRS and local market regulations. Compliance with all these new regulations is demanding in terms of costs, resources, and expertise required.There is, however, a potential silver lining to this cloud. Those financial institutions that can build financial and cultural discipline into their business procedures to report efficiently and effectively on compliance to the required regulatory authorities can achieve greater transparency with regard to their risks and build a potential competitive advantage. Financial institutions need to move their internal control systems from being focused on manually orientated detection toward automatic preventionBox 6.\nThe struggle for growth: process and service innovation provide the keys to sustained performance and enhanced customer relationships: The traditional strategy of growing through product innovation has largely failed to deliver on the promise. Financial institutions that do not shift their focus from product to process innovations are likely to see slowing growth by 2010. DTT estimates the world's top 100 financial services companies together invest nearly $11 billion a year in product development. Yet the resulting products are rarely differentiated and competitors quickly copy those that are.Product innovations also tend to drive up operating complexity and cost[15]. Process and service innovations, on the other hand, focus on simplifying operations and giving customers what they really want. These types of innovations also tend to be much harder for competitors to replicate, and thus provide a far more enduring advantage.Commerce Bank - a US banking institution that has grown 30 percent each year for the last six years - is a beacon for best practices in customer relationships[16]. The New Jersey-based bank has a policy of answering every phone call within two rings and over 90 percent of calls are resolved by a single person so customers do not get passed around. The bank offers a below-market average rate on deposits, but focuses on delivering its brand promise of being \"America's most convenient bank\".\nMindset matters - tax, accounting and financial reporting: By 2010, a key hallmark of success will be instilling a new mindset around tax, accounting and financial reporting that will differentiate winners from losers. Four drivers are converging in powerful ways to change the arena of tax and financial reporting.Firstly, the harmonization of accounting and regulatory principles across the world's major markets has been gaining momentum for some time. There have been huge changes for those financial institutions applying International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This is especially the case for the European Union listed groups, but is also relevant to other jurisdictions which have adopted IFRS or aligned their own national accounting standards with IFRS, for instance Australia. Further, regulatory change has mandated changes in reporting and tax management. Both Sarbanes Oxley 404 and the European Union 8th Directive require a more structured approach to tax management and financial reporting[18].Secondly, greater pressures are now being placed on financial institutions around ethics of tax management and financial management. Governments, in the form of tax authorities, as well as many non-governmental organizations are now putting major corporations under pressure around the level of \"fair\" taxation to be paid[19]. As a consequence tension is likely to be created within the financial institution between the CFO and non-executive directors. This is because the CFO is judged on post-tax measures such as earnings per share. Similarly, in structuring capital funding the level of relative taxation will be of increasing important. All this points to a blurring of the debate between tax avoidance (legal) and evasion (illegal) which is likely to make the CFO's job more demanding.Thirdly, the application of technology is bringing more transparency to tax and financial reporting. Harnessing the power of technology in systemizing tax planning for instance can radically improve the efficiency of the business.Finally, investors now demand more clarity around financial and tax risk indicators, and are more likely to pick a stock that boasts of greater transparency. This is likely to have a polarizing effect on financial institutions where opacity indicates weaknessesBox 8.\nWhat the successful financial institution will be wearing in 2010: The journey to create a leading financial institution by the end of the decade should start today. Expect successful financial institutions in 2010 to exhibit the following hallmarks:*Global markets and a business model to match. The financial services industry will become increasingly global as firms in mature markets seek new sources of growth in emerging economies. Success will hinge on creating an exportable, low-cost business model specifically designed to serve these new types of customers (low income, high volume). The need to scale up will be driven by three factors. Firstly, a significant balance sheet will be critical in supporting major corporate clients and in funding future activities. Secondly, many financial products will become commoditized, making margins skinner and economies of scale more important. Thirdly, a multinational market portfolio can be sustained only by major organizations.*Mass efficiency with focused premium service. Shrinking margins will drive an overall trend toward commoditization. Yet there will also be opportunities to reinvest some of those back-office cost savings into premium service for high value market segments - including \"mass affluent\" segments that may be underserved today.*Consolidation with a purpose. Merger and acquisition volume will remain high, both at the national and regional levels. For example, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu expects 700 European banks to disappear through mergers over the next three years. However, acquisitions should not be the only club in the bag. Savvy divestments allied with smart redeployment of capital, can be equally important in creating competitive advantage. Also, business models such as that used by institutions, leveraging direct distribution, can be highly profitable and capital-efficient.*Winning the struggle for growth through enhanced customer relationships. Financial markets reward financial institutions achieving the best relative growth in revenues. Going forward, there will be reduced headroom for growth in most mature western economies; the game will be to solidify existing customer relationships, steal market share and increase share of wallet by relearning the growth habit through innovative practices.*Transparency and compliance as a performance springboard. Regulators and capital markets are demanding greater transparency. But top-performing firms by 2010 will go beyond the minimum requirements, using transparency and compliance as a way to win the hearts and minds of investors, and leveraging their efforts to improve decision-making, cost efficiency, and service quality.*Cracking the IT value code. By 2010 leading financial institutions will be some of the most sophisticated users of technology on the planet. Today the top 25 financial institutions in the world spend in excess of $50 billion on technology in a single year. Financial institutions will need to get improved productivity, enhanced revenue growth and better profitability from this level of spend in the future. The future challenge for financial institutions will be two fold - the digitization of business and the IT governance.The differentiator between success and failure is unlikely to be the absolute amount spent but rather the governance of technology within the business. It is imperative financial institutions have a chief information officer with a seat at the top table.Financial institutions are incredibly complex businesses. Over the next five years, technology must be applied to reducing this degree of complexity by the eradication of paper-based processes. This simplicity will drive new business models and will be integral to forging each of the hallmarks of success identified in this report.The trends and challenges identified in this report will affect the vast majority of financial services firms. But only the best will profit from them. Big is likely to become beautiful, but in itself will be no guarantee of success. Financial institutions that start building these qualities into their corporate DNA today are the ones most likely to come out on top in 2010.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The worldwide market for financial services is evolving rapidly, and is likely to look very different by the year 2010. This study identifies major market drivers and operational challenges that financial institutions will likely face over the next four years and pin-points the strategies and practices recommended to create the \"Hallmarks of Success\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This report is based on industry and literature reviews and builds on research carried out by Deloitte Research on the financial services industry.\nFindings: - New asset classes such as private equity and hedge funds are attracting a growing number of investors. The payments business, a major source of revenue for financial institutions, is being restructured. In many countries, the impending retirement of baby boomers is changing the focus of financial services from long-term accumulation to managed consumption. Emerging markets are becoming increasingly important sources of growth for firms in mature economies. Financial institutions around the world will need to forge the hallmarks of operational excellence in areas such as offshoring, taxation and financial reporting, service and process innovation, and in internal control to hold on to their growth and profitability.\nPractical implications: - The financial services industry is changing rapidly with the rules of the game being rewritten faster than ever before. Globalization, increased regulation, commoditization of products, and decreased margins are just some challenges that require an overhaul of current business thinking. Companies that aspire to reach, or hold on to, leadership positions need to understand these changes and adapt to them.\nOriginality/value: - This report documents the real-time changes happening in the financial services industry and draws lessons from them for the medium term. These lessons are valuable for companies looking for strategies to stay on top in the midst of the changes currently sweeping the industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Spatial analysis of the distribution and determinants of bank branch presence in Ghana
|
[
"Ghana",
"Banks",
"Distribution",
"Financial services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBranch-based banking and the future of financial inclusion: There is the general consensus that technological innovations are altering the traditional brick-and-mortar banking model (King, 2014). Increasing technological advancements in Ghana's banking sector, such as the use of automated teller machine (ATM), mobile and internet banking, are now competing with the idea of branch-based banking as the automatic route for financial service delivery. However, contrary to expectations of many, banks in Ghana and other developing countries have not completely reoriented their services away from branch-based banking. Some analysts contend that alongside mobile banking, a modernized form of branch-based banking will continue to be a critical aspect of banking (King, 2013) and could be paramount in fostering financial inclusion in developing countries such as Ghana.\nMethods: Data\nAnalyses: Spatial concentration of bank branches\nSummary of findings: Descriptive characteristics of districts and study area\nDiscussion: Disparities in penetration of bank branches in rural areas\nLimitations: There are caveats of the study that must be acknowledged. This study did not use information on usage of financial services. This may affect the validity of the assessment of how accessible banks are in Ghana; there are other dimensions of accessibility beside physical distance. Another limitation is that the data were aggregated at the district level. By not using data on the exact locations of banks, variations within districts may be misrepresented. Also, limited variables were included in the statistical models and so there could be an increased risk of omitted variable bias.\nImplications: This study examined the spatial penetration and distribution of bank branches in Ghana and found that physical bank branches are disproportionately more accessible in the urban south compared to the rural north. This means many people living in northern Ghana face greater risk and burden of managing their money in cash. This finding confirms evidence from prior studies that show that people living in rural areas are at higher risk of banking exclusion (Connolly and Hajaj, 2001; Kempson and Whyley, 2001). For banks, there is economic logic to avoiding branches in rural areas because of the principle of maximizing profits. Literature shows that many commercial banks found that a few large loans from urban areas bring much more profit than many small loans from rural areas and as a result they try to cater to the well-to-do. In this study, the evidence that many rural areas (including the 15 districts identified in this study) have limited or no access to banks, has implications on the ability of rural individuals, households, and communities to access appropriate financial services and products at an affordable cost.\nConclusion: Bank branches in Ghana are highly clustered around the two biggest cities, while certain districts lack any form of banking institutions. Banks need to improve their outreach considerably, especially in rural areas where a large proportion of the population does not use formal financial services. Many of these areas may seem rural but they can offer significant business potential for banks willing to explore such areas. A significant proportion of Ghana's population are in rural areas and they contribute to the agricultural industry, which is 33 percent of Ghana's GDP (Mann et al., 2010). These rural areas are the backbone of the agricultural industry and they need banks to meet their credit, investment, and banking needs. Some of these areas have reasonably high population density to support profitable banking operations, but banks may be hesitant to go into such areas because of concerns that poor infrastructure may result in higher operational cost. This is where government and policymakers ought to intervene. Although the government cannot only do so much to force banks to serve such areas, it can enact favorable policies and improve infrastructure to attract financial institutions to the underserved areas. Banks on the other hand will have to find the right balance between physical (human) and electronic engagement with customers. The fact that ardent users of mobile banking still interact frequently with their banks in multiple channels (Shevlin et al., 2011) suggests that the future of access to financial services should not be reduced to a dichotomy of branch-based vs branchless banking. Innovation in both channels could have profound impact on access and use of financial services in the near and distant future.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: Expanding access to financial services for the 70 percent of Ghanaians who are unbanked is critical. Bank branches have been the primary channel for financial service delivery, but this may be changing because of technological innovations. Analysts believe branch-based banking still has a role in promoting financial inclusion. The purpose of this paper is to examine the pattern of bank branch presence across rural and urban Ghana; the disparities in the spatial distribution of domestic, foreign, and rural and community bank branches; and the district level characteristics associated with the pattern of spatial distribution of bank branches.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study uses spatial analyst tools, geographically weighted Poisson regression, and data from Ghana's banking sector to show the inequality in availability of branch-based services and to highlight the district and regional level differences in the determinants of branch allocation.\nFindings: The study finds evidence of inequality in access to financial services. Physical bank branches are disproportionately more accessible in the urban south compared to the rural north. The study also finds that population size, percentage of urban residents, workforce size, and literacy level are associated with bank allocation but the results vary by district.\nPractical implications: Branch banking needs modernization to continue to bring financial services in closer proximity. Development of physical and electronic infrastructure could attract financial institutions to serve deprived areas with significant concentration of unbanked populations.\nOriginality/value: Findings of the study point to the need for banks to re-envision branch banking technology to make branch banking more interactive. Banks need to find ways to fuse transferable elements of mobile phone banking into branch-based banking, not just to attract younger technology-savvy customers but also to help make operations more attractive, efficient, and cost effective.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Creating training and development programs: using the ADDIE method
|
[
"Training",
"Training methods",
"Learning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Firms need an appropriately skilled workforce for maximum effectiveness, and many increasingly use in-house development and training programs to meet this need (Barlow, 2006). However, managers often have difficulty in creating such programs. Analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) is a framework useful for examining, creating, and implementing development and learning programs.\nAnalyze: In this stage the designer sets learning goals. Results from prior learning modules' evaluation stages should be used for this phase's input. A major outcome from this phase is specific learning goal targets - what skills, knowledge, and abilities participants must gain. This phase also requires determining available resources for learning module deployment, participant learning characteristics, and alternate delivery methods' trade-offs. This stage provides clear guidelines on what is needed and possible for the module. When some learning goals cannot be met, new resources must be secured, or learning goals must be altered.\nDesign: In this phase specific learning objectives are identified. Additionally, instructional methods, materials, and delivery system types are selected. This phase sets the training's strategy - how instructional methods will accomplish specific learning goals. The design phase is used to gauge whether learning objectives meet learning goals, and whether instructional methods accomplish the learning objectives. It is much easier to alter generic learning plans during this stage than redeveloping specific instructional activities created later.\nDevelopment: In this phase, developers create the learning content. This content includes the overall learning framework (such as an e-learning system), exercises, lectures, simulations, or other appropriate training material. This phase generates the tangible output used in training. It is the last chance to make necessary corrections before delivering the learning module. A helpful tactic in this phase is to make a training test run to determine if learning goals are met, and aligned with the design phase's strategy.\nImplementation: This phase is the realization of the previous phases. Materials are given to learners, and the learning module is utilized for its intended purpose. This phase's main utility is in implementing the learning process. However, it is also significant in identifying discrepancies (such as a gap between desired knowledge development and actual development) for future improvements.\nEvaluation: During this final phase, creators assess learning goal achievement, training efficiency, technical problems that hinder learning, and any new learning opportunities identified during the implementation phase. This phase is vital because - when taken seriously - it provides information for improving the training program's next iteration, and may suggest new training avenues for further development (Allen, 2006; Molenda, 2003).To better illustrate the ADDIE process, it is presented graphically (along with questions a developer can answer at each stage) in Figure 1, and through an example in the following paragraphs.To demonstrate ADDIE, a quality management training program example is presented. Developers in the analysis phase decide participants should gain a basic understanding of quality management. The training's major restriction is being limited to a three day seminar. Participants are line workers and first-line supervisors without formal exposure to quality methods. In the design phase, specific learning goals are set as having participants understand Deming's 14 key principles, how to measure output variation, and team methods for developing quality improvement ideas. In this example, the development phase is partially predetermined - the training will take place through a face-to-face program in an off-site facility with only basic audio-visual equipment. Beyond these strictures, the designers decide that each topic will be covered on a separate day. The training will be a combination of lecture, hands-on demonstrations, and peer feedback. Needed materials and evaluation methods are also created during this phase.Training is conducted during the implementation phase, and the designers note discrepancies between planned and actual training. The designers discover that most participants had exposure to quality methods, and more training goals could have been set. It is also decided that less time is needed on variation testing training and more on Deming's principles. These insights are used in the evaluation phase, where the designers examine the training's effectiveness. Overall, the training was deemed successful, with participants meeting previously established learning metrics. However, evaluations also indicate that - to maximize learning - variation testing needed less time and Deming's principles needed more. Additionally, the information covered could be increased, and the developers will work with management to select possible new topics.In conclusion, the ADDIE model is a valuable framework for developing all types of training and development programs. It offers a structure that aids individual and collaborative instructional development, and each phase provides a foundation for building upon and refining learning goals. Finally, it promotes a learning cycle where knowledge gained in one training module improves the creation of another.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper provides an overview of the ADDIE method for creating training and development programs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Prior studies and outlines on the ADDIE method were utilized to develop an overview of how ADDIE could be implemented in organizational training programs.\nFindings: - The ADDIE method is useful in providing a systems-based, iterative training development method that lends itself to a feedback-based approach to creating a learning environment.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The implications from this paper show that ADDIE provides a useful and widely adopted method for driving content development.\nPractical implications: - For organizations, adoption of the ADDIE method can provide a structured plan for development and learning in their training programs.\nOriginality/value: - This paper provides a concise overview of the ADDIE method for implementation in modern businesses and organizations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
"My choice was not to become a tradesman, my choice was to go to uni": Australian working-class masculinities, widening participation and lifelong learning
|
[
"Intersectionality",
"Transformation",
"First-year experience",
"Learner identity",
"Mature-age student",
"Working-class masculinities"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Australian labour market has continued to see an increase in occupations that require a university qualification, a trend that policy makers forecast will continue. Due to economic expansion, widening participation in tertiary education has become central to strategies for Australia's ongoing prosperity, as it is necessary to draw from a wider population base to meet the needs (Bradley et al., 2008). Adding to the complexity concerning the first-year experience, the Australian Government announced in 2009 the \"removal of the 'cap' or limit on the number of undergraduate students that universities could enrol in their courses\" (Gale and Parker, 2013, p. 12). Additionally, in 2013 the Australian Government announced that a flat rate distribution of funds to universities would be discontinued and, from 2014, $36.5m would be allocated to universities, proportionally distributed on the basis of their share of students from low SES backgrounds. While widening access to education has been a focus of policy (Gale and Parker, 2013), it is unclear how students--particularly from non-traditional backgrounds--navigating the first year of university negotiate a successful learner identity.\nWorking-class masculinities, learner identities and university: In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, scholars including Mac an Ghaill (1994), Connell (1995), Nayak (2003) and Kenway et al. (2006) have cited massive societal shifts in economic and gendered relations, which have resulted in fragmented rites of passage (such as employment and marriage), further placing many working-class males in a position of confusion. This is commonly called the \"crisis of masculinity\" (Faludi, 1999). This \"crisis of masculinity\" is arguably felt more harshly by the working-class male, the so-called \"macho lad\", whose \"reproduction of working-class masculinity has been ruptured\" (Kenway and Kraack, 2004, p. 107), and who, perhaps, finds it more difficult to adapt. Today, it has been argued that working-class men have to contend with a rise in credentialisation alongside a hazy economic future where stable employment is less common (Stahl, 2015). Roberts (2012) writes: \"In industrialised nations such masculinity is characterised by whiteness, heterosexuality, disembodied rationality and expertise and success in the economic sphere [...] Working-class masculinities, for example, are often characterised by embodiment, strength and physical prowess\" (p. 673). Despite some working-class men's working lives being plagued by minimal job security and irregularity in western countries, idealised heteronormative ideals of masculinity marked by notions of strength, power, control, able-bodiedness and a stable breadwinner status continue to prevail in many parts of Australia. The site of paid work endures as a bastion of gendered validity for men.\nMethods: The analysis draws on interview data from a small-scale study of the first-year student experience in a South Australian university titled \"Intersectionality in the First Year\" that was conducted in 2017. Participants were volunteers that were recruited from three discipline areas: journalism, human movement and education. The project focussed largely on the ways that identity categories are formed relationally and in reference to new learning experiences at university. Rather than look across the themes present in the entire study regarding the first-year experience at the University of South Australia, this paper focusses specifically on the richness of Deo's account of higher education over the course of one year. We interviewed Deo three times over the course of his first year at university in order to analyse how his subjectivity as a mature-age university student developed in a primarily white, young, able-bodied learning environment.\nDeo's story: \"my choice was to go to uni\": Deo, age 42, is married and has three children in primary school. He describes his current life as \"busy\" and \"hectic\". He is proud of his Greek heritage and has spent all his life living in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, historically an area affected by poverty. In Deo's interviews he was open regarding how he navigates the identities of gender, class and ethnicity. These identity categories heavily influence how he negotiates his identity as a university student as the experience contrasts with his experience as a tradesperson.\nReflections and conclusions: This analysis of Deo's experiences at university contributes to contemporary scholarship regarding Australian working-class masculinities, identity work and higher education. Intersectionality, as a theoretical lens, further highlights the strategies he employs as he (re)constructs and validates his masculine identity in and across the sites of paid work as a tradesperson and his new university life. In the data we get a glimpse of Deo's identity work as he confronts the consequences of his choice to go to university. In his role as father and breadwinner, Deo feels tremendous pride in taking this step. Interestingly, to a certain extent, Deo is conscious of the transitioning and shifting nature of his identity, citing multiple examples of adaptation and empowerment in both the social and the academic spheres. However, there exists a precarity in his identity work and he capitalises on Australian working-class masculinity's tenet of \"averageness\" (Whitman, 2013, p. 52) in his identity construction, perhaps as a way to guard against serious \"psychic\" and \"reparative costs\" (Reay, 2002). These reparative costs may be less severe for him than for some men, as structural and social inequalities in the global South have been argued to be less stark than in other Anglophone countries (Gale, 2009).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the first-year university experience as an agent for the (re)learning and (re)making of masculine identity as it intersects with other categories of identity. Historically, male students from working-class backgrounds have often struggled with identity issues and many leave school early for vocational employment where their masculinity is reinforced and validated. A small percentage, however, re-enrol in higher education later in life. This paper explores how \"Deo\", a tradesperson who became a university student, reconstructed his identity during this transition.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The primary methodology for this case study is semi-structured interviews.\nFindings: Deo articulated his transition in terms of \"change\" and \"transformation\", in which a theme of risk was central. He also drew attention to cultural practices that regulate hierarchies of masculinity as they intersect with the identities of age, sexuality, ethnicity and socio-economic status within his work and study.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study focusses on one student's experience in an Australian public university, so findings may not be generalisable. However, single stories are an important means of illustrating the intersection of shared socio-cultural practices.\nOriginality/value: Within adult education literature there is limited engagement with intersecting cultural narratives that shape experiences, inequalities and barriers in learners' lives. Deo's story gives voice to socio-cultural narratives around masculinity, age, ethnicity, sexuality and socio-economic status, highlighting their central significance to learning, being and belonging.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Output-inflation and unemployment-inflation trade-offs under inflation targeting: Evidence from Brazil
|
[
"Unemployment",
"Inflation",
"Monetary policy",
"Brazil"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: During the 1990s the argument that the monetary policy must have as its main objective the search for price stability became predominant. Moreover, due to the necessity of finding strategies that avoid the time inconsistence problem1, the analysis of credibility in the conduction of monetary policy became fundamental. The main argument is that an increase in the central bank credibility contributes to an increase in the credibility of the monetary policy, that is, the probability that the public believes the policy will be implemented with success (Drazen, 2000).Since the adoption by New Zealand in March of 1990, the strategy that has been disseminated for the conduction of monetary policy is inflation targeting. The theoretical underpinning for the adoption of inflation targeting is derived from the literature concerning rules versus discretion debate. The main idea is that the inflationary persistence is due to the fact that the loss of reputation by government is a consequence of its not fulfilling the contracts with the society. As identified by Clarida et al. (1999) the literature on credibility can be divided into two perspectives:1. theoretical - the problem of inflationary persistence under discretionary behavior of the monetary authority is considered; and2. policy applications - if the monetary policy is not focused on inflation, the disinflation process can imply a social loss higher than that which is necessary.One fact that is pointed out by the literature concerning this subject is that most countries that have adopted inflation targeting use the monetary policy to start a disinflationary process. Policymakers adopt inflation targeting because they believe they have found a framework that is capable of neutralizing inflationary expectations without the problems present in other monetary arrangements. Furthermore, it is hoped that the gain in credibility by the central bank is relevant for reducing inflation at a lower cost. One justification for this is that the determination of the inflation target and the concern of the central bank in achieving it increase the public expectation in relation to the success of the monetary policy.The argument that inflation targeting does not imply an increase in sacrifice ratio is due the theoretical perspective that money is neutral, and thus, monetary policy does not affect the real side of the economy. Under this perspective, the use of the interest rate during a disinflationary episode is not a problem because the evil effects on the economy are eliminated in the long run. The main argument is that, under inflation targeting, the central bank follows a rule of low inflation and thus receives a credibility bonus that should attenuate the cost of lowering inflation. Therefore, when credibility increases sacrifice ratios should be lower (and Phillips curves should be steeper).One of the main doubts that remains in the literature is if countries that have adopted inflation targeting make disinflation less costly. The success of inflation targeting depends on the credibility in this monetary regime. Thus, it is highly probable that the adoption of inflation targeting needs a time to develop credibility and that during this period the cost of disinflation is not negligible. Some authors, as Freedman (1989), argue that short-run output-inflation trade-off must be increased under a monetary regime that uses the interest rate as the main instrument in the conduction of monetary policy. Furthermore, the advantages from the adoption of inflation targeting cannot be materialized when there is a successive failure in achieving the inflation targets. In accordance with Andersson and Berg (1995) a high operational credibility of inflation targeting is a consequence of the central bank proving its competence in the attainment of the announced target.The problem described above is particularly adequate for developing economies. These economies adopt inflation targeting with a double interest: reduce inflation and develop credibility. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate if the adoption of inflation targeting contributed to the creation of an environment with a higher credibility and with a fall in the sacrifice rate. Brazil represents a potential laboratory experiment in which the effects of an adoption of inflation targeting after more than a half decade can be evaluated. Therefore, considering the Brazilian experience, this paper estimates the offsetting effects of a monetary policy change on the output-inflation and unemployment-inflation trade-offs. This paper is organized as follows: next section presents a small review of the literature concerning output-inflation and unemployment-inflation trade-offs and their connection with credibility; section 3 presents empirical evidence for the Brazilian case after the adoption of inflation targeting; and the last section shows the conclusion.\n2. Trade-offs and credibility: One of the main points for empirical analysis of inflation targeting is to verify if the adoption of this strategy for the conduction of the monetary policy incites the emergence of output-inflation trade-off. There is considerable theoretical debate, but little empirical evidence concerning whether inflation targets produce lower sacrifice ratios.Cecchetti and Ehrmann (1999) analyzed the case of nine countries that adopted explicit inflation targeting. Excluding New Zealand, all countries in the sample indicated a lower variability in the inflation and in the output after the introduction of the inflation targeting. Bernanke et al. (1999) examined the effect of the adoption of inflation targeting using sacrifice ratios (based on Ball's (1994) methodology using a sample of nine Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD - countries and 25 disinflation episodes) and found no evidence that the adoption of this monetary regime contributed to the reduction of the real output and employment costs of disinflation. Corbo and Schmidt-Hebbel (2000) found some evidence that the use of inflation targeting reduces the cost of stabilization in emerging economies that start at moderate or high levels of inflation. Also, Neumann and von Hagen (2002) found favorable evidence for adopting inflation targeting. They observed that in the case of countries that adopted inflation targeting, the behavior of inflation, interest rate, and output was close to those countries that are considered examples in the conduction of the monetary policy (USA, Germany, and Switzerland).The above results do not represent consensus in the analysis of this subject. Ball and Sheridan (2005) considered a range of macroeconomic indicators for OECD economies and found no statistically significant differences between inflation targeting and non-inflation targeting countries. Corbo and Schmidt-Hebbel (2000) found results that suggest that the adoption of inflation targeting does not reduce sacrifice ratios in industrial countries with low inflation and does not improve their performance in comparison to other countries that do not use this strategy. de Mendonca (2007a), based on analysis of fourteen countries with explicit inflation targeting, found evidence that the disinflation process implemented by inflation targeting countries implies more unemployment.In relation to the analysis on inflation targeting, an important point that must be looked into is the effect of the credibility over the output-inflation trade-off. It is expected that a change in the conduction of the monetary policy implies changes in the creation of expectation process and in the behavior of economic agents. If the strategy of monetary policy for reducing inflation does not have full credibility, there will be an increase in real interest rate, which in turn implies an increase in debt/GDP ratio. Therefore, while the credibility is being built, there is the necessity of an additional primary surplus to finance the cost of public service debt. In this sense, the search for the inflation target could generate a fiscal imbalance (King, 1995). As a consequence, the argument presented by Lucas (1976) that estimated parameters in structural models change over time deserves attention.In a general way, the main feature of the adoption of inflation targeting is to stabilize prices making the public expectations converge to the inflation target. Due to the fundamental role that public expectation has in this monetary strategy, the reputation and the credibility are essential in this system. It is expected that inflation targeting receives a credibility bonus that should reduce the output cost of lowering inflation. As pointed out by Mayes and Chapple (1995) the output costs of disinflations are determined by the short-run output-inflation trade-off for given inflation expectations. One traditional view is that it is less expensive if it occurs slowly, so that wages and prices have time to adjust to a tighter policy. Contrary to this view, Sargent (1983) argues that quick disinflation implies a negligible cost due to the expectations being adjusted quickly.A number of papers have attempted to assess sacrifice ratios and their changes over time from the slope of the aggregate supply curve, derived from the \"split\" of nominal income changes into changes in real growth and the rate of inflation respectively (Andersen and Wascher, 1999). One example is the analysis made by Hutchison and Walsh (1998), who evaluate the impact on sacrifice ratios of the new monetary policy regime in New Zealand. According to the above-mentioned authors, the change in the monetary regime might influence the short-run trade-off between output and inflation for given expectations.Based on rational expectations and the expectations augmented Phillips curve, if central banks could make a credible commitment to reduce inflation, expectations would adjust accordingly thus leaving output unchanged (Durhan, 2001). With the objective of evaluating the relation between credibility and unemployment-inflation trade-off, Laxton and N'Diaye (2002), considering 17 OECD countries, observed that when credibility is high, supply shocks and demand shocks result in lower inflationary pressure over time. Furthermore, according to the result found by Cespedes and Soto (2005) for the Chilean case, credibility improves the trade-off faced by the monetary authority.\n3. Evidence from Brazilian case: In June of 1999 the National Monetary Council determined inflation targeting as the new strategy for the monetary policy in Brazil2. The main motivation for introducing inflation targeting was due to the expectation that the use of this strategy could eliminate the uncertainty caused by the devaluation of currency and would restore the control on inflation. As the most important step in controlling inflation is to control inflationary expectations, one main task of the Central Bank of Brazil (CBB) has been to build credibility as a monetary authority committed to price stability. Such credibility is important because it influences expectations affecting interest and exchange rates and thereby affects the cost of reducing inflation in terms of lost output.The inflation performance in Brazil reveals that only in practically half of the opportunities the inflation target (considering the tolerance interval) was reached (see Table I), which in turn, denotes that a proper inflationary stability in the economy was still not achieved. Moreover, the unemployment rate during 2003-2005 was higher than the average in Latin America. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate how the credibility in the conduction of the monetary policy changed the output-inflation and unemployment-inflation trade-offs after the adoption of the inflation targeting.Based on the framework used by Blanchard (1984) and the application made by Hutchison and Walsh (1998), an estimation of the short-run output-inflation trade-off through an equation normalized on inflation that includes controls for expected inflation and supply shocks is made. As Ball et al. (1988) advert, a regression of inflation on nominal income growth will produce inconsistent estimates if correlated with aggregate supply shocks. In this sense, a variable that captures the effect from non-demand related explanatory factors determining inflation is introduced in the analysis. Furthermore, in economies that use inflation targeting it is expected that credibility is an important key in the determination of the inflation. Therefore, considering a version of the Phillips curve equation: Equation 1 where xt is the percent change in nominal output; pt-1e is the expected inflation rate; yt-1 is the natural log of real output; yt-1* is the log of trend real output; pNDt is the difference between inflation and the inflation of market prices; Cred is the credibility index; and xt is a random error term.Credibility index corresponds to the inflation target credibility and it is measured by the methodology developed by de Mendonca (2007b). Based on the argument presented by Agenor and Taylor (1992) where series of expected inflation could be applied to derive a credibility index, the Cukierman and Meltzer (1986) definition for credibility, and the suggestion made by Svensson (1999), a credibility index was made for monetary policy that considers deviations in the expected inflation (E(p)) from the inflation target core (ptc)3. Considering the information made available by the Central Bank of Brazil and the annual inflation targets determined by National Monetary Council, the credibility index is a result of: Equation 2 Therefore, the credibility index shows a value between 0 and 1 strictly if the expected inflation is situated between the maximum and minimum limits (pt*) defined for each year and assumes a value equal to 0 when the expected inflation exceeds one of these limits.As pointed out by Hutchison and Walsh (1998), in equation 1, the coefficient l measures the proportion of the change in nominal aggregate demand that affects prices in the short run. Therefore, the short-run sacrifice ratio is calculated as (1-l)/l.Another important point in this analysis is the unemployment-inflation trade-off. Based on Okun's law, which denotes a relation between unemployment and output, it is possible to rewrite the Phillips curve given by equation (1) taking into consideration the effect caused by unemployment on inflation. It is important to note that, most of the time, the adoption of inflation targeting is associated with the use of a tight monetary policy for promoting a disinflationary process. As a consequence, the probable result of this strategy is an increase in the unemployment. Hence, the Phillips curve can be rewritten as: Equation 3 where mt* is the natural unemployment rate (NAIRU); mt is the unemployment rate; (mt*-mt) unemployment gap; D(mt*-mt) is the change in the unemployment gap; and ut is a random error term.Besides the variables present in the previous Phillips curve (equation 1), except for variables related with output, the above equation considers the tendency for inflation to rise relative to expected inflation in response to a positive unemployment gap and also considers the idea of accelerator effects by the change in this gap.3.1. Empirical evidence\n4. Conclusion: The analysis in this paper showed empirical evidence for output-inflation and unemployment-inflation trade-offs in the Brazilian economy after the adoption of inflation targeting. The empirical evidence from GMMs and VARs analyses suggest that the disinflationary process implemented in Brazil did not represent an increase in social costs (increase in sacrifice ratio). Furthermore, the development of credibility in the conduction of monetary policy is an important element responsible for the achievement of this result. In other words, the gain in credibility is a powerful instrument for reducing inflation without increasing social costs.The above affirmation cannot be confused with the idea that Brazilian monetary policy achieved the optimal stage in the control of inflation (for instance Brazil has the highest interest rate in the world). The results in this analysis denote the monetary policy must pay attention to the development of credibility. The justification for this is that the use of output gap and unemployment gap is not perfectly controllable by monetary authority and the effect over inflation is indirect. Therefore, the variable that depends of the direct effort of the central bank is the success in the achievement of inflation targets, and thus, the improvement of credibility. In short, the development of credibility (competence in the achievement of inflation target over time) is crucial for emergent economies, such as Brazil, that have adopted inflation targeting for reducing inflation at the lowest cost.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This article aims to analyze if the adoption of inflation targeting in Brazil contributed to an improvement in the conduction of monetary policy capable of increasing credibility and reducing inflation without an increase in the sacrifice rate.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Considering the Brazilian experience, this article estimates, through GMM and VAR methods, the offsetting effects of a monetary policy change on the output-inflation and unemployment-inflation trade-offs.\nFindings: - The findings denote that the disinflationary process implemented in Brazil, after the adoption of inflation targeting, is not associated with the emergence of the above-mentioned trade-offs. Furthermore, the development of credibility in the conduction of monetary policy is an important element responsible for the achievement of this result.\nPractical implications: - Development of credibility is an important strategy for improving the conduction of the monetary policy.\nOriginality/value: - The results of the paper give some new insights about the conduction of monetary policy for developing countries, which have adopted inflation targeting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Efficiency and utility: an evolutionary perspective
|
[
"Service industries",
"Utilitarianism",
"Economic history",
"Working practices",
"Input/output analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Economists have become used to the notion that efficiency is an intrinsic objective. Even in heterodox schools such as socialism (Miller, 1989) or ecological economics (Jollands, 2005), the primate of efficiency in the world of economic research is rarely questioned. This argument set out in this paper is that, while efficiency consistently remains important in some spheres, the degree to which it is connected with human utility - and therefore its significance - is dependent to a major extent on the historic situation. Referring to the rise of efficiency during the last centuries, it argues that the link between efficiency and utility is likely to decrease in present times and in the near future.In order to elaborate on this claim, Section 2 provides a definitional introduction to efficiency and utility. Section 3 depicts the rise of efficiency since medieval times and in particular at the dawn of industrialization, while Section 4 presents arguments as to why the link between utility and efficiency has begun to weaken. A summary of conclusions can be found in Section 5.\n2 Defining utility and efficiency: Since, utility is a more basic concept than efficiency, it is worthwhile to begin with the definition of utility which may subsequently be of help in defining efficiency. According to Jevon (1871), utility is the power of a commodity or a service to satisfy human wants. However, since Broome (1991) made some effort to analyse the concept of utility, his paper represents, a thorough reflection on the possible and historic meanings of utility. Broome offers the choice between two distinct concepts: utility as the mere collection of everything that is good and utility as the degree to which our preferences are matched. While Broome himself prefers the latter possibility, it should be emphasized that only in cases when we do not choose what would be best for us will there be a relevant distinction to be drawn between the two concepts.The term \"efficiency\" is more technical in nature as it deals with the relationship between input and output. Efficiency contains two components: a part that is called \"X-efficiency\" (Leibenstein, 1976) or \"technical efficiency\" (Coelli, 2005) and a part that is called \"allocative efficiency\".The first part represents a highly simplistic approach to efficiency as (usually) only one input and one output are considered. Efficiency, in this case, describes the relationship between input and output: the fewer inputs that are needed for one unit of output, the higher the technical efficiency will be. Typical applications for measuring and comparing technical efficiencies include insurances (Gardner and Grace, 1993), schools (Levin, 1997) and banks (Miller and Parkhe, 2002).For estimating allocative efficiency, consideration has been given to the premiss that more than one input or output exists. Efficiency continues to describe the relationship between input and output, but now allows for the possibility that one input (or output) may be substituted by another. On a farm, the quantity of a resource (say, the acreage) on which one ton of wheat is produced describes the technical efficiency but, if land can be substituted by fertilizer so that the costs for producing a ton of wheat can be reduced, it is the allocative efficiency that is improved. Likewise, if the farm can make more money by producing oats instead of wheat, it is once again the allocative efficiency that can be increased.Comparing fertilizer with land and comparing wheat with oats both presuppose a common benchmark. In the first case, it is the cost and therefore a monetary unit with which land and fertilizer are compared, whereas in the second case it is the revenue, also resulting in a monetary scale. More generally speaking, this is where utility comes in. More often than not, economists measure utility in terms of money. Economists have become used even to converting non-economic amenities like mountains or health into monetary terms in order to create a one-dimensional scale for utility. To come back to our farm example, costs are considered as negative utility while revenue counts as positive utility. Therefore, in the model world of economists, an increase in allocative efficiency will proportionally increase utility. Likewise, improving technical efficiency would increase utility, too, because more positive utility is maintained per unit of input.\n3 The rise of efficiency: Whereas different degrees of efficiency have always existed in human activities, the concept only became conscious and explicit at a somewhat late stage in human development. The Middle Ages provide a rather convenient starting point for an historic overview of the significance of efficiency as an economic concept. Looking for the most important driving forces in medieval times, Panigrahi (2002, p. 26) finds that:[...] faith in a divine order, in an anthropomorphic God and a rational universe held intact his [Man's] conception of a moral order in which he could find happiness and certitude.This citation shows that rights rather than output were what primarily mattered to medieval decision makers. Several of the economic structures were determined by a rights perspective rather than by the objective of efficiency, such as the obligation incumbent on peasants to work for a number of days each week on their lord's land. Applebaum (1992) and Schulze (1995) describe the low level of productivity to which this system led. Similarly, Aloisio (2007, p. 308) finds that \"towns and urban elites were often more concerned with protecting their particular fiscal and commercial privileges than in reducing the cost of regional trade\". It appears that capital accumulation was not perceived as an objective and was usually neglected if privileges for the upper classes could be manifested in a material way with any surplus available. Such short-term thinking contradicts any long-term notion of efficiency. Other scholars (McCloskey, 1991; Richardson, 2005) emphasize risk avoidance as an important objective during this period in history. Contemporary sources (Duby and Postan, 1998, p. 44) promote self-sufficiency as another important objective of the medieval economy, stating that \"it should not be necessary to buy anything in from outside\".All of this indicates that the economy in medieval Europe was not geared towards any single objective of increasing efficiency. Nevertheless, a slow move towards greater efficiency can sometimes be observed from a study of economic history during medieval times. One example is the introduction of coins in the fifteenth century which made tax collection more efficient (Spufford, 1989), another might be the first written instructions on how to avoid losses on farms (Fitzherbert, 1534). Nagel (2006) described nicely how the Cistercians started their order by promoting the ideal of asceticism, and how they subsequently moved slowly towards a more or less explicit adoration of economic efficiency. While religious boundaries have often reduced economic efficiency (Hirsch, 1980), also the reformation in Central and Northern Europe has been hailed as an important step towards increasing efficiency in society (Weber, 1905). In most cases, however, efficiency was a rather \"instinctive\" and implicit longing on the part of human protagonists, not an explicit objective. This applies as well for the efficiency gain being attained through the centralization of executive power in the hands of the worldly rulers (Dilcher, 2002).If the importance of efficiency were to be portrayed as a graph over time, it would probably illustrate an exponential movement upwards over the last 1,000 years. Several scholars have concerned themselves with the preconditions for the birth of capitalism in the nineteenth century which was to a great extent responsible for raising efficiency. Sombart's (1916) thesis that the introduction of double entry bookkeeping played a key role was among the first explanatory approaches. Others emphasized the central role of a conducive social environment (Mokyr, 1992) or appropriate organizational foundations (North, 1994). In any event, the dawn of the industrial age provided plenty of opportunities for increasing efficiency by providing a wealth of incentives. One reason for this was the straightforward nature of industrial output which could be readily measured in labour units per hour or in kilograms per invested capital and year. Another reason was the additional dimension of wealth which was triggered by the Industrial Revolution. The invention of radios, cars, telephones and computers meant that it became obvious that an increase in efficiency had the potential to effect a clear upward shift in the quality of life of the masses. In the medieval economy, with its concentration on agricultural production and crafts, this was the case to a far lesser degree, for the increase in food production, in textiles and even jewellery had a more limited impact on overall utility as soon as basic needs had been covered.Therefore, it would appear that the connection between efficiency and utility has never been so close as in the age of industrialization. If a given set of resources is available, the degree of efficiency determines the amount of output, and the amount of output will be in relative proportion to overall utility. Whilst economic science has often been criticized for adopting a \"reductionist\" approach (Daley and Cobb, 1989; Stern, 1997; Hoover, 2006), this kind of reduction was justifiable as long as an increase in efficiency had few other effects other than to increase utility.The start of the \"age of efficiency\" (Callahan, 1964) is often deemed to coincide with the managerial revolution (Clark, 1984), and most notably with active phase of Frederick W. Taylor. By introducing his concept of scientific management, he placed the idea of efficiency at the very forefront of his work and was always very close to the industrial production process in his activities and writings. His book on \"concrete costs\" for example (Taylor and Thompson, 1912) was an excellent example of how, by concentrating on the relationship between input and output, it was possible to open up new possibilities for increasing efficiency. On a global scale, the emergence of a functioning world market is probably the most suitable indicator for the hegemony of efficiency (Studer, 2008).The merits of this focus on efficiency can hardly be overemphasized. Without the millions of businessmen and engineers who have optimized production processes, cut costs and improved products, we would be very far from enjoying the standard of living that we have today. Indeed, for the sake of millions of undernourished and underprivileged people in less developed countries, there is still plenty of work to do to further enhance the efficiency of the economy so that some more basic needs can be fulfilled.\n4 Questioning efficiency: The first doubts about the proportionate relationship between the output of material goods and utility originated from the environmental movement. In the third quarter of the twentieth century, the potential side effects of industrial production such as sicknesses and ruined landscapes became increasingly clear. In the early environmental movement, pollution by industry put the Taylorian concept of efficiency into a negative light. However, this was only a temporary blip as far as the dominance of the efficiency concept was concerned. Environmental economists were quick to introduce monetary valuation methods for environmental amenities during the last quarter of the twentieth century. Either by interviews (Mitchell and Carson, 1990) or by appropriate comparisons (Freeman, 1979), dollar values were attached to all kind of natural resources. This made it possible to revise efficiency calculations to take account of a new definition of input and output in production processes that now included a figure for emissions or the costs of a depleted forest. People realised that maximum output does not necessarily lead to higher efficiency. The work of Georgescu-Roegen (1971) in particular and his application of the second law of thermodynamics to the economic process highlighted the different output values within the production process. From now on, efficiency also meant an improvement of the production system aimed at a reduction of \"valuable\" input (e.g. natural resources) and a reduction of harmful output (pollution, etc.). It was the first time that anyone had considered efficiency that was not merely based on the quantity but also on the quality of input and output.4.1 Efficiency in the service sector\n5 Conclusions: The focus of economics on efficiency has, over the decades, contributed to a high standard of living and to a correspondingly high level of utility for billions of consumers. From a purely consumer perspective, the major importance of efficiency in maintaining or increasing this high level of utility is sustained. However, things take on a different perspective if we leave our consumer role and focus on our role in life where we are either members of a social community or part of the workforce.In the rapidly growing service sector, our identity as social beings plays a far greater role than in the agricultural or industrial sector. This often makes it difficult to define measures of efficiency for services that are clearly linked with the quality of human interaction. Likewise, the growing diversity of working realities increases the importance of the utility (positive and negative) derived from working, so that the measure of efficiency in the professional world becomes less practicable.Efficiency will probably always remain a core concept for production processes, for example in industry, and for a number of other processes in the economic world. However, there are strong arguments for the fact that the concept of efficiency had its most significant impact on society in the twentieth century because the link between societal utility and simple efficiency measures is set to weaken in the future. As economic science is largely defined as a science concerned with efficiency, it is also likely that the importance of economic science as compared to other disciplines will rather decrease.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop the argument that the link between efficiency and utility was strongest in the twentieth century. This would not only explain the growing focus on efficiency in the past, but also suggest that the importance of efficiency in society is set to decrease from now on.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The two arguments in support of the claim were: first, the growing importance of the service sector where an exaggerated focus on efficiency may decrease utility and second, the utility that is generated by different working environments and identities where heterogeneity is increasing.\nFindings: - Good reasons are found why the strong correlation between utility and efficiency that could be found in the process of industrialization is loosening.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The findings imply that the role of economic science is probably rather decreasing.\nSocial implications: - Social indicators for utility will probably gain importance.\nOriginality/value: - This paper puts the importance of efficiency into a historical context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
RFID integrated systems in libraries: extending TAM model for empirically examining the use
|
[
"Adoption",
"TAM",
"RFID",
"Use"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Operating and managing libraries, particularly the larger ones, involves undertaking numerous repetitive tasks; such tasks include, but are not limited to - tagging new items, shelving, issuing items to users, issuing alerts against late returns, re-shelving after returns, managing inventory, protecting items from theft. These tasks are not only repetitive, but are meticulous involving considerable amount of labour/effort and time. Manual operations of such tasks demand high levels of resources in terms of number of people required, and the amount of time and budget required, which are all likely of introducing human errors, thus affecting both, the efficiency and effectiveness of a library operation system. With hopes of increasing efficiency and effectiveness, many libraries are adopting the automation of the tasks outlined above. In doing so, the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is being deployed to play the vital role of efficient management in library automations (Sing et al., 2013). The RFID technology has revolutionized the item identification and tracking system. This technology allows automated identification of products by embedding chips with wireless antennas on objects (Bose et al., 2009; HanataniI et al., 2012). In a typical RFID system, the radio waves are generated, modulated, amplified, and then transmitted by a radio frequency transmitter through an antenna. These radio waves in turn are received and processed by the RFID tags, which send back a unique identification code and other data via radio waves to a radio frequency receiver (Ampatzidis and Vougioukas, 2009). In the library context, the RFID tags are embedded within the objects of interest (such as books, journals, DVDs, etc.) and the receiver is integrated within various systems such as the self-checkout system, the security system and the inventory management system (Dwivedi et al., 2013).\n2. Literature review: The RFID technology is spreading at a rapid pace, creating space full of speculation concerning the advantages that its investments may have to offer (Irani et al., 2010). The library management using RFID-based systems is one of the many and popular applications of this technology. The use of RFID in libraries dates back to the late 1990s. The earliest evidences in the literature suggest that the first ever probable deployment of the RFID system in the library context was in 1998, at the Singapore Public Library (Engel, 2006). Singapore also stands recognized as the first country in the world to implement RFID systems across all of its 21 public libraries (Ayre, 2005).\n3. Theoretical basis and the proposed conceptual model: One of the commonest concerns today in the issue of innovation-diffusion among individuals/organizations is of possible ways of speeding their diffusion processes. To address this issue from the RFID perspective, the prospective libraries would be interested in the few important factors that significantly influence the use of these RFID systems. RFID is an enhancement over the already existing barcoding system. The important question here is - would libraries choose RFID above the pre-established barcode system? In finding the answer to this question, it is important to understand if the users of these RFID enabled systems find them to be relatively better than the existing barcoding system; it is also important to know if they find these RFID equipped systems easier to use in comparison, which in turn will positively influence the acceptance of such RFID systems. Therefore, the two primary attributes of interest to our study are the perceived usefulness of these systems and the perceived ease of use.\n4. Research method: A survey-based approach was adopted for this study, whereby online questionnaires were circulated among the target respondents to examine the adoption of the RFID integrated systems in libraries. The questionnaires were designed to channelize the research relevant information from the respondents to the researcher for understanding the use of this technology in the library context.\n5. Findings: 5.1 Demographics\n6. Discussions: 6.1 Hypotheses testing\n7. Conclusions: This study is an attempt to understand the impact of a set of chosen innovation attributes on the attitude toward the use of the RFID systems, and the actual use of those RFID integrated systems in libraries. Some of the key conclusions from this study have been summarized herewith - The literature review revealed that RFID is the most sought after modern day implementation in the library context (Ayre, 2005; Coyle, 2005; Engel, 2006; Hicks, 1999). Good system quality will contribute toward establishing positive user attitudes, and help achieve higher usage of the RFID integrated systems in libraries. While ease of was seen having a significant positive influence on the perceived usefulness of such systems, it had no significant influence over the user attitudes. This behavior is likely in cases where the library users are the tech-savvy youth that mostly have no problems in learning to use such automated/upgraded systems making the measurement of this attribute irrelevant in such contexts. Perceived usefulness positively influences user attitudes, therefore it becomes important to educate the target users on the benefits of using such systems to help them form positive intentions about the use of such systems. Attitude toward the system had a significant positive influence on its use. Thus, a contributory environment is to be established during new system implementation in order to engage the users with the new system being introduced. In asking the respondents about their use of the self-issue/return terminals, most of them responded that their use of these terminals was frequent, thus leading to the final conclusion that the users preferred the RFID integrated automated terminals to the man-assisted service desks for issuing and returning books at the library.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The available literature suggest that the research on radio frequency identification (RFID)-related issues is largely concentrated on technical, organizational and implementation aspects, and comparatively lesser attention has been invested in understanding the use aspect of such library management systems. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding into the factors that influence the use of RFID systems in the library context by empirically testing the relevant constructs from the extended technology acceptance model (TAM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire-based survey approach was employed for collecting the relevant data from 197 respondents. The respondents were the active users of a RFID-based library system.\nFindings: Findings from this study suggested that perceived usefulness and system quality positively influence the user attitude, and user attitude and system quality significantly influence the use of the RFID services. The paper concludes with outlining the salient points, limitations, and future research directions.\nOriginality/value: The paper evaluates the role of a set of innovation attributes on the acceptance of RFID integrated systems in libraries. Owing to the scant literature availability in empirical investigations on adoption of RFID systems in libraries, the findings from this paper add value to the existing literature in this field, and also to the literature on the TAM model, with the empirical findings being of use to the aspirant libraries looking toward integrating RFID enabled systems.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Construction manager's technical competencies in Malaysian construction projects
|
[
"Construction",
"Management",
"Construction planning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Malaysian construction industry has always been of enormous significance to the national economy. Since independence in 1957, the industry has contributed to the development of infrastructure facilities needed by the growing population and has been the impetus for economic growth through the creation of value chains across many sectors of the economy, which include the housing, transportation, manufacturing, and financial sectors (Rum and Akasah, 2011). The impact can also be exemplified by industry's current contribution to the national GDP at 8.4 per cent (Bank Negara Malaysia, 2015). However, the industry has also been plagued with many serious problems such as delays, excessive resource consumption, poor quality, low productivity, delays, wastages, cost overruns, disputes, low technology, overreliance on foreign workers, and sustainability issues (Abdul-Rahman et al., 2006; Sambasivan and Soon, 2007; Bakar and Hassan, 2009; Ibrahim et al., 2010). Most of the problems have been blamed on the inability of the contractors to deliver the projects according to the project objectives (Abdul-Rahman et al., 2006; Sambasivan and Soon, 2007; Bakar and Hassan, 2009; Jabatan Audit Negara Malaysia, 2010a, b; Unit Penyelarasan Pelaksanaan, 2013). Likewise, construction manager (CM) who supposedly play central roles in assisting the contractors have also been criticised for failing to achieve the objectives. The significance of the CM in construction projects was drawn from the Akintoye (1998) (Hassan, 2005). They commonly stress that CMs are crucial as they are the pivot around which everything else in the construction projects revolves. The CM job is among the most arduous, demanding, and single responsible function in the building process. Although the responsibility and authority in a project are shared with other project personnel, CM is the one who normally has to take the blame if anything goes wrong.\n2. Construction management: A project life cycle characteristically comprises design and construction stages, within which project management, construction management, and site management take place (Mohammad et al., 2016; Halpin, 2006; Gray and Larson, 2008). According to Koskela (1992) and Yaman et al. (2015), construction management is defined as the transformation of detailed design into a construction/fabrication plan before management of day-to-day processes either on-site or in a factory can be made. Construction management is primarily focussed on project's construction stage where the contractors undertake the project production process at the construction site. In a typical traditional procurement system, which is widely practised in Malaysia (Jaafar and Nuruddin, 2012), the contractors' involvement would usually start from the tendering stage at the end of the project's design stage. The task of transforming the designs into the actual physical follows when the project is awarded and ends when project handed back to the client at the project closeout (Halpin, 2006; Gray and Larson, 2008). Although most construction management activities take place at the project site, there are activities such as liaison with project financiers, local authorities for approvals, and suppliers, which have to be carried out off-site. Additionally, during the construction phase, project's resources (i.e. money, materials, plant/machinery, and manpower) are consumed to achieve project objectives of time, cost, quality, and health and safety, and eventually, determine whether the contractor makes profit or loss (National Center for Construction Education and Research, 2008; Oberlender, 2000).\n3. Competency: White (1959) defined the term \"competence\" as a concept for performance motivation. Later in the 1970s, the concept had been further elaborated by Lundberg (1972) in \"Planning the Executive Development Program\" and David McClelland (1973) through a seminal paper entitled \"Testing for Competence Rather than for Intelligence\". It has since been popularised by Richard Boyatzis and many others, such as Gilbert (1978) who used the concept in relationship towards performance improvement. Later, its use varies widely and rather spawned which leads to considerable misunderstanding. Nevertheless, competence or competency has been extensively discussed particularly in the literature of management strategy since the 1990s (Deist and Winterton, 2005). Its concept is frequently used in the area of education, as well as training and continuing professional development, largely in establishing a new or improvise an existing educational method as described by Hassan, Maisham, Khan, Alwi and Ramli (2010), Hassan, Samad, Hassan, Che Mat and Isnin (2010) and Stoof et al. (2002).\n4. Past researches on CMs competency: The importance of managers' competency towards project success is well documented by others. Particularly within the construction realm, Ashley et al. (1987) found that manager's competency is significant in determining project success. Later, according to Chua et al. (1999), competency of manager is critical although projects may have different objectives. Furthermore, most identified critical success factors are human-related, where the competent manager is among the top (Nguyen et al., 2004). This view was also supported by Chan and Kumaraswamy (1997) and Toor and Ongunlana (2008), where competency is fundamental to project success. However, a work by Cheng et al. (2000) stressed that possessing adequate competency is not just critical to the manager, but to all participants of the project. Thus, equilibrium of adequate competency level among participants is preferred to achieve predetermined objectives.\n5. Research methodology: A pragmatic study was employed through a combined research method (qualitative-quantitative), which include literature analysis, structured interview, and questionnaire survey, respectively, to the objectives as outlined in Section 1. Most of the works were guided by Creswell (2008) and several others which were cited accordingly in this paper.\n6. Results and analysis: Given that the research has several pertinent phases, this section is divided accordingly into three sub-sections, namely literature analysis, interview, and questionnaire survey.\n7. Discussions: In this section, discussions were separated into two sections accordingly to the selected methodologies, namely qualitative and quantitative.\n8. Conclusion: A rigorous qualitative process through MLT analysis is deemed to be adequate in identifying technical competency of CM. Later, the application of interview sessions for confirmation of prior collected data is pragmatically seen as pertinent. Apart from validation per se, interviews which infusing local academic-industry experts were reckoned to accentuate different opinion on research's central phenomenon. Then, as mass validation and generalisation are concerned, distribution of questionnaire surveys within the study area are paramount. To sum up, findings from all objectives were considered to present consistent results. Technical competency for CM encompasses the ability to manage: staff, materials, labour, plant, sub-contractors, safety, money, quality, time, environment, site administration, pre-construction activities, project closeout and handover, third parties, computer literacy, and construction contract. Nevertheless, given that the research is only covered the entire state of Johor, immediate usage of findings throughout Malaysia is yet to be determined. However, up to this point, the research has provided useful insight and paved the way for subsequent undertakings. Apparently, the authors were optimist that final findings might serve as term of reference for CM's technical competency and provide faster applications for a lot of purposes, including designing proper training for CM, assessing and auditing the training of CM, recruitment, termination or dismissal of CM, and registration of local professional CM.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Problems of Malaysian construction industry have often been associated, in part to incompetent construction manager (CM) when managing the construction projects. Although various education and training provisions have been introduced, critics argue that the provisions have not been effective. Central in the debate on the adequacy of the CM education and training offered is the answer to the question of \"what constitutes the technical competency of the CM?\" The purpose of this paper is to present the study that identifies the technical competencies required by the CM to address the question.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Multi-layered thematic analysis of literature was first carried out to identify the technical competency elements. Then, interviews were undertaken to confirm the elements of competencies. It was followed with questionnaire surveys to test the validity of the technical competencies against different contractors' category and grade/size.\nFindings: The findings suggest that the technical competencies of CM are generic, regardless of the size of construction organisation or the types of projects they undertake. A total of 16 CM technical competencies were identified which include the ability to manage: staff, materials, labour, plant, sub-contractors, safety, money, quality, time, environment, site administration, pre-construction activities, project closeout and handover, third parties, computer literacy, and construction contract.\nOriginality/value: The findings suggest that generic education and training is possible to develop technically competent CM. It also provides insights to the CM technical competencies which the industry is expecting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Store attributes influencing relationship marketing: a study of department stores
|
[
"Store attributes",
"Relationship marketing",
"Loyalty",
"Department stores",
"Customer loyalty",
"United States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the current retail environment, relationship marketing has become a very important issue in both academic and industrial fields as a strategy to manage, develop, and evaluate the relationship between retailers and customers (Clark et al., 1995; Kim and Kim, 2009; Lindgreen et al., 2006; Sheth and Parvatiyar, 1992, 1995). Many studies have shown that relationship-marketing outcomes are influenced by the relational constructs of trust, commitment, relationship satisfaction, and relationship quality (e.g. Palmatier et al., 2006; Sirdeshmukh et al., 2002). In particular, studies have suggested that a high level of relationship quality increases loyalty (De Wulf et al., 2001; De Wulf et al., 2003; Roberts et al., 2003), buying behaviour (Odekerken-Schroder et al., 2003), and the expectation of continuing interaction and willingness to recommend (Wong et al., 2007).However, often retail business executives are disappointed with the performance of relationship marketing efforts (Colgate and Danaher, 2000) and customers may not want a relationship with a retailer because they consider it to be a burden (Barnes, 1997). So how can a retailer build a mutually beneficial relationship for both the firm and customers without causing discomfort to customers? This study aims to examine retail store attributes and their functions of developing and advancing retailer-customer relationships in the context of department store operation. Among the different types of retail environment, a department store provides an extensive assortment (variety and range) of products and services which are organised into different departments for purchasing, promotion, consumer service, control, while often serving as the anchor store in a shopping district (Berman and Evans, 1995; Thang and Tan, 2003). To date, little research has been conducted to identify store attributes in terms of their role in consumer-retailer relationship formation within a department store setting, specifically.The purpose of this study is threefold. First, it aims to explore important store attributes pertaining to a department store, and identify which store attributes induce relational responses (i.e. perceived relationship investment and perceived relationship quality) when store attributes serve as a relationship investment signal from retailers. Second, this study examines the dynamics among perceived relationship investment, perceived relationship quality, and customer loyalty. Lastly, it aims to test if relationship quality mediates the relationships between perceived relationship investment and customer loyalty intentions.\nConceptual background: De Wulf et al.'s relationship exchange model (2001)\nMethodology: Sample and procedure\nResults: A total of 223 responses were gathered (response rate=5.44 percent; click through rate=82.1 percent); of these, 183 responses were usable for data analysis after a data screening process was done. More females (54.6 percent) responded to the survey than males. Approximately 73 percent of the respondents were between 18 and 34 years of age, with a mean age of 29 years. The majority were Caucasian (66.7 percent).Exploratory factor analysis\nDiscussion and implications: Maintaining and nurturing good relationships with current customers is more important than ever before for firms to thrive in a sluggish economy. This particularly pertains to the retail industry as the competition gets tougher along with the expansion of retail channels such as multi-channel retailing. The current research proposes that store attributes may play a critical signal role in influencing the customer-retailer relationship within the context of department stores in the USA. In doing so, this study identifies six store attribute dimensions pertinent to department store operation: post-transaction service, direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, preferential treatment, and store atmosphere. Among these, four factors (direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, preferential treatment) initiate a relationship with a customer by getting him/her to perceive the retailer's investment in a favourable relationship, whereas post-transaction service and store atmosphere do not have a significant impact on the customer-retailer relationship building. In addition, the findings yield one store attribute, which directly develop perceived relationship quality: store atmosphere. Together, it is suggested that preferential treatment influences perceived relationship quality through perceived relationship investment. With respect to shopping outcomes, the results indicate that perceived relationship investment influences perceived relationship quality, leading to attitudinal and behavioural loyalty intentions toward retailers. Such findings are in line with the notion of signaling theory (Boulding and Kirmani, 1993) and De Wulf et al.'s retail-customer relationship exchange model (2001), in which a retailer's offerings serve as signals contributing to customer-retailer relationship development.Regarding the perceived relationship investment - perceived relationship quality - loyalty intention associations, the study demonstrates strong and positive relationships among perceived relationship investment, perceived relationship quality, and behavioural and attitudinal loyalty intentions where perceived relationship quality fully mediates the associations between perceived relationship investment and loyalty intentions. Such findings offer empirical support for De Wulf et al.'s retail-customer relationship exchange model (2001) through testing the model within the context of department stores in the USA. This study also extends the model by conceptualizing loyalty intention into attitudinal and behavioural loyalty intentions and demonstrating the mediating roles that perceived relationship quality plays in two links:1. Perceived relationship investment - attitudinal loyalty intention.2. Perceived relationship investment - behavioural loyalty intention.Marketing research has suggested that essential store attributes vary by retail operation contexts (Bianchi and Mena, 2007; Morschett et al., 2005; Stoel et al., 2004; Shim and Eastlick, 1998; Thang and Tan, 2003), and the findings of this study verify this. Focusing on a retail setting, the department stores in the USA, this study shows major store attributes pertaining to department store operation: post-transaction service, direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, preferential treatment, and store atmosphere - implying that various store attributes beyond core product and/or service offerings are shown to influence consumers' relational responses to the retailer serving them. The store attributes identified in this study share three common factors with those in previous research: direct mail, interpersonal communication, and preferential treatment. These three factors of store attributes are shown to be fundamental, remaining central to the success of the customer-retailer relationship in all retailers (De Wulf et al., 2001, 2003). On the other hand, three store attributes less common in previous research seem to reflect store attributes unique to department store retailing: merchandise, post-transaction service, and store atmosphere (Thang and Tan, 2003). Also, inconsistent with previous research, which found product price, product quality, and tangible rewards to be important store attributes independently (De Wulf et al., 2003), this study identifies merchandise as a uni-dimension which embraces both product price and product quality aspects together. The tangible rewards dimension, which was dropped from the EFA is deemed not important to the department store setting.Relationship marketing research has shown that relationship efforts (signals) important to relationship building may work differently depending on the retail operation (De Wulf et al. 2001, 2003; Odekerken-Schroder et al., 2003). This notion is supported by the results of this study showing that the four department store attributes serving as relationship signals for customer-company relationship building are direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, and preferential treatment. Making an effort to promote the appropriate store attribute will help build customer loyalty. That is to say, as consumers consider direct mail, interactions with sales associates, product price and quality, and special and personal attention paid by the retailer more favourably, they will make a more favourable evaluation of the relationship effort and relationship quality exerted by the retailer, leading them to exhibit greater behavioural and attitudinal loyalty toward the retailer. Meanwhile, the two store attribute factors, post-transaction service and store atmosphere, are noted to have no impact or little impact on the process of customer-retailer relationship building.This study also adds external validity to De Wulf et al.'s model of retail-customer relationship exchange by proving the model in a retail context that received less attention, department store in the USA. It is suggested that six store attribute dimensions are important in the department store operation; four of which develop and reinforce customer-company relationship: direct mail, interpersonal communication, preferential treatment, and merchandise. A new finding that store atmosphere directly contributes to perceived relationship quality, appears to be interesting. This may be due to the context of department stores in which experiential/entertaining shopping value are typically expected by customers. While the model receives support by this study in general, the findings from this study imply that relationship initiators may vary by the context where a relationship occurs. It is recommended that future research investigating initiators (signals) of customer-company relationship, takes its retail/service setting into account (e.g. specialty stores, discount stores, internet stores, restaurants, banks).For a retail business, the hardware and software that improve positive relationships with customers and their loyalty are of particular interest (Crosby et al., 1990; Leenheer et al., 2007). It is important to make a wise investment, considering limited resources, in key store attributes. The findings of the current research reveal that, in a department store setting, marketers and store managers can improve their relationship marketing management by ensuring proper implementation of their offerings with regard to direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, preferential treatment, and store atmosphere. In other words, ensuring merchandise of quality is a key to sustaining favourable relationships with customers. Additionally, keeping customer informed through various communication tools (e.g. e-mails, direct mail and one-on-one interactions) would allow retailers to keep their customers returning to stores by keeping them informed of service/services available in stores. As for preferential treatment, a customer loyalty programme is a popular relationship marketing strategy in current retail management. A loyalty program, which provides valuable customers with additional/customized values/rewards, prompts customers' perception, that the retailer cares about customers, contributing to positive retailer-customer relationships. Related to this, examinations of path coefficients show that preferential treatment has a stronger influence on perceived relationship investment than other dimensions of store attributes do. Having a customer feel that a retailer cares about the individual customer over others (e.g. customized offerings through a customer loyalty programme, customized communications) would generate greater relational benefit for the retailer than would other store attributes.Some limitations of this study must be noted. First, caution is necessary in interpreting the findings since the convenience sample collection of college students limits the generalizability of the findings to other customer segments. Therefore, future research is expected to focus on samples that are more representative of the whole consumer population. Second, as this study focused on a single retail setting, a department store operation, store attribute factors that work for customer-retailer relationship formation may be different in other retail environments. Future research can test the model in different retail and/or service operation settings such as discount, online, or multi-channel stores. Even within a department store context, target markets and marketing strategies are very different by department store. For example, high-end department stores such as Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom are likely to devote greater efforts to intangible offerings (e.g. special treatment via customer loyalty programmes, interpersonal communication) while other department stores such as Kohl's and Sears are more likely to use management for core offerings (e.g. merchandise) to attract customers and encourage them engage in relationship formation. Thus, future research is recommended to investigate if the model would work differently by different segments of department stores (e.g. high-end vs. low-end department stores). Third, the low response rate (5.4 percent) relative to the high click-through rate (82.1 percent) is problematic. A possible reason might be due to the characteristics of the university students in this study in which the male students (about 60 percent) were greater in number than the female students. Perhaps male students tend to have less interest in shopping in department stores compared with female students, which might prohibit many students, male students in particular, from participating in the survey. Finally, individual characteristics (e.g. gender, relationship duration, age) may have a moderating effect on how a customer responds to a retailer's relationship effort/signal toward a customer-company relationship. Additional research addressing these consumer-related aspects would make both theoretical and practical contributions to an understanding of the dynamics of the customer-company relationship exchange in association with store attributes.\n",
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},
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"content": "Purpose: - Built on De Wulf et al.'s relationship exchange model, the present study aims to examine store attributes as a signal for the process of customer-retailer relationship building in the context of department store operation in the USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A sample of college students at a US university participated in an online self-administered survey. Exploratory factor analysis identified store attribute factors pertaining to department stores and structural equation modeling tested hypotheses.\nFindings: - Six store attributes relevant to department store environments were found: post-transaction service, direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, preferential treatment, and store atmosphere. Four store attributes (direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, and preferential treatment) involve perceived relationship investment, while one store attribute dimension (store atmosphere) directly contributes to perceived relationship quality. Perceived relationship investment positively influences perceived relationship quality, which in turn influences behavioural and attitudinal loyalty intentions. The mediating effects of perceived relationship quality on the perceived relationship investment-loyalty intention links were confirmed.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The single retail setting and student sample are limitations. Future research should examine store attribute dimensions in different retail and/or service operation settings with more diverse populations.\nOriginality/value: - The current study demonstrated that store attributes (direct mail, interpersonal communication, merchandise, and preferential treatment) promote customer-retailer relationship building as relationship-inducing factors in the department store context.\n",
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] |
A multi-stage analysis of antecedents and consequences of knowledge management evolution
|
[
"Balanced scorecard",
"Structural equation modeling",
"Organizational performance",
"Knowledge management strategy",
"Knowledge management evolution"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The knowledge-based economy era presents organizations with new contexts and challenges, and many firms have become increasingly dependent on knowledge-based resources (Choi et al., 2008). Therefore, the issue of knowledge management (KM) has received increasing attention from practitioners and academics. As KM is a continuous and dynamic process, effectively and systematically managing organizational knowledge to facilitate the KM evolution is a major challenge for contemporary managers (Chen and Liang, 2011). Firms must continuously develop KM activities and invest heavily in socio-technical resources (e.g. strategic leadership, technological and organizational infrastructure, organizational learning, and knowledge culture) to meet organizational needs. This study focuses on KM activities, which refer to procedures and managerial tools developed to capture, acquire, organize, and communicate both tacit and explicit knowledge of employees so that other employees can utilize them to make their work more effective and productive and maximize organization knowledge (Xu and Quaddus, 2012). KM activities are intended to gradually transform individual knowledge into group and organizational knowledge, in turn improving the stock and flow of firm knowledge.\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: The previous literature contains two major research streams of research on KM. The knowledge-based stream stresses that knowledge assets are the main strategic resource, and when properly managed, can help employees identify new solutions to problems and create business value (Gold et al., 2001; Grant, 1996; Santoro and Bierly, 2006). Based on the knowledge-based view, the KM strategy can be classified as codified (technology-oriented) and personalized (human-oriented), and is a parsimonious yet powerful KM strategy (Choi and Lee, 2002, 2003; Choi et al., 2008; Hansen et al., 1999). Codification KM strategy aims to capture and store knowledge in explicit form (e.g. in documents and information systems) for subsequent transfer and reuse by other organizational members, while personalization KM strategy seeks to link people to foster person-to-person sharing of knowledge rather than storing it. The stage-based stream emphasizes that KM implementation is an evolutionary process that involves different stages and activities occurring over time (Lin, 2007; Snyman and Kruger, 2004). Within this stream, each stage of KM evolution can be seen as a necessary precursor of the succeeding stages.\n3. Research method: 3.1 Construct operationalization\n4. Data analyses and results: 4.1 Cluster analysis of KM evolution stages\n5. Discussion: In an effort to study the antecedents and consequences of KM evolution, this study developed and empirically assessed the research model across various stages of KM evolution. All hypotheses were tested in the three subsamples. The empirical analysis demonstrates several major findings. Interpretations based on these findings are discussed below.\n6. Implications and conclusions: 6.1 Theoretical contributions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Drawing from knowledge-based view and balanced scorecard approach, this study seeks to develop an integrative model to examine the influence of two knowledge management (KM) strategies, codification KM strategy and personalization KM strategy, on the multi-stage KM evolution (KM adoption, implementation and institutionalization stages), which in turn affects balanced scorecard outcomes (financial performance, internal process performance, customer performance, and growth and learning performance).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data from 244 managers (currently and directly in charge of KM activities) in large Taiwanese firms were collected and used to test the research model using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.\nFindings: The results have revealed that both the codification KM strategy and personalization KM strategy are positive factors for stage-based KM evolution, but their relative importance differs across the three subsamples. Additionally, the results showed that the internal process and customer perspectives play a critical role in measuring performance during the earlier stages of KM evolution, while the financial and learning and growth perspectives emphasize the performance achievements from the latter stages.\nPractical implications: Since KM implementation is an evolutionary process, using both financial and non-financial measures to assess organizational performance through KM efforts, such as the four balanced scorecard perspectives, can take full advantage of stage-based KM evolution. The results indicate that the time-lag effect is critical to distinguishing different forms of organizational performance.\nOriginality/value: Theoretically, this study aims to provide a research model that is capable of understanding the antecedents and consequences of staged-based KM evolution. From a managerial perspective, the findings of this study provide valuable guidelines to policy-makers and practitioners in accelerating KM evolution and achieving organizational performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Beyond culture: Further dimensions of difference in corporate communication operating environments in South East Asia
|
[
"Cross-cultural management",
"Globalization",
"Communication processes",
"Communication management",
"Corporate communications",
"Communications technologies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: communication without borders?: In recent decades a steadily increasing amount of literature has been emerging about international corporate communication and public relations (PR) practice, highlighting the extent to which operating environments, attitudes and practices may vary beyond the well-documented locations of North America and Western Europe.\nInternational and cross-cultural PRs and corporate communications research: The field of \"international\" PR and corporate communication has been trodden by a relatively small number of researchers to date. The recognised doyen of US PR theory, James Grunig, from the mid 1990s worked with colleagues in a number of countries (Grunig et al., 1995; Vercic et al., 1996) to begin sketching the outlines of \"environmental variables\" which might affect the practice of PR and corporate communication in different geographic locations. He was joined by others including Dejan Vercic, who from Slovenia focused attention on factors important in central and Eastern Europe (Vercic, 2000; Sriramesh and Vercic, 2001); Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, who alone and with others investigated variables relevant to Asian countries, beginning with India (Sriramesh, 1992a, b, 2004). In their analysis the authors drew considerably on five dimensions of culture identified by Geert Hofstede (1981, 2001), dimensions which are dominant in this and widely embraced and taught in management education programmes around the world.\nThis study: This research takes a constructivist and inductive approach, gathering information about how practitioners perceive their own working world and its challenges and driving forces. In framing these exploratory questions, the author has, however, taken some account of a range of theoretical perspectives including Grunig's (1992) Excellence Theory of PR practice, Goffman (1981) \"dramaturgy\" theory of communication, Hofstede's (2001) dimensions of culture, the five \"environmental\" variables identified by Vercic et al. (1996), and the work of a range of other critical, political and social theorists. The study has also been informed, in a general sense, by the calls of researchers including Pal and Dutta (2008) for more account to be taken of potential \"post-colonial\" background influences on professional communication practice in developing countries, and L'Etang (2011) for scholars to show more willingness to explore the varied worlds of communication practitioners in different locations in a more open way, with less tendency to view phenomena only through the limiting prism of existing, western-oriented, organisationally focused PR theory.\nA practitioner's eye view: neglected \"dimensions of difference\": At the quantitative survey stage, some interesting but perhaps not entirely surprising general perspectives were revealed. For example, when asked whether or not culture could be an important consideration in developing effective communication strategies in their locations, all 30 respondents (100 per cent) replied in the affirmative. When asked whether American and European PR experiences and case studies were valid to use as the basis for planning in their own locations, a striking 76.7 per cent were prepared to venture only as far as to say \"sometimes\" - with many volunteering comments as to the limitations of applying PR thinking borrowed from elsewhere. Ten per cent saw foreign approaches as never being valid. More than 83 per cent judged it to be important to have specific local knowledge of a country to achieve success in communication campaigns within its borders. Nearly 83 per cent reported that in their personal experience some PR methods and techniques worked better in certain Asian locations than in others. More than 62 per cent reported that considerations around politics were sometimes a \"major factor\" in deciding what work they would or would not take on.\nConclusions: The research confirms that a greater understanding of local and regional circumstances may be critical to achieving truly effective professional communication practice in the region. Most interviewees were able to volunteer wide-ranging and colourful anecdotes to demonstrate aspects of this from their own direct experience. Aside from any contribution such commentaries and stories may make to the ongoing formation of theory, I believe the perspectives revealed by interviewees also help, in the words of L'Etang (2011), to \"produce multiple interpretations of practice, tell currently untold stories, and generally contribute multi-layered insights into the practice\" (p. 18).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the practices and outlooks of public relations (PR) and corporate communication practitioners in six countries of South East Asia, through the eyes of practitioners themselves.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper draws on the findings of a doctoral research project comprising an online questionnaire sent to 100 active PR and corporate communication practitioners in six countries of South East Asia, attracting 30 responses; and a subsequent series of 14 semi-structured, in-depth face-to-face interviews. While taking some account of a range of theories in formulating questions, the research is primarily inductive in nature, seeking to reveal self-perceptions of the working worlds, worldviews, values and concerns of practitioners themselves.\nFindings: The project confirms, in the South East Asian context, hypotheses previously advanced by researchers including Sriramesh (2004), Sriramesh and Vercic (2001), Bardhan (2011) and others which assert that distinctive worldviews and local and regional cultures can be significant considerations in understanding the ways that communication strategies are developed and applied in different geographical locations. Going further, the research confirms that local practitioners see other environmental variables including differences in infrastructure, the composition of local languages and a range of other factors which go beyond \"attitudes\" and \"values\" as having important impacts as well, and therefore being worthy of more detailed attention by international communication planners and scholars.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research has implications for practitioners seeking to develop effective communication strategies in South East Asian environments. For scholars, the research has implications for better understanding of the significance of a range of environmental variables which may impact the effectiveness of professional practice in the region but which as yet may not be sufficiently recognised by existing theory and case studies. The project has a small sample size, with respondents drawn primarily from the membership of two English-speaking international professional associations. All research was also conducted in English. It may therefore not be fully representative of all practitioners across the region.\nPractical implications: The findings draw attention to ways that communication strategies might be more successfully developed and applied in particular Association of South East Asian Nations countries, and how professional practice in this region can help to better inform the development of more inclusive, comprehensive and critical \"international\" PR theory, curriculum and pedagogy.\nSocial implications: The research has social implications in regard to promoting better understanding of the outlooks and influences upon a group of professional people who arguably enjoy disproportionate influence upon the communities and societies in which they operate, by virtue of the work they undertake to explain, persuade and build relationships on behalf of other influential parties.\nOriginality/value: This is the first research project providing extensive first-hand simultaneous insights into the working worlds and personal outlooks of a broad cross-section of corporate communication practitioners across a number of major countries of South East Asia, embracing a comprehensive range of discussion topics.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Creative brainstorming and integrative thinking: skills for twenty-first century managers
|
[
"Creative thinking",
"Thinking",
"Innovation",
"Training"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: We are experiencing global uncertainty, chaos, change, speed, and complexity. We live in an era of corporate scandals, technological shifts, globalization, hyper-competition, ecological vulnerability, global warming, and post-modern terror. Our world is becoming more knowledge intensive, fast-paced, diverse, chaotic, interconnected, and multicultural. In such a world, we need new ways of thinking, learning, and development in organizations.\nSample projects: Creative mind-works\nConclusion: This paper introduced various examples and methods of incorporating creative brainstorming and integrative thinking skills into training programs. The paper suggests through the training cases that interdisciplinary thinking, engagement, flexibility, individual customization, collaboration and inspiration are critical factors for the development of creative and integrative thinking skills for managers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to introduce examples and methods of incorporating creative brainstorming and integrative thinking skills into training programs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper discusses an innovative training program as a case study to demonstrate the application of creative brainstorming and thinking skills into the design of the program.\nFindings: - Interdisciplinary thinking, engagement, flexibility, individual customization, collaboration and inspiration are critical to the development of creative and integrative thinking skills for managers.\nPractical implications: - This paper invites trainers and practitioners to consider new perspectives and customized approaches to develop creative and inter-disciplinary thinking skills for managers.\nOriginality/value: - This paper opens up new possibilities for innovation and customization in training programs to develop creative thinking skills.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The digital library programme at the British Library: goals and priorities
|
[
"Digital libraries",
"National libraries",
"Archives management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is a huge shift under way in the mechanisms for the dissemination of, and access to, information. For more and more people, the internet is the first (and sometimes only) port of call for research, information and entertainment. The British Library (BL) has recognised that it needs to be right at the centre of this new world, both as a provider of unique content and by using its expertise to help researchers find content that is relevant to them.The Digital Library Programme (DLP) is a central part of the BL's strategy to embrace this digital future. Its mission is to create a single system that will allow the BL to acquire, store, and provide controlled access to all the BL's digital content.The Programme started five years ago when the BL undertook the development of the storage component that forms the core of the Digital Library System (DLS). The Programme has succeeded in delivering a secure and resilient system for storing digital content for the long-term. The focus of the DLP has now shifted to the development of services that will enable all areas of the BL to manage digital assets as part of their everyday business.\nFactors that influenced the BL to undertake the Digital Library Programme: Before embarking on the DLP, the BL senior management had to be satisfied that there was a need to store digital content at the BL, rather than connect to existing online resources. Once that decision had been made, the BL needed to identify the most appropriate vehicle for developing the capability to store digital content. These issues are explored in more detail below.Identifying the need to store digital content at the BL\nGoals of the Digital Library Programme: The goals of the DLP are to enable the BL to do the following:* receive, process, store and preserve any type of digital material in perpetuity;* provide access to this material to users with appropriate permissions;* ensure that the material is easy to find;* ensure the authenticity of the material;* ensure that users can view the material with contemporary applications; and* ensure that users can, where possible, experience material with the original look-and-feel.The Programme intends to achieve this by:* acquiring, buying or if necessary building software components that together will make up the Digital Library software;* buying and deploying the hardware infrastructure (servers, network links, etc.) to create a robust environment where the Digital Library software can be deployed;* defining procedures for handling digital content and making sure that BL staff are adequately trained; and* working with libraries and other institutions both nationally and internationally to define standards, develop tools and promote the central importance of libraries and archives in safeguarding our digital heritage.\nAchievements of the Digital Library Programme: The DLP has created a robust, secure and saleable infrastructure for the acquisition, processing, storage and discovery and access to digital material.At March 2009, the DLS contains over 440,000 items, including over 60,000 nineteenth-century books digitised from the BL's collections and 11,000 sound files. The volume of data stored in the DLS is over 29 TB (which is equivalent to 242 iPod Classics (120 GB each) or a stack over 2.5 m high.Three copies of each item are stored within the DLS, one each at the BL's sites in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire and in St Pancras, London, and one at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.All of the digitised books and a selection of the other items are available within the Reading Rooms of the BL.\nPriorities for the Digital Library Programme 2009-2011: By 2011 the DLP will have put in place systems, processes and people to enable the BL to accomplish the following:* create a secure and resilient store containing digital content from handheld material (that is floppy disks, CDs, DVDs etc), digital donations, digital sound files, digitised books, e-journals, digitised and born-digital newspapers, archived websites, digitised master files, electronic grey literature, born-digital sound, moving images, voluntary deposit e-books, e-government literature and voluntary deposit non-scholarly e-journals;* create a rights management capability that will allow the BL to respect the rights of copyright holders while providing the widest possible access to the material in the store;* provide access to digital material within the Reading Rooms of the BL and the other legal deposit libraries;* where licensing provisions allow, provide access to digital material over the internet;* for appropriately licensed material, provide the capability for the BL to charge for access to digital objects;* provide the capability for readers to discover resources within the store, through integration with the BL's resource discovery systems (Aleph and Primo); and* create a management information and monitoring system that will enable us to measure the success of the DLP and allow teams using the DLP to monitor their own performance.By 2011, it is expected that there will be almost 80,000 books, 37,000 sound files, over 700,000 newspapers, 26 million archived web site snapshots and over 10 million e-journal articles in the store. The size of the store will then be over 400 TB.\nAccess to digital material: A key part of the DLP is ensuring that that digital material is made available as widely as possible while still respecting the rights of authors and publishers to profit from their works. Much of the material that is received digitally (so-called \"born digital\") direct from publishers will be covered by legal deposit regulations. This is the digital-age equivalent of the arrangement by which the BL receives a copy of everything published in the UK. The legal deposit regulations place restrictions on access to this material. Basically, each publication is only allowed to be accessed by one person at a time within the Reading Rooms of the six Legal Deposit Libraries. That is, a researcher in Cambridge University Library could access the same publication at the same time as a researcher in the British Library, but two researchers at the British Library could not access the same publication at the same time. Initially, this appears to be a very serious restriction. However, there are some mitigating factors to take into account. The main point to note is that this is a legal minimum; access can be expanded in a number of ways. Firstly, a substantial proportion of content in the DLS will be digitised versions of out-of-copyright material from the BL's own collections. The only barrier to making this material available to everyone over the internet is the ability of the BL to deliver the content in a timely fashion (digitised pages tend to be about ten times the size of born-digital pages) and to cope with the demand that would ensue any publicity surrounding publication of such material. Secondly, much material that is published nowadays is made available freely by the author. For this kind of publishing, there is always the opportunity to ask the author/publisher whether they would consent to the BL making this material available through the DLS. The experience from the UK Web Archiving Consortium, of which the BL is a member, suggests that up to 30 per cent of publishers are willing for these works to be exposed in this way. Thirdly, there is the option to make material available to readers upon payment of a fee, in much the same way as for current document supply material. Hopefully, where the researcher is a member of an academic institution, it will be possible to make this transparent to the researcher by making sure that the system recognises them and can bill the institution direct. Finally, it must be remembered that the BL has a much longer-term vision than most commercial organisations - eventually the material in the Digital Library will fall out of copyright and it will be possible to make it available more widely.\nEnsuring access to digital material over the long term: There are two aspects to ensuring access:1. ensuring that digital items are not lost or corrupted; and2. ensuring that it is still possible to read, listen to or view the items, long after the original software and hardware that was used to access the material has disappeared.The DLP has essentially solved the first aspect of the problem. There are three copies of each item in the Digital Library Store, in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, in St Pancras, London, and at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. When a digital item enters the store at one of these locations it is processed using a digital signing algorithm to create a digital signature. This signature can be used to verify that the item has not changed, either accidentally through hardware or software faults, or maliciously. A copy of the item is then sent, together with its signature, to the other two locations. When it arrives the item is checked against its signature to make sure it has not been corrupted en route. In addition, a software programme periodically checks all the items in each of the stores to make sure that they have not become corrupt. This could happen due to a disk fault, for example. When a corrupt file is found, this programme automatically requests a fresh copy from one of the other stores.The system has been designed to be upgradeable so that it is not reliant on any technology that is proprietary to a single manufacturer. This means that all hardware components can be replaced before they reach the end of their useful life (typically between three and five years).Solving the second part of the problem is more complex, but the programme is putting the building blocks in place now. There are two approaches to making sure that material remains accessible in the long term: These are migration and emulation.The simpler one is migration. Many people will have encountered this in their lives. For example, a document that was created in Word 97 can quite easily be opened in Word 2003. When the user comes to save the document, Word will asks whether to the save it in Word 2003 or in Word 97. If the user chooses 2003 (because she knows that she will not need to open it in Word 97 ever again) then the software migrates the file to the new format. Migration is a suitable approach for simple formats such as images, sound files and text documents. It is less successful for more complex formats, such as archived web sites, for example. The reason that migration is not enough for such complex formats is that, in order to view an archived web site, it is not enough just to be able to view the page, there is also a need for a browser that understands what to do when the user clicks on a hyperlink and at the other end, there is a need for a server that understands how to respond to a request from a browser. This is where emulation comes in. The purpose of emulation is to provide an environment that old programmes (like web browsers and web servers from 2009) can run in so that the user can interact with the web site in as close a way as possible to the original. One can imagine a scenario in which researchers in 2025 are presented with a holographic representation of a keyboard and a mouse (and an LCD screen) that they can use to browse web sites from 2006.The BL is the lead partner in the EU PLANETS project, which has the goal of creating the first generation framework for both migration and emulation tools. The Permanent Access project has been established within the DLP with the goal of applying the PLANETS framework and tools to digital items in the DLS.\nOngoing challenges faced by the Digital Library Programme: The main challenges that are faced by the Programme are:* The BL has the capability to create and acquire much more digital material than it can afford to store, therefore prioritisation is a necessity. Prioritisation is difficult for an institution that prides itself on the breadth and depth of its collections and so it is difficult to make explicit decisions that result in the potential for material to be lost forever.* There is no standard for publishing digital items which is widely adopted so developing the capability to accept a new kind of digital content or even the same kind of content from a new publisher takes time and effort. The drivers toward standardisation are currently very weak, as publishers continue to seek to differentiate their offerings in order to remain profitable (or minimise losses) within a publishing environment that is undergoing seismic change.* The sheer scale of what the BL is trying to achieve can seem so daunting that it can be difficult to come up with a plan of attack. In order to remain relevant to researchers in the digital age, the BL needs to do much more than build a digital infrastructure; it needs to rethink many of its core activities. For example, is cataloguing still relevant when the technology exists to do full-text searching?* The traditional publishing industry is in turmoil, with many of the old business models on the way out. Many traditional publishing companies have very good websites that are popular but are still losing money. In this environment many publishers have become risk-averse and are worried about the potential consequences of providing digital content to the BL even if it is only to be accessible within the Reading Rooms.In order to overcome these challenges the DLP has to prioritize, to direct its limited resource to where it can provide most benefit and to periodically review the landscape to ensure that its priorities are still valid.\nConclusions: The BL has recognised the shift underway in the way that people and organisations disseminate and access information. We have established the DLP to ensure that we are right at the centre of this new world.Through the Programme we have developed a secure and resilient store for digital items which currently holds over 440,000 digital items. Over the next two years we foresee a massive expansion in the size of the store both in terms of the number of items stored and its size. At the same time we will start to add facilities to make it easy for researchers to find and access relevant content whilst respecting the rights of publishers and content creators.The BL faces huge challenges as it seeks to stay relevant in a world of easily accessible digital content, but through our long-term commitment to a digital future, the technical expertise we have built up and the sound project and programme management disciplines we have put in place, we are well placed to embrace those challenges.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to show how the British Library (BL) is responding to the changing world of publishing through the Digital Library Programme.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is a descriptive review of the factors that led to the BL establishing the Digital Library Programme. The paper describes the goals of the programme, the priorities for the programme, the mechanisms for providing access to digital material acquired by the Library and gives an overview of the approach to ensuring that material stored in the Digital Library System remains permanently accessible. It also gives a brief overview of some of the main challenges that the Programme faces.\nFindings: - The unique position of the BL within the research environment means that there is great benefit to be had in building a digital library to store significant amounts of material even where it is already available elsewhere. The reason for this is the ability of the Library to sustain storage and access over a much longer period than can be achieved by commercial companies. The Library has also built up significant expertise and a world leadership in the field of digital preservation. The use of a programme and project structure to manage the development of the infrastructure, processes and procedures has already shown that it can deliver significant benefit in the changing landscape of digital dissemination of information. The use of an iterative and incremental approach both for the programme as a whole and for projects within the programme has shown significant benefits in allowing the BL to make progress where the end goal is very ambitious and there is no obvious off-the-shelf solution.\nPractical implications: - This may have broad applications for similar complex projects.\nOriginality/value: - The BL Digital Library Programme is providing a solution to the acquisition and dissemination of digital material on a larger scale than is common within the library and archiving community.\n",
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Achieving best practices transfer across countries
|
[
"Knowledge transfer",
"Best practice",
"Multinational companies",
"Knowledge management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: While the importance of knowledge to the development of society has been recognized by writers and philosophers since the ancient Greek period (Gamble and Blackwell, 2001; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995), it has been only in the last ten years that its importance to organizational life and organizational effectiveness has received detailed attention (Prusak, 1998 in Cortada and Woods, 1999; Wah, 1999). Since then, there has been significant interest in knowledge as an organizational and commercial variable (Brown and Duguid, 1998; Spender and Grant, 1996; Sveiby, 1995), with companies trying to better understand knowledge processes in their structures (Dixon, 2000; Teece, 1998).However, while its value for organizational success has been well documented, there has been little systematic study of how knowledge is enabled and transferred within organizations (Dixon, 2000; Von Krogh et al., 2000). Because of this, much of the knowledge management (KM) theory is based on limited and often anecdotal evidence. This is particularly the case for knowledge transfer within and between different cultural contexts. To improve their performance, companies are more and more often engaged in knowledge management strategies (KMS) in which the transfer of business practices is viewed as a source of competitive advantage.This problem is even more critical for multinational corporations (MNCs). One of the main advantages for being a big company rather than a small one is to capture on a grand scale the gains that come with applying smart processes or routines (Szulanski and Winter, 2002). However, this advantage can only be realized if the valuable knowledge can be spread to other sites within the organization. Research on \"stickiness\" by Szulanski (1996) and on transnational contexts by Kostova (1999) has shown that the transfer of best practices within organizations does not happen easily. Therefore, there is a strong need for improving our understanding of knowledge transfer mechanisms between business units.This paper takes up the challenges of looking at the issues of knowledge transfer in an organization operating across Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The value-added of this paper is to give emphasis to those factors impacting knowledge transfer on a global scale. A knowledge-based approach to business and management necessitates the identification and valuation of knowledge, and second, its context-appropriate application. The first concern is directly linked to organizational performance and the last concern focuses on the transferability or application of knowledge, which is fundamental to its exploitation.\nOverview of the relevant literature: Knowledge and best practice transfer in organizations\nMethodology: In order to clearly understand the process of best practice transfer, a qualitative research methodology was chosen based on the work of Eisenhardt (1989) and Yin (1994). The research was conducted within a global travel service company. This company was of particular interest because while it is a service company, its activity differs from consulting companies, its structure is decentralized and its environment is turbulent. As a result there are pressures to continuously sustain organizational change as well as to adapt its performances to the variation of the environment.In 2002, this organization had developed and implemented a best practice knowledge transfer programme in sales and marketing for their national marketing companies (NMCs) of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America (EMEA LA). At the time of the study, the best practices programme was two years old. This duration of time had allowed the programme sufficient opportunity to demonstrate clear outcomes, which meets Yin's (1994, p. 12) criteria for a strong, positive example in site selection.The principal data-gathering method was a structured interview conducted with senior staff from within 28 European and Latin American markets. In total, 31 interviews were undertaken. This broad-ranging interview method gathered information and feedback on the processes used for identifying and distributing best practices in sales and marketing. The interview data were supplemented by feedback questionnaires from best practice forums, intranet usage statistics and observations from best practice forums and from interviews with staff in the central organization.The study evaluated the effectiveness of a best practice KM programme in achieving knowledge transfer in sales and marketing practices throughout the markets of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. It considered the methods by which knowledge was transferred and their relative effectiveness, and those factors that may have mediated or limited the knowledge transfer processes.Indicators of knowledge transfer were sought through the best practice forum process. This process asks participants to make commitments to introduce a new practice, and then to report on their relative success in implementing the practice six months later. While not a measure of knowledge transfer itself, a willingness to try to adopt a practice from another market is a clear initial indicator that a transfer process may be about to commence.From the research findings a number of indicators have emerged which are described in Table II.Some definitions of these terms follow. An action is simply a conscious step or decision taken to achieve an outcome. A behaviour is a way of acting or being, generally observable, but the term may be used to refer to imputed mental events. An attitude is a predisposition to feel, think and act in a certain way, in relation to an object or set of objects. Behaviours and attitudes are closely linked as an attitude can be evident in behaviour and behavioural patterns sometimes reflect certain attitudes. An outcome is simply the result of an action. An achievement is a business result.\nFindings: The empirical study evaluated the effectiveness of a KM programme in achieving transfer in sales and marketing practices throughout the markets of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The knowledge manager launched a best practice forum to coordinate the knowledge transfer among networks of NMCs (local sales outlets).The best practices (BP) forums encouraged knowledge sharing in a more structured manner than those forums typically defined or associated with a community of practice (CoP). Of key importance, was the evidence of the creation of more informal sharing mechanisms occurring after more formally structured knowledge exchanges such as BP forums. A total of 33 BP were identified and transferred during the study.The study's findings revealed that there was a level of complexity and non-linear interconnectivity within and between business units, which confirms that knowledge transfer is a complex, multifactor process relying on a number of interacting variables. The outcomes from this study taken together with findings from the literature, have highlighted the importance of considering a range of actions, behaviours, attitudes and results as indicators of knowledge transfer over a period of time.While there was evidence that knowledge transfer had occurred, the results of the study highlighted the difficulties in effectively measuring the knowledge transfer process. Other major outcomes from the research included:* The confirmation of the critical importance of face-to-face communication mechanisms for knowledge transfer to result in knowledge uptake.* The identification of the role of technology as an enabler of communication and distribution of knowledge, but not as a driver for action or knowledge uptake.* The recognition of the relationship between the broad factors impacting on knowledge transfer such as organizational factors, external environment and individual characteristics, in a complex and non-linear manner, suggesting that knowledge transfer is a multi-factorial process involving interacting variables to an extent greater than generally accepted hitherto. A tool for use within organizational settings has been developed in this regard.* The identification of the interplay between different individual specific characteristics or factors such as personal experience of change, experience of working in a different cultural context, ego/personality, and credibility of the person transmitting the practice which influence the decision to adopt or not adopt a practice from another market.* The identification of the need for cultural similarity and high levels of homogeneity, in terms of market maturity, market size and competitive position for practices to transfer more often between countries. For example, we observed that Austria and Switzerland have been in touch several times to transfer two practices.* The recognition that many factors operate to influence and shape the knowledge or indeed to block the transfer of practices between countries, with resistance to other practices possibly relating to an individual's need for the application of creativity, personal ownership and control.A number of events which occurred after the best practice forums gave us clear evidence that knowledge exchange and transfer was beginning to happen more organically. These examples included the discovery that some markets were continuing the conversation on best practices by telephone and e-mail within their mutual markets.Additionally, it was observed that much of the language within the existing literature describing those factors which block or limit knowledge transfer was negatively framed. A recent study made within another group in the organisation dedicated to airlines services (called Airline Business Group) showed a lack of commitment from top management regarding collaboration. An employee in Great Britain pinpoints that \"a culture of 'knowledge is power' emanates in our business unit and simple information that would help on strategy, pricing and product priorities are not passed down the line\". Another one considers that \"individuals other than management get shouted down for their opinion and upward communication seems not to be encouraged\". The coordination and the integration of knowledge were not clearly articulated outside the networks. The results: islands of knowledge which are disconnected.\nResearch implications: The study's findings revealed the large number, complexity and interconnectivity of factors impacting on knowledge transfer. Reflecting on these findings, it is useful to think of the challenge of achieving knowledge transfer across countries and cultures, as a journey. From the study it was evident that clear and visible measures of knowledge transfer are not universal or even generic, but rather are to be discerned in a range of indicators across actions, behaviours, attitudes and outcomes in culture-specific settings. The knowledge is carried on this journey by an individual who is influenced by a range of external and organizational factors, as well as having been influenced as a carrier of knowledge, by their own life experiences.A time-based knowledge measurement model can be developed to assist in this regard (Table III). Their life experiences can be positive or negative as reflected by the various hills and valleys on the journey. As the journey continues, the knowledge is altered, pared down, added to and customized. As knowledge is converted into action, there are a number of indicators that this transfer has occurred.The difficulty of finding useful measures for knowledge transfer is well reported (Probst et al., 2000, p. 249). Probst et al. (2000, p. 246) comment that the evaluation of knowledge assets is hampered by the extreme difficulty of assigning cause to effect and assert that knowledge can only be recorded indirectly. The literature indicates that it is difficult and limiting to consider quantitative measures, which while easy to collect, i.e such intranet statistics, are not accurately indicative of knowledge transfer. A case study approach, such as that used in the present study, is always recommended as a more useful way to measure the impact of knowledge transfer while Probst et al. (2000) believe that an approach that seeks to understand causal relationships and to look for indirect measures such as indicators is more appropriate.This is because face-to-face communication provides so much more than words or information alone. Through voice, gestures and body language the receiver is able to assess the credibility of the source and to develop their innate sense of the reliability and credibility of the sender. This is an important first step in the knowledge transfer process. It is eminently clear that the decision to take a practice from another market is not made in an emotionally neutral state and that this factor must be taken into consideration in the design of organizational KM systems and processes.\nResearch limitations: Several areas emerged during the analysis of the findings and from the existing literature, which the researchers believe, are worthy of further investigation. These areas relate both to the impact of various individual and organizational factors on knowledge transfer. Those areas relating to individual factors include cultural characteristics, motivation, personality, adult learning styles and generational factors. A related and curious factor concerns the impact of personality on knowledge transfer. Some evidence of a level of tension between the central organisation and the local marketing companies has been found. This could be attributed to a general manager's desire for ownership, control and personal creativity. Another potential area worthy of further study could the impact of ego and or personality on knowledge transfer.Again, reflecting on the reasons behind the level of tension between the central organisation and the NMCs, it might be wondered whether the existence of a generation gap between the two groups has an impact on knowledge transfer. The authors' own knowledge of the organisation indicates that staff in the central organisation is generally aged 25 to 40, with general managers generally being aged 40 to 65. The question emerges as to whether this generational gap has an impact on knowledge transfer.The representative nature of the survey group, together with the broad data collection methods employed, were key strengths of the study approach. However, the researcher perceived a key limitation of the survey group to be the lack of participation by two of the largest and most mature markets. These markets were Spain and France. Staffs from these organisations have had a limited involvement in the best practice transfer programme, and appear not to be positively disposed towards the adoption of practices from other markets. Investigating the reasons why would have been of significant interest.\nConclusion: Because people play the most critical role in the success of best practices transfer, the conditions under which they can transmit and absorb knowledge is a key research area. This study has strongly affirmed existing findings within the literature with regard to the critical importance of face-to-face interaction in knowledge transfer. It is clear that while other distribution channels such as technology and written material play a role in making knowledge available, it is the social interaction that provides the catalyst for transferring knowledge i.e. moving knowledge from a passive state to action.Additionally, the study has observed limitations in the existing literature in terms of the language used for discussing barriers or resistance to knowledge transfer. It is suggested that the language currently used in the literature is influenced by an attitude that sees factors limiting knowledge transfer from a negative perspective. This attitude implies a resistance to knowledge transfer, as something to be overcome or defeated. Such an attitude is likely to impact negatively on the words and actions of people trying to drive change processes, and may also have the effect of creating further resistance. A clear alternative is to respect the personal filtering and decision-making processes that all managers possess - and to encourage them to take the seeds of the ideas within the practice and to tailor it to reflect their unique market circumstances. It is recommended that a change in attitude about the positive influence of an individual's filtering processes, together with a change in organizational language describing resistance to knowledge transfer, would yield a positive impact on individuals' attitudes and behaviour with regard to knowledge transfer.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to take up the challenges of examining the issues of knowledge transfer in an organization operating across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The purpose is directed to understanding whether knowledge management efforts can lead to the improvement of knowledge transfer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper adopts a qualitative analysis based on a case study whose aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of a global knowledge management programme in achieving best practices transfer in sales and marketing practices throughout business units of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The principal data-gathering method is a structured interview conducted with senior staff from within 28 markets.\nFindings: - The study's findings reveal that there is a level of complexity and non-linear interconnectivity within and between business units, which confirms that knowledge transfer is a complex, multifactor process relying on a number of interacting variables.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The results of a case study are somewhat limited in terms of their generalizability. Also, reflecting on the findings, it is useful to think of the challenge of achieving knowledge transfer across countries and cultures as a journey.\nOriginality/value: - The value-added of this paper is to give emphasis to the factors impacting knowledge transfer on a global scale.\n",
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Cognitive styles and managerial behaviour: a qualitative study
|
[
"Management styles",
"Qualitative research",
"Organizational behaviour"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In addition to situational factors, individual characteristics play an important role in determining managerial performance (Stevens and Ash, 2001). According to Berr et al. (2000), there is at this moment considerable interest in the potential impact of individual dispositions on managerial behaviour and effectiveness. Cognitive styles may not be ignored in this regard, as they are expected to influence how people develop their managerial role (Buttner et al., 1999). Research has shown that cognitive style differences influence learning, problem solving, decision making, communication, interpersonal functioning, and creativity in important ways (Hayes and Allinson, 1994; Kirton, 2003; Sadler-Smith, 1998). Cognitive styles are believed to be a crucial factor for effective decision making and for successful interpersonal cooperation (Armstrong and Priola, 2001).The aim of this study is to examine the link between cognitive styles and managerial behaviour, using a qualitative approach. The uniqueness of the study lies in the qualitative approach that was chosen to address this issue and in the combined focus on task-oriented and people-oriented managerial behaviour. This way, this research wants to refine and extend findings from previous, mainly quantitative studies on the relation between cognitive styles and particular aspects of managerial behaviour. Although there is widespread empirical interest in cognitive styles, qualitative studies that provide further support to the practical relevance of cognitive styles for organisations are currently lacking (Rayner, 2006). With the increased prevalence of executive coaching and the use of managerial assessment, research on the impact of individual differences on managerial behaviour is highly relevant (Berr et al., 2000).\nConceptual framework: Cognitive styles\nMethodology: Procedure and sample\nResults: The study led to a rich amount of information on how people with various cognitive styles prefer to perform certain aspects of their managerial role. On the basis of the qualitative data, an image of managerial characteristics for each of the cognitive styles was built (see Table II).Knowing style\nDiscussion and conclusion: The unique contribution of this study lies in the qualitative approach that was used to grasp the implications of cognitive style differences on managerial behaviour. Recently, several scholars emphasised the need for more qualitative research on cognitive styles to better understand what it implicates to have a certain cognitive style (Rayner, 2006; Riding, 2000). On the basis of content analyses of 100 written testimonies, differences in preferred management styles for people with a knowing, planning, and creating style were identified, both for various task-oriented and people-oriented managerial practices. This study refines and extends previous quantitative results on the link between cognitive styles and managerial behaviour. Additionally, this study provides qualitative evidence for the usefulness of distinguishing between the three cognitive styles of the CoSI model (Cools and Van den Broeck, 2007) contrary to the dichotomous thinking in several other cognitive style models (Allinson et al., 2001; Kirton, 2003).\nDiscussion of findings: The qualitative analyses showed that people with a knowing and planning style tend to make decisions in an analytical way (although they emphasise different elements), whereas people with a creating style combine an intuitive and rational approach. Creating types do not mind making decisions based on gut-feeling, whereas knowing and planning people try to base their decisions on data and information. Knowing and creating types tend to be mainly focused on the content of decision making (taking facts-based or creative decisions respectively), whereas planning people mostly refer to the decision-making process as such. People with a knowing style like to take their time to make decisions, while people with a planning and creating style prefer quick decision making. Overall, these results strengthen and refine quantitative studies that found that people with different cognitive styles show different decision-making behaviour (Hough and Ogilvie, 2005; Leonard et al., 1999). Previous quantitative research with the CoSI model found that individuals with a knowing style preferred a logical, rational, and impersonal decision-making approach, whereas planning types favoured an objective, structured, conventional, and efficient problem-solving approach, and creating people had a preference for a creative, unconventional, flexible way of decision making (Cools and Van den Broeck, 2007).On the basis of the above findings, it can be concluded that the way in which people with different cognitive styles approach conflict and feedback situations resembles their preferred way of decision making. People with a knowing and planning style both prefer a rational and straightforward interaction approach. Planning types, however, are more inclined to handle conflicts and to give feedback in a diplomatic way, whereas knowing types purely focus on the rationality and logic of the situation. People with a creating style tend to be more emotionally involved, using a personal approach in handling conflicts and giving people feedback. These results confirm that cognitive styles influence how people relate to others, as has been shown in quantitative style research. Previous studies found that people with an analytical style tended to be more task oriented, relatively less friendly, more impersonal, and more self-controlling in their emotional behaviour. Intuitive people, on the contrary, have been shown to be more interpersonally oriented, expressive, relatively friendly, warm towards others, and serving more psychosocial functions during interpersonal relationships (for an overview of these findings, see Armstrong, 2000; Priola et al., 2004).Cognitive styles also seem to influence which tasks people prefer most in their job. People mostly like tasks that make use of their preferred way of perceiving and processing information. Leonard and Straus (1997) also found that people tend to develop those areas in their jobs they like and that they try to avoid those aspects they dislike. Given the largely ill-defined nature of the managerial role, part of managerial work is determining its own boundaries (Tett et al., 2000). The findings of this study can be useful in this regard, as cognitive styles influence the tasks people will emphasise most in their job.Research implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to contribute further insights into how cognitive styles influence managerial behaviour, using a qualitative approach.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Written testimonies were gathered from people with different cognitive styles, and content analysed (n=100).\nFindings: - Qualitative evidence was found for managerial style preferences in accordance with cognitive styles, leading to various ways of decision making, conflict handling, and giving feedback.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Future research should explore how these results can be linked to contextual elements and to managerial performance.\nPractical implications: - This study contributes to increased managerial style awareness, which is important for intrapersonal development and interpersonal cooperation.\nOriginality/value: - This is one of a few studies that have sought to qualitatively grasp the implications of having a particular cognitive style. It provides relevant insights into task- and people-oriented managerial practices beyond previous, mainly quantitative studies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Understanding the relationship between service convenience and customer satisfaction in home delivery by Kano model
|
[
"Home delivery",
"Kano model",
"Service quality",
"Service convenience",
"Customer satisfaction"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Enterprises have also perceived the strategic importance of logistics services to an organizations' overall success, beyond just the notion of providing superior delivery processes to customers as a way to create a competitive advantage in dynamic markets. This idea has been discussed extensively in previous studies (Kahn and Mentzer, 1996; Mentzer and Williams, 2001). Christopher (1992) probed into the purpose of logistics service to establish an advantageous state based on value advantage. What is more, in order to improve customer satisfaction, Kearney (1991) deemed firms should offer discriminated and value-added services. Cairns (1996) investigated the issue of providing the home delivery service (HDS) for grocery industry, observing that the HDS for grocery stores can play a critical role in reducing delivery distances. Furthermore, as suggested by Smaros et al. (2000), grocers have to shift from simply trading physical goods to providing convenient services for their customers in order to achieve profit growth. Consequently, HDS is a compelling vehicle for busy people and organizations that have limited time for shopping at stores.Although delivering superior service quality can generate numerous benefits to service providers, such as time saving, cost reducing, increased market share and profits (Thompson et al., 1985), consistently delivering good service quality is difficult even when companies can benefit from high quality services (Zeithaml et al., 1988). In a competitive environment, service companies have to focus on providing high quality service to maintain customer satisfaction and retain profitable customers (Garbarino and Johnson, 1999). Thus, such aforementioned challenges refer to understanding various HDS elements that can be used to meet or even exceed customers' requirements. Although satisfying customers is the main challenge to an enterprise, delighting them with unexpected quality (e.g. attractive service attribute) is also a worthwhile effort (Shen et al., 2000).In order to achieve the success of HDS and create a competitive advantage for a firm, listening closely to customers' considerations is also recommended. This can be achieved by identifying the most important HDS elements in which to invest and using those investments to satisfy customers. For the past several years, the Kano model can be applied to solve challenges related to HDS elements exploration (Matzler and Hinterhuber, 1998; Tontini, 2007), since \"Kano model uniquely identifies customer requirements in detail by assigning different categories to different requirements, and can provide a more accurate voice of the customer for the firm\" (Sireli et al., 2007, p. 380).To summarize, the objectives of this study are as follows:1. explore the categorization of quality items of HDS based on Kano model wherein the customers' gender is taken into account as well;2. understand how the HDS elements and service convenience related to customer satisfaction; and3. provide evidence of improvement in the area of HDS from the importance-satisfaction (I-S) model (Yang, 2005).This study is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews and discusses the literature in relation to HDS, service quality, Kano model, service convenience and customer satisfaction. Section 3 presents the research methodology with respect to the research framework and hypotheses. Section 4 presents the results and key findings pertaining to the survey. Sections 5 and 6 present the discussions and suggestions, respectively. Finally, Section 7 summarizes the conclusions and points out the limitations of this study.\n2 Theoretical background and hypotheses: 2.1 Home delivery services\n3 Methodology: 3.1 Research framework\n4 Empirical results: 4.1 Confirmatory factor analysis of the measurement models\n5 Discussions: This study uses Kano model to analyze the desired HDS elements from customers while those associated with customers' satisfaction are also considered. The purpose of using Kano model is to help managers determine proper service offerings. The rationale is that even if dissatisfaction is diminished, it prevents a loss of customers; however, it cannot be used to create loyal customers. Given that the quality element varies with time, it is important to understand changes such as attractive quality switches to ODQ and to must-be quality. Moreover, this study also addresses the development of a measurement scale of HDS based on the service convenience model (i.e. decision, access, transaction, benefit, and post-benefit convenience). Such a perspective could also be useful to other logistics businesses for strategic or tactical purposes.5.1 Kano model analysis\n6 Suggestions: Based on the results, this study provides constructive suggestions for future improvement for HD industry as well as expects to further advance service activities. First, service providers should focus on the supply of attractive quality that can actively encourage firms to engage in innovation (Yang, 2005). The results found that Dec4, Acc7, and Pben29 are classified into attractive quality which could satisfy and surprise customers in an effective way. For instance, HD providers possess advanced tangible facilities or provide a temporary location to receive the packages when there is special events or on holidays. In addition to above, HD providers can provide discount or gift to customers who make considerable expenditures for next time service. When customers receive the unexpected services they are often led to accept other associated services. In a competitive environment, service providers should make efforts to provide attractive quality as a differentiation in order to gain an advantage in a market.Second, customers viewed most supplied services classified into the ODQ or must-be quality attribute as the \"basic service\". Hence, the results demonstrate that the service items of Ben20, Ben22, and Tra11 are classified into must-be quality. It means that HD firms have to pay much attention on these services. In addition, the service items of Tra8, Tra9, and Ben24 are classified into ODQ element.Third, if service providers of HD can build a superior communication channel in compared to their competitors, they can fix related problems promptly. Taking a package delay as an example, service providers can provide reasonable compensation and send a letter to explain the situation to win back customer's trust. It is foreseen that the HD firms are faced with tremendous challenges as product differentiation decreases, and maintaining relationships with customers is another way to maintain competitive.Fourth, due to the growth of convenience stores, most customers usually choose their neighborhood store as the location of delivering or receiving. In order to increase customer satisfaction, trust and brand image, HD firms can provide innovative services such as discounts and sponsorship of public welfare activities as a way to demonstrate attractive quality attributes.Fifth, quality elements vary with time, such that the IQ element may become as the ODQ or potential quality element at any time. As a result, to gain a lasting competitive advantage, the HD firms should be on the alert to examine the customer perception toward their service offerings. In addition, when creating innovative services, the service providers should conduct a market survey to understand the attitude of customers.Finally, in addition to the potential benefits that can be found by using Kano quality element classification in HDS, the competitive position matrix is recommended to further examine the obtained elements (Huiskonen and Pirttila, 1998). The method can be used to analyze service elements and position them in the competitive position matrix. To acquire competitive advantage, the HD firms can gain insight into their own competitive strategies in the market. In summary, Kano model could offer an effective way to identify potential advantages and differentiation decisions toward HDS.Although most HD firms implement a mixture of services in practice, this study suggests that matching the service elements to customers' needs would produce the most satisfaction for customers. Service industries such as freight services are viewed as having more physical than mental elements, while other organizations such as data transmission services are viewed as having more mental than physical elements. Thus, in determining the positioning and designing of promotional strategies, marketing managers should conduct marketing research to determine whether their services are perceived more in terms of either physical or mental elements (Miller and Foust, 2003). Furthermore, they should determine how much relative emphasis customers place on physical versus mental benefits while making choices among service brands. The most desired elements are probably those that are the most important for customers. This means that marketing managers should not rely on their own perspectives to market services, as this may cause \"marketing myopia\" (Levitt, 1960). Once these questions are answered, marketing managers can then develop appropriate strategies for their service offerings.\n7 Limitations and directions for further research: Limitations of this research need to be noted, since they can also provide direction for improvement of further research. First, the design of questionnaire focuses on the customer perspective which does not consider the opinions of the service providers of HD. Thus, in a future study, Kano model can be used to acquire the desired contact elements from customers while QFD is employed to take the identified elements into design with the compromise of provider's capability and profitability. This integrated approach would be suitable for a future study in the HD business based on the viewpoints of customers and service providers. Second, the present study discusses common features of HD rather than focus on a single specific service provider. Thus, future research can combine Kano model with Huiskonen and Pirttila's (1998) competitive position matrix (Lambert and Sharma, 1990) to probe into the certain service provider's status in terms of competitive advantage in the market. Third, regarding Kano's model, Yang (2005, p. 1129) suggested that \"Kano's model can therefore be refined by taking into account the importance of certain quality attributes\", namely refined Kano's model. That is, quality attributes can be divided into more precise categories (Yang, 2005). Thus, must-be quality attributes can be classified as critical and necessary, one-dimensional quality attributes can be classified as high/low value-added, IQ attributes can be classified as potential and care-free, and attractive quality attributes can be classified as highly/less attractive. However, as proposed by Shahin and Zairi (2009), although the use of sub-categories may analyze customer requirements in greater depth and therefore provide more useful information, it could be complicated and time consuming. Fourth, as suggested by Matzler et al. (2004), the integrated applications of Kano's model and I-S analysis correctly estimates the relative impact of each quality attribute for high- and low-performance on overall satisfaction customer towards product and service offerings (such as the contact elements used in this study). Thus, in Matzler's et al. (2004) study, the asymmetric relationship between attribute-level performance and overall performance is confirmed by performing a regression analysis with dummy variables, which could provide clearer directions for product and service providers. Accordingly, if this concept and method could be utilized by future research, the results could help HDS providers to effectively allocate the resources and set the right priorities in customer satisfaction management. Finally, because the HD industry was the only industry selected in this study, further research should involve other sources of logistics services industries (e.g. freight transportation) as a way to make comparisons for understanding how the HDS performs in consumers' minds across different types of service industries.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - By applying Kano model, this study attempts to investigate the categorization of home delivery quality elements derived from service convenience model and their impact on customer satisfaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In this paper, the research framework and hypotheses are constructed through a literature review. Kano model is applied to classify the home delivery service elements into five quality attributes and gender is included to understand the difference of customer perception on the obtained quality elements. Statistical analyses of the collected questionnaires were computed based on the 476 effective responses regarding the home delivery service.\nFindings: - The results confirm that customers' perception of home delivery service elements are classified into one-dimensional and must-be attributes by Kano model, while this study contributes to the creation of attractive elements that significantly affect the customer satisfaction and owning an enormous potential to further differentiate competitors. Customer satisfaction is positively correlated with different types of service convenience. It also suggests that the customers with different gender have significantly different views to quality elements of home delivery service.\nOriginality/value: - The major contribution of this study is that it attempts to examine the categorization of home delivery quality elements derived from service convenience model and their impact on customer satisfaction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
How can leader humor enhance subordinates' service creativity? The moderator of subordinates' SFIT and the mediator of role modeling
|
[
"Leaders’ humor",
"Social learning theory",
"Role modeling",
"Sensitivity to favorable interpersonal treatment",
"Service creativity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.--Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)Orders just command others, but models can attract them.--William Alexander (1767-1816)Humor is considered as an extremely important component of organizational atmosphere and culture within the organization. More than half of managers advocate that rigorous management should be combined with humor (Chen and Chen, 2011). Humor contains the following two main functions: (1) entertainment (i.e. creating joy and laughter) and (2) communication functions (i.e. conveying information) (Martin et al., 2003). Humor, as an entertaining form of interpersonal communication, can induce positive emotions and strongly promote interpersonal interaction within the organization (Cooper, 2005), thus producing positive job output via addressing cognitive or emotional challenges at work (Cooper and Sosik, 2012), such as trust (Hughes and Avey, 2009), subordinates' job satisfaction and commitment (Vecchio et al., 2009) and work teams' performance (Avolio et al., 1999). Leaders who are tolerant and optimistic are more likely to build closer relationships with their subordinates and are more likely to be potential role models in the workplace (Weaver et al., 2005; Brown and Trevino, 2014).Creativity is usually defined as the generation and use of novel and helpful ideas or concepts by individuals or groups in the organizational context (Zhou and Hoever, 2014), and service creativity refers to the creativity of employees who deal directly with customers in company, such as salesperson and service personnel (Dong et al., 2015). The products or services provided by service enterprises are intangible, inseparable and differentiated, which poses many challenges to frontline personnel of service enterprises. As the communication bridges between the service enterprise and the customer, the frontline service personnel naturally assume the role mission of meeting the personalized and differentiated needs of customers (Sok et al., 2018). Only when the service staff is creative enough to consistently meet customers' increasingly differentiated needs, they can truly satisfy customers and not just repeat their daily work. Therefore, for service enterprises, it has become an issue that managers have to face and solve to find out the reasons for employees' higher creative performance. How to inspire and motivate the creativity of service personnel at the lowest cost? This is an essential issue that performance-oriented companies are keen to solve. In order to address the abovementioned problem, this research investigates that as a key motivator, how does the immediate supervisor influences the subordinate's creativity? Whether there are boundary conditions?Existing research offers some convincing evidence for the positive impact of leaders' humor (LH), whereas the current research study on LH in the service industry is still limited and rather fragmentary (Collinson, 2002; Cooper et al., 2018). Humor is a common phenomenon in organizations, especially in service industry, whereas an increasing number of studies have shown that it can bring mixed outcomes (e.g. Huo et al., 2012; Yam et al., 2018), which can lead to higher leader-member exchange (LMX) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), as well as deviant behavior and lower leadership. Moreover, the effect of humorous behavior is also influenced by cultural context, which is significantly weakened in the Chinese context (Huo et al., 2012; Yang et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2018). Humor may undermine the authority of leaders and ambiguous jokes would generate negative or even disastrous consequences for managers (Collinson, 2002). For instance, Yam et al. (2018) found that humorous leadership may lose authority in the eyes of subordinates and positively affect followers' deviant behaviors via perceived norm violation. That is, whether a leader's humorous behavior is \"good\" or \"bad\" still is a contradiction in the existing literature. And, the boundary conditions deserve further exploration from various perspectives.Existing studies on LH overly focus on the perspective of LMX (e.g. Cooper et al., 2018; Yam et al., 2018), positing that humor, as a management tool, can promote the relationship between the exchange within the organization and enhance the relationship quality between superiors and subordinates. However, the long-term effect of humor on organizational atmosphere has neglected that individuals may unconsciously observe, learn and mimic the leaders' behavior, to treat the colleagues, friends and family around them with similar behaviors (Collinson, 2002). Successful leaders in business organizations have a profound and remarkable influence on their subordinates, who could express the values and beliefs they want their subordinates to follow through personal behaviors (Yaffe and Kark, 2011). Bandura (1977) noted that human behaviors, especially complex human behavior, were acquired mainly through observing the behavior of the models (i.e. the learning of indirect experience). Social learning theory (Bandura, 1977, 1986) refers to the observational or imitative learning, which posits that individuals learn how to interpret and respond to external environmental stimuli by observing and imitating role models (e.g. leaders). Rich (1997) found that in the management of sales personnel, the role modeling of sales managers was more powerful than that of other department managers because sales personnel were more likely to emulate their supervisor' work habits, positive attitudes and goals. Therefore, this research will investigate the effect of role modeling on subordinates' service creativity in the context of service personnel management.This research makes threefold contribution. First, we integrate the relationship between LH and subordinates' service creativity. This study not only contributes to previous work in the humor field but also responds to calls for more empirical research on the role of LH as an antecedent for employees' service creativity. Meanwhile, as the improvement of service creativity can provide innovative solutions for external customers, this study also builds a closed-loop relationship between superiors, employees and customers, promoting sustainable development of the relationship between enterprises and customers. Second, this study constructs a bridge between LH, role modeling and subordinates' service creativity. According to social learning theory, leaders are the main objects for subordinates to learn and for humorous leaders, subordinates are more willing to observe, learn and imitate their behaviors, in turn, and show similar humorous behaviors to colleagues and customers. Last but not least, we propose that sensitivity to favorable interpersonal treatment (SFIT) moderates the relationship between LH and perceived role modeling. Existing studies have shown that individual characteristics of information receivers can affect the learning effect. As the receivers of humor signals, employees' individual differences determine their perception of humor, which will affect their evaluation of leaders' behaviors and inspiration of creativity. Subordinates with high SFIT are more likely to perceive the kindness released by humor and prefer to learn and imitate the behaviors from leaders, so that role modeling of leaders will be stronger.\n2. Literature review and hypotheses development: 2.1 Leaders' humor and subordinates' service creativity\n3. Methods: 3.1 The sample and design\n4. Results: 4.1 Theconfirmatory factor analysis\n5. Discussion: Built on social learning theory, this research explored the impact of LH on service creativity of subordinates via role modeling and examined the moderating effect of SFIT. LH positively affects role modeling and service creativity of subordinates, while SFIT moderates the relationship between LH and subordinates' service creativity via role modeling. 5.1 Theoretical contributions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: As an essential personality charm of leaders, humor can bring a series of positive outcomes to both users and receivers. However, there is also evidence that the impact of leaders' humor (LH) is constrained by individuals, teams and organizational factors. The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between LH and subordinates' service creativity. Based on social learning theory and previous literature on LH, this paper identifies role modeling as the mediator and suggests that subordinates' sensitivity to favorable interpersonal treatment (SFIT) moderates these relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In order to test the proposed moderated mediation model, this study employed hierarchical multiple regression and path analyses with valid data of 348 samples.\nFindings: Results revealed that LH positively affects role modeling and service creativity of subordinates, while subordinates' SFIT positively moderates the relationship between LH and subordinates' service creativity via role modeling.\nPractical implications: In compliance with these findings, this research suggests that enterprises should pay attention to the role of humor from middle managers and strengthen managers' role modeling through multiple measures to establish a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere in the workplace.\nOriginality/value: Built on the conceptual framework, this study contributes to the literature on LH and employees' service creativity by treating role modeling as the mechanism and SFIT as the moderator. This research is one of the first few empirical studies to investigate the relationship between LH and service creativity of service personnel in the service industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Analyzing prediction market trading behaviour to select Delphi-experts
|
[
"Delphi method",
"Crowd sourcing",
"Expert selection",
"Prediction market",
"Real-time Delphi",
"Trading behaviour analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Predicting the results of future events is essential for business and political decisions. In recent years, new forecasting methods have emerged that are based on the \"wisdom of the crowd\", e.g. prediction markets. Prediction markets have proven to deliver reliable and continuous forecasts in fast-changing environments and are considered suitable for business decisions (Buckley, 2016; Klein and Garcia, 2015). However, in contexts where expertise from different areas is required, or conflicting goals and values need to be taken into account, prediction markets have proven to be less suitable (Linstone and Turoff, 2002). The reason can be the need for prediction markets to define all forecasting questions as tradeable contracts that are terminable and observable (Green et al., 2007). Additionally, distinguishing between correlation and causality is not possible in prediction markets. The Delphi method, or its recent \"online\" descendant, real-time Delphi, is the tool of choice when it comes to such problems (Linstone and Turoff, 2002). As prediction markets, the Delphi method offers experts a structured communication method free of interpersonal and hierarchical effects or social pressure (Green et al., 2007; Kloker et al., 2016). However, the Delphi method has some challenges, such as high drop-out rates or the difficulty of selecting the so-called \"experts\" (Kloker et al., 2017). The aforementioned factors can have a strong influence on the forecast quality and determine which aspects are taken into account and discussed (Welty, 1972; Goodman, 2017).\n2. Related work: 2.1 Prediction markets and real-time Delphi\n3. Method: The framework in Figure 1 illustrates our steps to evaluate our overall research question to find attributes that indicate high performers based on the trading behaviour.\n4. Implementation: We use the data of the EIX prediction market, comprising submitted orders and transactions, aiming to test the predictive capability of the attributes in Table I and identify the ones to be applied within an algorithm.\n5. Evaluation: In the last step, the results of the analysis of regressions and classification trees are investigated to derive relevant implications on the capability of the identified attributes.\n6. Discussion: The results reported in Section 5 provide us several insights.\n7. Conclusion: In view of these results, we conclude that a selection algorithm for informed traders or high performers in prediction markets based solely on trading behaviour should be based on these three attributes: (large) spread, (high) trading volume and the market maker attribute. We have shown that the relatively accurate selection of high performers is possible. Therefore, it is theoretically possible to simultaneously conduct a forecasting market and a real-time Delphi survey for the same question/context and to use the prediction market to continuously invite potentially knowledgeable participants as experts to the Delphi study. While the prediction market can then be used as a tool to aggregate information on specific forecasting questions, the real-time Delphi survey may be used to collect additional qualitative information and to deal with further secondary questions and/or where conflicting values and goals have to be considered (Kloker et al., 2017; Linstone and Turoff, 2002). As the selection of knowledgeable experts is crucial for the success of Delphi studies (Welty, 1972; Green et al., 2007), this is an important finding, which opens various possibilities of implementation. The logically subsequent and necessary next step would be to further elaborate on which dimensions expert panels, selected by common methods, differ from panels selected by a prediction market. Furthermore, we contributed to the evaluation of the overall integration of prediction markets and Delphi studies by supporting the claim of Kloker et al. (2017) that an algorithm for selecting experts on the basis of trading behaviour is possible. In addition to this, our results may also be helpful for researchers that intend to improve prediction market forecasts by giving experts more weight or try to distinguish informed from uninformed traders to reduce biases, e.g. the favourite-longshot bias (Sobel and Raines, 2003).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The selection of experts for Delphi studies is crucial for the quality of the forecast results and the information taken into account. In the past, this has usually been done by selecting participants according to their reputation, although this approach is questionable in terms of reaching the most knowledgeable participants having new, relevant and valid information. In this context, this paper aims to propose to operate a prediction market alongside Delphi studies and select participants based on their trading behaviour in the market for the Delphi study.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on more than three years of historical prediction market trading data, the authors verify attributes that indicate insightful trades, as previously discussed in the finance literature, by using regression and classification trees.\nFindings: The paper contributes attributes of trading behaviour that are theoretically derived from literature and potentially related to informed traders. These are tested and evaluated on historical prediction market data. Especially, the trading volume, the spread at the moment of trading and the market maker attribute seem to predict informed traders the best.\nOriginality/value: Algorithms based on identified attributes can be used to objectify the selection of experts for Delphi studies with potential gains in terms of the amount of information considered.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Workaholism, organizational life and well-being of Norwegian nursing staff
|
[
"Workaholism",
"Personality",
"Job satisfaction",
"Personal health",
"Nurses",
"Norway"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Some writers have suggested that workaholics approach their jobs or work differently than do non-workaholics. Workaholics are addicted to, obsessed with, and driven to work because of internal needs, not external organization demands (Fassel, 1990; Killinger, 1991; Oates, 1971; Porter, 1996). The motivations for working long hours tend to be self-protective or negative (Robinson, 1998). It has also been shown that workaholics are more perfectionistic, have greater difficulty in delegating work to others, encounter more conflict and tension in their interpersonal relationships and report higher levels of work stress than do non-workaholics (see Burke, 2000a, and McMillan et al., 2003, for reviews).There is accumulating research evidence that support some of these conclusions. Burke (1999a) found, using the Spence and Robbins workaholism types (1992), that work addicts scored higher on a measure of beliefs and fears than did both work enthusiasts and enthusiastic addicts. This measure taps aspects of a self-protective or negative motivation such as the need to prove oneself, the need to achieve materialistic trappings of success to feel a sense of worth, and belief that the world is a \"dog eat dog\", zero-sum game. Work addicts scored higher than work enthusiasts and enthusiastic addicts on measures of perfectionism, non-delegation and job stress as well (Burke, 1999b; Spence and Robbins, 1992).Some researchers have proposed the existence of different types of workaholic behavior patterns, each having potentially different antecedents and associations with job performance, work and life outcomes, (Naughton, 1987; Scott et al., 1997; Spence and Robbins, 1992). Naughton (1987) presents a typology of workaholism based on the dimensions of career commitment and obsession-compulsion. Job-involved workaholics (high work commitment, low obsession-compulsion) are hypothesized to perform well in demanding jobs, be highly job satisfied with low interest in non-work activities.Scott et al. (1997) propose three types of workaholic behavior patterns: compulsive-dependent, perfectionist and achievement-oriented. They suggest that compulsive-dependent workaholism will be positively related to levels of anxiety, stress, physical and psychological problems and negatively related to job performance and job and life satisfaction. Perfectionist workaholism will be positively related to levels of stress, physical and psychological problems, hostile interpersonal relationships, low job satisfaction and performance and voluntary turnover and absenteeism. Finally, achievement-oriented workaholism will be positively related to physical and psychological health, job and life satisfaction, job performance, low voluntary turnover and pro-social behaviors.Spence and Robbins (1992) identified three workaholism components based on an extensive review of the literature: work involvement, feeling driven to work and work enjoyment. Profile analysis of scores on these components indicated three workaholic types. Work Addicts score high on work involvement and feeling driven to work and low on work enjoyment. Work enthusiasts score high on work involvement and work enjoyment and low on feeling driven to work. Enthusiastic work addicts score high on all three components. They then offer a number of hypotheses as to how these three workaholic patterns might differ from each other. Thus, work addicts would be more perfectionistic, would experience greater stress and report more physical health symptoms. The existence of different types of workaholic patterns might help reconcile conflicting observations and conclusions cited above. Most writers view workaholism as a stable individual characteristic (Scott et al., 1997; Spence and Robbins, 1992).A compelling case could be made for devoting more research attention to workaholism (Burke, 2000a; McMillan et al., 2003). The concept has received considerable attention in the popular press. There has also been suggestions that workaholism may be increasing in North America (Schor, 1991; Fassel, 1990). In addition it is not clear whether workaholism has positive or negative organizational consequences (Machlowitz, 1980; Killinger, 1991). There is also debate on the association of workaholic behaviors with a variety of personal well-being indicators such as psychological and physical health and self-esteem. Finally, different types of workaholic behavior patterns likely exist, each having unique antecedents and outcomes. The question of whether workaholism can, or should be reduced, had also been raised (Porter, 1996; Killinger, 1991; Seybold and Salomone, 1994).A number of antecedents of workaholism have been examined in previous investigations (see Burke, 2000a, and McMillan et al., 2003, for reviews). These include personal demographic characteristics (Burke, 1999b; Spence and Robbins, 1992), work situation characteristics (Burke, 1999b, Spence and Robbins, 1992), feelings of inadequacy and needs to prove oneself (Burke, 1999a; Robinson, 1998), and workplace values (Burke, 2001a; Schaef and Fassel, 1988). Personal demographic and work situation characteristics have generally shown no relationship with the three workaholism types.There has been considerable speculation and some research findings on the relationship of workaholism to work experiences and satisfactions. It has been suggested that workaholics are more perfectionistic, have greater difficulty in delegating job responsibilities and relying on others and experience more job stress (Porter, 1996; Scott et al., 1997; Spence and Robbins, 1992; Killinger, 1991). It is not clear, however, how levels of workaholism relate to job and career satisfaction and progress. Some (e.g. Machlowitz, 1980) report that workaholics are highly satisfied with work and career; others (e.g. Burke, 2001b; Killinger, 1991; McMillan et al., 2002; Porter, 1996; Schaef and Fassel, 1988) offer a more negative picture.Finally, there is some agreement that workaholism is likely to be associated with adverse health consequences (Burke, 2000b; Robinson, 1998; Killinger, 1991; Spence and Robbins, 1992) and less satisfaction with family and other relationships (Killinger, 1991; Robinson, 1998).Personality factors\nMethod: Procedure\nMeasures: Personality factors\nResults: Means, standard deviations and intercorrelations of study variables are presented in Tables II and III.Regression analyses\nDiscussion: This research examined the relationship of stable aspects of personality, workaholism components and work life experiences on work and health outcomes. Our approach was guided by the increasing efforts of researchers to include both personality and work life factors to further our understanding of behavior in the workplace.Our findings were consistent with previous conclusions as well as adding to our understanding of personality, work experiences and health. As reported by others, personal demographic and work situation characteristics were relatively weak and inconsistent predictors of job satisfaction, burnout and health complaints (see Burke, 2000a; Schaufeli and Enzmann, 1998, for similar conclusions).Research has only begun to examine the role of stable personality factors in explaining work and health outcomes. The Big Five personality framework seems particularly promising in this regard. Neuroticism was associated with both levels of burnout and health complaints while Agreeableness was associated with higher levels of job satisfaction. Interestingly, openness appeared to function in much the same way as neuroticism. That is, nursing staff reporting higher levels of openness indicated more negative outcomes. Future research is needed here to determine the robustness of these findings.Workaholism components were found to predict work and health outcomes in this sample in ways consistent with earlier conclusions. That is respondents scoring higher on feeling driven to work indicated more distress while those scoring higher on joy in work, not surprisingly reported more favorable outcomes.A number of investigations have demonstrated a somewhat consistent relationship between the work environment and satisfaction and health indicators (see Schaufeli and Enzmann, 1998). Our data support the suggestions of Maslach and Leiter (1997) that the specific work life features they propose as sources of burnout predict other work and health outcomes as well.More general comments on the findings shown in Tables II and III should be noted. First, more variance was accounted for in both job satisfaction and burnout than in subjective health complaints; the latter are likely affected by variables not included in the study. Second, personality factors accounted for more explained variance on the two health outcomes (burnout, health complaints) than on the work outcome while the workaholism components accounted for more variance on the work outcome (job satisfaction) than did the other blocks of predictors. Third, variables within the same block of predictors often had opposite relationships with a given outcome (e.g. feeling driven and joy in work; openness and agreeableness) highlighting the complex patterns of relationship among the variables under study. Fourth, generalized self-efficacy did not predict any of the work and health outcomes.Practical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of individual difference personality characteristics (Big Five, generalized self-efficacy), workaholism components and work life factors on measures of job satisfaction, burnout and health complaints.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were gathered from 496 nursing staff caring for terminally ill patients in five health care facilities in Norway using questionnaires.\nFindings: - Hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for personal demographic and work setting characteristics, indicated strong relationships of particular Big Five personality factors, workaholism components and work life factors with both job satisfaction and burnout; health complaints were only predicted by personality factors.\nPractical implications: - Future research must examine the generalizability of these findings to other samples in different countries. Implications for management and organizations are offered.\nOriginality/value: - This paper contributes to the understanding of personality factors to workaholics in work outcomes and well-being.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Critical factors impacting the performance of mega-projects
|
[
"Risk management",
"Project management",
"Construction planning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Mega-projects (MP) are characterized by complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity, dynamic interfaces, significant political or external influences, and durations reaching a decade or more (Floricel and Miller, 2001). They are often classified in the highly complex program category facing numerous challenges and facing the most extreme project characteristics (Kardes et al., 2013). MP are now common in the capital projects industry and are witnessing a rapid rise in the size and number of MP. A 2012 Schlumberger Consulting report stated that annual capital spent on oil and gas exploration and production capital MP has more than tripled in the past ten years, with the number of projects above $1 billion nearly quadrupled in number (Procaccini et al., 2012). Spending on infrastructure in emerging markets was estimated by Merrill Lynch to be $2.25 trillion annually between 2009 and 2012 (Business Week, 2008). Many other reports provide similar insights, indicating more MP to come. The scale of MP is so significant that the failure and success of even a single project can have significant bearing on the sponsoring organizations or governments (Flyvbjerg et al., 2003). The criticality of these projects has been well documented in past publications. (Merrow, March, 1988).\nLiterature review: The two main objectives behind the background review were to characterize the current state-of-the-art in the delivery of MP and to identify lessons learned from successful and unsuccessful MP. The literature review focused on understanding definitions of MP, reviewing mega-project performance categorization, reviewing past performance of MP, and identifying factors behind mega-project successes and failures.\nResearch methodology: Considering the breadth of this research topic, an extensive literature review was conducted in order to understand key lessons learned from previous successful and unsuccessful MP. As summarized in the previous section, previous publications on MP from academia and industry, as well as mega-project case studies, recent reports from consulting firms, and MP in other industries were reviewed to understand the current state-of-the-art of mega-project delivery. The background review was helpful in finalizing and refining the research hypothesis and future data collection efforts.\nData collection and analysis: Preliminary interviews\nResults and discussion: The research results allowed the authors to identify recommendations to mitigate and effectively plan for the impact factors. Below are some key findings for the five impact factor categories:\nImplementation: One of the objectives of the research was to develop a method that would help mega-project teams implement the research findings to better plan for the critical impact factors identified. The goal was to complement existing organization processes and help make them better fit MP.\nConclusion: The complexity, size, duration, and risks associated with MP make them very difficult to manage. These characteristics contribute to several MP not achieving their business and project performance objectives. Studies suggest that the need to implement MP will continue for many countries and corporations. Hence, capital project organizations need to evolve and adopt more proactive practices to better mitigate mega-project challenges. This research identified 34 impact factors that have higher occurrence and performance impacts on MP. These factors were then grouped in five categories and prioritized. A methodology was developed to assess the criticality of these impact factors and assist project teams in the mitigation of factors that may be critical to their project. Included in the assessment methodology are recommendations and lessons learned that project teams should adopt during the front-end planning and execution phases of a mega-project. The methodology has been developed to complement traditional project planning and execution practices. The assessment will help the project team to gain alignment on the criticality of impact factors and their mitigation strategies. As a result of the data collected, the focus of the analyses and findings was on heavy industrial MP. Future research should be conducted to identify factors the impact the performance of MP on other sectors of the capital projects industry, such as infrastructure and buildings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Mega-projects (MP) are important not only to the stakeholders involved in their development and construction, but also to the societies, economies, and environments impacted by them. Given the importance of MP and the prevailing trend toward poor performance, the purpose of this paper is to identify changes in project development and execution to increase the likelihood of success on MP.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The researchers performed an extensive literature review in the initial phase. Then, interviews with experienced mega-project professionals were conducted to gather information on factors contributing to success and failure on MP. A detailed survey was then carried out to quantify and assess the frequency and impact levels of these factors. Finally, case studies were performed to analyze the manifestations of these impact factors on MP and identify mitigation strategies.\nFindings: After gathering data from more than 100 projects, the researchers identified and prioritized 34 factors that have high frequency and negative performance impacts on MP, categorizing them into five categories. These factors were then used to create a mega-project preparedness assessment process and a lessons learned repository around these factors, which includes factor descriptions, examples from actual projects, and recommendations. The result is a structured method for enabling comprehensive mega-project risk management and mitigation planning.\nOriginality/value: The research has gone beyond any previous generic lessons learned, to enable project teams to make structured assessments of critical mega-project impact factors. Assessing these impact factors will enable more accurate and thorough mitigation planning for them and, thus, improve mega-project performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Comparative study of delay factors in Libyan and the UK construction industry
|
[
"Industry survey",
"Impact of delay factors",
"Quantification",
"Delays analysis system",
"Construction industry",
"Operations management",
"Libya",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Delay factors play a major role in the delivery of a construction project on time, within budget and at the required quality. Bourn (2003) published a report entitled \"Modernising construction\" and highlighted that 70 per cent of UK construction projects carried out by public departments and agencies are delayed. Research conducted by Building Cost Information Service (UK) found that nearly 40 per cent of construction projects overrun the contract period. Moreover, a report published by General People's Committee (PGC, 2003) pointed out that 97 per cent of public and private Libyan construction projects suffer delays with a high impact on project cost and time.Mansfield (1994) found that timely completion of a project was a signal of project efficiency; however, construction processes depend on several factors that occur from various sources, including contractor's performance, site conditions and contractual relationship among project stakeholders. It rarely happens that a project is completed within the specified time. Hence, it is necessary to understand the root causes of construction delay that can help to analyse their significance and reduce the impact of delays in a construction project. The successful completion of construction projects and keeping them within estimated cost and agreed schedule depends on a methodology that requires sound engineering judgement for analysing delay factors and managing the impact from delay (Al-Moumani, 2000).In practice, delays occur in every construction project and the magnitude of these delays varies significantly from project to project and country to country (Wael et al., 2007). The nature and characteristics of delay factors and their impact on a project also vary between developing and developed countries. In this context, Libya can be considered to be a developing country and the UK can be considered to be a developed country. The research presented in this paper aims to analyse the characteristics of delay factors by ranking them in both countries. To do so a new methodology for analysing delay factors and reducing the impacts of delay on a project is developed.The remainder of the paper includes discussions of the literature review, research methodology, the development of a delay analysis system (DAS) and the case study used to demonstrate the DAS.\n2. Literature review: Construction delays are a major problem in the construction industry. Ahmed et al. (2003) suggested that delays are a key problem that occurs in construction projects and the extent of these delays varies from project to project. It is found that certain projects are only a few days late while some projects are delayed by over a month or a year. For construction projects in developing and developed countries, several research studies have been carried out in an attempt to identify delay factors (see Mansfield, 1994; Mezher and Tawil, 1998; Zaneldin, 2006; Assaf et al., 1995; Ogunlana et al., 1994; Al-Moumani, 2000; Frimpong et al., 2003; Abdelnaser et al., 2005).Morano (2006) highlighted that a large number of techniques are being used in the identification process of risks in construction projects. These techniques are checklists, interviews with individuals or groups, brainstorming, surveys and the Delphi technique. Abdulaziz et al. (1998) used various methods to analyse the impact of delays on construction schedules including, the As-planned method, the As-built method and the modified As-built method. They also found that the outcomes of delay were unpredictable. They concluded that one method of identifying delay factors might not be used universally over another in all situations; or one method might prove to be the most desirable from the standpoint of the contractor or the owner (Abdulaziz et al., 1998).Al-Moumani (2000) developed a qualitative analysis of construction delays by examining the records of 130 public building projects in Jordan. The frequencies analysis method was used to rank the main causes of delay from the survey data and revealed that the main causes of delay in construction projects were designer's faults, changes in weather, site conditions, late deliveries, economic conditions and variation in quantities. Similarly, Alaghbari (2005) found several causes of delay in Saudi construction projects by analysing the survey data collected from 23 contractors, 19 consultants and 15 owners. They found that drawing preparation, approval of design, payment delay, changes in design, slow cash flow, design errors and labour shortage were the key delay factors that affecting project delays.To analyse the impact of delay factors on construction projects, Youngjae et al. (2005) developed an effective and logical methodology \"delay analysis method using delay section (DAMUDS)\" by evaluating the construction delays which adequately accounts for commonly encountered situations. The first inadequacy was the ambiguity in the analysis of the concurrent delay. The other was the inadequacy of consideration of time-shortened activities. The DAMUDS incorporated two new concepts for correcting these inadequacies: the delay section (DS) and the contractor's float. The method includes three steps. The first is a division of the total delayed project duration into multiple time increments of DSs. The second is to analyse and evaluate the time increment. The last is to iterate the analysis of time increments into three steps: updating the baseline schedule, rescheduling the updated baseline schedule and apportioning the responsibility of the changed project duration. The DAMUDS is widely used as a method of concurrent period of analysis. However, this method does not integrate and simulate the risk portability associated with delay factors and the critical work activities of a construction project.More recently, Jaskowski and Biruk (2011) pointed out that project activities' durations are directly affected by different risk factors independently. Existing risk analysis models, for example, simple analytical and neural networks developed by Kog et al. (1999), Chua et al. (1997), Zayed and Halpin (2005), Shi (1999), AbouRizk et al. (2001) and Sonmez and Rowings (1998); fuzzy set model developed by Lee and Halpin (2003) and regression model developed by Hanna and Gunduz (2005), Jaselskis and Ashley (1991) (cited in Jaskowski and Biruk, 2011) failed to provide more reliable solution for predicting activity and whole project durations. However, Jaskowski and Biruk (2011) agreed that the simulation model developed by Dawood (1998) is a quantitative delay analysis model which considered the impact of each delay factor independently for predicting durations of activities and whole project. Therefore, the research presented in this paper seeks to integrate the delay factors within the simulation model of DAS to predict the activity or project durations, considering the influence of each risk factor independently.The causes and effects of delay factors in construction industry vary from country to country due to environmental, topographical and technological constraints. Previous research does not incorporate probability theory of delays for quantifying the impact of delays in construction projects. In anticipation of the effect of globalisation and the technological difference between developing and developed countries, it is necessary to identify the actual reasons of delay in order to reduce the impact of delay in any construction project. A comparative study of the delays between Libya and the UK are considered in this study to analyse and evaluate the causes and effects of delay factors. Therefore, a new methodology for analysing and quantifying the impact of the delay factors is necessary. This methodology is developed by integrating the influence value of each possible delay factor in a construction project so that preventative measures can be taken in advance to minimise the impact of project delay and reduce the project costs.\n3. Research methodology: According to Wael et al. (2007), a questionnaire is one of the most cost effective ways to collect and analyse a large number of responses from the involved parties in the construction industry in order to achieve better statistical analysis of the data. In this study, therefore, a questionnaire was used to collect the data related to delay factors associated with construction projects. The survey data were analysed to rank the delay factors and determine the important weight (IW) of delay factors using the frequency and severity index (SI) method. Statistical tests were used to present a comparative study of the delay factors found between the UK and Libyan construction projects. A framework for a DAS is developed using the findings from a literature review and industry survey. Frequency and SI methods are used to identify and compare the delay factors in Libya and the UK. A case study of a building project is used to evaluate the functions of the DAS. The next section discusses the industry survey between Libya and the UK.3.1 Industry survey\n4. Development of a framework of DAS: A conceptual framework of DAS was designed by integrating the list of delay factors, IW of each delay factor, and critical activities of a construction project with help of @RISK simulation tool. The aim of the system is to analyse the impact of possible delay of each activity in a construction project. Figure 1 presents a framework of DAS. The framework is arranged into three main parts: input, process and output. This framework is used to develop a simulation model for analysing the impacts of possible delay factors in construction projects.The details of inputs, process and outputs of the DAS are discussed in next sections.4.1 Inputs of the system\n5. Case study: A case study is used to evaluate the functions of the DAS. The selected building project for the case study was completed on a turnkey contract basis and the project value was around l3 million. The required data for inputs of the DAS such as project activities and delay factors affecting the building project were collected from the construction company that completed the project. This input was processed as discussed in the above sections.5.1 Calculation of influence factors and distribution selection\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The aim of the research presented in this paper is to develop a new methodology for the comparative analysis and quantification of the impact of delay factors in construction projects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A framework of delay analysis system (DAS) is developed using the findings from the literature review and industry survey. Frequency and severity index method are used to identify and compare the delay factors in Libya and the UK. Statistical experiments are used to test the relationship and confidence level of survey results. A case study of a building project is used to evaluate the functions of the DAS.\nFindings: - The survey illustrated that construction projects suffered more delays in Libya than the UK. The survey results indicated that critical delay factors are quite different in both countries. The case study found that a building project might be delayed by 41 to 46 days in Libya, or 34 to 38 days in the UK, when considering the most critical delay factors.\nPractical implications: - The outcome of the study is expected to help policymakers, decision makers and others stakeholders within the construction industry to improve the industry's processes and reduce the impact of delay in the construction operations.\nOriginality/value: - This paper provides a new methodology and a delay analysis system that assists construction managers to analyse and quantify the impact of delay factors in building projects. The system is also expected to provide timely information about possible delays so that necessary measures can be taken to reduce the impact of delays and improve project delivery.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Scoping the contextual issues that influence shrinkage measurement
|
[
"Measurement",
"Retailing",
"Europe"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Grocery retailing is a significant industrial activity, for example, in Europe the turnover of the sector exceeded [?]1,000 billion in 2003 (Beck, 2004). This business sector can be characterised as a complex, highly competitive market made up of a diverse population of organisations. Across this varied business landscape cuts the common issue of shrinkage. Recent research into shrinkage has shown it to be an important issue for organisations to consider, not least because shrinkage is a significant cost to the FMCG grocery industry. Taking Europe as an example, shrinkage cost the sector [?]24 billion in 2003 (Beck, 2004).Performance measurement has an important role to play in the efficient and effective management of organisations (Neely, 1999) and this is certainly the case when it comes to the management of shrinkage. Given that measures and measurement systems must reflect the context to which they are applied (Neely, 1999), the objective of this paper is to scope out and summarise the contextual issues surrounding retail shrinkage in Europe's grocery sector and to offer a view on the implications of these issues to shrinkage measurement.Shrinkage\nMethodology: The method to scope the contextual issues that influence shrinkage measurement draws on the work of Tranfield et al. (2003) on the development of evidence-informed management knowledge. These researchers note that:Within management it will be necessary to conduct scoping studies to assess the relevance and size of the literature and to delimit the subject area or topic. Such studies need to consider cross-disciplinary perspectives and alternative ways in which a research topic has previously been tackled.The methodological steps identified by Tranfield et al. (2003) for conducting a scoping study capable of meeting the aim of this work are:* form a review panel to direct the process of investigation; and* iterate through a process of definition, clarification and refinement;Aligning with the method proposed by Tranfield et al., a review panel was formed to direct the process of investigation. The academics on this panel had backgrounds in supply chain management, operations management, accountancy and criminology and so contained cross disciplinary perspectives on method and theory. The review panel also included practitioners working in the field, a characteristic recommended by Tranfield et al. (2003). The fifteen practitioners on the panel came from a range of separate retail and manufacturing companies from across Europe. This panel meet on a bi-monthly basis and had done so-for four years prior to this particular research being conducted.The review of the literature base was a desk research exercise. This review was undertaken in three iterations of a procedure consisting of exploration of the theoretical base in the literature followed by a critique of this material by the review panel. This method approximates to deductive-inductive data analysis, i.e. the constant reflection of empirical against theoretical studies.Gaps in understanding highlighted by the review panel were addressed by the subsequent iteration of literature review. The output of this exercise was a consensus description of the contextual issues that influence shrinkage measurement.These findings were presented at a seminar held as part of the 2004 ECR Europe Congress, which was attended by 210 people. The verbal and written feedback from this event was used as a gauge of the practical implications of the research.\nDelimiting shrinkage: Clarity and consistency are required when measuring in order to ensure that like is measured with like and that each measurement is compatible. Hence, there is a need to delimit the term \"shrinkage\" and to do so in a simple and clear manner.In a simplistic view, the value of a product is a function of several factors including its being in the right place at the right time and possessing an appropriate level of quality. This value will be compromised if these factors fail to meet customer expectations. For example, if a product is damaged and its quality is compromised so its value will be reduced. Similarly, value can be reduced if goods are not available at the right time or if they are not in the right place. In the grocery retail environment the value of a good is represented by its intended sale price. Any loss of value in a product is assumed here to be represented through a mark down in its sales price.The most extreme reduction in value is when it reduces to zero by writing off the product when it can no longer be sold. This can happen for the reasons described above and also when goods cannot be physically accounted for. Goods that cannot be accounted for will be identified when there is a discrepancy between book stock and physical stock. The book stock is the record of those goods held by the company and calculated as follows:Book stock = Results from last physical stock count + net movementswhere, net movements=(purchases+incoming transfers)-(sales+outgoing transfers)Discrepancies between book stock and physical stock will come to light following a physical audit of a company's goods, such as a stock take. In a stock take the goods physically recorded in the audit are compared to the book stock and differences are recorded.A retailer incurs a loss when a good is sold for less than its intended price, i.e. there is some intended sales income that was not realised and also when the intended sales income from products cannot be realised because of stock loss. It is proposed that these losses are what lie at the heart of the shrinkage issue. Therefore, shrinkage will be delimited here as relating to:Intended sales income that was not and cannot be realised.This definition is intended to be clear and simple. This should allow the concept of shrinkage to be more easily communicated to the broad range of people that need to be engaged in addressing it.\nClarification and refinement of contextual issues that influence shrinkage: Several perspectives exist on the nature of shrinkage and any measurement system will be guided by the principles employed in its design. It is common for these guiding principles to be unspoken and for a measurement system to develop from them intuitively. In order to treat shrinkage measurement in a rational manner it is necessary to first consider the key perspectives that relate to retail shrinkage and explore lines of difference in how shrinkage can be viewed. Only once these perspectives have been addressed and decisions made on which guiding principles to adopt can measures be designed and deployed.In order to clarify the debate on the contextual issues that influence shrinkage measurement, these issues were summarised into four categories, namely:* stewardship and performance improvement;* cost reduction and sales improvement;* local effects of systemic issues; and* the detailed nature of retailing.Naturally there are limits to what can be achieved by reducing the debate to these four categories and these categories will no doubt benefit from refinement over time. However, the merit in introducing this perspective on the subject is to introduce a series of lenses for viewing the richness of the subject. Each category is introduced and discussed below.Stewardship and performance improvement\nImplications of contextual issues for shrinkage measurement: Early drafts of this review of contextual issues surrounding shrinkage were presented to and critiqued by the review panel (as described above in the section on methodology). This panel examined the work to check factual accuracy, critique the way that the work was drawn together and to consider the implications of the review.Broad support was given to the usefulness of framing the debate on shrinkage under the four headings presented above. This support was given as the headings allowed the debate on measurement to address fundamental and specific points whilst helping to retain the context needed when considering shrinkage.Under stewardship and performance improvement, organisations report their shrinkage at either retail sales value or cost price but there is no consensus on whether one method is superior to the other. The common view is that each method has its merits but the key is to declare which approach has been used and to view the result accordingly. This view overlaps with the effect of shrinkage on both the costs and sales income of an organisation. The implication for measurement is that there is a need for reliable and timely information which can be interpreted to show how shrinkage impacts profitability through reducing sales income and to show how shrinkage affects profitability through increased costs.Whilst each legal entity along a supply chain has responsibilities to its own stakeholders, the inter-firm nature of shrinkage means that companies need to work together. Shrinkage cuts across lines of managerial control and a strong case exists for viewing retail shrinkage as a systemic issue that spans the whole supply chain from raw material to checkout sale to product return. The implication is that visibility of performance across the supply chain is needed to view shrinkage from this broader context in order to identify where corrective action should be focussed. In order to guide management action, data needs to be available at the lowest level of granularity, that is by product; by location; and by time, and for this data to be shared with internal and external stakeholders. Whilst there is a cost associated with acquiring the capability to implement such a measurement system and to gather and share data, the implication is that this approach is necessary to convert unknown shrinkage into known shrinkage and to inform decision making.These findings were presented to a seminar attended by 210 people held as part of the 2004 ECR Europe congress in Brussels, a mainly practitioner gathering. It is difficult to draw firm conclusions from the reaction given at such gatherings, however, a view of the practical implications of the research can be drawn from the feedback provided by attendees. An overall rating of the content of the seminar scored 4.4 out of 5. In context this gave the seminar the highest score out of the 12 seminars delivered on a variety of topics at the congress. Whilst this is a very rough instrument, this feedback suggests that this work has merit in the direction it takes the debate on shrinkage measurement, at least from a practitioner perspective.\nConclusions: Shrinkage affects shoppers in a number of ways including reduced on-shelf availability, reduced assortment and defensive merchandising. None of these provide shopper satisfaction, hence sales are depressed and profits foregone. In addition, to lost sales, shrinkage also affects the profits of grocery retailers and FMCG manufacturers through associated additional cost.The scale of the impact on shoppers and on profit is sufficient to warrant senior management attention and investment in a performance measurement system to measure shrinkage. Such a system will fail to inform management decisions if it does not address the contextual issues that influence shrinkage measurement, namely:* stewardship and performance improvement;* cost reduction and sales improvement:* local effects of systemic issues; and* the detailed nature of retailing.In particular, shrinkage measurement needs to be capable of capturing data in a way that allows it to be aggregated and disaggregated without losing its integrity, allowing alternative costing practices to be applied where necessary. Analysis of this data needs to factor in the systemic nature of shrinkage in order to attribute effect to cause and highlight areas of unsatisfactory performance and opportunities for improvement.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - Measures and measurement systems must reflect the context to which they are applied, requiring that the contextual issues relating to retail shrinkage must be identified as a necessary precursor when measuring shrinkage. Without considering these issues any decision on which method of shrinkage measurement to employ will be uninformed, arbitrary and at best intuitive. The objective of this paper is to scope out and summarise the contextual issues surrounding retail shrinkage in Europe's grocery sector and to offer a view on the implications of these issues to shrinkage measurement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology adopted was a scoping study of the key issues that influence shrinkage measurement, drawing these from prior research and exposing these findings to the informed opinion of a review panel for critique and to highlight areas for further investigation.\nFindings: - The findings from the study were to identify a range of contextual issues relating to shrinkage and to summarise these issues into four categories, namely: stewardship and performance improvement; cost reduction and sales improvement; local effects of systemic issues; and the detailed nature of retailing.\nPractical implications: - The implications of these key issues are significant to the measurement of shrinkage in terms of the scope across the business from which shrinkage needs to be considered. This finding highlights the need to consider shrinkage as a systemic issue that extends across a business from design, through planning to operational execution. It also identifies the impact of shrinkage on increasing cost and depressing sales and considers the responsibility of management teams in addressing these matters.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is theoretically original and thus of value to the academic community. It is also of value to the practitioner community in grocery retailing where shrinkage and its measurement is of worldwide strategic importance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Ownership when AI robots do more of the work and earn more of the income
|
[
"Robots",
"Income distribution",
"Comparative advantage",
"Automation",
"AI",
"Employee ownership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Warnings that advanced robots, artificial intelligence software and automation threaten employment fill the media: \"Robots will destroy our jobs - and we're not ready for it,\" \"Robots Threaten Bigger Slice of Jobs in US, Other Rich Nations,\" \"Automation could impact 375m jobs by 2030,\" \"Robots will take our jobs. We'd better plan now, before it's too late,\" \"Will Robots take our Children's Jobs?\" and \"Robots can now read better than humans, putting millions of jobs at risk\"[1].\n1. Will the AI/robots really disrupt the labor market?: Comparative advantage - the idea that different factors of production in a market or countries in the global economy do best to specialize in the tasks that most fits their relative competency - suggests that the headline warnings of job shortages misplace the long-term impact of the technology. Instead of looking for what AI/robots do to the numbers of jobs, comparative advantage says to look for what they do to wages and incomes. Comparative advantage holds that as long as AI/robots and humans differ in their attributes and costs, firms will hire humans for some jobs or tasks even if robots outperform humans in every job or task. Firms will hire humans for the work that humans do at lower cost than machines and will hire machines for the work which machines do at lower cost than humans.\n2. Employee and citizen ownership to the rescue?: The natural solution to a distribution problem based on the unequal ownership of income earning AI robots and other capital assets is to expand ownership to a larger proportion of the population through increasing employees' ownership of their firms and workers and citizens' ownership of capital writ large. By ownership, I mean any of a diverse set of property rights over income-producing assets ranging from ownership of the capital, which gives employees or citizens' rights to vote on economic and management decisions, to ownership of streams of income from capital, which give persons rights to the stream but not to the capital itself.\n3. Conclusion: AI robotics create substitutes for humans in brain work as well as in physical labor - a development that suggests that AI robot automation will differ from past automation experiences. To the extent that technology increases substitution between AI robots and humans while the costs of producing machines falls, the new technologies will change the comparative advantage of machines relative to people and are likely to raise the income earned by machines relative to human workers. Studies of the deployment of industrial robots suggest that the technologies are beginning to affect employment and earnings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the likely impact of AI robotics technology on the labor market through the lens of comparative advantage.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The first section reviews the recent success of AI in outperforming humans in cognitive intense activities such as Go, poker and other strategic games, which portends a shift in comparative advantage in human brain power work to machines. It notes the potential for a portfolio of specialized computer algorithms to compete with human general intelligence in work. The analysis contributes to the debate between economists dubious about claims that AI robotics will disrupt work and futurists who expect many jobs to be fully automated in coming years. It advances three \"laws of robo-economics\" to guide thinking about the new technologies and presents evidence that growing robot intensity has begun to impact the job market.\nFindings: The paper finds that the case for AI robotics substantially changing the world of work and the distribution of income is more compelling than the case that it will have similar impacts on wages and employment as past technological changes. It advances an ownership solution to spread the benefits of AI robot-driven automation widely.\nOriginality/value: To the extent that who owns the robots rules the world, it argues for a concerted social effort to widen the \"who\" in ownership from the few to the many. It reviews policies to expand employee ownership of their own firm and of the stream of revenue via profit-sharing and gain-sharing bonuses. But the paper notes that ensuring that growth of AI robotics benefits all through ownership will require expansion of workers' and citizens' stake in business broadly, through collective investment via pension funds, individual investment in mutual funds and development of sovereign wealth funds.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Quantity consumer goods pricing: has yesterday's surcharge become today's discount?
|
[
"Retailing",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Pricing strategy",
"Consumer goods"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Quantity surcharges exist when a store's per unit price for its larger package exceeds that for its smaller package. An ethical dimension comes to light, as most consumers expect a discount on purchases made in quantity. This dimension becomes especially apparent in light of the fact that Northwest Indiana has a number of poor communities including Gary and East Chicago. The residents of these cities are in need of quantity discounts, not quantity surcharges. A number of studies suggest that most of these consumers will be sorely disappointed, as, instead of enjoying a quantity discount, they are just as likely to absorb a quantity surcharge; yet, the packaging, pricing and display are such that they probably will not notice the difference (Agrawal et al., 1993; Nason et al., 1983; Binkley and Bejnarowicz, 2003).\nLiterature review: Over the past four and one-half decades, there have been several important studies addressing the phenomenon of quantity surcharging. Granger and Billson (1972) assessed consumer attitudes toward package size and price and found that when consumers were provided with explicit, price-per-unit tags, they avoided quantity surcharges and only switched to larger quantities if such a switch resulted in their realizing a significant quantity discount.\nThe need for replication studies: In recent years, more scholars in the fields of business and social psychology have been calling for an increase in the number of replication studies (Hunter, 2001; Yong, 2012; Hefner, 2014). Well-designed replication studies that repeat earlier studies using the same methods, different subjects and different investigators can bolster, ameliorate or even negate the theories, findings and results reported in the original study. Of course, in any replication study, several intervening variables must be accounted for including the passage of time, but replications still need to be undertaken to ascertain valid and reliable results.\nMethodology: The effort to replicate the methodology began with the selection of the same products, brands, package sizes and varieties of stores located in the same places within the same two Northwest Indiana counties: Lake and Porter. These stores included drug stores (e.g. CVS and Walgreens), office supply stores (e.g. Office Max, Staples), nurseries (e.g. Four Season Landscape Nursery), hardware stores (Ace Hardware), discounters (e.g. K-Mart) and grocery stores (e.g. Strack & Van Til, Meijer). One important difference was the data collection procedure. In the original study:\nHypotheses: In the new study, a concerted effort was made to ensure that the same, smaller quantity-sized item was compared with the same, larger-sized item. As mentioned previously, the exact same stores in the same locations as noted in the original study were revisited. Any questions regarding items, stores or locations were easily resolved, as the author of this study regularly sees one of the authors of the original study. Both authors work for the same university. If the exact quantity of a larger item had changed and was no longer available, the author found a similarly sized item then compared the per unit price of the larger-sized item to the per unit price of the smaller-sized item.\nData collection: In the updated study, no students were involved in any part of the data collection process or, for that matter, any other process such as data analysis, data testing and the interpretation of the results. Just as in the original study, the author recorded quantity surcharges, but if no surcharges were apparent, then this fact was documented.\nResults: The data collected are presented in Table I and is arranged in the order of the magnitude of the original surcharge.\nData interpretation: Note that the lower mean in the updated study reported at the top of Table II is reflective of the fact that quantity discounts have now emerged. The report of discounts as negative numbers lowers the overall mean value to 1.16, yet the standard deviations (SDs) of both the original data set and the updated data set show substantive data dispersion. The second comparison of means test at the bottom of Table II eliminates all discounts, as it only tests surcharges that were repeated in the updated study. Still, results are similar. The quantity discounting phenomenon has diminished and the dispersion of the data has decreased.\nLimitations and future research: This research has shown that for a 60-item diverse basket of consumer goods sold in a variety of retail outlets that was once being surcharged, both the number of items now being surcharged has decreased and the magnitude of the surcharge has diminished. In fact, some of the items are no longer being surcharged and some are actually being discounted. This is true in northwestern Indiana and is probably true in most of the rest of the country.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to extend by way of replication an earlier study, \"Blind man's bluff: The ethics of quantity surcharges\" (Gupta and Rominger, 1996) by testing several hypotheses regarding changes in the surcharging phenomenon that may have occurred over time.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The original study was constructed from data collected 20 years ago. This study went beyond a mere replication. A key difference between this study and the original study was in the method of data collection. In the earlier study, students were used to collect data. In this study, the author personally and carefully recorded the prices of the same 60 items that were noted in the original study. These new prices were then compared with the original ones. Several matched paired t-tests were administered to analyze the mean differences between the two sets of data.\nFindings: The tests showed a highly significant difference in today's pricing structure in comparison to the quantity surcharging phenomenon from the prior study. It was found that both the quantity of the items surcharged and the magnitude of the surcharges decreased in comparison to the surcharging reported in the original study.\nResearch limitations/implications: Reasons are given regarding what changed and why and suggestions are given for future research in the areas of private or in-store branding, the proliferation of \"big box\" stores and the changes in the frequency and magnitude of surcharging that may be occurring over time.\nOriginality/value: This study indicates that the quantity surcharging phenomenon has lessened. In fact, in mature markets which include big box discounters, the quantity surcharging phenomenon of 20 years ago may have given way to today's quantity discount.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Effects of promotional-based advertising on brand associations
|
[
"Advertising",
"Value",
"Price",
"Messaging",
"Brand equity",
"Durable",
"Promotional methods",
"Brand identity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Marketers today face growing pressure to meet sales projections while also building strong brands that will continue to reap future rewards that are the fruit of strong brand equity. Not only are current sales easy to measure, but marketers in many product categories have found sales promotions to be an extremely effective tool to quickly move product and meet sales objectives. While the measurement of brand equity, and subsequently its various components (brand awareness, loyalty, quality, and brand associations), has become increasingly more sophisticated over the past two decades, research on the ability of individual marketing activities to strengthen or weaken brand equity have been lacking (Barwise, 1993; Shocker et al., 1994; Yoo et al., 2000). While a multiple of marketing elements are likely to have an effect on brand equity, and will be discussed later in this paper, the sales promotion tool, and corresponding promotional materials, provides perhaps the most interesting area of inquiry due to the inverse relationship between its outcomes. The immediate impact on sales, and liquidation of product, is an easily observable positive outcome, yet the detrimental impact on brand equity often goes unseen or unnoticed. This issue is of great importance from several theoretical angles. Framing theory would suggest that price-based advertising would raise the importance of price in the consumer's decision-making process (Kalra and Goodstein, 1998), and perhaps make consumers more price sensitive. The attribution theory suggests that consumers would seek to make meaning of the sales message and may attribute a manufacturer's need to discount a product due to poor quality or other shortcomings.Unfortunately, the relationship between price and brand equity has become blurred. While several brand equity scholars have included a consumer's willingness to pay a premium for a brand (Lassar et al., 1995) as a key component of brand equity, new business models have evolved. Google and Facebook have unquestioned strength in terms of brand equity in every sense of the term, including brand awareness, loyalty, quality and brand associations, yet both of these brands provide a product/service to the consumer that has no monetary cost. Brands like Walmart and Amazon.com have built two of the most successful businesses in the world based on selling products for less not more, yet few are likely to argue that these brands lack strong brand equity. While the ability to deliver a premium price is an important element of consumer-based brand equity for typical manufacturers, brand associations are able to provide researchers with a more detailed view of how consumers actually view a brand.This exploratory study seeks to understand the role of promotional-based messaging in affecting brand associations towards a brand within a durable goods category. For the purpose of this paper promotional-based messaging is defined as marketing communications in which the main message is related to a limited time discount being available. While consumer price elasticity is related to brand equity, literature reveals several other factors that must be taken into consideration, but are often out of the control of the advertising manager, most notably behavior of competitors and retailers. Through an experimental design this study seeks to isolate promotional-based messaging and brand messaging to determine if promotional-based messaging is detrimental to the key dimensions of brand associations, including image, attitude and quality. Brand associations have great significance to marketers in brand positioning and differentiation, as well as creating positive attitudes and feelings toward brands (Low and Lamb, 2000).\nLiterature review: A comprehensive literature review by Kaul and Wittink (1995) identified 18 studies involving the impact of advertising on price sensitivity and prices. Of those studies identified, 14 used consumer non-durable goods (instant coffee, ground coffee, dog food, aluminum foil, frozen waffles, liquid bleach, bathroom tissue, ketchup, liquid cleaner, disposable diapers, cat litter, hair lacquer, and sparkling wine), and the remaining used personal services (legal services and airlines), or some combination thereof. Studies regarding consumer durable goods were conspicuously absent. It can be argued that brands play a lesser role in the purchase of low-involvement non-durable goods where consumer processing typically utilizes the peripheral route to persuasion and risk is likely lower. For this reason, price elasticity may be of greater importance in low-involvement categories whereas brand associations may be of more importance in high-involvement decision-making scenarios where risk increases and the brand plays a greater role in the decision.Since Kaul and Wittink's review, several studies have examined a variety of positioning strategies, including price and value messages, as well as, the introduction of brand equity as a dependent variable. In addition, studies have looked at durable good product categories for the first time. Kalra and Goodstein (1998) suggested that Kaul and Wittink's classification of advertising messaging as price and non-price was too narrow. Testing seven positioning conditions, including product attribute, comparative positioning, and value positioning, the authors found that different price positioning strategies had different effects on price sensitivity, and therefore brand equity. The authors also tested these positioning conditions in two studies utilizing high advertising processing conditions for washing machines and single lens reflex cameras. Consistent with framing theory, the authors found that \"the relative importance of price is significantly higher for subjects exposed to value positioning\" (Kalra and Goodstein, 1998, p. 214). This study, like many of its predecessors, used the absolute value (specific prices) that consumers were willing to pay for a product as the dependent variable. The authors concluded that value-oriented positioning could be detrimental to brand equity and may lead to lower quality ratings. Furthermore, Yoo et al.(2000) proposed a conceptual framework identifying the relationship between individual marketing elements (price, store image, distribution intensity, advertising spending and price deals) and the dimensions of brand equity. Their results suggested that frequent price promotions were detrimental to brand equity. These results were supported in a subsequent study by Villarejo-Ramos and Sanchez-Franco (2005) which examined consumers' perceptions regarding \"price deals\" relative to a durable goods purchase, utilizing the scale created by Yoo, et al. In both of these studies the authors relied on consumers' feedback regarding perceived marketing efforts, and thus neither was able to directly connect the detrimental influence of promotion-based messaging on brand equity through any specific stimulus.Conceptualization and operationalization of brand associations\nStudy: Method\nResults: To measure the success of the manipulation of the two involvement treatments, high and low, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed in which the four manipulation check scales were the dependent variables and the two factors (e.g. high vs low involvement) were the independent variables. Results showed involvement for the high involvement subjects was significantly higher than for the low involvement subjects (respective means of 5.06 and 4.56, F=4.49; p=0.037). Therefore, it can be concluded that our manipulation yielded the correct conditions for a test of the hypotheses.The hypotheses were tested by entering the dependent variable, brand association with three dimensions: brand attitude, perceived quality, and brand image, into a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with message involvement (high vs low) and message type (promotional messaging vs. non-price messaging) as the independent variables.As shown in Tables II and III, the result of the MANOVA revealed statistically significant difference based on message type across the three dimensions all together (Wilk's Lambda=0.88, F(3, 99)=4.37, p<0.05), suggesting brand association significantly differs depending on message type. While, 95 percent and 99 percent of observed variability of all combined dimensions of brand association are not explained by message involvement (Wilk's Lambda=0.95, F(3, 99)=1.87, p>0.05) and the interaction between message involvement and message type (Wilk's Lambda=0.99, F(3, 99)=0.34, p>0.05), respectively. This finding would indicate that the effects of messaging on brand associations, including brand attitude, perceived quality, and brand image, do not differ depending on the level of message involvement.The ANOVA results showed that message type has a statistically significant main effect on each of the brand association dimensions, suggesting brand attitude (F(1,101)=9.56, p<0.05), perceived quality (F(1,101)=13.19, p<0.05), and brand image (F(1,101)=9.23, p<0.05) differ depending on message type. It suggests that perceived quality with the highest F-value, 13.19, is the most influenced variable of promotion-based messaging, followed by brand attitude, 9.56, and brand image, 9.23.Concerning message type (promotional-based messaging vs. non-price messaging); Table IV demonstrates that means of brand association are less when subjects saw promotion-based messaging than value-based messaging across all three dimensions. That is, subjects exposed to promotional-based messaging are more likely to form less favorable attitudes (M=4.36, n=51) toward the tested brand than subjects exposed to value-based messaging (M=4.99, n=54); F(1, 101)=9.56, p<0.00. And, subjects exposed to promotion-based messaging are more likely to perceive the brand quality lower (M=4.00, n=51) than those exposed to value-based messaging (M=4.83, n=54); F(1, 101)=13.19, p<0.05. Also, brand image scores among subjects exposed to promotion-based messaging are lower (M=4.44, n=51) than those among subjects exposed to non-price messaging (M=5.22, n=54); F(1, 101)=9.23, p<0.05.\nSummary and general discussion: This study examined the effects of promotional-based messaging on brand associations, an indicator of consumer-based brand equity. These effects were tested under low and moderately high involvement conditions. The results support the first hypothesis that promotional-based messaging lowers brand association measures, specifically, the brand's image, attitudes toward the brand and a brand's quality perception. Of these three dimensions the brand's quality perception suffered the most with exposure to a promotional-based message compared to a non-price brand message. These findings were not surprising given the extensive research on the relationship between price and quality. While these findings are by no means conclusive as to the true impact of all promotional-based advertising across different product categories and luxury and non-luxury brands, these findings do call into question the negative effects of promotional-based advertising and messaging. While the short-term sales effects of sales promotions have been well documented, the long-term effect on key brand health measures has been less explored. It is our hope that this study will create greater interest in advertising messaging and budgeting of communication plans in order to better understand brand building.The findings from this study failed to support the second hypothesis, that involvement with the value messaging would affect brand association measures. While the results of the manipulation check indicated that there were significant differences in the levels of involvement, it is plausible that the artificial nature of the experiment likely led to a level of involvement higher than a consumer would experience when consuming advertisements in a standard printed media vehicle.Limitations of this study included the lack of breadth in product categories and the study's ability to fully replicate in-market shopping where price indicators may hold greater relevance to consumers. This study also failed to account for pre-existing familiarity issues with the brand, including category involvement and prior usage of brands.\nDirections for future research: Marketing scholars should look to develop longitudinal studies to explore how a corporation's long-term focus on promotional-based advertising affects brand equity and long-term sales within durable good categories. As discussed earlier, price sensitivity and other effects of price advertising have tended to focus on consumer non-durable goods where brand equity is presumed to hold less value due to the lower perceived risk among most non-durable categories. While we found a significant negative effect of pricing message on brand equity in the durable goods category, it would be meaningful to compare durable goods to non-durable goods in terms of effects on brand associations. In addition, the study should be replicated on a variety of different media types to examine whether consumers respond differently to value-based messaging across different media types. Different types of media may result in different psychological processes as different media may have different informational expectations (Swanson, 1987). For example, consumers searching for product information on the Internet may have a different attitude toward promotional-based messaging than those who are skimming through a lifestyle magazine.\nManagerial implications and applications: While corporations and marketers are increasingly pressured by Wall Street to meet sales and revenue expectations, a long-term orientation is required to understand the potential consequences of promotional-based messaging. While others have illustrated a framing effect which causes consumers to become more price sensitive in the face of value-oriented messages, this study concludes that these messages also have the potential to deteriorate brand associations, another key component in developing brand equity. Since strong brand equity is what allows many marketers to demand a premium price for their goods and maintain strong brand loyalty, the relationship between promotional-based messaging and brand associations is an important topic for further consideration. The long-term effects of promotional-based messaging are at this point still fairly inconclusive, but multiple studies show that these forms of communication do have the potential to denigrate brand equity, and thus erode margins, profits and loyalty.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate how value-based messaging affects brand associations within a durable goods category.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Brand associations are conceptualized in this paper as brand image, brand attitudes, and consumer quality perceptions. A 2x2 factorial design was employed with cognitive involvement (high/low) and advertising message (brand/value) as the experimental factors.\nFindings: - Results suggest that promotional-based messaging is detrimental to all three brand associations, with quality ratings witnessing the most significant declines. In addition, the current study observed no significant effects of involvement, as measured by attention to the message, on brand association measures for value-based messaging when compared with brand messaging.\nOriginality/value: - The current study suggests that promotional-messaging can be detrimental to brand association measures, compared with non-value-based brand messaging within a durable goods category. More research is needed to understand the long-term effects of different levels of usage of promotional-based messaging as part of the marketing mix.\n",
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Stressors and resources in customer service roles: Exploring the relationship between core self-evaluations and burnout
|
[
"Stress",
"Customer service management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Burnout, which is common in the service professions, manifests itself as a syndrome involving emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment (Maslach, 1982). Social interactions are dominant in customer service roles more than in any other work, because service providers spend most of their working time interacting with customers. While these interactions may be highly rewarding, several studies show that social stressors involved in the interaction with customers might generate high levels of stress and burnout among frontline employees involved in serving customers (hereafter \"service providers\"). Hence, an understanding of which variables or processes might play a role in reducing levels of stressful events and burnout among service providers is important.The present research explores five variables that, in separate studies, were found to affect or be associated with service provider burnout, but have not been studied together in an integrated way. While service provider burnout is considered a major problem, previous studies have explored mainly the effect of situational variables relating to service provider relationship with customers (Grandey et al., 2004), organizational demands for emotional regulation (Grandey et al., 2005) and role-related characteristics such as conflict and ambiguity (Singh, 1998). The present study elaborates this line of research by focusing on a basic personality construct, core self-evaluations (CSE), which was found to be negatively related to burnout in a general employee population (Best et al., 2005). Two variables that are likely to serve as moderators are also examined: customer orientation, which is demonstrated by an emphasis on the customer's needs (Donavan et al., 2004; Hennig-Thurau, 2004), and social support from supervisor and colleagues (Hobfoll and Vaux, 1993). These variables were expected to positively affect the quality of social interactions in service contexts and provide an antidote to, or a resource for, coping with the stressful aspects of service interactions.Since burnout is considered to be a response to chronic stress, attempts to understand what makes service providers more vulnerable to stress than employees in other roles must necessarily focus on stressors that are unique to the service context. Thus, we also focus on two stressors found to be related to burnout: perceived negative customer behaviors toward service providers (Ben-Zur and Yagil, 2005; Evers et al., 2002; Grandey et al., 2004; van Dierendonck and Mevissen, 2002; Winstanley and Whittington, 2002), and the organizational requirement that service providers regulate their emotions in the interaction with customers (Brotherridge and Grandey, 2002; Brotheridge and Lee, 2003; Grandey, 2003; Erickson and Wharton, 1997).Essentially, the study examines the joint effect of CSE and the two potential moderators of stress in service cited above - namely customer orientation and social support - on the two social stressors cited: perceived negative customer behaviors and emotional regulation. Additionally, the mediating effect of negative behaviors and emotional regulation on the relationship between CSE and service providers' burnout is explored. The CSE variable is presented below. Next, the two stressors, perceived negative customer behaviors and the need for service providers to perform emotional regulation-are reviewed. Lastly, possible resources - customer orientation and social support - are discussed leading to hypotheses about the relationships between these variables.Core self-evaluations\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: The data were analyzed by correlations and by hierarchical multiple regressions with burnout measures or stressors as dependent variables. The first step of the hierarchical regressions always included gender, age, and education to control for their effects on burnout. The tests of the mediation effects of stressors and the moderation effects of resources followed Baron and Kenny's (1986) guidelines. Table I presents means, standard deviations and correlations between the research variables.Table II presents the hierarchical regressions for the three measures of burnout-exhaustion, depersonalization and sense of accomplishment-with demographic variables entered on the first step, and stressors and resources entered on the second step to control for their effect on burnout. The first hypothesis was that CSE will be related to the burnout dimensions: positively to a sense of accomplishment, and negatively to depersonalization and emotional exhaustion. As can be seen in the table, CSE added significantly to the prediction of exhaustion and depersonalization, but not to the prediction of accomplishment. Thus, H1 is partially supported.The second hypothesis was that CSE will be negatively related to perceived negative customer behaviors. As can be seen in Table III, the hypothesis was supported (b=-0.14, p<0.05). Thus, the higher the service providers' CSE, the less they will tend to perceive and interpret customer behavior as being negative. The fourth hypothesis was that CSE will be negatively related to surface acting. The results in Table III support this hypothesis too (b=-0.13, p<0.05), indicating that the higher the service providers' CSE the less they will disguise emotions or will pretend to have emotions they do not really feel.The third hypothesis was that perceived negative customer behaviors will partially mediate the relationship of CSE with burnout dimensions and the fifth hypothesis was that surface acting will partially mediate the relationship of CSE with burnout dimensions. To examine the mediating effects of perceived negative customer behaviors and surface acting on the relationship of CSE with burnout, burnout dimensions were regressed on CSE and then on CSE and perceived negative customer behaviors/surface acting. The results are presented in Tables IV and V, respectively. Significant effects were found only for the mediating effects of surface acting on the relationship between CSE and emotional exhaustion and CSE and depersonalization. Specifically, the addition of CSE to the regression equation in the second step resulted in a significantly weaker relationship than in the first step of CSE with emotional exhaustion (Sobel test Z=-2.23, p<0.05) and depersonalization (Sobel test Z=-2.42, p<0.05). Thus, H3 was not supported. However, the results partially support H5, showing that part of the relationship of CSE with two of burnout dimensions (exhaustion and depersonalization) is due to surface acting.H6 was that the relationship between CSE and perceived negative customer behaviors will be stronger in the presence of high-customer orientation than low orientation. This hypothesis was tested by regressing perceived negative customer behaviors on CSE, customer orientation, and the interaction terms of CSE and customer orientation. The results, presented in Table VI, show that the interaction of CSE with customer orientation contributes significantly to the prediction of perceived negative customer behaviors. To explore the source of the interaction, customer orientation was divided to \"high\" (above the median) and \"low\" (below the median). Pearson correlations show that, as expected, the correlation between CSE and perceived negative behaviors is higher in the presence of a high level of customer orientation (r=-0.26, p<0.01) than a low level or orientation (r=0.00). The interaction results, shown in Figure 2, show that the lowest level of perceived negative customer behaviors is experienced in the presence of a combination of high CSE with high-customer orientation. Thus, service providers characterized by both high CSE and a strong customer orientation are the least likely to perceive customer behaviors as negative.The same procedure was repeated to examine H7, namely, that the negative relationship of CSE with surface acting will be stronger in the presence of a high level of social support. The results in Table VII show that the interaction term of CSE with support is significant. The correlation between CSE and surface acting was r=-0.33 (p<0.01) in the presence of a high level of support and r=0.08 under a low level of support. The interaction results, displayed in Figure 3, show that the lowest level of surface acting occurs when high CSE is combined with high-social support.In summary, CSE which is conceptualized in this study as a coping resource, is negatively related to the stressors of negative perception of customer behavior and surface acting, as well as to burnout. CSE was found to interact with additional resources that contribute to coping with the stress involved in service, namely customer orientation and social support, in its effect on stressors.\nDiscussion: Interaction with customers is an inherent part of customer service jobs. However, factors relating to this aspect of the job often constitute a major source of stress for service providers, leading to high rates of burnout in the service sector. The present study examined several coping resources that may assist service providers in coping with these inevitable interpersonal stressors and reduce burnout. Two variables, social support and customer orientation, were selected because they represent positive aspects of social interactions, thereby having the potential to provide an antidote to the stressful aspects of customer interaction. A third variable, CSE, is a general personality disposition that has been previously found to have a positive effect on various attitudes and behaviors at work, including the reduction of burnout in the general population.Previous studies on service provider burnout have mostly explored the situational variables considered to be either stressors (e.g. customer aggression, Grandey et al., 2004) or buffers of stress (e.g. empowerment, Ben-Zur and Yagil, 2005) On the other hand, most studies on service provider personality traits explored the traits included in the five-factors model (e.g. agreeableness) and their effect on service performance (Hurley, 1998). The results of the present study show that CSE, a fundamental personality predisposition, is relevant to the service role and should to be considered within the framework of burnout.Our results show that CSE can be considered a resource for coping with the stress involved in customer interactions, in as much as it has negative effects on service providers' emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, as well as on social stressors - namely perceived negative customer behaviors and service providers' surface acting. Furthermore, the study shows that CSE interacts with customer orientation and social support to affect these service-related stressors.The results, supporting these of Best et al. (2005), show that CSE is negatively related to emotional exhaustion. Conceivably, a strong sense of competence, worth and control, reflected in a high CSE, help prevent the negative symptoms of stress expressed in exhaustion (Cozzarelli, 1993; Rini et al., 1999). This result supports the notion that positive beliefs about the self, reflected in the CSE dimensions, affect the evaluation of external events (Judge et al., 1998b). Thus, CSE may buffer service provider burnout by affecting perceptions of stressful workplace events.Contrary to the expected, CSE was not found to be significantly related to a sense of accomplishment. Previous studies too, have found that personal accomplishment, unlike exhaustion and depersonalization, is differentially related to organizational outcomes such as satisfaction and commitment. Conceivably, sense of accomplishment might not constitute a symptom of burnout as do exhaustion and depersonalization (Halbesleben and Buckle, 2004).Another similarity between the present study and that of Best et al. is the finding that the relationship between CSE and burnout is direct. Best et al. found no mediating effect of perceived organizational constraints, while the present research shows only a small and partial mediation effect for surface acting. These results are curious as burnout is a reaction to stress, and the effect of CSE on burnout would therefore be expected to be at least partially mediated by stressors. A possible explanation for the lack of mediating effects is that the CSE-burnout relationship is mediated by other stressors not examined in the present study. For example, employees with high CSE are likely to cope better with stressors such as workload or role conflict, and consequently will experience less burnout.The negative relationship between CSE and perceived negative customer behavior suggests that service provider self-perceptions affect their perception of customer behavior. This result extends previous research on customer misbehavior which focused on service providers' reactions (Reynolds and Harris, 2006), and demonstrates the significance of individual differences at the stage of perceiving and interpreting customer behavior. This conclusion is further supported by the finding that a strong customer orientation, which also represents individual differences, affects the relationship of CSE with customer behavior.In addition to more positive perception of customer behavior, service providers with a high level of CSE and a strong customer orientation may actually experience less negative customer behaviors because customers may reciprocate the positive attitude and behavior of a service provider with a positive behavior toward him/her. Their positive attitudes result in customers actually behaving more positively toward them.Emotion regulation reflected in surface acting was found to partially mediate the relationship of CSE with burnout, supporting previous research on the relationship of emotional regulation with burnout (Morris and Feldman, 1997). Moreover, this results suggests that individual differences relating to self-perception might affect the way surface acting is interpreted: positive self-perception might lead to positive reinterpretation of surface acting (e.g. seeing it as a form of self-expression, taking pride in a high quality \"acting\" (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993), thereby reducing potential stress and burnout.Several other interesting relationships among stressors, resources and burnout dimension were also revealed by the results. First, surface acting was positively related to exhaustion and depersonalization. The relationship of perceived negative customer behaviors with these burnout dimensions was significant in the case of exhaustion and marginally significant in the case of depersonalization. These results support the notion that these variables generate stress in the service context (Brotheridge and Lee, 2003; Grandey et al., 2004).Secondly, in accord with models that view social support as having a direct effect on stress in addition to its buffering effect on stress (Hobfoll and Vaux, 1993), the study found social support to be negatively related to exhaustion and depersonalization and positively related to a sense of accomplishment. Possibly, these results indicate a spillover effect of social support received from the working environment to the relationship with customers. That is, the positive emotions generated by a pleasant working environment are transferred to the relationship with customers, reducing the need for emotional regulation and reducing stress.Thirdly, bearing out previous findings (Grandey et al., 2004), a positive relationship was found between surface acting and perceived negative customer behaviors. This relationship may result from the negative emotions generated by such perceptions, which service providers are not allowed to show. Thus, perceived negative customer behaviors force service providers to engage in surface acting to hide their negative emotional reactions (Grandey et al., 2004).Strengths, limitations and future research\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to explore the role of core self-evaluations (CSE) as a coping resource in customer service roles.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Questionnaires were administered to 265 service providers, measuring CSE, burnout, social stressors involved in interaction with customers (perceived customer negative behaviors and emotional regulation performed by service providers) and coping resources (service orientation and social support).\nFindings: - The results show that CSE is negatively related to service provider burnout as reflected in depersonalization and emotional exhaustion, and positively related to a sense of accomplishment. CSE was also negatively related to perceived customer negative behaviors and to emotional regulation. The results show a partial mediation effect of emotional regulation on the relationship between CSE and burnout. Service orientation and social support were found to interact with CSE and enhance its effect on social stressors.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The use of a non-randomized sample might bias the results.\nPractical implications: - The results can inform managerial practices designed to enhance service providers' resources of coping with role stressors.\nOriginality/value: - The study introduces a fundamental personality trait, CSE, to the area of service and shows its effect on burnout through its relationship with situational stressors and interaction with coping resources.\n",
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University selection in Finland: how the decision is made
|
[
"Universities",
"Finland",
"Students",
"Selection",
"Psychology"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The education system in Finland is quite different from those of central Europe. Finnish children begin a nine-year comprehensive education in the autumn of the year they turn seven. After that most youngsters enter either a vocational or an upper secondary school. The latter is usually chosen by those who wish to pursue academic professions. The upper secondary school usually takes three years to complete after which the youngsters apply to university. At this point, they are usually 18 or 19 years old, but it is quite common that one has to apply more than once to get a place in the desired department. All applicants are expected to read the set book or books for the entrance examination.Finland is, by law, a country with two official languages: Finnish and Swedish. The Swedish-speaking minority is not as large as it used to be, but it is nonetheless prominent in the academic circles in Finland. The only Swedish-speaking university in Finland isAbo Akademi University in Turku where it often collaborates with the Finnish-speaking University of Turku.Psychology is one of the most popular subjects in Finnish universities. Approximately, 10 per cent of those who have applied have been admitted in the recent years. The process of student-selection is very important in psychology as the graduating psychologists will operate in a field filled with responsibility and their incompetent conduct may damage their clients. In Finland, by law, the right to use the title of psychologist is only granted to persons who have the required degree in psychology and even then their conduct is supervised by the Mental Health Organization. Because of this, the entrance examination to psychology has been carefully designed and some departments have also included interviews in their selection-process. The aim is to find people who are highly motivated and well-suited for all the different fields where psychology is applied.The selection can also be viewed as an interactive relationship between the organization that is the university and the individual applicant, where organizational factors have their own effect on the applicant's decision making. Committing to an organization is an affective process and the individual's degree of involvement is enhanced if he feels that the organization is interested, supporting and appreciating (Eisenberger et al., 1990; Mathieu and Zajac, 1990; Meyer et al., 2003; Meyer and Herscovitch, 2001). Involvement with an organization differs between organizations in the public and the private sectors. Expectations toward the public sector are more comprehensive (Brown, 1996). On the whole interaction between the individual and the organization requires taking structural factors into consideration when planning recruitment (Settoon et al., 1996).Recruiting psychology students is no frivolous matter for the psychology departments. A highly motivated and skilled student will graduate for certain and thus contribute to the department's teaching and research. It is important to the departments that factors as realistic and as true as possible influence the applicants' choice of university. Decision making is a process that is guided by different beliefs and these beliefs are not necessarily true. An individual subjectively trusts his beliefs and searches his environment and the whole of different rational and emotional factors for evidence to support his choice (Elster, 1999).Psychology departments have an opportunity to influence the mental images and factors that lead the applicants to their decisions. Having knowledge of these factors and images that affect the decisions is important if the institution wishes to make sure that it has motivated and skilled students to educate.A youngster considering his future career is in a situation where he possibly has different kinds of dreams and expectations in regards to his future. At a certain stage, the dreams of becoming a psychologist lead to the point where the youngster must choose a university to apply to. At this time, many factors will affect the decision making. The experience the youngsters have their knowledge of the field of psychology, where they live or the knowledge of psychology of those close to them may become deciding factors. Knowing these influences may help to build a realistic base of information for youngsters making the choice of university.The form of the entrance examination has a clear connection to the amount of participants. For instance, changing the required examination books affects the amount of applicants (Hypen, 1994). Whether or not an interview is required may also have an effect. During last years, three of the six departments included an interview in their selection-process and the other three did not. A connection has been found between the results of the interviews and graduating as a psychologist: those who performed well in the interview graduated faster than those who did well in the written entrance examination (Hypen and Tiuraniemi, 1994).The factors describing specific information requirements related to university selection have been identified (Veloutsou et al., 2004). The location of the university, local infrastructure and local social life all strongly influence the selection process (Moogan et al., 1999; Veloutsou et al., 2004). The university's infrastructure, university's social life and campus also have an impact on the selection (Veloutsou et al., 2004). The future career prospects and opportunities following graduation are also important aspects of the selection process (Soutar and Turner, 2002; Veloutsou et al., 2004). The importance of focused student recruitment practice and the need for information and marketing strategies have been identified (Briggs and Wilson, 2007). Selecting university is a very important decision and academic, social, physical factors and facilities are important criteria for university selection (Yamamoto, 2006).Decision making is also based on different mental images. The choice between different alternatives is affected by, for example, prior knowledge of the alternative, attitudes towards it and whether or not the alternative seems pleasant (Boe, 2000). The actual process of deciding can also be examined as a process where willingness and beliefs are accompanied by values and an estimation of the commitment to the future (Silfvast, 1999). Those who participate in the entrance examinations have more beliefs than verified information.The purpose of the study was to find out which factors contribute to the decisions of the students when they choose their place of study between the psychology departments of the Universities of Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyvaskyla, Tampere, Turku and Abo Akademi.\nMaterial and methods used in the study: This study was carried out in collaboration with the Finnish Network University of Psychology, Psykonet. The network includes all Finnish psychology departments which mean those of Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyvaskyla, Tampere, Turku andAbo Akademi. All six psychology departments also took part in this study.Subjects\nMethods of research: The information was gathered using a questionnaire. The affecting factors are divided in four categories. In the first category are the factors that have influenced the youngster's career-orientation. These are studying psychology in upper secondary school and a possible acquaintance who either is a psychologist or is studying to become one. Taking part in a preparation course also speaks of orientation as does the duration of preparatory work. Entrance examination-related factors are usually about the books, are they familiar or interesting and whether or not a book on statistics has been set. A special factor may also be knowing whether or not the examination will include an aptitude test. As the third group are the factors related to the town. Is the university town familiar, is it the closest town available, what kind of an image does the youngster have of the town as a living environment, does he have friends there, what is the transportation situation like and what kind of an opportunity of moving to the town the youngster has. The fourth group is formed by factors related to the psychology department. What kind of reputation does the department have, where is the focus of the studies and how is the research orientated, what is the effect of the number of students admitted or which subjects are available as minors.The body of the questionnaire was based on interviews with psychology students to correspond to the thoughts the students had before choosing their town of study. In addition, the subject was discussed in a Psykonet-meeting's work-group. The formed questions were fitted on a two-sided sheet. This early version of the questionnaire was sent out to all six psychology departments for commentary. The final version of the questionnaire was based on the comments.Each questionnaire was titled according to where the examination was held. For example, the heading asked the question: \"Why to Joensuu?\". Aspiring psychology students were asked to think of things that had added to or reduced their willingness to study in this particular town. In attempt to emphasize choice of university, not the major subject as such, the name of the town was mentioned in several questions.Some of the questions were divided in two. The first question described the examinees and the next clarified the addressed issue's effect on one's willingness to apply. The follow-up questions were always the same in each part. For example:Is Tampere the nearest university town to your hometown?\nGathering the research information: The questionnaire was handed out in all psychology entrance examinations alongside with the examination papers. Those supervising the examination gave instructions and verbal motivation according to the written instructions they had received. They also conveyed the researchers' thanks to the respondents in advance. In Helsinki, the instructions were also given in writing. It was impressed upon the participants that the questionnaire was not a part of the entrance examination and thus would not affect their chances of being selected. They were asked to fill out the questionnaire anonymously and after the actual examination time. The questionnaire was handed in upon leaving the examination hall and there was a separate box for the questionnaires. Responding to the questions was estimated to take from 5 to 10 minutes.\nStatistical methods of analysis: The material has been processed with the SPSS-programme, Version 9. Significations of the connections between two variables were tested with the kh2 test. Most of the significations of the mean information were tested with varience analysis and the differences between groups with the Scheffe test.\nResults: Factors within study-orientation\nDiscussion: The major determinants for university choice for applicants in Finland were the special characteristics of the teaching and research in the psychology departments. These results support Soutar and Turner (2002). They suggested that the four most important determinants of university preference were course suitability, academic reputation, job prospects and teaching quality. Veloutsou et al. (2004) found that the most important information that the candidates seek is related to the university reputation, courses and campus. In Finland, the location of the university was also an important factor. Veloutsou et al. (2004) found that when selecting a university the area characteristics are not as important. The distances in Finland play more important role when selecting a university.If the applicants were familiar with the department's teaching and research they thought it added to their willingness to apply and, respectively, if the applicants had no information on the characteristics of the department it had no bearing on the decision making. Psychology departments have a clear opportunity to influence the applicants' decisions by making their teaching and research characteristics known to the applicants. In practice, that would be possible by collaborating more with upper secondary schools and open universities.The applicants were very clearly orientated to studying psychology. Almost everyone had studied psychology in upper secondary school and in addition many had done other psychology studies elsewhere. However, orientation had no impact on the applicant's choice of psychology department.The entrance examination had no significant impact on the applicant's final decision. An aptitude test seems to the applicants like a natural part of the selection process since the lack of one put off some applicants. Familiarity with the set books also had an effect. According to a study by Hypen (1994), changing the books caused a considerable decline in the amount of applicants.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to find out which factors contribute to the decisions of the students when they choose their place of study among the six psychology departments of the Universities in Finland.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study involved a survey questionnaire. Responses were received from 1,668 people.\nFindings: - It was found that the major determinants for university choice for applicants in Finland were the special characteristics of the teaching and research in the psychology departments. An aptitude test seems to the applicants like a natural part of the selection process since the lack of one put off some applicants.\nPractical implications: - Psychology departments have a clear opportunity to influence the applicants' decisions by making their teaching and research characteristics known to the applicants. In practice, that would be possible by collaborating more with upper secondary schools and open universities.\nOriginality/value: - The process of student selection is very important in psychology as the graduating psychologists will operate in a field filled with responsibility and their incompetent conduct may damage their clients.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Study and analysis of maintenance performance indicators (MPIs) for LKAB: A case study
|
[
"Maintenance",
"Performance measures",
"Productive capacity",
"Quality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Performance measurement is extensively used by business units and industries in order to assess progress against set goals and objectives in a quantifiable way for effectiveness and efficiency. Performance measurement provides the required information to the management for effective decision making. Performance cannot be managed with out measurement, as measurement can only indicate the present status of performance. Research results demonstrate that companies using integrated balanced performance systems perform better than those who do not manage measurements (Kennerly and Neely, 2003; Lingle and Schiemann, 1996).Each organization spends considerable resources and time for measuring the performance and to assess the success of the organization. Performance measurement literature emphasizes the importance of maintaining relevant measures that continue to reflect the issues of importance to the business (Lynch and Cross, 1991). However, most of the organizations pay little or no attention to integrating the performance measurement system with their organizational hierarchical levels and the different measurement criteria linked to the external and internal stakeholders as well as the operational process. In addition, not enough importance is given to the external and internal effectiveness to achieve total maintenance effectiveness for the organization.Considering all these aspects for measuring the maintenance performance, the concept used in the balanced, holistic and integrated multi-criteria hierarchical maintenance performance measurement (MPM) framework (Parida et al., 2005; Parida and Chattopadyay, 2006), was applied in this case study. This paper looks in to the complexities of MPM and indicators, while studying the large number of unplanned and shorter stops of the balling area of a pelletization plant in LKAB. The performance indicators were identified at the equipment and system/subsystem levels, linking the improvement in performance speed and quality besides availability. The outline of this paper is as follows. Section 1 provides an introduction to this paper; section 2 provides an overview of various performance indicators and measurement techniques; and section 3 provides the research approach, data collection and data analysis of the case study. In section 4, the results and analysis of the maintenance performance indicators (MPIs) are discussed, followed by the conclusions in section 5.\n2. MPI and MPM framework: MPIs are used for measurement of maintenance impact on the process performance (Wireman, 1998, Parida et al., 2003). MPIs need to be linked to down time, costs and wastes, capacity utilization, productivity, quality, health and safety (Parida and Kumar, 2004) to compare actual performance with a specific set of reference conditions (requirements) (EEA, 1999). Under challenges of increasingly technological changes, implementing an appropriate performance measurement system in an organization ensures that actions are aligned to strategies and objectives (Lynch and Cross, 1991). In fact, performance cannot be managed, if it cannot be measured.The development and implementation process for indicators has been studied by Andersen and Fagerhaug (2002) and Engelkemeyer and Voss (2000). The development and identification of MPIs for an organization is undertaken from the vision, objectives and strategy points of view and on the basis of the requirements of both the external and the internal stakeholders (Kumar and Ellingsen, 2000). The MPIs are required to be considered from the perspective of the multi-hierarchical levels of the organization. The first hierarchical level could correspond to the corporate or strategic level, the second to the tactical or managerial level, and the third to the functional/operational level. Depending on the organizational structure, the hierarchical levels could be more than three. However, only three hierarchical levels are adopted for our MPM framework. The maintenance indicators of the functional level are integrated and linked to the tactical or middle level to help the management for analysis and decision making at the strategic and tactical level. It is a challenge to integrate MPIs from a top-down and bottom-up flow of information. Another important challenge exists for the involvement of all employees in this MPIs development process, so that everyone speaks the same language. Subjectivity increases as we integrate the objective outcomes from the shop floor to get key performance indicators at higher level.The effectiveness of any performance measurement system is meant to meet the needs of the operations and maintenance processes. The critical strategic areas vary from company to company, but generally include areas such as financial or cost-related issues, health safety and environment-related issues, processes-related issues, maintenance task-related issues, and learning growth and innovation-related issues, while at the same time comprising the internal and external aspects of the company. It is important to link and integrate the overall objectives and strategy of the company. The linkage between visions, objectives and strategy and measures of performance such as return on investments (ROI) and health, safety and environment (HSE) indicators are considered in the proposed MPM framework, as discussed and given in this case study. A logical cause-and-effect structure has been created, while identifying and deciding the different performance indicators for each critical strategic area to measure the maintenance performance. The proposed MPM framework is designed to be balanced considering different criteria, holistic from the entire organizational point of view and integrated as a link-and-effect structure to achieve the total maintenance effectiveness both from external and internal effectiveness, which would contribute to the overall objective of the organization and its business units.\n3. Case study and methodology: In this case study, the MPIs were studied for one of the pelletization plant of LKAB, Sweden, a leading Swedish automated mining processing company, for its mineral processing plant, to link with the improvement in performance rate, availability and quality as MPIs, amongst others. During the autumn of 1999, LKAB restructured its organization as part of its improvement plan, to be a more process-oriented organization. The purpose of this improvement plan is to take advantage of the synergies that are available at that time and the company is ready to apply the experience and knowledge they have acquired for changing over to a more effective operational organization. The production and service are transferred to the production division, which is to act as the strategic driving force for quality and cost effectiveness. The goal of the improvement plan is to re-engineer the process for 20 percent more production before 2006. A preliminary study of these issues was performed during 2005 at one of the pelletization plants of LKAB. Personnel from process, production, automation and maintenance departments are interviewed and interacted with, besides visiting the plant for maintenance process mapping. During detailed discussions and study of the problem areas for the year 2004, it was noticed that a large number of shorter and unplanned stops occurred in the balling area of the pelletization plant. A majority of these stops were due to faulty speed control and other issues of the conveyer belt. It was also felt that the failure cause and effect analysis of the shorter stops needed to study the failure pattern, cost, risk and capacity utilization. The analysis further suggested for undertaking appropriate maintenance approaches depending on the failure pattern and consequences, prioritizing the faults and maintenance works. It is also noticed that conveyer belts within each balling drum area had not been defined as the prioritized or critical ones, and therefore full and complete inspection of these conveyer belt was not carried out. The purpose of this case study is to identify and develop MPIs for LKAB, while studying and analyzing the short plant stops and planned maintenance stops. Also, the existing MPIs are analyzed and a set of MPIs like; ROI reflected through higher availability, production rate (speed), product yield (quality) and maintenance cost per ton, are considered to measure the performance of balling area of the pelletization plant, where the effect of shorter stops in the process are studied, analyzed and measured, and linked to the management's objectives.This study was limited to the conveyor belts of balling area of the pelletization plant. Action research approach was adopted for this study, including interactive process of interview and detailed discussion. The methodologies adopted were as follows:* The plant was visited and interviews were conducted with help of interview guide to understand the operation and maintenance process in detail, and to carryout a process mapping, integrating the process, production, maintenance and automation activities.* The total maintenance effectiveness of the process was studied both from internal and external stakeholders' point of view to understand the requirement and identify the MPIs.* The MPIs were studied both from multi-criteria and hierarchical levels based on the multi-criteria and hierarchical MPM framework (Parida et al. 2005).* The plant stop data of the balling area were collected and analyzed for MPIs like the availability, production rate, maintenance cost per ton and quality amongst others, as well as for maintenance decision making.* Some other criteria, although not directly related to maintenance performance, were also considered from holistic, integrated and balanced viewpoint in the framework.3.1. Maintenance process mapping\n4. Data collection and analysis of the shorter stops for MPIs: Maintenance-related data are collected through the maintenance reporting system at the plant. In reporting, the important activities are: when the work order is initiated (time); when the work order is finished (time); which system is maintaining the information (data); what is cost of maintenance; and spare parts cost. Two different information systems are in use for recording data of maintenance activities:1. the maintenance system; and2. the failure report system (operation system).However, compatibility needs to be improved between these two systems. For example, while the maintenance system provides information of work order initiation, the finished time is indicated by the failure reporting system only. A system of weekly meetings and improvement groups meetings are in practice to discuss various maintenance/operational issues and take on the spot decisions.4.1. Number of failures and stop time for conveyor belts\n5. Development of MPIs and multi-criterion hierarchical MPM framework: The internal and external aspects, which act as parts of a back-end or front-end processes, need to be analyzed before deciding the relevant criteria at various levels for the maintenance performance measurement. The front-end process is derived from the needs of the external stakeholders, e.g. the shareholders or owners, financers, customers, suppliers and regulating authorities. Therefore, the front-end process needs could include higher productivity, HSE ratings, timely delivery and quality. The back-end process, which is derived from internal aspects like the capacity and capability of the organization, comprises the departments, employee requirements, organizational climate, and skill enhancement. The back-end processes are: cost reduction, employee retention and innovation. The MPIs at functional and tactical levels become aggregated at the strategic level. A balanced, holistic and integrated multi-criteria hierarchical framework linking MPIs is proposed in this model and given in Figure 5. The three hierarchical levels are the strategic/senior manager/plant, tactical/middle manager and functional/operators levels. The multi-criteria, which are considered and included in this MPM framework, are:1. equipment-related indicators;2. cost/finance-related indicators;3. maintenance task-related indicators;4. customer satisfaction-related indicators;5. learning and growth-related indicators;6. HSE; and7. employee satisfaction-related indicators.The new set of MPIs developed under these seven criteria was critically checked both qualitatively and quantitatively for the balling area of KK3 Plant of LKAB. The MPIs are:* downtime (hours);* change over time;* planned maintenance tasks;* unplanned tasks;* number of new ideas generated;* skill and improvement training;* quality returned;* employee complaints; and* maintenance cost per ton.The existing and new set of MPIs under seven criteria of the multi-criteria MPM framework for balling area of KK3 Plant of LKAB is given in Figure 5. Some of the corresponding values for the indicators using the real data are given for the year 2006 in this figure.\n6. Conclusion: An attempt has been made in this case study to study the existing system, identify the relevant maintenance indicators and adapt a balanced, holistic and integrated MPM model for the balling area of KK3 plant of LKAB and to align the plant performance with the corporate strategy. The short plant stops and planned maintenance stops data have been analyzed and relevant maintenance indicators were identified for effective monitoring and control of maintenance, during the conduct of this study.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this case study is to identify and develop maintenance performance indicators (MPIs) for a mineral processing plant producing high quality iron ore pellets, as well as studying and analyzing the short plant stops and planned maintenance stops.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An action research approach was adopted for this study, with interactive process of interviews. The existing MPIs are analyzed and a set of MPIs are developed to measure the performance of balling area of the pelletization plant, where the effect of shorter stops in the process have been studied, analyzed and measured, and linked to the management's objectives. The utility of the MPIs are tested and validated within the framework of a multi-criterion and hierarchical maintenance performance measurement (MPM) framework. The plant stop data of the plant were collected and analyzed for MPIs and for maintenance decision making. Some other criteria were also considered from a holistic, integrated and balanced viewpoint in the model.\nFindings: - This study resulted in identifying a set of MPIs for the operational level of the pelletization plant of LKAB, after analyzing the short plant stops and planned maintenance stops data, and the stakeholders' requirements. This study has identified nine MPIs at operational level or shop floor level that describe the status of plant and at the same time facilitates linking of plant performance with corporate strategy.\nPractical implications: - The approach used in the paper to study, analyze and develop MPIs, can be useful for plant managers and asset owners to select and develop MPIs that can describe the health status of their plant and asset and that also can be linked to the corporate strategy. The framework used to verify the multi-criteria hierarchical framework can also be used by similar asset managers and infrastructure owners. This study has also lifted the impact of short duration stoppages, thus highlighting the total influence in terms of reduced life length, quality and productivity. This approach can be used by plant engineers, asset managers and infrastructure owners to assess the performance of maintenance process.\nOriginality/value: - This paper presents an approach for identifying MPIs relevant to the plant status and facilitating measuring maintenance performance at corporate level in a structured way.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Metasystem pathologies (M-Path) method: phases and procedures
|
[
"Pathology",
"Systems theory",
"M-Path",
"Metasystem pathology",
"Problem formulation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The operating landscape for modern society has been described as distressed and characterized by gross depletion of the resource base, mismanagement, and rapid loss of resources due to environmental fluctuations (Martin, 2006; Tainter, 1988). Arguably, this characterization is merely a manifestation of ambiguity, complexity, emergency, interdependencies, and the uncertainties inherent in modern times (Katina et al., 2014; Keating et al., 2014). These are the operating conditions within which current organizations must operate and thrive as viable and sustainable systems. It certainly appears that Ackoff's (1974) notion of \"messes\" (i.e. interrelated sets of problems that are not well formulated, understood, or easily resolved) and Rittel and Webber's (1973) \"wicked problems\" (i.e. problems that are intractable with current levels of thinking, decision, action, and interpretation) is still intact.\n2. Prevalence of pathologies: Etymologically, the term pathology is derived from two ancient Greek terms: pathos (i.e. suffering, experiencing, and emotions) and logia (i.e. the study of) (Merriam-Webster, 2006). Also the term was originally applied in relation to the medical field, focusing on causes of suffering and death (Long, 1965). However, recent research indicates that the term has gained wide usage in a variety of settings in domains beyond the field of medicine (Katina, 2015a). Major studies of pathologies, beyond the field of medicine, are summarized in this section.\n3. M-Path method: This section introduces a method with repeatable procedures to support identification of pathologies in a system (organization). This method extends previous research related to problem formulation (Katina and Keating, 2014; Katina, 2015a, b, 2016). For this examination, a specific set of pathologies is provided for illustrative purposes. The set of pathologies is drawn from the earlier work of Keating and Katina (2012) and supplemented by recent research into the emerging field of complex system governance (CSG) (Calida, 2013; Keating et al., 2014, 2015). CSG is an emerging field, representing an approach to improve performance through purposeful \"Design, execution, and evolution of the metasystem functions necessary to provide control, communication, coordination, and integration of a complex system\" (Keating et al., 2014, p. 274). CSG was developed at the National Centers for System of Systems Engineering and is anchored in the fields of systems theory and management cybernetics. The CSG reference model was developed to provide a detailed account of \"an organizing construct for the interrelated [nine metasystem] functions necessary to perform CSG\" (Keating and Bradley, 2015, p. 41). Table II elaborates on the nine interrelated metasystem functions essential to CSG and acting to enable system viability. These functions provide a \"backdrop\" against which the pathologies are derived (Katina and Keating, 2016). Following the development of the CSG formulation, subsequent research (Keating and Katina, 2016) has resulted in development of a three-stage methodology (i.e. initialization, readiness level assessment, and governance development) for implementation to provide structured identification, assessment, and development of CSG. This development methodology relies on effective formulation of the problem domain at the \"front end\" of the effort. As part of this formulation, the identification, assessment, and strategizing with respect to pathologies is fundamental.\n4. Conclusions and proposed future research: Despite conditions ambiguity, complexity, emergence, interdependence, and uncertainty, organizations must continue to provide goods and services. Subsequently, there is no shortage of system-based methodologies, methods, technologies, and tools that embrace these conditions. These approaches form efforts that attempt to enable holistic understanding of organizations as systems and serve bring about meaningful changes. Recent research also indicates a need for better understanding of deep systemic issues in the form of pathologies that can hinder expected system performance. Irrespective of system-based methodology, there is a need to understand the existence and impact of pathologies in the formative stages of any systemic endeavor. In this paper, a systematic method for identifying and assessing pathologies was developed. The hallmarks of the developed method include a presentation of pathologies grounded in management cybernetics which articulates functions that must be performed by all complex systems in order to remain viable, and systems theory which provides the set of principles for which violation produces pathologies as aberrations from healthy functions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a systematic method for practitioners (owners, operators, designers, and performers) to identify pathologies (aberrations from healthy system function) in complex systems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A range of published works, which aim to provide practical and theoretical underpinnings on pathologies, were critiqued with respect to method development. A systematic method with five phases was then developed to help identify and assess existence of pathologies as conditions that negatively impact system performance.\nFindings: There is a range of pathological conditions and factors that affect organizational (system) performance. However, there is a lack of supporting methods that can guide practitioners in identification of pathologies that exist in systems under their purview.\nResearch limitations/implications: The developed method is based on functional aspects of system viability as established in management cybernetics. Management cybernetics articulates functions that must be performed for continued viability of complex organizations. Therefore, the developed method supports practitioners in their responsibilities to effectively identify pathologies and develop corresponding remedies.\nPractical implications: The proposed approach articulates a repeatable approach by which an analyst can interact with a system of interest in order to identify, assess existence of, and prioritize pathologies. This research introduces an opportunity to develop sets of feasible and purposeful responses to pathologies.\nOriginality/value: This paper fulfills an identified need to provide practitioners with an advanced systems thinking-based approach to identify deep systemic issues (pathologies) as an essential step in improving performance of an organization (system).\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Altmetrics for the humanities: Comparing Goodreads reader ratings with citations to history books
|
[
"History",
"Books",
"Altmetrics",
"Scholarly communication",
"Citation analysis",
"Reader recommendation systems"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The objective of this study is to assess the value of Goodreads as an altmetric data source. Goodreads is one of \"the world's largest sites for readers and book recommendations\", and in March of 2015, the Goodreads page indicated a membership of 30 million people, 900 million books, and 34 million reviews (Goodreads, 2015).\n2. The rise of \"altmetrics\" and public value of historical research: 2.1. Research on altmetrics\n3. Research framework: To evaluate the impact of history books, we follow Donovan's (2008) three-phased approach. With this approach, the term technometric is confined to \"science, technology, engineering and medicine\" and \"relates to investment from industry, commercialization, and technology transfer\" (Donovan, 2008, p. 2). For a field or subject in the humanities we suggest that it is more appropriate to use the term acadometric.\n4. Research methods: 4.1. Bibliographic data collection\n5. Data analysis and results: 5.1. Scholarly books rated on goodreads\n6. Discussion: 6.1. Main findings\n7. Conclusion: Goodreads needs to be examined further with respect to other academic subject areas; however, the field of history has been a convincing starting point for investigating how scholarly books are received and evaluated beyond academia. For academics, Goodreads possesses its greatest potential as an altmetric research tool if a book that has been received well within the academic community as scholarly, accurate, and thought provoking piece of work can also attract substantial public interest. There are many forms of social impact, but as this study shows, Goodreads could make a strong contribution to a complementary approach to metric evaluations, particularly with the use of citations and reader ratings together. As such, the Goodreads book rating and reviewing system definitely belongs to the realm of altmetrics, where research is now continuing with an ever-expanding inventory of social media platforms.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the value of Goodreads reader ratings for measuring the wider impact of scholarly books published in the field of History.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Book titles were extracted from the reference lists of articles that appeared in 604 history journals indexed in Scopus (2007-2011). The titles were cleaned and matched with WorldCat.org (for publisher information) as well as Goodreads (for reader ratings) using an API. A set of 8,538 books was first filtered based on Dewey Decimal Classification class 900 \"History and Geography\", then a subset of 997 books with the highest citations and reader ratings (i.e. top 25 per cent) was analysed separately based on additional characteristics.\nFindings: A weak correlation (0.212) was found between citation counts and reader rating counts for the full data set (n=8,538). An additional correlation for the subset of 997 books indicated a similar weak correlation (0.190). Further correlations between citations, reader ratings, written reviews, and library holdings indicate that a reader rating on Goodreads was more likely to be given to a book held in an international library, including both public and academic libraries.\nOriginality/value: Research on altmetrics has focused almost exclusively on scientific journal articles appearing on social media services (e.g. Twitter, Facebook). In this paper we show the potential of Goodreads reader ratings to identify the impact of books beyond academia. As a unique altmetric data source, Goodreads can allow scholarly authors from the social sciences and humanities to measure the wider impact of their books.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Achieving manufacturing flexibility through entrepreneurial orientation
|
[
"Manufacturing industries",
"Flexibility",
"Entrepreneurialism",
"Innovation",
"Risk assessment",
"Competitive strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's dynamic environment of global competition, rapid technological innovations, short product life cycles, and demanding product customization, manufacturing firms face a high level of uncertainty caused by ongoing change. Previous research has suggested development of manufacturing flexibility as a strategy to deal with the more dynamic and competitive market (Anand and Ward, 2004; De Toni and Tonchia, 1998; Verdu-Jover et al., 2006). Many believe that high-manufacturing flexibility could enable a faster and more cost-efficient response to rapid market changes. Flexibility has become an effective weapon for gaining competitive advantage in an uncertain manufacturing environment (Gerwin, 1993; Narasimhan et al., 2004; Scala et al., 2006). Meanwhile, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has been promoted as necessary to improve a firm's competitiveness and performance. In practice, EO includes a wide range of processes or activities characterized by a tendency to act autonomously, a propensity to innovate and take risks, and a predisposition to be aggressive toward competitors, as well as proactive with regard to marketplace opportunities, to aim at new venture creation (Lumpkin and Dess, 2001).Schumpeter (1970) was the first to indicate that the characteristics of entrepreneurship can be an important source of developing manufacturing flexibility, and other scholars have subsequently confirmed his claim (Hussey, 1997; Burgelman, 1991; Miller, 1983; Covin and Slevin, 1989; Zahra, 1993). In general, it is believed that an entrepreneurial firm's strategic posture to be first-mover and capitalize on emerging opportunities ahead of their competitors facilitates its development of manufacturing flexibility (Barringer and Bluedorn, 1999). In order to take advantage of emerging opportunities, these firms monitor market changes and develop more flexible manufacturing systems that allow a faster response (Li et al., 2005). In other words, when faced with a fiercely dynamic and changing environment, such EO practices help to develop manufacturing flexibility necessary to respond promptly. Specifically, it has been argued by several scholars that a more innovative, risk-taking posture, which is also proactive in regard to marketplace opportunities and aggressive towards competitors, is more likely to promote manufacturing flexibility (Covin, 1991; Covin and Slevin, 1991).Although many previous studies addressed the importance of EO practices in manufacturing flexibility improvement, the supposed link between the types of EO activities and manufacturing flexibility has never been empirically demonstrated in the field of strategic management. The purpose of this study is to investigate how different EO practices (autonomy, innovativeness, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness, and risk taking) link with specific types of flexibility (new product, volume, and product mix).The contents of this paper comprise a brief overview of the literature concerned with defining manufacturing flexibility and EO, ways of measuring them, and the theoretical relationship between them; a description of research design including the basic model, hypothesis, and statistical methods; and finally, statistical results and their implications for management.\nLiterature review: Manufacturing flexibility\nBasic research model and hypotheses: We selected the Taiwan motherboard industry to study the relationship between manufacturing flexibility and EO for two reasons: the significance of manufacturing flexibility and historically intense level of EO. First and foremost, Taiwan is the largest motherboard producer in the world, accounting for approximately 80 percent of the global market. The majority of motherboard manufacturers in Taiwan are original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and their clients are mostly large multinational PC firms such as HP, IBM, NEC, Sony, Gateway, and Dell. Similar to OEMs in other high-tech industries, motherboard manufacturers are known for being flexible in adjusting their strategies and operations to meet constantly changing customer demands. Next, many motherboard manufacturers have traditionally assumed a strong EO posture to facilitate product design and production planning activities. That means that a firm takes risks through capital investment in plant and equipment, acts proactively by entering markets early in the product life cycle, and displays intense competitive aggressiveness through strategies intended to secure a strong global market position.Three types of external manufacturing flexibility are considered most critical to a motherboard firm's competitive advantage: new product flexibility, product mix flexibility and volume flexibility. In the motherboard industry, new product flexibility refers to the ability to develop new motherboards based on various newly introduced CPUs. For instance, when Intel introduced six new CPUs, including Intel 875P, 856E, 865G, 856P, 865PE, and 875PE, motherboard manufacturers with high levels of new product flexibility were able to design and manufacture new motherboards based on all six CPUs, whereas those with lower new product flexibility were capable of developing and producing only half that number. The life cycle of a new motherboard product is typically very short, ranging from three to six months. As soon as the new products become outdated, companies must actively renovate the original design to meet the needs of low-end PC users (e.g. students, small businesses, and video games).The capability of producing a large number of revised motherboards reflects product-mix flexibility. Historically, demand in the motherboard industry has been characterized by a high level of uncertainty. Moreover, due to the short life cycle of the motherboard products, downstream buyers (e.g. PC and notebook manufacturers) tend to take a \"wait-and-see\" attitude and place orders in large quantities at the last minute, requesting fast delivery. The demand level differentiation between peak and low seasons can be as much as 60 percent of the average production level. Consequently, volume flexibility is necessary to adjust production levels to satisfy customer need in the motherboard industry.Figure 1 shows the research hypotheses relating to the relationship between EO and manufacturing flexibility. In the rest of this section, we summarize the theoretical relationship for each specific linkage, based on the observation data from motherboard industry as well as the relevant literature.Autonomy and manufacturing flexibility\nResearch design methodology: Survey\nStatistical results: Results of factor analysis\nLimitations and future research directions: The present study necessarily contains some limitations, which, however, open interesting avenues for future research. In this study, we examined how entrepreneurial activities could improve external flexibility (i.e. new product, product mix, and volume flexibility), rather than internal flexibility. Future research can examine the alignment between entrepreneurial activities and internal flexibility such as machine, material handling, and routing flexibility for a complete understanding of how plant managers use EO to enhance manufacturing flexibility.The data used in this study were collected only from one specific type of industry - the motherboard industry in Taiwan. It is not known how the selection of industries and geographical areas could affect this study's findings. Since, the natures of product life cycle and industry structure are different from industry to industry and from country to country, future studies should investigate the applicability of our findings to other industries and other geographic areas.\nConclusions and practical implications: This research explores how the five dimensions of entrepreneurial activity are aligned with three types of manufacturing flexibility: product mix, new product, and volume flexibility. We have provided evidence that entrepreneurial activities can enhance manufacturing flexibility as a strategy for coping with environmental uncertainty. More specifically, innovativeness, proactiveness, autonomy, competitive aggressiveness, and risk-taking can stimulate a firm's capability to develop new products, offer different product options, and adjust production levels as needed.This is the first empirical study to investigate the effects of EO on manufacturing flexibility rather than on business performance, which most of the previous research on EO has emphasized. Our results complement Zahra (1993), as well as Wiklund and Shepherd (2005), and confirm that EO can help explain the managerial processes that provide some firms with an ability to utilize their manufacturing flexibility to cope with environmental turbulence. In the field of strategic management, Upton (1994) estimates that 40 percent of flexibility improvement efforts are unsuccessful, and concludes that one of the major causes of poor performance is inability to identify \"which factors most affected it (flexibility)\" (p. 77). An important finding of our study is that manufacturing flexibility development should be integrated with an entrepreneurial posture. In other words, manufacturing flexibility cannot be achieved by simply installing a computer-aided system. Instead, manufacturing flexibility needs to be planned, managed, and integrated with a firm's entrepreneurial activities.The findings of this study provide several practical implications for plant managers. First, it is clear from the results that an autonomous posture is a significant driver of new product and product mix flexibility. These results are consistent with similar findings reported by Muthusamy et al. (2005) and Clark and Fujimoto (1991). One important point that transpired from our research is that to introduce a new product faster and to offer a greater variety of products, firms must increase the autonomy of their cross-functional teams to encourage generating new ideas and solutions.Our field observations confirm the above theoretically drawn conclusion. There is already a tradition of cross-functional team cooperation within the motherboard industry in Taiwan. Historically, motherboard manufacturers have been using various R&D project committees to integrate design, manufacturing, and other functions such as design for manufacturability (DFM), design for assembly (DFA), and design for testability (DFT). Through such autonomous committees, these firms efficiently reduce the number of parts, and simplify the assembly and testing process, thus effectively accelerating the development process of new products and product modification. Two of the motherboard factories we visited estimate that they even benefit from the implementation of autonomous teams (etc. DFA and DFM) to reduce the number of parts by 1.8 percent, leading to a shorter cycle time for new motherboard design. We suggest that firms implement various R&D project committees and delegate to them a high degree of autonomy, which is advantageous to leveraging new product and product mix flexibility.Our study reveals that motherboard firms with a strong tendency to innovate may facilitate their capability to accelerate the development of new products, increase product variety, and adjust production volume fast, which is consistent with Lumpkin and Dess (1996). This finding suggests that an innovative posture can stimulate the development of new and modified products, as well as dramatically increase the speed of delivery, thus differentiating an organization from others on the market. The implication of this finding is that entrepreneurially-minded firms should establish an innovative atmosphere within the whole organization to encourage employees to experiment with novel ideas in order to develop new products, modify current products, as well as improve technological processes. In addition, our analysis reveals that a strong propensity for risk-taking in technology adoption is a significant driver of new product flexibility. This finding strongly suggests that managers can deploy untested technology ahead of competitors to accelerate introduction of a new product.The results of the study also prove that both new product and volume flexibility are significantly enhanced by the degree of proactiveness. Recall that proactiveness refers to a firm's propensity of anticipating and acting on future need by seeking new opportunities (Lumpkin and Dess, 1996). Proactiveness is crucial to successful management because it entails a forward-looking perspective which can create a first mover advantage vis-a-vis competitors (Zahra and Covin, 1995). According to Katayama (1989), the first mover usually faces more demand uncertainties and must therefore be able to introduce the new product into the market and adjust production volume as needed. Another implication of our study for managers is the need to develop a system of close monitoring and scanning of the environment for identifying customer needs, industry trends, and emerging opportunities. Such a system would stimulate a firm to enhance its new product and volume flexibility in order to seize new opportunities and gain first mover advantages.Furthermore, the results of this study confirm that competitive aggressiveness is an effective strategy for firms to enhance product mix and volume flexibility. Firms with an aggressive orientation are better able to provide various options for different markets and adjust the level of production according to client requirements, which allows them to maintain a highly competitive position.Based on the above results, it appears that proactiveness and competitive aggressiveness are differently related to new product and product mix flexibility. For example, a firm that practices proactivness could enhance new product flexibility, but not product mix flexibility. By contrast, a firm with a competitively aggressive attitude could significantly increase product mix flexibility rather than new product flexibility. This corroborates Venkatraman's (1989) view that a strong proactive tendency increases a firm's ability to introduce new products and thus pre-empt the new market. It also substantiates Chang's et al. (2003) claim that a strongly competitive-aggressive stance gives a firm an ability to vary the mix of products, allowing it to secure and sustain its market position. In summary, managers seeking attractive market opportunities are advised to use proactiveness as a strategy to develop new product flexibility. Once a new market niche has been established, competitive aggressiveness strategy should be used to enhance product mix flexibility; so that the market is protected.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) purportedly enhances a firm's competitive edge, but its alignment with specific dimensions of manufacturing flexibility has not been convincingly documented. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of several identifiable aspects of EO on particular types of manufacturing flexibility.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using the data collected from 115 motherboard manufacturers, the study employs multiple regression analysis to examine the effects of entrepreneurial practices on manufacturing flexibility.\nFindings: - The statistical results lead to the following conclusions: autonomy, innovativeness, risk-taking and proactiveness have significant positive effects on new product flexibility; autonomy, innovativeness, and competitive aggressiveness improve product mix flexibility; innovativeness, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness determine volume flexibility.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research focuses exclusively on external manufacturing flexibility, ignoring, for the time being, internal manufacturing flexibility factors.\nPractical implications: - The outcomes of the present study reveal that manufacturing flexibility cannot be achieved by simply installing a computer-aided system; rather, it needs to be planned, managed, and integrated with a firm's entrepreneurial endeavors.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first empirical study to investigate the effects of EO on manufacturing flexibility rather than on business performance, which most of the previous research on this topic has emphasized. In terms of practical applicability, the findings provide plant managers with valuable guidelines for improving manufacturing flexibility by undertaking appropriate entrepreneurial action.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
German temporary agency workers' SWB: the impact of POS provided by agencies
|
[
"Subjective well-being",
"Perceived organizational support",
"Temporary agency work"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: While organizations benefit from employing temporary workers through increased workforce flexibility (Jahn et al., 2012), temporary workers experience the precarious consequences of these flexible work arrangements. Besides lower compensation and limited access to further training opportunities (Mitlacher, 2008), increased job insecurity and an inadequate use of skills (Kompier et al., 2009) have also been shown to negatively influence the well-being of temporary workers. Short assignment durations at different user companies resulting in frequently changing work environments (Cappelli and Keller, 2013) lead not only to a lack of social support by supervisors and coworkers (Crozier and Davidson, 2009) but also to reduced social integration into user companies' workforces and society (Gundert and Hohendanner, 2014; Viitala and Kantola, 2016) which in turn might be thought likely to negatively affect the well-being of temporary workers.\nTemporary agency work in Germany: The triangular employment relationship of TAWs in Germany results in specifics that influence TAWs' perceptions of organizations and well-being. Since TAWs in Germany are employed with the agency as their sole legal employer but placed with different user companies, they are affected by conditions and measures taken by both. User companies direct and control TAWs' work process and outcomes. Agencies in Germany that - in contrast to some other European countries - are able to employ TAWs on permanent contracts (OECD, 2014; Voss et al., 2013) are responsible, as service providers, for matching processes, negotiations with user companies, compensation and all administrative processes (Cappelli and Keller, 2013).\nThe mediating role of POS: According to OST, a person's POS depends on the extent to which an employee believes that their current employer values their contributions and cares about their well-being (Eisenberger et al., 1986). In general, POS is mainly determined by fairness and supervisor support as well as by organizational rewards and job conditions (Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002). The effects of these factors on individuals' POS vary, however, with fair treatment exerting the strongest influence on POS and rewards and job conditions the weakest (Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002). Moreover, it must be considered that only favorable treatment that is voluntarily realized by organizations and that is in the sphere of organizational influence can affect POS. Beneficial organizational behaviors due to external regulations, like changing legal requirements, can be predicted not to impact on POS at all (Eisenberger et al., 2004).\nThe mediating effect of POS between employment-specific antecedents and SWB: While OST is useful for classifying antecedents, a simple transferability of this general theoretical approach to the specific context of temporary agency work is limited (Torka and Schyns, 2007). Consequently, our research model only considers antecedents that could be affected by agencies' activities.\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: The means, standard deviations and inter-correlations of the main variables are shown in Table I.\nDiscussion: Despite agencies' temporary intermediary role, TAWs in Germany perceive organizational support by agencies, which in turn affects their SWB positively. Our study, which is the first to apply OST to the specific context of temporary agency work, confirmed the mediating role of POS by agencies that TAWs see as their service providers (Torka and Schyns, 2007). Except for distributive justice, POS acts as a partial mediator between the antecedents and TAWs' SWB. The relevance of antecedents on POS as well as the sequence of their effect sizes corresponded to the results of the meta-analysis by Rhoades and Eisenberger (2002). Moreover, our study also showed that a differentiated consideration of justice creates added value, since the distinct effects of different types of justice on POS were confirmed. While procedural justice was strongly and positively related to POS, TAWs' perceptions of distributive justice were not related to POS at all. This finding is consistent with empirical studies showing that procedural justice is one of the strongest antecedents of POS and that the influence of procedural fairness is greater than the impact of distributive justice (Kurtessis et al., 2017). The missing effect of distributive justice on POS can be explained by the fact that perceived distributive injustice may be counterbalanced by an individual's perception of procedural justice (Shore and Shore, 1995). Consequently, it may be the case that the effects of distributive justice on POS are superimposed due to the strong influence of procedural justice. Therefore, if TAWs perceive procedural justice due to their agencies' activities, distributive injustice caused by wage gaps and a lack of benefits in Germany might not influence POS and in turn SWB negatively.\nConclusion: Our study shows that TAWs in Germany experience organizational support from their current agency employers. The partially mediating role of POS by agencies between employment-specific antecedents and TAWs' SWB is also confirmed. POS mediates the influences of procedural justice, performance feedback, social network availability and job insecurity on TAWs' SWB. Thus, due to the socio-emotional support function of POS, positive effects on TAWs' SWB are triggered. The creation of POS through appropriate measures by agencies can be considered as one approach to positively influence TAWs' SWB. In addition, our study shows that TAWs in Germany perceive job insecurity. Agencies' opportunities to employ TAWs on permanent contracts in Germany appear not to be a sufficient instrument for preventing feelings of job insecurity. Against this background, further supportive measures geared to decreasing perceptions of job insecurity should be explored in order to create additional value for improving TAWs' SWB.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the specific relationship between temporary agency workers (TAWs) and their employing temporary work agencies in Germany that is characterized - in contrast to other European countries - by agencies' central role in employment and the prevalence of permanent contracts. The study addresses a research gap in understanding the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) provided by temporary work agencies in the relationship between employment-specific antecedents and TAWs' subjective well-being (SWB).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a sample of 350 TAWs in Germany, the mediating role of POS provided by agencies is analyzed using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The authors show that procedural justice, performance feedback and social network availability positively relate to POS while perceived job insecurity shows the expected negative influence and distributive justice has no impact on POS. POS, in turn, positively relates to SWB. The partially mediating effect of POS between employment-specific antecedents and SWB is also confirmed.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study is based on cross-sectional data and self-reported measures; this may limit causal inferences.\nPractical implications: The results highlight the importance of agencies creating POS and reducing perceived job insecurity for improving TAWs' SWB.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to previous POS research by focusing on the agencies' role and by showing the mediating effect of POS on TAWs' SWB in Germany.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Adult literacy organisers in Ireland resisting neoliberalism
|
[
"Ireland",
"Marketisation",
"Neoliberalism",
"Commodification",
"Adult education",
"Adult literacy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This research investigates the experiences of adult literacy organisers (ALOs) in Ireland, against a backdrop of the growing influence of neoliberalism on adult literacy. Dominant discourses of adult literacy in many OECD countries are strongly influenced by economic interests (Yasukawa and Black, 2016). In Ireland, the link between adult literacy and the interests of the economy grew, following the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers (Allen, 2009). The economic shock waves that followed would hit Ireland, forcing it into a bailout from the Troika, a powerful convergence of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monitory Fund. The resulting national debt opened the door to austerity politics, leading to public expenditure cuts, increased dependence on foreign capital and employer demands for a flexible labour market (Mercille and Murphy, 2015). The burden of the economic crisis would be unevenly transferred to the citizens, with devastating effects on those already marginalised within society (Kirby, 2010; Kitchin et al., 2012).\nAdult literacy: transformative or domesticating: Education has become subservient to economic strategies aimed at increasing national and global competitiveness (Spring, 1998; Apple, 2006; Robinson, 2016). Students are tested rather than educated, and outcomes have become separated from the processes of learning (Mortimore, 2014; Grummell and Murray, 2015). Students are told what to think, rather than how to think (Mead, 1973). Adult education and literacy, once thought to be part of the solution, is now also part of the problem (Filander, 2012). The marketisation and commodification of adult education (Smith and O'Leary, 2013; Fejes and Olesen, 2016) has reached all areas, including adult literacy (Yasukawa and Black, 2016).\nNeoliberalism and the silencing of literacy: Neoliberalism is a form of free market capitalism, fuelled by deregulation, privatisation and marketisation of all aspects of life (Chomsky, 1998; Brenner, 1998; Giroux, 2004; Harvey, 2005; Ball, 2007). Brown (2016) argues that neoliberalism emphases consensus, adaptation, adoption, acceptance, compliance and consent, while suppressing resistance, diversity and active citizenship. It covers its tracks in over complicated technical formulations of problems once resolved with common sense. It has managed to divest the political discourse of collective action and replace it with a business and managerial model focussed on efficiency, best practice, outputs and impacts. Dissent is suppressed and replaced with top-down stakeholder consultation. As an economic philosophy, neoliberalism weakens solidarities among workers, consumers and electorates leaving citizens isolated, disconnected and unprotected and vulnerable to their political and economic masters (Brown, 2016).\nAusterity--the Trojan horse of neoliberalism: The Irish economy thrived under neoliberal politics feeding the growth of the Celtic Tiger (Murphy, 2014). When the global economy crashed, the Celtic Tiger economy collapsed leaving a EUR200bn price tag for the Irish citizens to pay. This opened the door to a period of austerity, with cuts to public expenditure and structural and enforced by the Troika (Mercille and Murphy, 2015). It has been estimated that the cumulative impact of austerity deepened over a six-year period between 2008 and 2014 was estimated to cost EUR30.1bn. Austerity exacerbated inequalities through cuts to social protection and reduced investment in health, education, mental health, housing and community development services (Cullen and Murphy, 2017). Brenner et al. (2010) argue that austerity was used by corporate and political elites to increase their influence, while transferring the cost of the crisis to the citizens. The problem with austerity is that it is devoid of social solidarity and it affects citizens differently, the majority losing, while a small powerful group of business leaders, professions and politicians win with the support of an elite media (Mercille, 2013). It is not just the loss of income or employment opportunities, but austerity also involves a loss of hope, as every area of civic life becomes exposed to market forces.\nNew managerialism--controlling literacy: New managerialism is a form of governance aligned with neoliberalism, where employees are treated as units, outputs, outcomes, cost savings and profits (Lynch, 2013). It is a management strategy imported from business and imposed on public services which focusses on performance indicators, measurement, outputs, efficiencies, reduced costs, competition and consumers. Only that which could be measured was counted for performance. It is not a neutral management strategy, but rather one that serves the purposes of people with capital (Lynch, 2012). New managerialism works by replacing permanency with service-level agreements that act as thinly disguised surveillance promoted and monitored by senior civil servants and CEOs (Jennings and Lomas, 2003). Lynch (2012) describes how senior civil servants and CEOs embraced the new managerial culture (Gleeson and O Donnabhain, 2009) as they were in a position to make financial gains when market principles were applied to the evaluation of their own positions, in the form of benchmarking which led to higher salaries for senior officials. This made it easier for the state to leverage CEOs and senior civil servants, to implement its austerity programme. This created a very challenging environment for adults educators working in the literacy sector, as they witnessed adult education being overtaken by this strategic discourse employing the concepts of performance and productivity under the guise of \"good governance\". This led to a rise in bureaucracy due to the increased focus on narrowly defined performance indicators and challenged established practices among professionals in the community voluntary and education sectors. It also increased the risk of measurement fraud or success story inflation as organisations compete for funding (Woolford and Curran, 2012; Eikenberry, 2009; Rothschild, 2013).\nResearch context and methodology: Adult literacy research in Ireland is dominated by state-funded sources that often lack critical or theoretical analysis, due to the complex relationship between funder and researcher (Parahoo, 1991). Aware of this, the research challenges the hegemonic control exerted by powerful institutions that control how literacy is constructed in the public mind. The method of data collection and analysis for this study is underpinned by the philosophy of critical realism (Harre, 1972; Bhaskar, 1979, Archer, 1995), which seeks to understand the world from the point of view of those who are experiencing them. This is different from positivism, which attempts to apply the rules of the physical sciences to social actions. The critical realist observe and describe the social phenomena and then infer and imagine the existence of underlying processes that are related to what cannot themselves be observed directly. Critical realists gain knowledge \"in terms of theories, which can be more or less truth like\" (Danermark et al., 2002, p. 10) or \"working hypothesis\" and accept the conditional nature of all its results (Bhaskar, 1979). A semi-structured interview format was used, ensuring the flexibility and allowing new ideas to emerge (Parr, 2013). A flexible approach to coding was applied (Saldana, 2013). A process known as \"abduction\" was used, in which empirical data are re-described using theoretical concepts (Fletcher, 2017). Abductive arguments are generally known as arguments in which the premise states an observed fact and the conclusion offers an explanation for that fact (Danermark et al., 2002). Later, retroductive reasoning of observations was used to speculate looking both forward and backwards to imagine how the event came about (Ransome, 2013).\nData and data analysis: The data and analysis is presented under four headings; economic narrative, new managerialism, accreditation as a commodity and literacy as transformation. The data found the ALOs to be a diverse group of literacy organisers, with multiple and diverse views on literacy. What was common among them was their shared experience of adult literacy in a post-boom and bust austerity economy, where they are driven by a top-down managerial system of surveillance and accountability that coerces them to drive a market led literacy service. Despite this, they are resilient and passionate about adult literacy that is student centred and transformative.\nFindings and conclusion: This research aims to add a thin layer of empirical evidence of the marketisation and commodification of adult literacy within the field of adult education (Finnegan, 2008; Fejes and Olesen, 2016; Barros, 2012). Despite the current challenges presented above, adult education is fundamentally an optimistic narrative. There is an alternative to neoliberalism and a growing realisation that a new political and economic way of being is needed. Adult education must separate itself from the one size fits all, neoliberal thinking and create space for social and emancipatory learning (Grummell, 2012). There is a need to find more equitable and sustainable ways of balancing the needs of the market with the needs of the citizens, based on the principles of equality, inclusion, transparency and sustainability. Adult educators are already starting to reimagine what that might look like (Finnegan, 2016). Adult literacy, underpinned by a theory of adult education as a socially transformative practice, is at risk of becoming irrelevant (Jarvis, 1997), unless it is reimagined and theorised to respond to the challenges of neoliberalism. Functional and domesticating models of literacy practice fail adults, already failed by what Grummell (2012) calls the \"second chance\" myth. That failure costs the state more in the longer term.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences and responses of ten adult literacy organisers (ALOs) from Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare to the growing influence of neoliberalism and the commodification of adult literacy as a skill and function of the economy. The research argues for a greater focus on literacy as a social practice concerned with equality and social justice, rooted in emancipatory and transformative adult education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative research methodology using in-depth unstructured interviews, underpinned by critical realism.\nFindings: While the ALOs sampled have developed strategies to resist the impact of neoliberalism, they are also struggling to sustain their resistance and nurture access to emancipatory and transformative adult literacy practices.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research is limited in size, being a small sample study of ten ALOs.\nPractical implications: The research will inform policy discussions in advance of the new further education and training strategy, where adult literacy policy is situated.\nOriginality/value: The paper gives unique and independent access to the voices of ALOs in Ireland and provides a small example of empirical evidence of the commodification and marketisation of adult literacy under neoliberalism.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The Information School at the University of Sheffield, 1963-2013
|
[
"Department of Information Studies",
"Information School",
"Information science education",
"Librarianship education",
"LIS education",
"Postgraduate School of Librarianship",
"Postgraduate School of Librarianship and Information Science",
"University of Sheffield"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: An important factor in the health of the library and information science (LIS) profession is the quality of the graduates entering the profession after having taken courses at an LIS department. That being so, it is perhaps rather surprising that while there is a large literature on LIS education in general (as exemplified by journals such as Education for Information and the Journal of Education for Library and Information Science) there would seem to have been less interest in the departments that provide that education.\nData collection: Two very different types of information were used in the creation of this history: published and unpublished documents; and the recollections of current and previous staff.\nThe founding of the school: In 1960 the University of Sheffield was asked to consider the establishment of a postgraduate school of librarianship. At the time, there was only one other postgraduate school, situated at University College London (UCL); aspiring librarians could otherwise study at one of the country's 12 library schools in the Further Education sector, and sit the Library Association's examinations. It was in fact the Library Association who made the initial proposal regarding the Sheffield School; the President at that time, Tony Page, made a semi-official visit to Sheffield's University Librarian, James Tolson, which was followed up by a formal proposal to the University's Vice-Chancellor. The University Senate produced a report, which was then presented to and approved by the University Grants Committee in May 1961. The Committee conferred two initial grants: one to improve the University's stock of literature on librarianship, and one to enable the refurbishment of new premises for the School. Despite the general lack of funding being experienced by UK universities at the time, the University was happy to endow the new School with a large portion of its budget for new posts for the 1963-1964 academic year. The Sheffield Town Trustees also donated funds, providing not only monetary aid but an explicit reminder of the close link with the city that has characterised the University ever since it was founded in 1905.\nThe development of the school: Early days\nStudent careers: The discussion above has provided a chronological account of the development of the teaching programmes. Given the vocational focus of these, it is reasonable to ask how successful they were in preparing students for subsequent employment. It is possible to obtain at least some indication of this from a long-running series of \"follow-up\" studies that were carried out by the School, often in the form of MA and MSc dissertation projects. Each such study involved sending a questionnaire to those students who had been members of a particular programme (or programmes) during a particular period and for whom the School had contact information. The questions that were posed to the alumni varied to some extent, depending on the precise purpose of the questionnaire, but typically asked the graduates about their employment history, career development patterns and job mobility; many of the surveys also included questions asking students for their perceptions of the value and relevance of their Sheffield programme to their subsequent career, with their responses informing subsequent curriculum development.\nResearch in the school: Developing a research culture\nConclusions: In this paper we have provided an historical overview of the development of the Information School at the University of Sheffield during its first half-century, a period that has seen many changes. Some of these are specific to the LIS sector, as exemplified by the drastic changes in career paths and course content that have been described above, and that have been driven by developments in the sector and in technology more generally. Others mirror those in higher education as a whole, most obviously in the sheer scale of academic activity and in the internationalisation of the student body. In 2013, the School has 26 academic staff, ten professional services and technical staff, 78 research students and staff, and 428 taught undergraduate and postgraduate students (of whom just 157 come from the UK), a far cry from its 1963 complement of four academic staff, one secretary and 23 (all UK) postgraduate students. However, despite these changes, the School has stayed true to Saunders' original vision of an innovative, research driven school open to students from all disciplinary backgrounds and collaborating with departments across the university. This vision has served it well for its first 50 years and will hopefully continue to do so for the next half-century.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the historical development of library and information science (LIS) teaching and research in the University of Sheffield's Information School since its founding in 1963.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The history is based on published materials, unpublished school records, and semi-structured interviews with 19 current or ex-members of staff.\nFindings: The School has grown steadily over its first half-century, extending the range of its teaching from conventional programmes in librarianship and information science to include cognate programmes in areas such as health informatics, information systems and multi-lingual information management.\nOriginality/value: There are very few published accounts of the history of LIS departments.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Mind the gap: Can mindfulness support effective leadership development
|
[
"Leadership development",
"Collaboration",
"Mindfulness",
"Resilience",
"Leadership flexibility"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nReview: How do you feel when you read the word \"mindfulness\"? For some, it will be a welcome reminder that they should be more mindful of everything that is going on inside and outside their heads, and lead almost instantly to a state of calm and heightened awareness - which is, of course, what is should do as that what the word and practice of mindfulness means. For others, however, reactions can vary widely. Some will be completely non-plussed having never read up on the subject, and for others, they may sneer at the latest wishy-washy, mumbo-jumbo that has started to fill up Facebook feeds and cards from Hallmark stores. And for a few, the reaction may be the very opposite of what is intended, reacting violently to a belief and state of mind they are predisposed to dislike intensely.\nTaking the lead: Adopting mindfulness from a leadership perspective challenges some key assumptions employees may make about their bosses. On the one hand, they want their leaders to be tough in order to work hard for the organization and negotiate aggressively for the best deals so that the whole organization will benefit; however, they will also want their leaders to have empathy with employees' working conditions and appreciate their input into the business. With mindfulness, will it improve the understanding leaders have for their business and its workers, or soften them up so that they take their foot of the gas in driving things forward?\nFuture perfect: These three competencies are especially relevant for leadership in the 21st Century, where the business world and wider society are typified by VUCA factors - that is, volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous dynamics that increasingly shape the immediate futures for leaders and their organizations. Mindful leader training (MLT) may enhance these capabilities and in so doing improve leadership performance. More specifically, these three factors could help produce the following benefits:\nAll in the mind: After bringing together two groups of leaders - around thirty in each with one group that had full MLT and another as a control group - a wide range of questionnaires and surveys were administered throughout and following the eight-week course, and then put through a rigorous set of analyses to understand how the leadership group developed their capabilities regarding the four research questions, and their competencies when it came to resilience, leading in complexity and collaboration.\nComment: The article \"Developing leaders through mindfulness practice\" by Reitz et al. (2020), provides a useful insight into the benefits mindfulness training might have on leadership development. While there has been some doubts about the effects of mindfulness in the past, this article should go to show there are areas where leaders can make genuine progress.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: How do you feel when you read the word 'mindfulness'? For some, it will be a welcome reminder that they should be more mindful of everything that is going on inside and outside their heads, and lead almost instantly to a state of calm and heightened awareness - which is, of course, what is should do as that what the word and practice of mindfulness means. For others, however, reactions can vary widely. Some will be completely non-plussed having never read up on the subject, and for others, they may sneer at the latest wishy-washy, mumbo-jumbo that has started to fill up Facebook feeds and cards from Hallmark stores. And for a few, the reaction may be the very opposite of what is intended, reacting violently to a belief and state of mind they are predisposed to dislike intensely.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds his/her own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: How do you feel when you read the word 'mindfulness'? For some, it will be a welcome reminder that they should be more mindful of everything that is going on inside and outside their heads, and lead almost instantly to a state of calm and heightened awareness - which is, of course, what is should do as that what the word and practice of mindfulness means. For others, however, reactions can vary widely. Some will be completely non-plussed having never read up on the subject, and for others, they may sneer at the latest wishy-washy, mumbo-jumbo that has started to fill up Facebook feeds and cards from Hallmark stores. And for a few, the reaction may be the very opposite of what is intended, reacting violently to a belief and state of mind they are predisposed to dislike intensely.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Motivations for issuing standalone CSR reports: a survey of Canadian firms
|
[
"Stakeholders",
"Voluntary disclosure",
"Sustainability reports",
"Canadian companies",
"Standalone CSR reports"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the last two decades the production of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports has steadily increased in many \"developed\" and \"developing\" countries. CSR reporting can take different forms, but it most commonly involves either the production of information within a company's annual report (including both voluntary and mandatory information) or the production of standalone documents that are most usually, but not always, voluntary. Both types of reporting have been studied and analyzed at academic and practitioner levels, with several theories as to what motivates this type of reporting practice. While a widespread normative justification within the academic literature suggests that CSR reporting improves accountability (Gray et al., 1996), it has also been argued that this might not be the case.\n2. Theoretical framework: This section presents an overview of the current literature on CSR reporting, demonstrating the range of theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, countries investigated, and findings that explain why companies voluntarily issue standalone CSR reports and what companies tend to engage in the issuance of standalone CSR reports[2].\n3. Research design: The research for this study was carried out using the inductive method: to study our exploratory research question, we created a questionnaire that we submitted to a reasonable sample of Canadian corporations.\n4. Findings: We report on the results of our survey separately for those companies that issued standalone CSR reports and for those companies that did not issue standalone CSR reports. Each is reported in turn.\n5. Conclusions: The primary purpose of our research was to provide insight into Canadian companies' motivations to issue or not issue voluntary standalone CSR reports. After requesting 199 publicly traded Canadian companies that had CSR scores published by Michael Jantzi Research Institute, 57 responded, 32 of which issued standalone CSR reports and 25 did not. Our results suggest that companies that issue standalone CSR reports are bigger than those companies that do not. Furthermore, measures of ROA, ROI, and CSR scores of companies that issued and those that did not issue standalone CSR reports did not significantly differ, which facts suggest that there is no significant difference in the profitability and \"level\" of social and environmental practices between firms that issue and do not issue standalone CSR reports.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the companies' motivations to issue or not issue voluntary standalone corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports in the Canadian context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors realized a questionnaire survey that asked Canadian companies why they do or do not issue standalone CSR reports, what their motivations and costs are, and the extent to which they comply with GRI guidelines.\nFindings: The results show that larger firms issue standalone CSR reports. As larger firms have more political visibility and are subject to greater external scrutiny than smaller firms (Watts and Zimmerman, 1986), the findings indicate that firms primarily issue standalone CSR reports in response to external scrutiny by stakeholders, which is consistent with a stakeholder perspective. The survey also identifies that ancillary motivations for Canadian firms for issuing standalone CSR reports are consistent with legitimacy and signalling perspectives.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors acknowledge that the generalizability of the findings is limited due to the sample being situated within a single national context. The inferences drawn from such a sample in Canada may not be applicable to other countries with different national institutional contexts. In addition, the small size of the sample may limit the generalizability of the findings. The authors also did not specifically consider the quality of the CSR reports in the study. Finally, the work may be affected by the inherent weaknesses associated with survey research, including the inherent bias of the individuals responding to the survey.\nOriginality/value: The research adds to the growing body of research on voluntary CSR disclosures, with particular reference to the Canadian context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Three conceptualizations of hybrid management in hospitals
|
[
"Management",
"Professions",
"Hybrid",
"Health care"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Within organization studies the notion of hybrid organizational forms has long been recognized (Powell, 1987). The more specific concept of hybrid management has been less studied, although it is now frequently used to describe many kinds of emerging management arrangements, particularly in the public sector (Gronn, 2011). The recent restructuring of public services in almost all western countries has involved the introduction of market-like mechanisms and new managerial models and techniques inspired by the private sector. Within the frame of this new managerialism innovation, creativity, personal qualities and competencies have been given priority above knowledge of rules or bureaucratic procedures and staffs have been encouraged to get more involved in strategic matters and to identify with the organization. However, after three decades of New Public Management (NPM) reforms, there is now a trend toward developing \"post-NPM\" modes of organizing, such as joined up management and New Public Governance (Christensen and Laegreid, 2012). Hybrid management has been evoked in this period as a panacea to the problems relating to fragmentation as a consequence of NPM and as a means to move toward a more integrated and \"joined-up\" public sector.\nBackground: Hospitals are generally considered as central institutions in modern societies providing complex and important services. Hospitals are also costly and in most countries tax financed or at least publicly funded and governed. The theme of growing budgets and how to finance hospitals have become a permanent health policy issue (Blank and Burau, 2010) causing pressure for rationalization and efficiency improvement. Hospital management has to deal with a whole range of professions and their associations, including the medical, which is generally considered as one of the strongest occupational associations in modern societies.\nMethods for selection and analysis of literature: In Google scholar we have searched for \"hybrid leadership,\" \"hybrid management\" combined with hospitals and health care. We have done a special search in the following publications using the databases Academic Search Premier, Academic Research Library and Sage Publications: Organization, Organization Studies, Human Relations, Sociology, Current Sociology, Public Administration, Journal of Management in Medicine and Journal of Health Organization and Management, International Journal of Public Management. Other journals have been included by a snowball method using reference lists in already registered articles. We have also used already existing literature reviews (Numerato et al., 2012; Braithwaite and Mallock, 2003; Montgomery, 2001). The search resulted in more than 60 articles and book titles. We are aware that we might have missed some relevant literature but on the other hand we think that the literature included is quite comprehensive and gives a quite representative picture of the relevant sources. Our selection makes it possible to describe main patterns in the way hybrid management has been conceptualized and developed over time and in different geographical areas.\nThree conceptualizations of hybrid management: In the literature we have found three conceptualizations of hybrid management:\nDiscussion: The review has demonstrated that we should not just talk about hybrid managers as if they were a well-defined category. Instead we have found that at least three different versions of hybrid managers have developed as a consequence of the clash between the traditional logic of professional self-governance and the emerging general management, enterprise and neo-bureaucratic logics. We have denominated them: the clinical manager, the commercialized manager and the neo-bureaucratic manager. The three versions can be derived from the literature we have examined and they qhave been illustrated by examples from the same literature. They have mainly been generated by reforms seeking to introduce new and more effective management models or new models for accounting and quality control. It may be argued that there has been a sequence where general management reforms came first in most countries, then the enterprise governance model and at last the neo-bureaucratic governance model. However, as the NPM models of public sector management has been introduced to a various extent in different parts of the world, in the same way management hybrids also vary in strength across domains and systems, and the sequence of their emergence and development may also vary. It may thus be argued that countries like Germany, where NPM has been less influential, the influence of the commercial and neo-bureaucratic models may have been developing in parallel rather than in a sequence and after the clinical hybrid, which seems to exist to a lesser degree. Particularly in the countries with a strong public element in healthcare and a late but short-lived introduction of NPM, like Norway, the clinical-managerial and neo-bureaucratic models may have been combined to a greater extent. Indeed, the most common empirical picture is that two or more hybrid managerial roles are present at the same time making both theorizing and institutionalization of particular models more difficult.\nImplications for further research: The objective of this paper has been to identify various kinds of hybrid management models as they have been described in literature, for the most part literature that has investigated how hybrid management roles are enacted in practice in hospitals. It has not been our aim to outline what kind of theoretical perspectives have been used in this literature or whether there is an affinity between choice of perspective and what kind of discoveries that are made. Clearly it would be useful to classify the literature according to such criteria. It is our impression that the bulk of the literature we have looked at may be placed in the category of sociology of professions and organizational institutionalism. Recently, there have also been several analyses that have used a framework drawing on a Foucauldian governmentality approach, zooming in on the neo-bureaucratic management role.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to bring the discussion on the relationship between management and medicine a step forward by focussing on: first, how the notion of hybrid and hybridity has been used in the literature on healthcare management. Second, the authors have mapped the alternative ways that the concept have been used in order to conceptualize a more specific set of possible combinations of managerial and professional roles in healthcare management. Hybrid management is a topic that ought to be important for training, communication among researchers and for identifying areas of future research: in management, in healthcare reforms, in sociology of professions and in theory of organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors provide a systematic literature review in order to map the various conceptualizations of hybrid management. The authors have searched for \"hybrid leadership,\" \"hybrid management\" combined with hospitals and health care in a whole range of journals, identified in Google scholar, Academic Search Premier, Academic Research Library and Sage Publication. The authors have also used already existing literature reviews. The search has resulted in more than 60 articles and book titles that have been classified according to whether they make a fit with three alternative ways of conceptualizing hybrid management. The authors are aware that they might have missed some relevant literature but the literature included is quite comprehensive.\nFindings: In the literature the authors have found three conceptualizations of management. The clinical manager who combines professional self-governance with a general management logic. The commercialized manager who combines professional self-governance with an enterprise logic. The neo-bureaucratic manager who combines self-governance with a neo-bureaucratic logic.\nOriginality/value: In most analyses of hybridity in management and organization the notion of hybrid has been used in a rather superficial way. By mapping the various uses of hybrid in the literature and suggest how a professional logic may be combined with a set of alternative logics of management the authors provide a platform for developing the concept of hybrid management into a more useful tool for analyses of changes in healthcare management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Reducing patients' falls rate in an Academic Medical Center (AMC) using Six Sigma "DMAIC" approach
|
[
"Six Sigma",
"Healthcare quality",
"Academic Medical Centers",
"DMAIC approach",
"Falls rate",
"Patients safety"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Academic Medical Center (AMC) or University Medical Center is not a single institution, but a constellation of functions and organizations committed to improve the health of patients and populations through the integration of its roles in research, education and patient care (Kohn, 2004). The occurrence of falls in AMCs is a significant patient safety issue and reducing such risks and ensuring patients safety are the most important challenges faced by the hospitals. Specifically in acute care hospitals, falls rate ranges from 1.3 to 8.9 per 1,000 inpatient days, of which 30 percent leads to serious injury (Oliver et al., 2010; Stevens, 2005). It is estimated that the annual total cost of fall-related injuries could increase to $34.4 billion by the year 2020 (Bonuel et al., 2011). Among all the anticipated risks in the healthcare industry, the occurrence of falls is widespread and poses a serious threat to patient safety (Oliver et al., 2010; Cameron et al., 2010).\nMethodology: Study setting\nResults and discussion: This study is the documentation of the effect of utilizing Six Sigma \"DMAIC\" approach as a measure to reduce patient falls rate at KFHU, Saudi Arabia. In order to execute this study, a multidisciplinary team covering all the relevant stakeholders at KFHU was formed and it was carried out through five stages of \"DMAIC.\" During the define phase, the problem was defined based on the historical patients falls rate, which was reported as 7.18 in the year 2013. From this data, the senior management realized that there was a high in patients' falls rate which might negatively impact patient satisfaction, LOS and cost. Accordingly, a goal was fixed to reduce the falls rate from 7.18 to<3 per 1,000 patient days (i.e. anticipating 60 percent reduction) by the end of December 2014. By analyzing the voice of customers, a CTQ characteristics was developed. During the measure phase, falls rate in the first three months (First quarter of 2014) was measured and reported as 7.97, 6.54 and 5.19, respectively. Further analysis was carried to find out the locations in the hospital where high incidences of falls were reported. In the analyze phase, Pareto analysis was carried out to find out which floor/location of the hospital contributed to higher falls rate. From the Pareto analysis, it was observed that the incidence of falls was higher on Floor 1 than elsewhere and the investigator applied cause and effect diagram to identify the possible causes for each patients' fall on Floor 1.\nConclusion: The application of Six Sigma \"DMAIC\" approach is found to be effective in implementing falls prevention program across KFHU, Saudi Arabia. Through the application of Six Sigma approach, the patients fall rate was reduced from 6.57 to 1.91 per 1,000 patient days establishing a 70.93 percent drop. Six sigma tools assisted in identifying the areas with increased number of falls and their causes. It was also observed that the majority of nurses adhered to falls prevention measures and rounding protocol following the implementation of the improvement strategy. The results demonstrated a positive impact of the Six Sigma approach on reducing patients fall rate after application of the suggested recommendations for the period of three months. This study helped the hospital administrators and quality management personnel to understand how the Six Sigma methodology could be implemented to reduce patients falls rate in an AMC, Saudi Arabia.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of adopting the Six Sigma define, measure, analyze, improve and control (DMAIC) approach in reducing patients fall rate in an Academic Medical Center, Saudi Arabia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A prospective study design was adopted and this study was conducted at King Fahd Hospital of the University (KFHU) during the year 2014. Based on the historical data of the patients' falls reported at KFHU during the year 2013, the goal was fixed to reduce the falls rate from 7.18 to<3 (over 60 percent reduction) by the end of December 2014. This study was conducted through the five phases of \"DMAIC\" approach using various quality tools. Three time periods were identified, namely, pre-intervention phase; intervention phase; and post-intervention phase. Appropriate strategies were identified through the process of brainstorming and were implemented to study the potential causes leading to the occurrence of falls.\nFindings: The pre-intervention falls rate was reported as 6.57 whereas the post-intervention falls rate was measured as 1.91 (demonstrating a 70.93 percent reduction) after the implementation of improvement strategies. The adherence rate toward the practice of carrying falls risk assessment and hourly rounding was observed to be high where 88 percent of nurses are regularly practicing it. A control plan was also executed to sustain the improvements obtained.\nOriginality/value: The Six Sigma \"DMAIC\" approach improves the processes related to the prevention of falls. A greater reduction in patients falls rate (over 70 percent) was observed after the implementation of the improvement strategy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Emergent perspectives toward the business plan among nascent entrepreneur start-up competition participants
|
[
"Business plan competition",
"Business plan",
"Nascent entrepreneur",
"Start-up competition"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: With specific reference to business and new venture creation, a business plan (BP) can be defined as \"a written document describing the current state and anticipated future of an organisation\" (Honig and Karlsson, 2004, p. 29). In a BP document, a nascent entrepreneur seeks to provide an overview of a venture's potential, describing its product(s)/service(s), presenting market research, offering marketing and sales plans, stipulating operational and implementation details and detailing financial projections (Bridge and Hegarty, 2013; Kraus and Schwarz, 2007; Hormozi et al., 2002). Nascent entrepreneurs, either individually or as part of a team, are often strongly encouraged to write a thorough BP before implementing their venture (Watson et al., 2018; Kraus and Schwarz, 2007; Delmar and Davidsson, 2000). However, the long-standing debate around the utility of BP production for nascent entrepreneurs continues (Garonne and Davidsson, 2016; Gruber, 2007; Hannon and Atherton, 1998; Honig and Samuelsson, 2012).\nTheoretical considerations: The BP as a feature of nascent entrepreneurship\nApproach: The qualitative rationale\nFindings: The aim of this paper is to explore how the nascent entrepreneur's perspective towards the formal written BP changes before, during and after participation in an SUC programme. The presentation of findings has been structured according to the three waves of data collection - namely, start of competition, end of competition and six months post-competition - and then by the themes identified in those data sets.\nConclusions: This paper provides new understanding as to how the nascent entrepreneur's perspective towards the utility of the formal BP is not static, but rather evolves during and after participation in an SUC programme. Such understanding is timely given the enduring debate around the importance of the BP within nascent entrepreneurship, and also the limited understanding of the nascent entrepreneur perspective, particularly within the context of SUC participation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how nascent entrepreneur perspectives towards the utility of the formal written business plan (BP) change before and after start-up competition (SUC) participation. Such focus is pertinent and timely given the enduringly contentious matter of BP creation for nascent entrepreneurs. Despite mounting criticisms, considerable resources continue to be expended on promoting the BP within educative and start-up support provision; the globally ubiquitous SUC phenomenon provides a prominent example of such promotion.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In-depth open-ended interviews were undertaken with nascent entrepreneurs at the start, end and six months after participation in a UK university-based SUC. An inductive thematic content analytical approach was taken to identify patterns across participant accounts at each wave of data collection.\nFindings: Upon entering the competition, the nascent entrepreneurs held highly positive views towards the BP, believing that it provided legitimacy and served as a means of sense-making. Immediately after the competition, views were more ambivalent, with the BP viewed as secondary to action but remaining an external expectation. Six months after the competition, the BP was viewed as underutilised and internally irrelevant; an unnecessary feature of an action-led approach and only useful when needed by external parties.\nOriginality/value: Contributing to the limited body of SUC research, the enduring centrality of formal BP production within competition provision is challenged given its limited relevance to the nascent entrepreneur beyond the competition context. Emphasis on BPning within a competition need not automatically require BP creation; this has implications for business competition organisers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The evaluation stage in the service elimination decision-making process: evidence from the UK financial services sector
|
[
"Financial services",
"Product elimination",
"Product management",
"Customer service management",
"Decision making",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"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: In order for a service company to keep the composition of its service range in as up-to-date a condition as possible requires, among other things, the development of new services and the elimination of existing ones. The process of new service development (NSD) has long been attracting research attention and, as a result, the literature on services marketing is replete with useful conceptual and empirical material on how the NSD process is (or should be) managed, as well as on how new services are (or should be) developed. By contrast, only a handful of papers have been published to date on the service elimination process, e.g. Argouslidis and McLean (2001, 2003, 2004), Harness and Marr (2001, 2004), Argouslidis (2004).NSD remains a process of undisputed significance to service companies. However, in today's global economic stringency practitioners from diverse service sectors spirally shift emphasis from the expansion of the service range to its consolidation. The latter shift is the order of the day in the financial services sector of several countries, which has undergone (or undergoes) dramatic structural changes caused by deregulation and re-regulation, by the developments in information technology and by the stringent circumstances of the economic environment (Flier et al., 2001; Bikker and Haaf, 2002). These structural changes lead to mergers, acquisitions, downsizing and a need to streamline the range of the offered financial services (Greenland, 1995; Ralston et al., 2001; Worthington, 2004). Given the strategic importance of the service elimination process in financial services settings, it is surprising how palpably its systematic empirical investigation has been neglected by marketing researchers. To the extent that practitioners from the financial services sector tend to consult the literature prior to making elimination decisions, they face almost tabula rasa.In response to the lacuna of knowledge in this area of service range management, this paper reports on empirical findings into the elimination decision-making process in the UK financial services sector. The elimination decision-making process has been conceptualized (e.g. Kotler, 1965) and empirically found (Avlonitis, 1985; Argouslidis, 2004) to consist of four stages as follows (see also Figure 1): regular audit of the range for the identification of candidates for elimination; consideration of alternative corrective actions; evaluation and decision making; and implementation of the elimination decision.This paper concentrates on the stage of evaluation (stage 3 in Figure 1). The rationale for this choice is three-fold. First, while each stage in a decision-making process is important, decision-making theorists identify the evaluation stage as the most critical. This is because the judgement of management in this stage and their endeavours to project the impact of an option, set the foundation for choice (Mowen and Gaeth, 1992). Second, the empirical evidence on elimination decision making in manufacturing settings (Avlonitis, 1984) suggests that the stage of evaluation is indeed the most critical because in this stage management must shift attention from the causes of a product's deviant performance and from courses of action to revitalize it, to an assessment of the implications for the company as a whole if the product is eventually withdrawn from the range. Third, as it is explained later in more detail, while the handful of empirical papers on service elimination shed some light on other stages of the elimination decision-making process, there is no empirical evidence (to our knowledge) about the evaluation stage, either in financial or in any other service setting.\nResearch objectives: By reporting on empirical evidence from the UK financial services sector, the paper pursues the following objectives:* To identify the factors that management consider in order to evaluating the impact of eventual elimination decisions involving financial services.* To rate the evaluation factors in terms of the degree of influence that they exert on management.* To find out if, and if yes how, the degree of influence of the evaluation factors on management varies in relation to company and environmental conditions.The structure of the paper is as follows. First, we discuss the rationale for conducting the study in the UK financial services sector. Second, we discuss the theoretical background and the conceptual framework. Third, we present the research methodology and we then focus on the results and on their discussion. Finally, the paper concludes with the implications of the findings, the limitations and the directions for future inquiry.\nThe significance of range rationalization to the UK financial services sector: The regulatory landscape of the UK financial services sector went through dramatic changes during the last two decades. In particular the profound deregulation of the mid-1980s lowered the entry barriers for the sector's aspiring newcomers, blurred the once-clearly cut business boundaries between different types of financial institutions (i.e. banks, insurance companies and building societies) and raised unprecedented competition (Ennew et al., 1990; Devlin and Wright, 1995). This new environment has had significant implications for the range strategy of UK financial institutions. In their endeavours to cope with the new competition, to retain existing customers and to attract new ones, financial institutions engaged in a prolific, and largely cursory, development of new financial services that resulted in overpopulated ranges. The latter started to confuse customers, create headaches for the allocation of scarce corporate resources and foster sales cannibalisation between similar financial services in the range (Edgett, 1993; Ennew, 1995). Considering the importance of a balanced service range to the success of companies (Stevenson, 1989; Ennew, 1995), the above negative consequences of the excessive and unquestioning range proliferation of the last two decades have recently forced many UK financial institutions to engage in an attempt to prune their ranges in order to re-focus on the core (The Banker, 2000; Economist, 2002; Time, 2002). In this attempt the process of financial service elimination becomes a tool of strategic significance not only to the consolidation plans but also to the future growth of many UK financial institutions.\nTheoretical background and conceptual framework: Empirical research on the elimination evaluation stage in manufacturing settings\nResearch method: Data collection and sampling\nResults: Identification of the elimination evaluation factors and rating of their influence on management\nDiscussion: Identification of the elimination evaluation factors and rating of their influence on management\nConclusion: Summary of findings\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to offer service practitioners evidence about: the factors that financial institutions consider in order to evaluate the impact on the entire company of an eventual decision to eliminate a financial service from the range; the degree of influence that these factors exert on management; and the contextual conditions that shape the above degree of influence.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research is based on 20 in-depth interviews with higher echelon managers from an equal number of UK financial institutions and a mail survey of 112 specific elimination case histories from an equal number of UK banks, building societies and insurance companies.\nFindings: - The impact of a financial service's eventual elimination on the relationships of the company with its customers is rated as the most influential evaluation factor. Other influential evaluation factors are the impact on the public image of the financial institution and the impact on the sales and the profitability of other financial services in the range. However, the degree of influence is largely situation specific.\nPractical implications: - The implications are twofold. First, in managers' attempts to project the impact of a financial service's eventual elimination from the range they may avoid imitating competitors. Second, managers may avoid being mechanistic in evaluating the impact of eventual elimination decisions.\nOriginality/value: - This paper represents the first empirical attempt to shed light on the way in which service companies evaluate the impact of a service's elimination from the range.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Towards a new culture of work-place inclusiveness: the Dutch case
|
[
"The Netherlands",
"Women",
"Workforce",
"Part‐time workers",
"Hours of work"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The societal and scientific debates on equality, diversity and inclusion often stress the importance of managerial support for reduced working hours, particularly of female professionals. In the Dutch debate, however, the focus has started to shift to managerial support for increasing women's working hours. In view of the predicted structural shortage of manpower, the Dutch government increasingly recognizes women's underutilized human capital as an opportunity for the Dutch economy to remain strong and competitive. In April 2008, therefore, the Dutch government appointed the \"Taskforce Part-Time Plus\" to stimulate longer working hours of particularly Dutch women holding part-time jobs of less than 24 h per week, relating to 1.5 million women. The Taskforce views cultural factors to be accountable for Dutch women's current labour-market positions, including their economic dependency and absence in higher labour-market segments.In 2009, the Taskforce commissioned two studies to further analyse this proposition. The first study, conducted by the Social and Cultural Planning Office (Keuzenkamp et al., 2009), comprised of three surveys, respectively, among: women holding smaller part-time jobs; full-time working men; and employers. The study showed that only a small amount of Dutch part-time working women is willing to work longer hours in the short term. The second study (Visser et al., 2009) focused on the relationship between \"ambition, working hours and gender\". A survey on 7,000 male and female labour-market participants (conducted by Research for Policy) was combined with qualitative data collection, (conducted by the Institute for Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen), encompassing focus group interviews with 35 male and female part-time workers and their managers, and three group model building sessions. From these studies, a complementary picture emerged. The study rejected the hypothesis that women's lower working hours could be explained by a lack of career ambition. However, the results showed that women did neither feel challenged, nor supported by their working and household conditions to extend their working hours to realize their ambitions (in the short run).The Dutch case, therefore, illustrates that, in some contexts, greater equality, diversity and inclusion not only demands support for reduced work-loads, but rather calls for a new culture in which women's marginal labour-market participation does not remain unquestioned. Managers were shown to be potential key players in the change process as they are in the position to recognize and support women's ambitions by allowing greater flexibility for both men and women to realize their ambitions both in the private and professional domains.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the work of the Dutch government's \"Taskforce Part-time Plus\" set up to stimulate longer working hours for particularly Dutch women holding part-time jobs of less than 24 h per week, to help counteract a predicted structural shortage of manpower.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In 2009, the Taskforce commissioned two studies. The first study comprised three surveys, respectively, among: women holding smaller part-time jobs; full-time working men; and employers. The second study focused on the relationship between ambition, working hours and gender. A survey of 7,000 male and female labour-market participants was combined with qualitative data collection, encompassing focus group interviews with 35 male and female part-time workers and their managers, and three group model building sessions.\nFindings: - The first study showed that only a small amount of Dutch part-time working women is willing to work longer hours in the short term. In the second study, the hypothesis that women's lower working hours could be explained by a lack of career ambition was rejected. However, the results showed that women did neither feel challenged, nor supported by their working and household conditions to extend their working hours to realize their ambitions (in the short run).\nOriginality/value: - The paper illustrates that, in the Dutch case and in some contexts, greater equality, diversity and inclusion not only demands support for reduced work-loads, but rather calls for a new culture in which women's marginal labour-market participation does not remain unquestioned.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Work-based learning creates rounded bosses and teams: Focus on the "softer skills" can provide strong and valuable lessons for managers
|
[
"Experiential learning",
"Collaborating learning",
"China",
"Learning organizations",
"Project management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nVelvet glove: Some social aspects of work-based learning are seen traditionally as providing employers with \"soft skills,\" icing on the cake rather than the really essential \"hard\" skills.In fact, the people skills required by managers can hardly be called soft at all. As Gene Dixon observes, experienced managers would certainly take issue with the term, seeing the people skills they require as fundamental to carrying out their role effectively. Because whatever the business, management per se becomes the key focus for a leader, whatever his or her field might be.East Carolina University (ECU) has an engineering program which sets great store on preparing students for their working lives through a project management course that incorporates both experiential and service learning. Students are taught to integrate problem solving into their course responsibilities, collaborating effectively with their peers throughout the process.Service learning and experiential learning are both central to helping students understand the responsibilities that come with project management. Through service learning, they address real community issues and problems that provide insights which help students to grow personally as well as providing organizational experience in developing teamwork skills.\nActive approach: Experiential learning, with its emphasis on action and experimentation, provides an effective way to realistically teach project management. Most projects to which students are assigned are associated with the non-profit sector and require such skills as project integration, time management, quality management and communications skills, all of which are among the nine knowledge areas which students have to cover as part of the course.Furthermore, with students placed in teaching, supervisory and administrative roles, they are required to consider issues in more than one way. Approaches will differ according to the role they have taken on. This encourages growth of flexible thinking among students - the ability to understand that perspectives inevitably differ from role to role. It discourages, therefore, the development of a limited or even solipsistic world view in which their view of a situation or scenario must be the right and only one. Students also become experienced in dealing with senior managers.The course is constantly being modified and ECU has been keen to use student feedback to help with this process. They are asked to evaluate the course using questions which relate to the objectives of the program, with 1-5 Likert scales, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree used to collect data. There is evidence of both students and tutors being quite critical at times of the evaluation process and there is an awareness that its scope could be extended.For example, student success is the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination is vital, and this is not an area that has been addressed directly within project management assignments. This could change, however, because some project management topics do offer opportunities to reinforce FE learning in such areas as statistics and engineering economy.Many students, meanwhile, have enjoyed contributing to their communities through involvement in the non-profit sector and have continued to engage in voluntary work with community partners. Instructors have taken pleasure in seeing students grow up and become more rounded individuals. What might be seen by some as the development of \"soft skills\" is actually contributing to the likelihood that they will be better managers, who can make tough decisions which actually require the harder skills of management.\nKeeping faith: Managers also need to learn when to shun unpopular decisions. When businesses and the economy are struggling to make headway in tough times, it can mark the end for some \"softer\" investments and incentives that companies were previously happy to offer. It is all too easy for firms to decide that certain \"perks\" can go, such as employee-of-the-month bonuses or extra days off to ease workers into retirement after many years loyal service.However, there is a danger that, in terms of ebbing faith in an organization which workers were previously proud to represent, companies might lose more than they gain through such initiatives. Soft investments in a company can pay for themselves very quickly, as a major technology firm in California's Silicon Valley discovered when it introduced a social learning initiative (SLI).Social learning might be defined as learning in a social context - in this context, of course, the organization for which people are working. What they learn should be of benefit to the business, because individuals will become more informed and, as a result, better at what they do. This might sound like something that would be hard to measure. However, Willyerd and Pearce argue that, because of the great strides made during the past four decades on the science of measurement, it is possible to take a calculated look at social learning.They propose seven steps which organizations should address, relating to business success. Although these can be used with any capital investment, they argue that they are all entirely applicable to a social learning initiative.For example, their first step revolves around assessment of the value of a business impact activity. This includes the belief that knowing which corporate functions benefit from use of social learning would help the company to both target future customers and sell to them. Peer-to-peer mentoring, leadership training and diversity initiatives are all social learning issues that are suited to impact study. Other important issues include getting stakeholders on board and identifying the strategy goals which the SLI initiative hopes to meet.\nWidespread: They further argue that working backwards from the desired outcome of the initiative is a key factor in tracking the effectiveness of the initiative, while also contending that it is entirely possible to calculate business impact, including which groups benefit most from the SLI. It is certainly a widespread initiative, with almost 11,000 employees (40 per cent of the workforce) accessing content at some point.Furthermore, the initiative would appear to be cost effective, with SLI's peer-to-peer learning environment removing the need for the traditional instructional design and content development expertise associated with instructor-led and web-based training. The company estimated that SLI had a return-on-investment of 75:1 over web-based training. That represented a net gain of $29.5 million.The authors also believe that the methodology used here can be transferred to other types of training. They cite the example of a packaged-food company that went through a major restructuring process, where the initiative enabled them to consider the business impact of safety training as well as the ways that individuals were affected, through, for example, turnover rates and potential for promotion. In the case of safety training, it was reckoned that small plants that took training seriously saw a 1.55-point safety increase on a ten-point scale.Tutors running creative writing programs often like to start with an exercise in which their students produce two pieces of dialog: in one, two people are in mutual agreement, in the other they argue vociferously. The point of the exercise is that the latter dialog, with its potential for revealing different perspectives and emotions, is likely to be both easier to create and dramatically more satisfying.Differences of opinion and viewpoint can also be creative for the protagonists in the story, who are likely to \"learn\" more than if they simply say \"yes\" to everything. That fundamental truth is at the heart of research by Chen et al. into the way that constructive controversy (defined as \"the open-minded discussion of opposing views for mutual benefit\") can boost work-based learning, helping teams in industry to work more constructively. Their research gave positive results to two hypotheses: that learning promotes team effectiveness, and that team members engaging in constructive controversy will facilitate organizational learning.The survey was conducted among almost 1,500 employees in northern China's Shandong Province, with employees ensured of confidentiality for the responses. Manufacturing is at the heart of China's growing economy, making organizational learning vital to the nation's continuing economic development.The questionnaires took in 21 manufacturing facilities and 155 teams. It took just 25-30 minutes for each participant to complete the survey, and 40 days to complete data collection. Valid completed questionnaires were very high, including 94 percent of the team leaders. Participants answered questions relating to constructive controversy, learning orientation and team effectiveness, again on a scale ranging from \"strongly agree\" to \"strongly disagree.\" Issues relating to constructive controversy included: \"Team members express their own views directly to one another,\" \"Even when they disagree, team members communicate respect for one another\" and \"Team members try to understand one another's concerns.\"\nWestern influence: Previous research has suggested that constructive controversy promotes student learning in the classroom and there was good support for both the constructive controversy and learning orientation hypotheses when structural equations were analyzed. Teams do seem to be able to strengthen their learning orientation through properly structured constructive controversy. That is not to suggest, the authors allow, that constructive controversy is necessarily easy to develop in China, with its collectivist mentality. It is likely that, in the West, employees are more still comfortable overall with some of these concepts.In China, employees could perhaps be rewarded financially to some extent based on the outcome of group work - which embraces constructive controversy - and which is shown to benefit the organization as a whole. These issues are important for the Chinese economy. The nation's government is trying to encourage more advanced and more sophisticated management in order to help develop manufacturing. The importance of teamwork is therefore constantly being emphasized because mutual collaboration and learning will reap dividends.The study suggests that training in constructive controversy will help boost both product quality and operational efficiency. It is important that management understands that the differences aired as a result of constructive controversy are part of the learning process, not an alien \"western\" intrusion which is an enemy of that process.\nComment: This review is based on \"Service learning and integrated, collaborative project management,\" by Dixon, \"How does social learning measure up\" by Willyerd and Pearse, and \"Constructive controversy for learning and team effectiveness in China,\" by Chen et al.Dixon gives a detailed account of the way ECU's project management course encourages a collaborative mentality. Student feedback indicates an intelligent analysis of which parts of the process work most effectively.Social learning might sound like a vague concept which amounts to no more than whether businesses have a \"feel-good factor\" for employees. However, Willyerd and Pearse provide sound evidence that something considered difficult to measure does in fact lend itself to some shrewd calculations.Perhaps the most interesting question arising from Chen et al.'s research is the extent to which manufacturers will be willing to shrug off a collectivist mentality, and make use of employees' apparent willingness to embrace constructive controversy\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - Some social aspects of work-based learning are seen traditionally as providing employers with \"soft skills,\" icing on the cake rather than the really essential \"hard\" skills. In fact, the people skills required by managers can hardly be called soft at all. As Gene Dixon observes, experienced managers would certainly take issue with the term, seeing the people skills they require as fundamental to carrying out their role effectively. Because whatever the business, management per se becomes the key focus for a leader, whatever his or her field might be.\nPractical implications: - The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nSocial implications: - The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that can have a broader social impact.\nOriginality/value: - The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
How to counter the growing disengagement with engagement programs: Use "dream management"
|
[
"Coaching",
"Engagement and learning",
"Organizational change and learning",
"Team development",
"Management development",
"Employee engagement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Employee engagement continues to be a thorny issue for many organizations but in particular, those employing large numbers of \"millennials\" and younger workers. These employees are typically less likely to be motivated purely by financial remuneration and more likely to want a job or career that gives them what engagement experts describe as \"whole life satisfaction\". As PwC (2011) highlights in an annual study of employee engagement, millennial workers born between 1985 and 1995 are driven by social needs, having the feeling of appreciation and being able to collaborate with their co-workers. This contrasts with Generation X workers born between1965 and 1979 who want financial security and a steady career path.\nPractical steps: how to approach organizational dream making: In conclusion, when considering the viability of dream making as an employee engagement program within an organization, it is essential for leaders to acknowledge certain enabling or limiting factors:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: How do organizations approach the issue of employee engagement for a predominantly millennial workforce? What can leadership do to reverse the trend in organizations for high employee turnover? How can the preference among millennials for their employers to provide life experience and personal growth opportunities be used by organizations for strategic benefit?\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper reviews the author's first hand experience as an human resource department and managing director of a FTSE 100 company and executive coach. The author's belief is verified with evidence that suggests managers and business leaders need to appreciate that a key part of their role now is to recognize the individual dreams of the people within their organizations and enable them to realize some of these aspirations.\nFindings: For employees to really be engaged in their work, they have to be engaged in their lives. Dream management as an employee engagement intervention has been implemented in a number of US organizations and follows a structured program of group-based coaching to help employees to pursue their whole life dreams and in doing so, become better versions of themselves.\nOriginality/value: When considering the viability of dream making as an employee engagement program within an organization, it is essential for leaders to acknowledge certain enabling or limiting factors as outlined in the article.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Supply chain practices and performance: the indirect effects of supply chain integration
|
[
"Competitiveness",
"Business performance",
"Company performance",
"Business excellence",
"Supply chain performance",
"Supply chain integration",
"Supply chain practices"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The study of supply chain management has emerged as a prominent field in providing organizations with strategies to build long-term competitiveness (Azadi et al., 2014; Boon-itt and Paul, 2006; Mortensen et al., 2008). Supply chain management has the ability to promote the integration of organizations which was previously independent, for improving in organizational collaboration (Ajmera and Cook, 2009; Zhang et al., 2015). Research shows that integrative organization collaboration enhances organizational performance (Green et al., 2006; Tracey and Tan, 2001) and SCP (Gunasekaran et al., 2004; Otto and Kotzab, 2003). Within the areas of supply chain management, literatures highlight the need to understand supply chain management practices (SCMPs) which have become an essential prerequisite to remain competitive in the global race with profitable growth (Moberg et al., 2002; Okongwu et al., 2015; Power et al., 2001; Sezen, 2008). In addition, the strategic nature of SCMPs will be able to explain the dual purpose of supply chain management: to improve the performance of an individual organization, and to improve the performance of the entire supply chain (Wong et al., 1999). In order to be highly competitive and at the same time achieve sustainable profitability growth, supply chain management seeks close integration of internal functions within the firm and external linkages with suppliers, customers and other channel members. This could be achieved through the effective construction of various SCMPs (Kim, 2006). Although some organizations have realized the importance of implementing supply chain management, they often do not know exactly what to implement, due to a lack of understanding of what constitutes a comprehensive set of SCMPs (Li et al., 2006a, b). Furthermore, given the failure of so many supply chain management efforts to yield the desired improvements in performance, the question remains whether SCMPs can positively impact performance (Handfield and Nichols, 1998; Tan et al., 1999).\n2. Literature review and research framework: An important task in examining the link between SCMPs, SCI and SCP is to develop a robust theoretical foundation that enables the study to further develop the model and hypothesis. In doing so, first, we clarify the concept of SCMPs, SCI and SCP used in this study. Subsequently, the theory, model and hypothesis are further developed and explained.\n3. Methodology: 3.1. Sampling\n4. Results: The correlation matrix describes the association between the variables as well as reveals the strength of association of the seven dimensions of the SCMPs on SCI and performance. Table IV also shows that all the seven SCMPs dimensions are significantly positively associated with the mediating variable (SCI) and dependent variable (SCP). Mean scores indicates the level of the SCMPs in the electronics firms in Malaysia. It is observed that relatively information quality (5.85), information sharing (5.76) and customer relation management (5.67) are highly practiced by the electronics firms compared to other SCMPs.\n5. Theoretical and managerial implications: The theoretical literature on supply chain management suggest direct causal link between SCMPs and performance. And, evidence of this link unsurprisingly promotes policy makers and managers to devise policy instruments and managerial implications. As a result, greater attention is attached on the SCMPs ignoring the role of SCI. In this study, a number of theoretical contributions have been made. First, this study has departed from two disjointed literatures (e.g. influence of SCMPs and performance as well as influence of SCI and performance) by integrating the framework of analysis and empirically showing the influence of SCMPs on SCP through the mediating effects of SCI. The theoretically integrated perspective provides a better framework for understanding the complex relationship between SCMPs, SCI and SCP. In other words, the roles of SCMPs are revealed to understand the possible means to appropriate SCP. Second, we make further contribution by revealing how each dimension of SCMPs are mediated by SCI, either fully or partially, in influencing SCP. It suggests that SCI do not have the same mediating effects on all dimensions of SCMPs in influencing SCP. The decomposition of the SCMPs itself is important for managers and researchers to understand. Therefore, managers and researchers should be cautioned in assuming that SCI is beneficial in the same manner to explain the relationship between SCMPs and SCP. For instance, those SCMPs that SCI mediates partially to influence SCP exhibits two part impact. First, the direct impact on SCP and second, indirect effects through SCI on performance. In contrast, for those dimensions of SCMPs that are fully mediated, the evidence cautions that with the absence of SCI, SCMPs will have small or no impact on SCP. This theoretically contribution is rare in the past literatures. This information is very crucial especially in the age of globalization where increasingly firms intensify SCI processes both internally and externally. Indeed, in the case of Malaysia, it is important given that integration between MNCs and SMEs will further enhance the competitiveness of the industry as a whole. MNCs also requires the support of the SMEs in facilitating their production through outsourcing activities.\n6. Limitations: This study has its own limitations. Among them include the selective case study on electronics firms. With respect to this, evidence is limited to only one sector and generalization may not be possible especially when accounting for the applicability of the findings in other sectors. However, as explained earlier, single sector case study allows the study to avoid heterogenity in terms of controlling for industrial characteristics, which is diverse, and provide greater control over the sample and estimation. Indeed, since the mediating model has been verified, future studies can expand their scope to test the framework suggested in this study within the context of other sectorial setting. Another limitation, however, is that there might be a cause for possible response bias as data were collected from single respondents in an organization. Caution should, therefore, be exercised when interpreting the results. Future research should endeavor to collect data from multiple members within the firm. Furthermore, since this study reports questionnaire survey at one point in time, it might not show trends or changes. Therefore, further research could enhance the generalizability of the present results. Further research could also be performed to expand research scope to investigate the comparative implementation situation between different industries in terms of types of business operations, ownership and firm sizes. Other than this, future research can also be undertaken on studying the synergies between total quality management practices and knowledge management as well as measuring how practices of other disciplines in combination with SCMPs could affect SCI and SCP.\n7. Conclusion: In conclusion, as a whole, findings in this study indicate that SCMPs have significant effects on SCI. The finding is also in accordance with previous studies that found the significant role of SCMPs in achieving SCI (Kim, 2006; Levy et al., 1995; Li et al., 2009; Power, 2005). These variables are, in fact, been mediated by SCI in influencing SCP. It was found that SCI plays an important role in enhancing SCP. Thus, enhanced level of SCI is important in improving the SCP. Furthermore, SCI was also found to partially mediate the relationship of SCMPs (via information sharing and information quality dimension) and SCP. Overall, the findings show that supplier strategic partnering is the most important dimension of the SCMPs in influencing SCI and SCP. This finding is consistent with other studies that highlighted the significant role of SSP in achieving SCP (Hamister, 2012; Roloff et al., 2015; Qrunfleh and Tarafdar, 2013).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to employ a newly developed framework to examine the complex relationship between different components of supply chain practices, supply chain integration (SCI) and supply chain performance (SCP) in the Malaysian electronics sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study utilizes survey data of 156 electronics firms in Malaysia and tested the research framework and hypotheses. In addition to the traditional approach of Barron and Kenny (1986), the Sobel test as well as a bootstrapping approach, which is deemed for small sample size, is used to formally test the indirect effects of SCI in the model.\nFindings: SCI has fully and partially mediated the relationship between supply chain management practices (SCMPs) and SCP. SCI fully mediates the relationship between SCP and three of the SCMPs, namely, information quality, agreed vision and goals and postponement strategies. The relationship of supply strategic partnership, customer relation management, information sharing with SCP were partially mediated by SCI. Risk and reward sharing is found to be non-significant. These insights allow managers to effectively utilize the different components of SCMPs for SCI and performance.\nPractical implications: For supply chain practitioners, the results of the study can be useful in integrating SCMPs and SCI on improving SCP. Practitioners should take into account the mediating effect of SCI in designing their supply chain management approach to production.\nOriginality/value: To the authors' best knowledge, this paper is one of the first to address the mediating effect of SCI between SCMPs and overall performance of the supply chain.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Transnational education and total quality management: a stakeholder-centred model
|
[
"Stakeholder engagement",
"Total quality management",
"Transnational education",
"Quality assurance",
"Stakeholder relationships",
"Stakeholder orientation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Quality assurance is a key concern in academic service. In offshore or transnational education (TNE), where higher education institutions provide academic service in another country, under a different learning environment, compared to their main onshore campus; generally, the quality assurance process is more complex, because of such different learning settings. \"A 2008 study reveals that the demand for higher education is expected to grow from the current 99 million students worldwide to 414 million by 2030\" (European Parliamentary Research Service, 2013, n.p.; as cited in Shams, 2016a). From this context, higher education institutions have been devoting their efforts to adapt with the diversified issues of higher education, with an aim for \"integrating an international dimension into the (overall) purpose, goals, functions and delivery of higher education\" (Knight, 2007, 134; as cited in Hou, 2014, p. 135). On one hand, because of increasing demand of TNE (Healey, 2013), and such a projected growth in the global higher education industry, ensuring quality in higher education across different countries, education systems and learning environments becomes crucial in the contemporary higher education management. On the other hand, in general, maintaining an equal standard of education service across different campuses is more challenging (Shams, 2013a), particularly for TNEs, who typically operate more than one campus in different countries. In support of this view, Hou (2014) argues that \"ensuring that the quality of cross-border education meets both local and international standards has become a challenge in many nations\" (p. 136).\nTNE and significance of quality management in TNE: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (2007) defined TNE as:[...] all types of higher education study programs, sets of study courses, or educational services (including those of distance education) in which the learners are located in a country different from the one where the awarding institution is based. Such programs may belong to the educational system of a state, different from the state in which it operates, or may operate independently of any national system(McBrayer, 2011, p. 43).\nTNE and TQM: In the previous section, it is recognised that managing the quality of education service is harder and more complex in particular for TNEs. In general, TNE programmes lack accountability, compared to onshore programmes, which justifies the need to structure an overall TQM framework for TNEs, despite several quality control agreements and regulations (Nix, 2009). In response to such a problem, some scholars, from time to time attempted to adjust different industry-based TQM concepts and diverse models to manage quality in higher education (e.g. Ho and Wearn, 1995; Houston, 2007; Sayeda et al., 2010; Baraki and Van Kemenade, 2013; Sahu et al., 2013); however, there is very limited work on the integration of industry-based TQM models into education service, in order to uphold quality assurance in education (Mehta et al., 2014). For this study, a simple \"stakeholder-focused\" TQM model is adapted from Miguel and Santiago's (2010) study on the \"Mercadona\" as the leading Spanish supermarket chain, in order to understand whether there is any influence of \"stakeholder cooperation, communication and engagement\" on TNEs' TQM design and implementation. A particular reason to analyse and adapt such an industry-based \"stakeholder-focused\" TQM model is some scholars (O'Mahony and Garavan, 2012; Houston and Paewai, 2013; Stalmeijer et al., 2016) consider \"stakeholder cooperation, communication and engagement\" as a quality assurance driving factor in higher education.\nEmpirical insights: Centred on the inductive arguments and conceptual synthesis of the preceding \"transnational education and total quality management\" section, this \"empirical insights\" section presents empirical evidences to uphold the discussed stakeholder orientation centred TQM process for TNEs. In general, stakeholder orientation is to identify business opportunities and delivering stakeholder value, based on understanding the stakeholders' value anticipations (Shams, 2016c). From this context, the following sub-sections discuss empirical examples that illustrate either identification of business opportunities or delivery of stakeholder value or both, based on stakeholder orientation to support TNE quality assurance processes.\nFurther discussion and research direction: The section of \"transnational education and total quality management\" conceptualises a stakeholder-focussed TQM model to uphold TNEs' quality assurance processes. The next section of \"empirical insights\" develops some practical arguments and examples from different TNEs' operations to support the six elements of this initial conceptual TQM model. This current section attempts to develop further insights, based on a prospective practical; however speculative example of student orientation to uphold TNE quality, along with discussions on future research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Quality assurance is a key concern in higher education, which is more complex in offshore transnational education (TNE), compared to onshore provision of education service. However, higher education quality assurance is an established research domain; there is very limited work on the efficacy of industry-based total quality management (TQM) considerations to uphold quality in higher education, particularly in TNE. From this context, the purpose of this paper is to develop new insights in this under-researched area.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An inductive constructivist approach is followed to analyse extant scholarly views in relevant disciplinary areas to develop new insights, in relation to the significance of industry-based TQM in TNEs' quality assurance.\nFindings: Stakeholder orientation is recognised, as a significant consideration to uphold quality in TNE. Different stakeholders are identified, who would have substantial influence on TNEs' TQM. How these stakeholders could influence the TQM process is clarified. Some empirical insights are also developed, in support of the arguments of the paper.\nPractical implications: These insights will be useful for education administrators to better align their stakeholder relationships to underpin TQM. Academics will be able to use these insights as a basis for future research towards the significance of industry-based TQM in higher education.\nOriginality/value: Based on a stakeholder-focussed TNE TQM model, the findings represent an innovative strategic direction towards a better understanding of the significance of stakeholder relationships, pertaining to TQM in the contemporary higher education system.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Heuristic evaluation of healthy menus: examining the effect of brand image congruity
|
[
"Brand image congruity",
"Healthy menu promotion",
"Nutritional attitude",
"Perceived information credibility"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Healthy eating is considered essential to the promotion and maintenance of good health throughout one's life. According to the National Restaurant Association (NRA, 2013), 71 per cent of American adults seek healthier options when they dine out. To meet customers' increased demands for healthy food, industry professionals across various restaurant segments have added more healthful options to their menus. Studies exploring the effect of stimulus-based contextual factors on customers' healthy decision-making have indicated that consumers' attitudes toward the product and nutrition, as well as purchase intentions, were more favorable when presented with nutritional information or health claims. Yet, in reality, customers might find it difficult to use the available information systematically to judge menu item healthiness, especially when they need to make quick decisions at a restaurant. Even with substantial effort, assessing the true healthiness of a menu item based only on nutritional information might be difficult. Consequently, customers might resort to selected pieces of information, such as a restaurant's brand image, for their evaluation of a menu item.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Brand image congruity\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Pilot studies\n4. Results: 4.1 Sample profile\n5. Discussion and conclusions: 5.1 Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate how restaurant customers' heuristic judgment, originating from their perceived level of congruity between restaurant brand image regarding healthfulness and healthy menu products, can affect their information processing in terms of their perceived nutritional information credibility and, furthermore, how these effects influence customers' attitude toward the menu in terms of healthiness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A Web-based survey was developed and distributed to randomly selected respondents in the USA, and in total, 320 responses were used for the data analyses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relationship among three constructs: perceived brand-product congruity, perceived nutritional information credibility and nutrition attitude toward the healthy menu item being promoted. To assess the mediating role of perceived information credibility, an analytical procedure proposed by (Baron and Kenny 1986) was used. Finally, to investigate the moderating effect of the health involvement, multiple group analyses were executed.\nFindings: The study results suggested that the synchronization between healthful brand image of the restaurant and the promoted menu item is important for ensuring customers' perceptions of information credibility regarding the menu item healthiness and for eliciting customers' positive nutrition attitudes toward the menu item. Also, positive nutrition attitudes toward a menu item can be increased by improving perceived information credibility. Depending on an individual's level of health involvement, the relationships between the three proposed constructs vary.\nOriginality/value: This paper includes a theoretical model that explains customers' heuristic evaluation of a healthy menu product by assessing the influence of brand image congruity in terms of healthy menu promotion.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Survivors' experiences of journalists and media exposure: A retrospective qualitative study 15 years after a ferry disaster
|
[
"Media effects",
"Qualitative content analysis",
"Media coverage",
"Media ethics",
"Disaster survivors",
"Media management",
"Reporters",
"Trauma journalism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Disasters and large-scale incidents generate intensive and widespread media coverage. In the immediate aftermath, reporters and photographers seek to interview survivors, who often suffer from acute stress (Englund, 2008; Englund et al., 2014) and the reporting often spans across several years. Disaster management teams have plans that may include advice or explicit strategies on media communication (Englund et al., 2012), and crisis support plans sometimes include recommendations for how to support survivors who are to be interviewed by journalists (Brymer et al., 2006). As of yet, however, there is very little empirical data to draw from when formulating these strategies.\n2. Method: 2.1 The event\n3. Results: The analysis generated four similar categories concerning the participants' experiences of interacting with journalists and their experiences of the media coverage. There were 17 subcategories: 9 of experiences of meeting with journalists and 8 of the media coverage (Table II). The results show both similarities and a diversity of experiences from meeting the media and the media coverage.\n4. Discussion: The survivors from the Estonia ferry disaster described a wide array of experiences from their contacts with the journalists and their exposure in the media. We found four common categories in their experiences: strain, support, rationality and evasion. The categories strain and evasion describe negative aspects of these experiences, the category support indicates clearly positive aspects, and the category rationality describes an instrumental approach.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The media is an important part of disaster management, yet little is understood about their interplay with the disaster survivors. The purpose of this paper is to examine disaster survivors' long-term retrospective views of their experiences with journalists and the media coverage.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 22 Swedish adult survivors (of 49 eligible) from a ferry disaster in the Baltic Sea, in which only 137 of the 989 people onboard survived, were interviewed after 15 years about their experiences of meeting journalists in the immediate aftermath and the media coverage in a long-term perspective. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.\nFindings: Survivors from the Estonia ferry disaster described a wide array of experiences from their contacts with the disaster journalists and being exposed in the media. From their experiences, four categories were extracted. The categories were common for both their media contacts and their media exposure: strain, support, rationality and evasion. The survivors' experiences were both negative and positive.\nResearch limitations/implications: These accounts of disaster survivors' experiences from an event 15 years ago provide an interesting comparison for future studies of contemporary disasters.\nOriginality/value: This study provides important perspectives on the role of disaster coverage in the media and documents how disaster survivors retrospect on the media as both a burden and a resource.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Business model performance: five key drivers
|
[
"Performance drivers",
"Value creation",
"Business model",
"Value capture",
"Dynamic perspective",
"Performance mechanisms"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Entrepreneurial firms must develop high-performing business models both to generate sustainable profits and to survive in competitive environments. The drivers of business model performance have been addressed in numerous studies published over the past few years (Demil and Lecocq, 2010; Zott et al., 2011; Lambert and Davidson, 2013). The findings of this research are scattered across theoretical approaches and multiple schools of business model thinking, and thus, managers lack an integrative, actionable view on the drivers of business model performance. To address this shortcoming, we reviewed 38 recent studies that addressed business model performance and combined their insights into five key drivers and a set of associated guiding principles for managerial practice.\nBusiness model performance: what do we know?: Performance has been at the core of management thinking since the early 20th century, but it remains one of its most debated and least understood concepts. Management practitioners and scholars alike often hold strong implicit assumptions about the nature of performance, which give rise to divergent interpretations of performance. This is reflected in a tension in business model research between static and dynamic understandings of performance (Demil and Lecocq, 2010).\nToward an integrative framework: Existing studies tend to separate static and dynamic approaches, but it is evident that both are needed in practice to effectively guide the development of high-performing business models. We combine insights from the static and the dynamic view to propose five key drivers, supported by a broad range of performance mechanisms (see Table I below). From the static view, we borrow the insight that business model performance depends on basic business model configuration choices, which concern three dimensions: customer engagement, external linkages and internal processes. From the dynamic view, we include the insight that business model configurations must evolve to match - and ideally anticipate - changing conditions, requiring a high degree of firm-level strategic awareness and reconfiguration capacity.\nRethinking customer engagement: Our first performance driver addresses how a business model relates to customers and involves customers in the value creation process. Traditional strategic marketing and positioning approaches create a first level of customer engagement-related performance. To move further, however, identifying and addressing the right customers is not enough. Strong business model performance depends on carefully crafting an understanding of what a firm offers its customers, and how it engages in its customer relationships (Baden-Fuller and Mangematin, 2013). Shifting cost to customers, increasing customer loyalty and attachment, as well as reaping the benefits of user-driven innovation, are three distinct performance mechanisms that can be activated through new forms of customer engagement.\nReconfiguring external linkages: Our second performance driver concerns the management of external value chains. Value chain optimization allows firms to improve performance through focusing on core competencies and resources, exploiting lock-in effects and leveraging network-based innovation and knowledge links.\nOptimizing internal processes: The optimization of internal processes typically pursues two objectives on two different levels: increasing process efficiency in terms of time and cost, and reducing costs and time to market for new products or services.\nCultivating strategic awareness: Strategic awareness is a fundamental driver for securing a high level of business model performance over time. Two distinct mechanisms link strategic awareness to performance: first, adopting and cultivating a mind-set open to sensing opportunities in a firm's environment makes firms more proactive, allowing them to convert potential threats into business opportunities. Second, strategic awareness allows firms to enhance business model performance via the reduction of uncertainty.\nDeveloping reconfiguration capacity: The ability not just to sense strategic changes but to successfully reconfigure a firm's business model over time is a central condition for long-term performance. Entrepreneurial ventures must overcome tensions due to mismatches between their initial business model and technology and changing conditions and which can require drastic reconfiguration (Lehoux et al., 2014). Reconfiguration capacity enhances business model performance through organizational learning and risk reduction in business model portfolios.\nManaging performance drivers over time: The five drivers of business model performance combine multiple theoretical approaches and views of performance. From a static perspective, business model performance results from the configuration of elements that include customer engagement, value networks and internal processes at a given moment in time. The dynamic perspective, on the contrary, emphasize firm ability to cultivate strategic awareness and its ability to constantly question and reconfigure business models as conditions of sustainable performance. In practice, all five drivers are strongly connected and must be managed together. Yet, the emphasis managers should place on the development of static vs dynamic drivers changes over a firm's life cycle.\nConclusion: So far, most academic studies looked primarily at types and elements of business models and proposed a large number of distinct explanations of business model performance. As a consequence, managerial guidelines that holistically assess and imagine ways of improving business model performance are lacking. In this article, we contributed to addressing this issue by proposing a set of performance drivers and mechanisms as well as a list of guiding questions that bridge static and dynamic perspectives on business model performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to help readers to better understand and manage the key drivers of business model performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper investigates research on business model performance to identify and illustrate five static and dynamic performance drivers.\nFindings: While performance mechanisms linked to traditional business model components remain instrumental for business model success, the authors argue that managers need to adopt a more dynamic view, emphasizing how changing combinations of drivers matter over a firm's life cycle.\nOriginality/value: The proposed approach combines insights from multiple theoretical perspective into an actionable framework for management practitioners.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Market power, dismissal threat, and rent sharing: The role of insider and outsider forces in wage bargaining
|
[
"Pay bargaining",
"Market forces",
"Dismissal",
"Rents",
"Portugal"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: It is widely agreed that labor turnover costs (LTC) give insider workers market power that they can exploit to their own advantage. In fact, insiders' positions are protected by LTC which give them some labor market power in the process of wage negotiation. The insider-outsider approach relies on the assumption that wages are set through bargaining, not between firms and the whole labor force, but rather between firms and their workers. In this context wages might be widely influenced by firm's internal conditions rather than by external conditions and it should be expected that the greater the hiring and firing costs, the more the insider wage will depend on the \"inside factors\" relative to the \"outside factors\". Furthermore, it should also be expected that in labor markets with high job security and/or high adjustment costs the threat of dismissal is relatively stronger, because mean unemployment duration tends to be longer.Relying on the distinction between insider and outsider workers, the insider-outsider theory of wage formation aims to explain why wages may be set above their market-clearing levels[1]. The insider-outsider explanation is based on the idea that the level of wages is primarily determined by the currently employed workers (the so-called \"insiders\"), with unemployed (the \"outsiders\") playing little or no role in the process of wage bargaining. Furthermore, this approach attempts to explain why unemployed workers do not compete for existing jobs by offering to work at jobs for which they are qualified at a wage lower than that currently being paid to incumbents. Lindbeck and Snower (1986) showed that the existence of costs associated with insider-outsider turnover might explain why firms do not replace their high-wage insiders with low-wage outsiders. Accordingly, involuntary unemployment can arise due to the existence of LTC such as hiring, training, and firing costs or the costs generated by the disincentive to cooperate with outsiders, that make it costly for the firm to replace an insider worker with an unemployed worker[2]. The rents associated with these labor market frictions give some bargaining power to insiders in the process of wage setting.Based on this theoretical framework, in the 1990s, the econometric models of wage determination started to include measures of the firm's profits or financial performance as explanatory variables. This literature has focused directly on rent-sharing models (see, among others, Nickell et al., 1994; Holmlund and Zetterberg, 1991; Abowd and Lemieux, 1993; Blanchflower et al., 1996; Hildreth and Oswald, 1997). These studies used panel data at both firm or industry levels, and estimated a number of versions of the wage equation with rents per worker included. Although they used different models of collective bargaining, the results of these studies indicate, in general, that changes in profitability are shown to feed through into long-run changes in wages. A branch of this literature, to which this paper is more closely related, has been focusing on the relative importance of insider versus outsider forces in wage determination. These studies show that firm specific factors, as well as general labor market conditions, play an important role on the process of wage determination, although the weight attached to firm-specific factors varies considerably across countries. Indeed, the results suggest that firm-specific factors are relatively unimportant in the Nordic Countries, of some importance in Britain, West Germany, Spain and The Netherlands, and highly important in Australia, Canada and the USA[3].Using an approach inspired in Nickell et al. (1994), the main contribution of this study is to investigate to what extent the existence of high labor adjustment costs has some influence on the process of wage negotiation. In particular, we analyze if the risk of being laid off has any impact on insiders' bargaining power and, consequently, on their wage claims. For this purpose, we use a representative dataset with 820 large Portuguese firms from all sectors over the period 1993-1999. In fact, we believe that Portugal is a well suited case to better identify the impact of a dismissal threat on wages, since Portugal may be classified as an extreme case of employment protection (see OECD, 1999; Blanchard and Portugal, 2001; Varejao and Portugal, 2006). The stricter Portuguese legislation is associated with lower turnover (high adjustment costs) in the labor market, with both jobs and unemployment spells tending to last longer.A labor market characterized by a high employment protection with high adjustment costs and lower turnover tends to create bargaining power for currently employed workers that they can exploit to their own advantage. Of course, it can be argued that if turnover costs give bargaining power to workers, and thus the possibility to extract some rents, firms may try to recoup those rents from the insiders. However, firms are generally unable to pass these costs on fully to their insiders because firms do not incur these costs until they replace their insiders with new entrants. Even if firms could extract some of these rents by imposing lump sum payments to insiders upon voluntary quitting or firing \"without cause\", such fees are usually illegal and incentive-incompatible (Lindbeck and Snower, 2002).Two additional objectives also drive the investigation. One is to evaluate the role and weight of insider forces in wage determination. The Portuguese industrial relations system presents some contrasting features. While on the one hand, the role of massive wage-setting mechanisms and the existence of extension mechanisms point to a centralized bargaining system, on the other hand, the scattered nature of union organization, the possibility opened to employers to bargain at the firm level, and the presence of a significant wage cushion, highlight aspects of decentralization that may grant employers some room for maneuver to set wages. In fact, whatever the wage floor agreed upon for each category of workers at the collective bargaining table, firms are free to pay higher wages, and they often deviate from that benchmark, adjusting to firm-specific conditions (Cardoso and Portugal, 2005).The second is to test the existence of asymmetric effects in wage adjustments, i.e., to test the extent to which wages in Portugal are more responsive to insider variables in the face of rising demand than in the face of declining demand.This paper will be organized as follows. The theoretical framework is presented in Section 2. The data and estimation method are described in Section 3. The empirical results are summarized in Section 4. Section 5 concludes.\n2. The theoretical model: The model used here as a basis for the estimations is a collective bargaining model that closely follows those developed by Layard et al. (1991) and Nickell et al. (1994), including the extension proposed by Bentolila and Dolado (1994), who consider a firm that employs two types of workers: under permanent and temporary contracts. In these types of models it is presumed that wages are determined through negotiations between the firm and the union at the first stage. At the second stage, firm sets price, output, and employment levels. In Portugal, negotiations between unions and firms, at the industry level, play an important role in the determination of wages. Hence, modeling the process of wage formation at the firm level using a bargaining approach seems to be an appropriate choice for the Portuguese case.The basic idea underlying these models is that product market power generates rents that can be captured by employees in the form of higher wages. The possibility that workers share monopoly rents depends on workers' bargaining power and may take place even in the absence of unions. In this framework, it can be shown that the average wage in the ith firm depends on firm-specific factors, outside factors, the firm's market power and workers' bargaining power[4,5]: Equation 1 where wit is the log real wage in firm i, pit is the firm's output price (in logs), yit is the firms output (in logs), nit is the number of employees (in logs), with (pit+yit-nit) being the firm's revenue per employee (in logs). Dnpit measures the change in permanent employment and it is the proportion of temporary workers. w-t is the log of the outside real wage, Ut is the aggregate unemployment rate, MSit is the firm's market share and bit measures workers' bargaining power. We assume, as in Bentolila and Dolado (1994), that workers' bargaining power, b, is a function of a set of variables that are related to the firms financial situation (f) and the proportion of temporary workers (ph). Replacing b as a linear function of fit and phit and introducing dynamics in the model with the inclusion of lagged wages, equation (1) may be rewritten as[6]: Equation 2 The interpretation of equation (2) is straightforward. The firm's average wage per employee depends on previous wages, on firm-specific factors such as revenue per employee, the change in the number of insiders, the market share and workers' bargaining power, and on outside factors such as the unemployment rate. The parameter l may be termed the \"insider weight\", i.e., the long-run elasticity of firm wages relative to firm revenue per employee.\n3. Data and estimation method: 3.1. The data\n4. Empirical results: 4.1. Measuring insider power and insider forces\n5. Conclusion: This study investigates wage determination at the firm level using a longitudinal panel of large Portuguese firms. The main empirical findings are the following.First, insider forces such as revenue per employee and market share have a significant impact on wage determination. After controlling for the skill mix of the workforce, the full sample estimates imply a long-run insider weight of 18 percent, which is comparable with estimates reported for economies characterized by a decentralized system of wage negotiation despite the fact that the system of wage bargaining in Portugal is very centralized and heavily regulated. Nevertheless, this study reveals that there is room for firm maneuvering. In fact, wages seem to be very sensitive to firm-specific conditions, i.e., firm wages are significantly affected by firm performance, at least during period under scrutiny. This indication is in line with one of the predictions of insider-outsider theory, which states that the higher the firing and hiring costs, the higher the weight attached to insider forces.Second, the idea that wages will be higher in sectors (firms) with high labor adjustment costs found some empirical support. Most notably, the results revealed that a threat of dismissal tends to weaken insiders bargaining power and, consequently, to depress wages.Third, outside labor market conditions measured by the regional unemployment rate also play an important role in wage determination. The regional unemployment level in the economy has an influence on the negotiated wage through the probabilities of finding a job. Thus, the negative and significant impact of the regional unemployment rate on wages suggests that workers are more inclined to accept wage moderation when the probabilities of finding a job worsen.Finally, some evidence was found in favor of the existence of asymmetric insider effects. That is, real wages in Portugal seem to exhibit some downward real wage rigidity.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent the existence of high labor adjustment costs has some influence on the process of wage negotiation. In particular, it aims to analyse if the risk of being laid off has any impact on insiders' bargaining power and, consequently, on their wage claims.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A collective bargaining model that closely follows those developed by Nickell et al. and Bentolila and Dolado is adopted and a longitudinal panel of large Portuguese firms from all sectors over the 1993-199 period is used.\nFindings: - The results reveal that firms where insider workers appear to have more bargaining power tend to pay higher wages. In particular, we found that the threat of dismissal tends to weaken insiders' bargaining power and, consequently, to depress wages.\nResearch limitations/implications: - In future research an attempt should be made to measure directly the labor turnover costs.\nOriginality/value: - This paper presents robust empirical evidence using micro-data for individual firms that support one of the predictions of the insider-outsider theory that wages will be higher in sectors (firms) with high labor turnover costs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Workplace learning measures for human resource development: review and summary
|
[
"Workplace learning",
"Human resource development (HRD)",
"Workplace learning measures"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Workplace learning has been regarded as a critical process that develops employees' professional skills and knowledge, solves organizational issues, and adopts changes in organizations (Clarke, 2005; Hafler, 2011; Jacobs and Park, 2009; Tynjala, 2013). Facing rapid technological challenges and diverse labor market changes, organizations have increasingly tried to use workplace learning as a significant strategy for their sustainable development (Noe et al., 2014). This is because learning enhances employees' ability to adapt to changes and increase their performance. Given the importance of workplace learning, many human resource development (HRD) scholars have conducted extensive research on workplace learning from exploring the definitions and scope of workplace learning to investigating the antecedents and consequences of workplace learning (e.g. Manuti et al., 2015; Rausch, 2013). According to Tynjala (2013), previous workplace learning research can be categorized into six areas: studies describing the nature of workplace learning; research on work identities and agency in workplace learning; studies on the development of professional expertise; analyses of competence development in education-work contexts; research on communities of practice; and research on organizational learning.\nMethods: To address the first and the second research questions, the authors searched workplace learning measurements that have been used in the articles that were published in six major HRD peer-reviewed journals: Human Resource Development Quarterly, Human Resource Development International, International Journal of Training and Development, Journal of Workplace Learning, Performance Improvement Quarterly and European Journal of Training and Development. Since we were looking for empirical studies that used workplace learning measurements, review-oriented journals such as Human Resource Development Review and Advances in Developing Human Resources were excluded when we searched for articles.\nLiterature review and theoretical framework: Scholars have defined workplace learning in various ways (see Table I). Although the concept of workplace learning is still being developed, researchers seem to largely agree that workplace learning is individual learning in the environment of work and workplaces and involves deliberate and conscious learning activities to reflect on actual workplace experiences (Marsick, 1987; Raelin, 2000). In addition, workplace learning could be characterized as developmental activities and educational efforts within the organization to help it establish a culture of organizational learning (Raelin, 2000). The primary unit of workplace learning must be the individual worker.\nReview of workplace learning measures: By reviewing the selected measures, we cataloged the name of each instrument, as well as the authors, dimensions, number of items and reliability. Table II presents a summary of the workplace learning measures that were reviewed in this study.\nWorkplace learning measures: features: Based on the presage, process and product categories in the 3-P model (Tynjala, 2013), we compared the selected measures, as shown in Table III.\nDiscussion: This study identified the existing workplace learning measures in the field of HRD and the features of each measure based on Tynjala's (2013) 3-P model of workplace learning. By reviewing the components of the nine measures, we provided information about key characteristics of workplace learning measures in light of the presage, process and product of learning.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the existing workplace learning measures used in empirical studies in human resource development (HRD).\nDesign/methodology/approach: By reviewing 141 studies on workplace learning published in six journals in the field of HRD, we identified nine measures for workplace learning. Tynjala's (2013) 3-P model of workplace learning was adopted as the framework to analyze the features of each measure in terms of presage, process and product.\nFindings: Workplace Climate Questionnaire, Learning Opportunities Questionnaire, Approaches to Work Questionnaire and Self-regulated Learning in the Workplace Questionnaire belong to the presage category. Small Business Workplace Learning Survey and Workplace Learning Activities are categorized as the process dimension. The Questionnaire on Informal Workplace Learning Outcomes is in the product dimension. Informal Workplace Learning Survey and Workplace Adaptation Questionnaire are across the three categories.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors identified the issues of existing workplace learning measures to emphasize the importance of reliable and valid measures for workplace learning and to gain the attention of researchers concerning these issues.\nPractical implications: The findings can provide organizations and practitioners with insights and ideas on how to prepare employees to engage in diverse learning activities, how to support their learning activities and how to combine their learning activities with the existing job structure and work system.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first to review workplace learning measures in the field of HRD. The authors review the dimensions, items and reliability of each measure, and summarize the features of nine measures in terms of presage, process and product of workplace learning.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Do PISA data justify PISA-based education policy?
|
[
"Comparative education",
"Evidence-based policy",
"Educational measurement",
"Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: On 6 May 2014 the British daily newspaper The Guardian published an open letter (Meyer and Zahedi, 2014) addressed to Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), expressing grave concerns about the deficiencies and pernicious effects of the international survey of students' skills known as \"PISA\" which is implemented by the OECD every three years in a large and growing number of countries (more than 60 in the 2012 round). Jointly signed by approximately 80 academics, public school district administrators, parents and teachers, the letter suggested skipping the 2015 round of PISA in order to take time to discuss and address the issues raised, at local, national and international levels, and ultimately to improve the assessment model.\nWhat does PISA measure - and how?: The quality of any survey depends on several factors: the salience and relevance of the underlying reality it aims to capture; the quality of the measurement apparatus designed to capture it; and its statistical implementation, including its capacity to generate a representative sample for the target population (Groves et al., 2009). We touch on each of these aspects in turn.\nWhat is a \"life skill score\"?: A first criticism of the existing PISA data relates to its comparability across countries as a means of assessing \"how well young adults, at age 15 and therefore approaching the end of compulsory schooling, are prepared to meet the challenges of today's knowledge societies\" (OECD, 2004, p. 12). The OECD assumes the life skills needed to function in knowledge societies to be the same for all countries - a rather dubious assumption, given that the countries participating in PISA differ greatly in terms of their cultures and level of economic development, which raises legitimate questions about how appropriate it is to rank them in a single table. The skills needed by a young adult are likely to depend on the characteristics of the society in which the person is living; hence, what it means to \"function\" in a knowledge society will vary from country to country. While comparability of data across countries is desirable, a question raised by critics (and discussed below) is whether comparability in PISA is only achieved by ignoring the great diversity of curricula across the participating countries - diversity which might in fact be a source of country-specific creativity and well-being.\nDoes PISA meet the requirements of validity?: Assuming that the construct of \"the challenges of today's knowledge societies\" is a reasonable one to explore, irrespective of cultural or developmental specificities, questions remain about how well the selection of items and the item response model used to summarize item answers into one overall score fit the abstract skill that PISA aims to measure. More specifically, the main criticism in the literature concerns the multidimensionality of the items being measured. Meyerhoefer (2009) discusses how the items used do not only measure, for example, \"maths\" ability but also a student's ability to comply with the test structure. According to Goldstein (2004), education skills are multidimensional; however, in PISA, items that demonstrate \"poor psychometric characteristics in more than ten countries ('dodgy' items)\" can be deleted (OECD, 2012, p. 148). Such items are those most prone to multidimensionality and to reflect cultural bias (Goldstein, 2004). Their removal from the set therefore obscures differences between countries that might otherwise demonstrate greater heterogeneity on varying educational dimensions. For Goldstein, the aim of a cross-national study should not be to neglect, but rather to obtain, information on underlying differences between countries.\nAre PISA samples representative?: As discussed above, in order to make reliable cross-country comparisons, a common measuring rod is required. An equally relevant issue is whether the sample of students used to estimate the country average is indeed representative of the target population. PISA allows for the exclusion of students with special educational needs and newly arrived immigrants. This has raised concern (Wuttke, 2007), because some countries exclude more students than the 5 per cent threshold imposed by the PISA designers.\nPutting it all together: total error of the PISA score: Each limitation discussed above contributes to what is called \"total survey error\", a measure of the precision of a survey estimate that takes all possible errors into account. Generally, PISA survey organizers communicate only one component of the total survey error with the tables of results: the standard error. Given the considerable impact of the PISA results on education policy, the OECD should document better the choices made by the PISA designers concerning measurement and representativeness. This would increase the legitimacy of the information provided to the public.\nThe PISA worldview: The remarkable success of PISA has led to the dominance of a certain mode of governance in education. This is discussed in a recent article by Sellar and Lingard (2014) entitled \"The OECD and the expansion of PISA: new global modes of governance in education\". They recognize that:[...] the authority of an international organization such as the OECD has both \"rational - legal and moral dimensions\" and agree with the observation that an \"international organization's political authority is at its zenith when its rational/technical agenda aligns with prevailing social values and sentiments\".\nPutting it all together: the PISA worldview: Comparative education analysis as pursued and promoted by the OECD suggests that it is possible to transfer education policy recipes from one education system to another. Yet some top performers, such as Finland, do not have external exams, and apparent improvements or deteriorations in performance in PISA tests have been questioned on the basis of sampling procedures. For example, the steady improvement in PISA scores in Germany could be partly related to a shift in the first- and second-generation immigrant population taking the survey, with more Russian and Eastern European immigrants participating in 2006 and 2009 than in previous rounds (Carnoy and Rothstein, 2013). As discussed in the previous section, if PISA data were longitudinal, these kinds of questions could be investigated.\nThe PISA controversy: The PISA controversy, as we have seen, revolves around what PISA measures, how it measures it and how it is used for policy. From a methodological standpoint the lack of documentation on the impact of choices made to arrive at the final achievement score limits practitioners' trust in the data and detracts from the legitimacy of the related policy inferences. The OECD's plans for future PISA assessments include the measurement of some non-cognitive dimensions and the aim to enhance its exploratory power so as to provide policy-makers with better information (OECD, 2015). Nonetheless, their plans do not include the disclosure of the statistical procedures used to produce this policy-relevant knowledge.\nConcluding remarks: The debate over PISA is characterized by conflicting values and divergent interpretations of facts - as our discussion of non-reporting has shown. The letter published in The Guardian (Meyer and Zahedi, 2014) shows how various stakeholders could come together to oppose PISA. The specific criticisms listed in the letter motivated us to review the methodological and ideological issues raised in the debate over PISA and to discuss the PISA-based policy discourse. We further illustrate how invoking science in support of policy is anything but unproblematic. In short, this review of the arguments for and against PISA reveals a rich spectrum of methodological and ideological positions which justifies some kind of social action with regard to PISA - that is, an effort to create awareness that PISA is not a neutral statistical exercise producing objective numbers and hard facts.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Since the publication of its first results in 2000, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) implemented by the OECD has repeatedly been the subject of heated debate. In late 2014 controversy flared up anew, with the most severe critics going so far as to call for a halt to the programme. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the methodological design of PISA and the ideological basis of scientific and policy arguments invoked for and against it.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors examine the soundness of the survey methodology and identify the conflicting interpretations and values fuelling the debate.\nFindings: The authors find that while PISA has promoted the focus on the important subject of children's education worldwide there are legitimate concerns about what PISA measures, and how. The authors conclude that the OECD should be more transparent in the documentation of the methodological choices that underlie the creation of the data and more explicit about the impact of these choices on the results. More broadly, the authors advise caution in the attempt to derive and apply evidence-based policy in the domain of education; the authors furthermore propose an alternative model of social inquiry that is sensitive and robust to the concerns of the various actors and stakeholders that may be involved in a given policy domain.\nOriginality/value: The issues and tensions surrounding the PISA survey can be better understood in the framework of post-normal science (PNS), the application of which to the PISA controversy offers a potential solution to a stalemate.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
EIAH data model: Semantic interoperability among distributed digital repositories
|
[
"Digital storage",
"Semantics",
"Information retrieval",
"Encyclopaedias",
"Architecture",
"Iran"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction to EIAH: Iran is the home of some of the oldest human settlements that date back ten millennia. Many of them have vanished, but there are approximately one million historic sites and buildings that have survived into our age. These sites and monuments are not only huge in number, but extremely diverse, due to the varied natural environment of Iran. The study of the history of Iranian architecture has formerly been limited to the western fringes of the central desert of Iran. Thus, these former studies reflect neither the environmental nor the ethnic diversity of Iran. This may be due to the vast diversity of these historic sites, as well as to limited access to scattered resources and documents within and outside Iran. Considerable redundant and overlapping work and studies have been carried out due to the absence of any integrated collaborating network. Most efforts to integrate different data centres were unsuccessful due to the lack of an infrastructure for information exchange and interoperability. As a result, there has been a recess in Iranian architectural studies.The Encyclopedia of Iranian Architectural History (EIAH) was established with the aim of helping scholars and removing the aforementioned obstacles. The main objective of this encyclopedia is to increase the quantity and improve the quality of information on Iranian culture. Likewise, the encyclopedia aims to facilitate the recovery of vernacular identity, as well as to present the joint heritage of the countries in this region for further interaction and focus on cultural unity. Representing, identifying, collecting and preserving of resources on the history of Iranian architecture are the tasks which EIAH intends to accomplish during the project's lifetime. According to the above goals, the purpose of this project is to establish a centre for information management on the history of Iranian architecture and urban development[1]. In this paper, we will illustrate the important aspects of the EIAH information architecture, especially the attempts to achieve semantic interoperability among distributed digital repositories.\n2. EIAH information architecture: Entry and Document are two core concepts in the EIAH information architecture. An entry is a topic or a concept that accumulates information around it. The topic or concept can be a person, or a term that is used in the field of architectural history. A total of seven categories have been defined for the entries which cover all concepts of Iranian architectural history:1. terms;2. monuments;3. geographical names;4. persons;5. historical periods;6. primary resources; and7. movable objects.A document is any kind of resource, published or unpublished, which provides information regarding the history of Iranian architecture. A document can be in various formats, from text, photo and drawing to audio or multimedia (Khazraee et al., 2008).This information architecture must meet three main criteria. First, it must facilitate access to resources and documents. Therefore, recall and precision factors, which are evaluative factors in information retrieval, become important in this information architecture (Van Rijsbergen, 1979). The second factor is to represent the conceptual relations between the topics of the Iranian architectural domain (the topics are mentioned as entries in this paper) to provide a better holistic view of the domain. The last requirement of information architecture for EIAH is to represent and develop relations between the topics and the existing resources associated with them.A semantic inter-related network of entries enables us to have a bigger picture of Iranian architectural history and therefore new ideas can be deduced. One can find more complex relations that are not simply recognized immediately. Additionally, this model can provide a holistic view to the domain from different perspectives. This makes it possible to examine the accuracy of hypotheses regarding the architectural history of Iran, as well as their alignment to the evidence extracted from historical resources.Owing to the aforementioned points, three-layer information architecture was designed to achieve the objectives of EIAH. This three-layer architecture is a service-oriented architecture. It consists of distinct components and services that work both on their own and on the grid. Services in this information architecture communicate and interchange data with each other. This architecture is also semantic enabled. The modules and services in this architecture pass data and objects to each other while they are aware of the semantic identity of that data or object (Newcomer and Lomow, 2005). The modularity of the architecture not only makes it easier and faster to develop and extend the information system, but also enhances the system's performance, since there are different customizable components already available. This information architecture consists of a foundation layer and three core layers as follows.2.1 Standards and policies (foundation layer)\n3. Metadata model: Since metadata play a key role in the establishment of the aforementioned information architecture, the EIAH metadata model should comply with the requirements of this architecture. EIAH has customized its metadata model based on the Dublin Core (simple and qualified version) in order to describe and facilitate the discovery of electronic resources in the area of Iranian architectural history. According to the characteristics of the Dublin Core Standard, namely, simplicity, semantic interoperability, extensibility and compliance with the Resource Description Framework (RDF) (CEN, 2003), Dublin Core metadata standard is chosen to be used by EIAH. To completely comply with EIAH, an application profile was developed for the special domain-specific focus of EIAH. This application profile was designed to align with the need to interrelate resources to the topics.EIAH relational elements are adopted as refinements of the Dublin Core Element Subject because they narrow down the subject of the resources. These refinements are designed to comply with the EIAH ontology. EIAH ontology includes three major classes of entities: \"temporal\", \"spatial\", and \"human\" (actors and actions). These are superclasses, which include several subclasses; each class has abstracts and instances. Since the major categorization may seem too vague for the end-user, these relational tags are classified in six groups which are more tangible:1. persons (as a subclass of human entities);2. works, monuments and sites;3. geographical names (as a subclass of spatial entities);4. historical periods;5. events (as a subclass of temporal entities); and6. architectural terms (which is the abstract level of all classes).Since these selected relational qualifiers of the EIAH descriptive Element Set are based on the EIAH conceptual model, they help to develop more specific semantic relations between resources and EIAH ontology (Khazraee et al., 2008).EIAH Controlled Vocabulary has been developed with the aim of establishing a terminology in the domain of Iranian architectural history. The categories have been classified according to the EIAH six major concepts (entries):1. architectural terms and concepts;2. monuments and works;3. persons;4. historical periods;5. geographical names; and6. events.This controlled vocabulary is implemented in the EIAH Archival Repository to enhance the quality of the metadata in the process of resource description. The usage of EIAH Vocabularies has resulted in an improvement of searching precision and recall of EIAH resources and has also enabled automated interoperability.The development process of EIAH Controlled Vocabulary includes the following steps:1. Defining different classifications for vocabularies according to the six major topics in the field of Iranian architectural history (works, person, geographical names, period, events, and terms). The vocabularies in these classifications are used as the value of subject qualifiers developed by EIAH.2. Identifying the resources and specifying their preferences.3. Extracting the vocabularies (terms) from the preferred resources.4. Compiling and editing all the extracted vocabularies and recording the finalized entries.At the moment (2009), the process has led to the accumulation of 5,900 geographical names, 2,000 work names, 750 person names, and 6,000 architectural terms. However, the research and development in this area has not finished and the number of entries in each classification is being increased.3.1 EIAH Metadata Application Profile (EMAP)\n4. Semantic portal: The outcome of EIAH's information architecture will be presented to the end-user through a semantic portal. Web information portals are very successful, but today there are several ways their current performance can be improved. In particular, the emergence of the Semantic Web[4] brings a new set of tools and techniques that could radically change the way portals are built, integrated and used. In this portal two main services would be available, Entries services and Documents services. In the Entries services, the faceted browse feature is presented which means that users can browse entries based on their properties. For example, they can browse monuments based on type, location, and historical period. Moreover, a visual browser provides the ability to browse the semantically connected network of the entries; therefore, all the entries can be seen in a big interconnected picture. In Documents services, a user can search in the EIAH digital repository as well as the other distributed repositories. Moreover, all the retrieved data can be visualized on geographical maps or timelines whenever they have geo-spatial or temporal properties.EIAH used this approach and therefore chose to adopt Semantic Mediawiki[5] as the content management system for the current phase of development. Although the current outcome based on Mediawiki somehow differs from the final portal, it resembles most of the functionality, which is expected from a semantic portal in the near future (Figure 1).\n5. Distributed repositories: EIAH federates distributed repositories in widespread cultural heritage centres. Documents in the centres are stored in digital repositories and are described using standard metadata guidelines based on Dublin Core Metadata. The use of EMAP, which describes documents in distributed repositories, provides uniform metadata that is harvestable and therefore processable by web services on this grid. A connection from the semantic portal based on Semantic Mediawiki to Digital repositories has already been established with the OAI protocol for metadata harvesting (OAI-PMH)[6]. OAI-PMH is a lightweight protocol for gathering metadata from a number of distributed repositories into integrated data storage for sharing them between services. It gives data providers the option to make their metadata available to service providers. The protocol is based on open standards HTTP and XML. Dspace has a built-in OAI interface and allows harvesting metadata records of items in the repository. Through Dspace OAI interface, one can send OAI queries in URL, using HTTP, and receive the response in XML format. This XML response, which includes metadata records of all items available in the digital repository, will be processed, and metadata fields and their associated values will be stored in a database (aggregation). On the portal side, an extension is prepared for Semantic Mediawiki, which searches the database of harvested metadata records for values related to the entries on the portal. The documents related to a specific entry can be found by different fields of their metadata. This extension periodically scans distributed repositories for new items and adds the new harvested metadata records to the database.\n6. The current implementation: The current implementation of EIAH Cake is a simplified version of the architecture reviewed in this paper. The repository level is deployed using Dspace. These repositories contain resources described with EIAH metadata application profile based on Dublin Core application profile guidelines. The knowledge representation level (the ontology level) is now implemented in a very simple form using Semantic Mediawiki tools. By using categories and properties in Semantic Mediawiki, it is possible to simulate the functionality of an ontology. The mediator level is implemented as increasing the number of independent extensions of the Semantic Mediawiki portal. Extensions look into the digital repositories and Aratta and link the related resources to the specific entries. For data visualization, a lightweight data publishing framework called Exhibit has been used. Exhibit is a part of the SIMILE project and provides a different form of data visualization (e.g. timeline and maps). Also, it can be used for producing searchable tables and lists[7].\n7. Future works: There are a few steps remaining to reach the first vision of the EIAH project:1. deployment of more digital repositories in other cultural heritage centres;2. development of EIAH ontology;3. development of EIAH controlled vocabulary;4. implementation of Dspace XML UI framework (Manakin) to increase adaptability;5. enhancement of EIAH application profile based on DCAP Singapore framework; and6. development of more data visualization tools.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to provide a clear image of the information architecture used in the Encyclopedia of Iranian Architectural History (EIAH) and to show how it was crafted to meet the need for accessibility, expressiveness and interoperability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In order to assess the level of interoperability in the system, two essential concepts of the system are identified and traced in every level of the three-layer information architecture. Federated repositories are studied for the level of accessibility that they can offer. Knowledge representation level, mediator level and the semantic portal are studied for expressiveness capabilities.\nFindings: - EIAH information architecture is capable of establishing links among resources available in the information pools connected to the system by using EIAH metadata application profile (EMAP). Different modules in this architecture, which are localized for the Persian language, can work on similar environments for other languages, for example Arabic.\nOriginality/value: - EIAH is the first example of a digital encyclopedia for the history of Iranian architecture, which is basically different from other digital encyclopedias in the way that it offers information to users. EIAH is aimed at domain experts and provides them not with pre-written and quality articles but with a wide range of resources and documents relative to what they are seeking.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction
|
[
"Employee satisfaction",
"Customer satisfaction",
"Self efficacy",
"Cooperative orientation",
"Perceived fairness",
"Supervisory support",
"Employees",
"Customers"
] |
[
{
"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.\nHypothesis development on ES-CS relationship: The influence of ES on CS\nHypothesis development on moderating effect: Dispositional variables\nGreat discussion and conclusion: This study identifies the ES-CS relationship by relating customer satisfaction to employee performance model. Some of the previous research probing this link was criticized for the practice of measuring focal variables. For example, employee satisfaction was assessed from the customer's perception under the assumption that it could be regarded as a good proxy for true employee satisfaction (Vilares and Coelho, 2003). Different from previous research, the present research was conducted based on dyadic data incorporating both the customer and the corresponding employee as the unit of analysis.The results of H1 suggest that the ES-CS relationship is unilateral rather than mutual. In particular, using dyadic data, this study found out employees' job satisfaction leads to customer satisfaction but not vice versa. This finding is noteworthy because a possible common method bias has been ruled out in the present study since it has been analyzed based on dyadic data. We also examined the variables which moderate the relationship between ES and CS. For a hypothesis testing, two key variables - dispositional variables and organizational variables were identified. Self-efficacy and cooperative orientation are considered dispositional variables while perceived fairness and supervisory support are considered organizationally related variables. This study found only dispositional variables - self efficacy and cooperative orientation - marginally moderate the effect of ES on CS. This indicate that the higher the self efficacy/cooperative orientation, the greater the impact of ES on CS.Theoretical and managerial implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study aims to examine whether the relationship between employee satisfaction (ES) and customer satisfaction (CS) is bilateral or unilateral based on dyadic data. In addition, it seeks to examine the role of moderating variables which have incremental impacts on this link.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors conducted an empirical test on this relationship in an educational service context. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: - Results indicate that employee satisfaction leads to CS but CS did not affect ES, which suggests that the relationship between ES and CS is unilateral rather than bilateral. The findings also demonstrate that the dispositional variables (i.e. self efficacy, cooperative orientation) moderate the impact of ES on CS.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study provided theoretical implications for the ES-CS relationship.\nPractical implications: - This finding suggests that top level management in the service industry must take an active role in recruiting employees who are confident in their abilities and who display pro-social dispositions.\nOriginality/value: - The linkage between ES and CS has been previously examined but the findings have been inconsistent. The authors used dyadic data to investigate the relationship between ES and CS and found the influence of ES on CS but not vice versa.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Linking ethical leadership and moral voice: The effects of moral efficacy, trust in leader, and leader-follower value congruence
|
[
"Construction industry",
"Ethical leadership",
"Trust in leader",
"Leader-follower value congruence",
"Moral efficacy",
"Moral voice"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The study of ethical forms of leadership in today's morally questionable business practices and turbulent businesses environments has become a rapidly expanding area of inquiry (Trevino et al., 2006). Ethical leadership is defined as \"the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making\" (Brown et al., 2005, p. 120). Ethical leadership, like other types of leadership (e.g. transformational, spiritual, charismatic and authentic leadership), plays an important role in promoting desirable employee attitudes and behaviors, including organizational commitment, job satisfaction, pro-social behavior and job performance (Avey et al., 2010; Brown et al., 2005; Kacmar et al., 2011; Walumbwa et al., 2011). However, we could find few studies that examined why and how ethical leadership relates to employee's moral behavior (Avey et al., 2012; Lee et al., 2017), and if so, the mechanisms through which ethical leadership relates to employee's moral behavior remain unexplored. This is quite surprising because the quintessence of ethical leadership that distinguishes it from other types of leadership such as transformational and authentic is in the fact that ethical leadership helps to foster ethical and moral behaviors of followers.\nTheoretical framework: Three-way interaction effects on moral voice\nMethod: This study was conducted in construction companies located in Islamabad, Pakistan. The reason to select construction industry was that for the professionals working in construction companies, the incalculable value of human life demands nothing less than the highest moral considerations from those who might risk it otherwise. An important aspect of ethics in the construction industry is \"personal ethics\"--often interpreted by construction professionals as just treating others with the same degree of honesty that they would like to be treated (Badger and Gay, 1996). The factors that make the construction industry prone to unethical behavior include fierce competition for contracts; the numerous levels of bureaucracy for obtaining official approvals and permits; the uniqueness of many projects rendering it difficult to compare pricing; the opportunities for delays and overruns; and the fact that the quality of much work is rapidly concealed by concrete, plaster and cladding (Bowen et al., 2007). Therefore, it is important for leaders in construction industry to act with integrity, to be incorruptible, to act impartially, to be transparent and to be accountable.\nMeasures: All items were measured on a five-point Likert scales ranging from 1 \"strongly disagree\" to 5 \"strongly agree.\" A ten-item scale was taken from Brown et al.'s (2005) study to measure ethical leadership. The employees were asked to rate the frequency with which their supervisor displayed leadership behaviors (a=0.91). The three-item scale measuring moral voice was adopted from Hannah and Avolio (2010) study. The supervisors were asked to rate the frequency with which their subordinates displayed moral voice behaviors (a=0.89). The five-item moral efficacy scale, developed by Hannah and Avolio (2010) was used in this study (a=0.93). Employees were asked to rate their own moral efficacy. To measure leader-follower value congruence, a three-item scale developed by Cable and DeRue (2002) was used in this study (a=0.81). A seven-item scale developed and validated by Robinson and Rousseau (1994) was used to measure trust in the leader (a=0.83).\nResults and discussion: Table I presents descriptive statistics, correlations, means and scale reliabilities. To examine the discriminant validity of our measures, confirmatory factor analyses was conducted. The test result of adaptability showed that the four-factor model (ethical leadership, trust in leader, leader-follower value congruence, and moral efficacy) fits the data well (kh2 (377)=1100.84, p<0.001; kh2/df=2.92; NNFI=0.95; CFI=0.94; and RMSEA=0.054), as compared to other models. We also computed the inter-class correlation coefficient (ICC) due to the fact that supervisors evaluated moral voice of more than one employee (subordinate). There was no systematic difference in supervisors' ratings of moral voice (F=2.37, p>0.10; ICC (1)=0.061).\nDiscussion: This study investigated the complex effect that the interaction between ethical leadership, trust in leader and leader-follower value congruence has on employee's moral voice. Our results extend the research on ethical leadership and make several contributions to the literature. As mentioned earlier, previous research has linked ethical leadership to moral voice (Lee et al., 2017). However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first research, which has explored the effects of ethical leadership on employee moral voice through moderating effect of trust in leader and leader-follower value congruence, particularly, in construction industry. The present research, therefore, extends the existing network of ethical leadership and provides fresh insights into this emerging concept. We found that when trust in leader and leader-follower value congruence were both high, ethical leadership had the strongest positive relationship with moral voice. Another important finding of the study was that moral efficacy mediated the three-way interaction's effect on moral voice.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The study of ethical leadership has emerged as an important topic for understanding the effects of leadership in organizations. Theoretically, there is a relationship between ethical leadership and followers' ethical behaviors but empirically, little attention has been given. The purpose of this paper is to examine how ethical leadership relates to employee's moral voice through trust in the leader, leader-follower value congruence and moral efficacy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors used a time-lagged research design, collecting multi-source data from 364 employees and their immediate supervisors, working in construction companies in Pakistan.\nFindings: On the basis of an interactional approach, this study found that there was an interaction between ethical leadership, trust in the leader and leader-follower value congruence that affected moral voice, such that ethical leadership had the strongest positive relationship with moral voice when both trust and leader-follower value congruence were higher; and moral efficacy mediated the effect that this three-way interaction between ethical leadership, trust in the leader and leader-follower value congruence had on moral voice.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the first studies to examine the role of ethical leadership in promoting employees' voice behavior using a time-lagged research design, particularly in construction industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Poets House Showcase - selected titles 2009
|
[
"Poetry",
"Collections management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: New eyes each yearFind old books here,And new books, tooOld eyes renew;So youth and ageLike ink and pageIn this house join,Minting new coin (Philip Larkin).After much anticipation, our beautiful home on the banks of the Hudson River is complete! On September 25 and 26, 2009 Poets House celebrated its grand opening at 10 River Terrace in Battery Park City in lower Manhattan. In this house - a world-class place for poetry - patrons can access a library collection comprising 50,000 books, journals, chapbooks, and multimedia. Co-founder Stanley Kunitz conceived of Poets House as not only a place for poetry, but as an intellectual and cultural place poets could call home. Committed to that aim, Poets House's reading room serves also as a meeting place and locus of inspiration, offering a range of environments to provide as much privacy (a quiet reading room) or company as our visitors prefer, whether to read comfortably or to study hard.\nShowcase 2009 selected titles: Individual collectionsAgee, J. (2008), James Agee, Selected Poems, Hudgins, A. (Ed.), Library of America (HC $20.00, ISBN 978-1-59853-032-2)\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present an annotated bibliography of the new poetry volumes from the Poets House 2009 Poetry Showcase.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The titles were selected from the Poets House 2009 Poetry Showcase as titles that are both challenging and accessible.\nFindings: - This list provides the librarian and reader with a guide to collection development in poetry.\nOriginality/value: - This is one of the few lists of its kind showcasing contemporary poetry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Design of higher education teaching models and carbon impacts
|
[
"Online learning",
"Carbon impacts of higher education courses",
"Environment assessment methods",
"Environmental impacts of teaching and learning",
"Greening pedagogical design",
"Low carbon teaching models"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Greening higher education (HE) teaching systems is a part of government strategies to address climate change challenges. The UK HE sector is a fast growing sector serving 2.5 million students in 2011/2012 (HESA, 2013). Total sector energy and resource consumption accounts for carbon emissions calculated at 3.34 million tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2) (HEFCE, 2010), which is approximately 0.7 per cent of total annual UK CO2 emissions, estimated at 497 MtCO2 (Energy Information Administration, 2011). The Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) has consequently set challenging targets to reduce carbon emissions by 43 and 83 per cent by 2020 and 2050, respectively, compared with baseline levels in 1990, in line with the 2008 UK Climate Change Act (HEFCE, 2010).\nSample: A total of 30 courses and modules from 15 UK HE institutions were included in the present study. They included 20 courses from the existing Factor 10 Visions project (re-analysed within the present methodology framework), together with an additional ten courses selected to represent teaching models using ICTs to a varying extent across UK institutions (Table I). The criteria for inclusion included campus- and distance learning-based undergraduate and postgraduate courses (from The Open University or OU) in a variety of city centre, suburban and \"out of town\" university locations. The terms course and module are alternatively used in HE to refer to the set of modular, standardised, independent or interrelated teaching units that construct an undergraduate or post-graduate degree qualification programme. Degree programmes may also be called courses, but to avoid confusion, the term course is used in the first sense (i.e. to include courses and modules).\nMethodology: There were a number of steps involved in undertaking the carbon-based environmental assessment of courses to determine whole HE system impacts.\nResults: Overall, the main sources of carbon emissions for all HE teaching models were travel (40 per cent), campus site operations (31 per cent) and residential energy (16 per cent) (Figure 1).\nConclusions: Few studies have examined the environmental performance of HE teaching models and the impacts of new pedagogical designs using ICTs. Conducting an environmental assessment of teaching models is complex and gives rise to methodological issues that have been detailed here to aid research on the environmental impacts of teaching and learning. Further research is needed to extend data collection to a larger sample of courses using various online and ICT-enhanced pedagogical designs in HE systems, while longitudinal studies should monitor the impacts of different pedagogical designs and changes in student lifestyle behaviours, and take account of the carbon reductions expected with further greening of buildings, UK grid decarbonisation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This research aims to examine the main findings of the SusTEACH study of the carbon-based environmental impacts of 30 higher education (HE) courses in 15 UK institutions, based on an analysis of the likely energy consumption and carbon emissions of a range of face-to-face, distance, online and information and communication technology (ICT)-enhanced blended teaching models.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An environmental assessment of 19 campus-based and 11 distance-based HE courses was conducted using questionnaire surveys to gather data from students and lecturers on course-related travel: the purchase and use of ICTs and paper materials, residential energy consumption and campus site operations. Results were converted into average energy and CO2 emissions, normalised per student per 100 study hours, and then classified by the primary teaching model used by lecturers.\nFindings: The main sources of HE course carbon emissions were travel, residential energy consumption and campus site operations. Distance-based HE models (distance, online and ICT-enhanced teaching models) reduced energy consumption by 88 per cent and achieved significant carbon reductions of 83 per cent when compared with campus-based HE models (face-to-face and ICT-enhanced teaching models). The online teaching model achieved the lowest energy consumption and carbon emissions, although there were potential rebound effects associated with increased ICT-related energy consumption and paper used for printing.\nPractical implications: New pedagogical designs using online and distance-based teaching methods can achieve carbon reductions by reducing student travel via residential and campus accommodation.\nOriginality/value: Few studies have examined the environmental performance of HE teaching models. A new classification of HE traditional, online and blended teaching models is used to examine the role of ICTs and the likely carbon impacts.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Features of business association advocates in Africa
|
[
"Tanzania",
"Enabling environment",
"Business associations",
"Regulatory reform",
"State business relations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Development partners, such as the UK Department for International Development, Danish International Development Agency, Swedish International Development Agency and the US Agency for International Development, amongst others, initiate and finance programmes and twinning arrangements to support private sector advocacy in developing countries.\nMethodology: There are a relatively small number of business associations in Tanzania, perhaps no more than 60 or so, and probably no more than ten to 20 associations, and perhaps a similar number of civil society organisations, that have the resources and competence to engage in dialogue with, or to lobby, the government.\nThe evidence: The Tanzania Association of Consultants (TACO)\nA revised model of development: Based on the results of the interviews cited in this paper and others, and knowledge of many other business associations (Irwin, 2008), I have attempted to describe four stages of development for an association, with primary reference to its role as an advocate.\nConclusion: The objective in preparing this paper was to build on the concept that associations develop over time and that it is possible to describe their current position in order to help them prepare an organisational development programme. Being able to do so will help development partners and also help the consultants working directly with business associations. This paper represents a start in developing a typology of business associations which addresses the characteristics and features highlighted through the pen portraits. More work is now required to develop this further and to assess whether associations really can progress from one stage to the next.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the attempts to describe the features and characteristics of business associations in Tanzania which are aiming to influence public policy. It concludes that those attempts, whilst thought provoking, do not go far enough to be of real use to practitioners and offers an improved model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper uses empirical evidence, gathered from interviews with business associations, supplemented by reviewing their research reports and policy position papers and cross referenced through interviews with public officials.\nFindings: Activities and approaches of successful business associations are described and used to draw out characteristics which might enable associations to be categorised in one of four development stages based on their approach to influencing public policy.\nResearch limitations/implications: The new model is conceptual and work is now required to assess its validity.\nPractical implications: Donors, in their design of advocacy support programmes, already focus support on associations in one or two stages of development. An improved model will make it easier for them, and practitioners, to categorise business associations. Importantly, it will provide indicators for how business associations are expected to improve as a result of the support that they are offered and thus to assess the success of the support programme.\nOriginality/value: There has been little research and little discussion about the features and characteristics of business associations that might lead to success in influencing public policy and thus in improving the enabling environment. This paper contributes to filling that gap.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
How do Italian vocational teachers educate for a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship? Development and initial application of the SIE questionnaire
|
[
"Italy",
"Teaching",
"Lifelong learning",
"Enterprise education",
"Key competence",
"Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent years, there has been growing interest in how to educate for \"a set of behaviours, attributes and skills that allow individuals and groups to create change, and cope with, and even enjoy, higher levels of uncertainty and complexity in all aspects of their life\" (Gibb, 2005, p. 45). The question educators, policy makers and researchers have been considering is how to embed entrepreneurship teaching at all levels of education (Lackeus, 2015). However, most studies of entrepreneurship education have focused on higher education (Ruskovaara and Pihkala, 2013; Hietanen and Jarvi, 2015), and research into entrepreneurial education in compulsory education is underdeveloped in terms both of literature and of the agencies governing and supporting secondary education (Draycott et al., 2011; Johansen and Schanke, 2013; Penaluna and Penaluna, 2015).\nLiterature review: A progression model in entrepreneurial education\nDevelopment of the SIE questionnaire: The development of the SIE questionnaire arises from the need to measure and better understand the way teachers educate for the European key competence of a SIE. Entrepreneurial education to develop this key competence is seen as part of a lifelong learning process that encompasses cross-curricular skills (European Commission et al., 2016), and that requires enterprise education to be embedded in compulsory education. Such an instrument has to have a basis in theory, and to have regard to the literature both on entrepreneurial education and on CBE. In line with the literature review conducted above, five features of cross-curricular teaching for a SIE have been incorporated into the SIE questionnaire:\nMethodology: Within a bigger research programme lasting six months in 2016 and including participant observation and a formative intervention, the five features described above were adapted to an upper secondary technical school context, and developed into the 24 questions in the SIE questionnaire. The questions are shown as follows:\nResults: Respondents were asked to indicate the frequency of their engagement with the categories of activity described and these are shown along with examples of comments made by participants, translated into English. The provision of short quotations is intended to illustrate the different ways, different participants discuss the same topic (Ravitch and Carl, 2015).\nConclusions: In line with Jones and Matlay (2011) this study has considered entrepreneurial education as a contextual phenomenon characterised by a dialogical relationship between the student, the educator, the community, the institution and the educational process, with the student at its centre. While the extensive study by Ruskovaara and Pihkala (2013) found that teachers in secondary vocational education are more engaged in entrepreneurial education than those in secondary education generally, this pilot study focused on a specific vocational context. It could be hypothesised that the teaching staff teach different aspects of the SIE depending on their subject (vocational or general education) or their role (teacher or workshop assistant). For example, in the group of participants, workshop assistants make use of teaching methods such as learning by doing and mentoring, while technical teachers are more likely to use problem solving. In relation to entrepreneurial attitudes, only general education teachers teach initiative.\nLimitations of this study and directions for future research: The findings of the SIE are only representative of the school in question and the group of teachers where it was undertaken, and other schools may show different results. A Delphi study could help identify more features of entrepreneurial teaching. Further study is necessary to confirm that staff teach different aspects of entrepreneurial education depending on their subject and role. In the SIE, more questions on the cultural environment and school management could help achieve better understanding of how and to what extent the environment and school management support or impede teachers' entrepreneurial activity. Other questions could usefully explore how teachers encourage reflection on entrepreneurship as part of lifelong learning. This paper opens avenues for future research on how to embed entrepreneurial attitudes into specific teaching methods and assessment practices.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how educators can teach the key competence of a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship (SIE) as a cross-curricular subject in compulsory education. It draws both on the literature relating to entrepreneurial education and on competence-based education to set out five features of entrepreneurial teaching. For illustrative purposes, these five characteristics are explored in a questionnaire put to a small group of teaching staff.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study employs a qualitative approach, seeking to understand the personal perspectives of participants, and drawing out the complexities of their behaviour, whilst also providing a holistic interpretation of such behaviour.\nFindings: The literature review identifies five features of entrepreneurial teaching: embedding learning outcomes for a SIE within taught subjects; active entrepreneurial teaching; educating for entrepreneurial attitudes; networking activities; being entrepreneurial as part of lifelong learning. It can be hypothesised that teaching staff teach different aspects of the SIE depending on the subject they teach (vocational or more traditional) and their role (teacher or workshop assistant).\nOriginality/value: Development of the SIE and the five characteristics of entrepreneurial teaching is a first step towards understanding how secondary vocational teachers and workshop assistants understand and teach the SIE as cross-curricular subject. In line with Fayolle and Gailly who called for deeper investigation of the most effective combinations of objectives, content and teaching methods, the paper seeks to establish a relationship between teaching methods, development of entrepreneurial attitudes and assessment.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Do SMEs need to strategize?
|
[
"Strategy",
"Strategic management",
"Small to medium‐sized enterprises",
"Manufacturing resource planning",
"India"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Post independence, India aimed at rapid economic growth. As stated in the Second Five Year Plan, the State aimed at \"sizeable increase in national income so as to raise the levels of living in the country\" (Bhavani, 2006). Based on the socio-economic compulsions of the period, public sector and small scale sectors were encouraged. In view of the perceived handicaps of the small scale industries, the state adopted the policy of both promotional and protective measures. Promotional measures comprised of setting up of infrastructural facilities such as developed plots and sheds, setting up of training centers and tool rooms. The protective measures, aimed at protecting small scale industries from competition from their large scale counterparts, included reservation of certain products for exclusive manufacture by small scale industries. The protection to the small scale industries was compounded by geographical and market segmentation that gave small scale industries isolated sheltered markets. The only competition the small scale industries faced was the competition with each other due to overcrowding (Bhavani, 2006).However, post July 1991, the scenario changed. India, faced with a serious balance of payment problem, adopted a policy of liberalization, privatization and globalization (Gosh, 2005). In the era of liberalization and globalization, the government protection is getting reduced (Tendulkar and Bhavani, 1997). The small-scale industries are being exposed to competition from both domestic and global players. The Government of India has been de-reserving items, which were for the exclusive manufacture by Small Scale Industries. With the notification in 2008 to de-reserve 14 items from items reserved for excusive manufacture in the Small Scale Industries, the list stands at 21 (Department of Commerce, Government of India, 2008) (Box 1).Reservation was never meant to be permanent; the concept of reservation for eternity is contradictory to the concept of natural growth and self-sustenance.Under the circumstances, SMEs cannot afford to be complacent and will have to adopt strategies to survive and flourish. The moot question however is, do all small and medium enterprises need to strategize? Even if they do, what should be the level of sophistication desired? Are tools like enterprise resource planning (ERP) applicable to SMEs? We will look at these questions with the help of a case of an SME which successfully implemented ERP.Before we discuss these questions, let us understand the context of SMEs in India.\n2. Context of SMEs: 2.1 Definition of SME\n3. Perspectives in strategy: There are two basic approaches to strategic management. These two approaches can be described as the \"Outside-in\" and the \"Inside-out\" approach (Quader, 2006). Michael Porter is the proponent of the outside-in approach and Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahlad are the proponents of the inside-out approach.In the words of Michael Porter, the essence of strategy is \"choosing to perform activities differently than rivals do\". Operational efficiency though necessary, is not sufficient for success. There has to be a fit between various activities carried out by the organization which makes it impossible for rivals to copy. All of us have heard that \"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link\" but then, applying the advice of Porter, the table is turned; \"Fit locks out imitators by creating a chain that is as strong as its strongest link\" (Porter, 1996). Not the weakest!Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahlad view strategy as a \"stretch\". They argue that whereas the traditional view of strategy focuses on the \"fit\" between existing resources and emerging opportunities, it is the strategic intent that fuels growth. Strategic intent implies a significant stretch for organization. Current capabilities and resources may be manifestly insufficient to meet the dreams (Hamel and Prahlad, 2002) but with a strong intent, organizations seek and find resources. Strategic intent is not a simple war-cry or day dreaming. Strategic intent is dreaming with one's eyes open.\n4. Meaning of strategy in the context of SMEs: Given the resource constraints under which SMEs operate, the meaning and intent of strategy for an SME would correspond more closely with the views of Hamel and Prahlad. Hamel and Prahlad focused on how small companies could successfully enter existing industries that seemed to be controlled by large and established rivals. Strategic approach for an SME would be that of \"stretch\". With globalization opportunities are increasing (so are the threats) and SMEs have to stretch their resources and strength and compensate the weakness (Box 2).Unfortunately, despite the wide spread recognition of the important role played by the SMEs in the emerging economies, there has been relatively little formal research done on competitive strategies for SMEs, particularly those that recognize the resource constraints faced by the SMEs (Lee et al., 1999). The strategies to deal with resource disadvantages can be:* the niching strategy - filling market gaps by offering products differentiated from (but substitutable to) that of the bigger rivals';* the free-riding strategy - exploiting the market development efforts of the bigger rivals by offering products identical to theirs'; and* forming strategic alliances to gain competitive advantages over the bigger rivals and/or deter them from adopting aggressive competitive actions against the SMEs (Lee et al., 1999).4.1 Issues concerning strategy specific to SMEs\n5. Strategy models: Models for strategy have been developed in the context of large organizations, for example, Michael Porter's Generic Model (Porter, 1980). The model proposed by Porter, which describes the three generic strategies of Differentiation, Cost leadership and Focus is too well know to merit elaboration. Porter proposed analysis of the Five Forces that determine the extent of competition and therefore determine a suitable strategy that may be adopted the firm, either incumbent or the entrant. Another interesting model has been the Resource based approach to strategy analysis by (Grant, 1991). The Resource based approach to strategy analysis is applied to SMEs in the following paragraphs.\n6. Application of strategy model to SMEs: The steps involved in the strategy analysis are Identification of resource, capabilities, competitive advantages and choice of strategy which best exploits firm's resources and capabilities relative to external opportunities. However, there can always be resource gap (SMEs are known to be suffering from shortage of resource) and they need to be invest in replenishing, augmenting and upgrading the firm's resource. An obvious but an interesting question arises at this juncture - what if the main resource gap is that of finance? The Government of India is announcing number of measures to provide credit to MSME. For example, the prime Minister announced that credit flow to small and medium enterprises will double in the next five years (Business Line, 2009). Credit guarantee fund for micro and small enterprises (CGTMSE) has entered into memorandum with major banks such as State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank to cover the risk of loans provided to micro and small enterprises in case of collateral-free credit (Business Line, 2008). This should address the problem of finance to micro and small enterprises to an extent.\n7. Enterprise resource planning in SMEs: Majority SMEs do not think in terms of long-term business strategy but focus only on day-to-day operations. With the intensified competition, SMEs are now looking for looking for various avenues to reduce the costs and increase the operational efficiencies. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is considered as one of the solutions for survival and prosperity (Rao, 2000). ERP system is an information technology (IT) system that helps organizations to achieve enterprise-wide integration that results in faster access to information required for information. Obviously, if the SME is a single unit with a simple business process, it may not make much sense to adopt ERP solutions. Some of the reasons cited for an SME to adopt ERP are the process is complex, product-line is large, serve large vendors in India and abroad, have multi-plant, multi-location set-up (Ganapathy, 2007)\n8. Why do SMEs need to adopt ERP?: Today, ERP is considered as the price of entry for running a business and for being connected to other businesses, which allow business-to-business communication electronically. Many multi national companies (MNCs) restrict their business only to those companies that use the same ERP as them (Shehab et al., 2004).\n9. A case of successful ERP implementation: It must be recognized that like in any other interventions, there are many failures as success in ERP implementation. The failure percentage of ERP systems was determined by one study as ranging from 40 to 60 percent and from another study as between 60 to 90 percent (Jain and Sultane, 2009). However, of the several cases of successful implementation of ERP, one case of Advantec Coils Private Limited (ACPL) will be used for the purpose of illustration. The case is based on a contemporary study conducted by Jain and Sultane (2009).9.1 Brief company profile\n10. What can we learn from the case?: The organization has reaped benefits from the ERP implementation. In this case, besides \"Speed\" some other reasons for the successful implementation of ERP may be listed as follows:* Short turn-around time for resolving issues as regular meetings were held with top management of ACPL were held to sort out contentious issues.* Effective project management and coordination ensured completion of mapping and master data for remote sites like Jammu.* Proper documentation process facilitated effective knowledge transfer.* Non-standard practices and procedures were streamlined and changed using SSA Baan ERP procedures, and change management techniques.* Very effective and logical systems-testing gave sufficient confidence to the company to completely switch over to SSA Bann ERP rather than following the normal practice of using the legacy system simultaneously. This helped prevent duplication of data entries.In short, full commitment and involvement top management was the key to the success of ERP implementation.10.1 How do SMEs differ from large organizations?\n11. Concluding remarks: SMEs need to strategize in order to survive and flourish in the competitive environment unleashed by the liberalization and globalization process. Strategy needs to be implemented through tactics. Most SMEs who are saddled with day-to-day operational problems tend to adopt tactics without a strategic outlook. But they may not survive in the long run. To quote Sun Tzu, \"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat\".Of the several approaches to strategy, views of Hamel and Prahlad are applicable to SMEs given the resource constraints under which SMEs operate. Further, SMEs could be adopting strategies such as niching, free-riding and forming strategic alliance to deal with resource constraints.The extent of sophistication in strategy depends on the complexity of the process and size. Adoption of IT tools such as ERP in SMEs essentially depends on the complexity of the process and the number of units. It should never be adopted because the competitor has implemented ERP; the competitor could have made a mistake. Neither should ERP be adopted because it is the \"in-thing\". ERP will benefit only when there is sense of commitment and felt need.It is not that every SME will benefit from sophisticated strategy and strategic tools like ERP. Importantly, the competitive advantage of the SME may come from its ability to operate in ways that may not be according to formal industry standards, but may reflect its unique processes that differentiate it from the competition.The case study in this article indicates that top management support and commitment is absolutely essential for successful implementation of ERP, amongst other factors.SMEs are not a burden to the economy. Labor surplus countries like India need SMEs.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The study is prompted by the fact that most SMEs may not have the wherewithal or the willingness to devote time and resources to strategy formulation but are focused to reconsider this position by the pressures of globalization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Through a literature survey, a model suitable for SMEs is identified. An application of the selected model is presented. Applicability of strategic tools such as ERP in SMEs is examined. A case of a company, which has implemented ERP is analyzed.\nFindings: - SMEs need strategy but the strategy depends on the complexity of the process. The case study points to the need for top management support and commitment.\nResearch limitations/implications: - It is difficult to get financial data from individual SMEs as most SMEs are proprietorship concerns.\nPractical implications: - For countries, which are labor surplus, study on SMEs which are not capital intensive but create employment, has practical and social implication.\nOriginality/value: - This paper attempts at filling research gaps on competitive strategies for SMEs.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Anger-provoking events and intention to turnover in hospital administrators
|
[
"Employee turnover",
"Human resource management",
"Hospitals",
"Canada",
"Conflict management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Workforce turnover is a serious problem for the strategic management of health human resources with high rates of departure compounding the cost of replacing employees (Abelson, 1986; Gray et al., 1996; Waldman et al., 2004). To date, research on turnover in healthcare has focused on nursing staff (for a review see Tai et al., 1998). Although this work has yielded invaluable insights into sources of nurse turnover as well as retention strategies, researchers also need to learn about what prompts other healthcare professionals to leave. I focused on hospital administrative staff because of their key function in delivering safe, stable and sustainable health services (Garman et al., 2006). Moreover, turnover rates and costs for this professional group are high; for example, American administrators leave the healthcare industry faster than administrators in other industries (Castle, 2006) and the costs of productivity loss from their turnover appear second only to physicians (Waldman et al., 2004).\nTheoretical background: Negative work events and anger\nMethod: This study is a secondary analysis of administrator ITL data previously reported (Harlos and Axelrod, 2008). The study population was comprised of employees whose position fulfilled mainly administrative functions (i.e. planning, organizing, allocating) for delivery of hospital services and resources across management, professional and support ranks. Accordingly, the label of administrators was applied. Whereas the primary study focused on the frequency of their mistreatment experiences (i.e. quantitative data) in relation to ITL, the current study focused on their description of a single work event (i.e. qualitative data), which was examined for underlying anger levels and for associations between such anger and turnover intentions.Procedure and sample\nFindings: Background analyses were conducted to confirm that events described by participants were generally negative. To this end, a measure for this study was developed in the semantic differential tradition (Osgood et al., 1957) drawn from research accounts of workplace injustice and mistreatment (e.g. Harlos and Pinder, 1999; Keashly et al., 1994). Participants were asked to rate the event along 13-item adjective pairs (e.g. supportive-abusive; harmful-helpful) each measured on a seven-point alphabetic scale. Valence directions (i.e. positive or negative) were randomized across items to minimize response set effects. After appropriate reverse coding, scores across the 13 items were averaged. The mean of 5.88 out of 7.00 (SD = 0.88; a = 0.91) suggests that events were perceived as generally highly negative. To examine the latent structure of these variables, principal axis factoring with oblimin rotation was used. The number of factors with eigenvalues greater than one suggested an initial three-factor solution. After four items with high cross-loadings were dropped, eigenvalue re-inspection showed an optimal two-factor solution that accounted for 71 percent of variance in responses. The items and their factor loadings are shown in Table I. The first factor refers to hostility while the second factor refers to injustice. Mean unit-weighted scores for each factor (MHostility = 5.53, SD = 1.10; MInjustice = 6.10, SD = 1.01) were correlated with event type (0 =policy-related; 1 =person-related). Results suggested that person-related events were sees as hostile (r = 0.43, p = 0.000) consistent with the organizational literature.Data screening revealed that 8.7 percent of cases were missing for the ITL variable. Because follow-up tests indicated no patterns of missing values with other study variables, missing ITL data were replaced by the variable mean for all cases. Results compared before and after replacement confirmed that this procedure did not alter the analysis. One case was found to be an outlier (z > 6.10) on anger. This was deleted, leaving 103 cases for analysis. A square root transformation of the anger data was used to reduce skewness. Table II shows descriptive statistics for study variables.Table III displays the results of a hierarchical regression analysis using event-related anger as a criterion. Anger was regressed on affective commitment first to control for its potential influence. Model variables together explained 16 percent of the variance in anger. This result was solely attributable to the contribution of event type given that the control variable term was not significant. As predicted, negative events that focused on other people were associated with significantly higher levels of anger than events focused on policies or procedures.Table IV presents the results of the regression analysis predicting the intent to leave. As expected, the block of control variables explained a substantial amount of variance (37 percent) in ITL. The key result for the present purpose is that event-related anger explained a significant amount of variance in ITL above and beyond the impact of known determinants. Consistent with expectations, administrators who were angrier about the event were significantly more intent on quitting compared to administrators who were less angry about the event.\nDiscussion: Despite the strategic importance of health administration work and the high costs to health organizations when administrators leave, few studies have examined determinants of turnover in this population and no known study has examined the impact of work-related anger on administrator ITL. Results of this study indicate that, as predicted, anger-provoking events were positively related to turnover intentions. This relationship was observed after adjusting for numerous factors shown in the health care and turnover literatures to affect the turnover process. In addition, these data show that negative work events centered on people contributed to anger more than policy-based events consistent with expectations.With regard to the anger-ITL result, it is possible that intentions to leave the organization were motivated by the desire to alleviate the unpleasantness associated with anger. Although these data do not reveal motives behind quit intentions, thoughts of leaving an aversive situation (as signaled by anger) may have been partly driven by self-protection. This possibility is raised by the fact that interpersonal interactions, a key source of anger for administrators, were associated with perceived hostility. These perceptions may have been influenced by the hostile attribution bias (Crick and Dodge, 1994), which is defined as the tendency for some individuals to interpret others' behavior as hostile even when it is not and which has been shown to increase anger. In such instances, anger acts as defense to the potential threat or harm behind hostility. Further research is needed to probe for socioemotional processes related to anger and mechanisms for its role in ITL given the practical significance anger-related turnover. In this vein, studies that investigate attributions would be of benefit. In terms of practice, helping administrators make valid distinctions between benign and malicious intent might reduce avoidable turnover (Abelson, 1987). Future studies might also examine anger-turnover links in other job categories such as clinicians and allied health professionals. Because the current measure of anger assessed frequency only, it would be interesting to examine the effect of anger intensity. Research is also needed to confirm that person-related events that provoke anger represent, as assumed here, a one-time event rather than a history of past interactions.Key limitations (common to single site study, cross-sectional survey data, regression analysis) include the inability to make inferences about causality or extend results beyond the current sample. Because position rank was combined in the analysis, the sample may not be homogenous. Future studies using larger samples across multiple sites will permit comparisons by rank and promote generalizability of results. The sole reliance on self-report measures raises the possibility that observed relationship sizes were inflated due to common source bias. Yet methods other than self-report probably could not have elicited the sensitive data sought here. Further, although the same work event description was the source for event type and anger variables, there is support for conceptualizing them as independent constructs given that the differences in nature and methods applied to measure them. Although widely recognized as the best predictor of actual turnover, ITL nevertheless is a proxy measure. However, using a construct valid scale mitigated this concern at least in part. Additionally, the similarity of results for control variables in predicting ITL to those reported in the turnover literature reinforced the expectation that intentions translate into behavior. Lastly, there is concern about potential selection bias. It should be recalled, however, that sample demographics (i.e. gender, position) matched the study population and it is noteworthy that the response rate (37 percent) is consistent with past ITL research set in hospitals (e.g. Stone et al., 2007). Survey response rates that target individuals vary greatly, averaging 53 percent (Baruch and Holtom, 2008). In hospital contexts, achieving average levels is challenging even with the use of incentives and reminders in the face of chronic work overload and unsupportive climates (Shamian and El-Jardali, 2007). Careful data screening further reduced the number of cases on the basis of data quality rather than self-selection.Despite these limitations, the results have several strategic and policy implications aimed at both reducing avoidable turnover for effective management of health human resources and improving employee quality of life at work. Recent health care research confirms that effective service delivery requires healthy workplaces (Shamian and El-Jardali, 2007), which Kelloway and Day (2005) describe in their healthy workplace model as having satisfying interpersonal relationships and norms of support, respect, and fairness. Supportive social relationships, in turn, have been shown to buffer the negative impact of anger (Greenglass, 1987). Thus, work environments that support open and constructive approaches to anger episodes are needed. The call to codify respect and fairness in organizational policy as a retention strategy for innovative health organizations (Black et al., 2004), consistent with Kelloway and Day's (2005) healthy workplace model, is empirically supported by these results. Interventions aimed at improving communications, and dealing with anger should reduce hostile interactions and foster their constructive handling when they occur.In summary, these data indicate that health researchers and policymakers will benefit from a fuller understanding of the psychology of turnover that accounts for administrator anger. Such insights into sources of turnover will help develop effective retention strategies (Black et al., 2004; World Health Organization, 2006). Health organizations stand to gain efficiencies, reducing labor costs and reaching more stable staffing levels, by providing workplaces that promote emotional health for administrators. Future work on the impact of anger on administrators and on the origins of anger-provoking events can only enhance the well being of health care staff and organizations.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine anger associated with types of negative work events experienced by health administrators and to examine the impact of anger on intent to leave.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Textual data analysis is used to measure anger in open-ended survey responses from administrative staff of a Canadian hospital. Multivariate regression is applied to predict anger from event type, on the one hand, and turnover intentions from anger, on the other.\nFindings: - Person-related negative events contributed to administrator anger more than policy-related events. Anger from events predicted turnover intentions after adjusting for numerous potential confounds.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Future studies using larger samples across multiple sites are needed to test the generalizability of results.\nPractical implications: - Results provide useful information for retention strategies through codifying respect and fairness in interactions and policies. Health organizations stand to gain efficiencies by helping administrators handle anger effectively, leading to more stable staffing levels and more pleasurable, productive work environments.\nOriginality/value: - This paper addresses gaps in knowledge about determinants of turnover in this population by examining the impact of administrator anger on intent to leave and the work events which give rise to anger. Given the strategic importance of health administration work and the high costs to health organizations when administrators leave, results hold particular promise for health human resources.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Perceived health and taste ambivalence in food consumption
|
[
"Health",
"Taste",
"Product type",
"Ambivalence",
"Consumer characteristics",
"Food perception"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\nIntroduction: Understanding and managing the complex relationship between consumers and products is one of the most fundamental tasks of food marketers. Sometimes, simple managerial tools such as label information can be influential in steering consumers' responses. For example, labeling food as tasty or using evocative terms such as \"succulent Italian seafood filet\" is known to have a positive impact on consumers' expectations, acceptance, attention and hedonic ratings (Wansink et al., 2005; Torres-Moreno et al., 2012). Yet, due to the complexity pertaining to the relationship between the health and taste attributes of food and interactive effects of product type and consumer factors, such managerial actions can backfire and lead to unintended effects. For example, the \"tastiness\" label increased the flavor intensity perception for the Comte cheese, but not for the Emmental cheese and this effect was dependent on consumers' age (Jacquot et al., 2013). It is exactly these kinds of complexities the present study seeks to shed light on. Consequently, the interplay between product and consumer factors in determining whether and why healthiness and tastiness are perceived to combine in various foods offers an intriguing research avenue that possesses managerial relevance.\nFood product type and consumer characteristics as shapers of health and taste perceptions: Observations concerning the relationships between product type, dieting status, health motives and food values and consumers' health and taste perceptions can be made based on prior research. However, not all of these inter-relationships have been explored equally extensively and systematically. In the cases of scarce pre-existing knowledge, topically tangent studies are cited in the review that follows.\nStudy 1: healthiness and/or tastiness of light food products as viewed by dieting vs non-dieting consumers: Methodology\nStudy 2: healthiness and/or tastiness of convenience foods as viewed by consumers with different health motives: Methodology\nStudy 3: healthiness and/or tastiness of candy products as viewed by consumers with different food values: Methodology\nConclusion and implications: Healthiness and tastiness can combine in consumers' minds, but it is a result of a complex and dynamic interaction between their personal characteristics and product qualities. Dieting consumers' less critical attitude toward the combined health and taste value of light versions of traditionally palatable foods (sausages, soft drinks, beer) (cf. also Paradis and Cabanac, 2008) represents an example of this. This corroborates with Papies et al. (2007) who discovered that dieting consumers, but not non-dieting ones, spontaneously activate hedonic thoughts upon encounters with palatable foods. Alternatively, this interaction may create a perception that a good taste and high degree of healthfulness are incompatible with each other as manifested by the case of Taste-valuators and conventional candies. Next, the key theoretical and managerial implications together with a few future research suggestions are outlined.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: This study aims to explore how certain consumer characteristics (dieting status, health motives and food values) together with products carrying ambivalent health and taste cues (light foods, convenience foods, \"functional candies\") shape whether and why health and taste attributes are perceived as inclusive (\"healthy is tasty\" and \"unhealthy is untasty\") or exclusive (\"healthy is untasty\" and \"unhealthy is tasty\").\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative methodology not yet applied in examining consumers' healthiness and tastiness perceptions of food was employed. It included gathering three separate data sets through both personal and group interviews (N = 40).\nFindings: Consumers' dieting status, health motives and food values shape the perception of inclusivity and exclusivity of health and taste of light, convenience and candy products. Second, there are multiple sources for these perceptions including product type, ingredients, level of processing and marketing cues. These factors interact to produce a unique consumer understanding of the relationship between health and taste for each single food product.\nPractical implications: To ensure optimal consumer response, food companies and health educators need to understand how different target groups form their inclusive/exclusive perceptions of health and taste for various foods.\nOriginality/value: The majority of pre-existing food consumption research supports imply that a good taste and a high degree of healthiness are incompatible with each other. The findings challenge this view. It appears that it is the \"unhealthy is untasty\" and \"healthy is tasty\" perceptions that predominate in certain consumer groups. A novel conceptual framework for understanding the ambivalence of health and taste perceptions in food consumption is offered.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Online consumer behaviour of mass-customised apparel products: A hierarchy of traits approach
|
[
"Consumer behaviour",
"Mass customization",
"Traits",
"Apparel",
"E-commerce",
"3M model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the early beginning of the studies focussing online commerce (e.g. Bellman et al., 1999; Childers et al., 2001; Limayem et al., 2000), experimental products, such as apparel, are referred as the ones that would never be sold online. Although, contrary to early beliefs apparel products are in the top of the preferences for browse and online purchase, and are one of the products responsible for the growth of e-commerce (Nielsen, 2014; SIBS, 2015; yStats, 2013). For example, in 2012, a study from eMarketer (2012) revealed a growth of 20 per cent in clothing and accessories sales when compared to 2011, with values reaching 40.9 billion US dollars. In 2015, a new report showed that clothing and accessories had generated sales of 52.2 billion US dollars in 2014 and it is predicted to reach 86.4 billion by 2018 (eMarketer, 2015).\n2. Literature review and model conceptualization: Being a hierarchical model, the 3M meta-theoretical model provides an organisational structure to understand the relationships between several personality constructs relevant to explain consumer behaviour. The traits hierarchy proposed in the 3M model consists of four levels: level IV - elemental traits, level III - compound traits, level II - situational traits and level I - surface traits. The traits in each level are always considered unidimensional and the interaction between the different levels is operated from broad traits (e.g. elemental) to narrow ones (e.g. surface), each one explaining variance in behaviour prediction. In the following revision, traits are presented starting from the first level (surface traits), since intention to purchase online mass-customised apparel products is the main object of study.\n3. Proposed model: In summary, this conceptualization proposes that intention to purchase online mass-customised apparel products (surface trait) is influenced by the situational traits, desire for unique products, need for touch, need for simplicity, need for reality and apparel involvement. Situational traits are further influenced by compound traits, including the personal sense of uniqueness, need to evaluate and need for cognition. Compound traits are then influenced by the eight elemental traits identified by: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeability, neuroticism/emotional instability, need for material resources, physical resources/body and need for arousal (Mowen, 2000) (Figure 1).\n4. Proposed methodology for model testing: The aim of the proposed hierarchical model is to explore how the different traits on the hierarchy impact intention to purchase online mass-customised apparel products. Thus, the hypotheses should be tested on a sample of individuals familiarised with online apparel shopping that have already purchased apparel online or exhibit a greater propensity to. Since the study concerns an online subject, the survey should be web based.\n5. Conclusions: The conceptualization being proposed contributes to the current literature by suggesting a new perspective of the determinants of intention to purchase online mass-customised apparel products, developed upon the assumption that consumers have individual differences that can be used to predict the intention to purchase this kind of products online.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply Mowen's (2000) meta-theoretical model of motivation and personality (3M) and its hierarchy of traits to deeper understand consumer behaviour towards online purchase of mass-customised apparel products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: For the current study, the meta-theoretical model of motivation and personality (3M) and its hierarchy of traits proposed by Mowen (2000) were adapted to use in the context of online purchase of mass-customised apparel products. Appropriate and significant constructs and relationships were identified in the four levels of the hierarchy of needs, specifically: one trait in the first level (surface traits), five specific traits in the second level (situational traits), three broader traits in the third level (compound traits), and finally, eight traits in the fourth level (elemental traits).\nFindings: This research allowed the identification of pertinent personality traits in the context of online purchase of mass-customised apparel products and the comprehension of the relationships among these constructs using a hierarchical framework.\nOriginality/value: The originality and value of the current approach is the use of a hierarchical structure of traits to understand the relationship among personality traits in the mass-customisation field, which, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no study has proposed. Theoretical and methodological contributions to the field derive from the current proposal.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Winning the battle to keep your brightest and best: Salary surveys provide like-for-like information on who earns what
|
[
"Remuneration",
"Surveys",
"Employee turnover",
"Retention"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: \"Because you're worth it\" is not only a catchy advertising slogan for a leading cosmetics company; it could also drive the remuneration policies of organizations seeking to retain their top talent and so win out over competitors whose executive-turnover rates are high.\nThe challenging work of remuneration committees: Pay differentials, both within and between organizations, were relatively stable when companies were largely hierarchical structures operating in predictable environments. But globalization, the rise of flexible working, and the modern emphasis on customer orientation, efficiency and quality have largely destroyed this predictability and so made the work of remuneration committees that much more challenging.Offering a valued employee a remuneration package at least equal to, or more than, the prevailing industry average can help to get a valued employee to stay with the organization. But offering more money can also have unwanted side effects. First, it can encourage other employees to think that \"the only way to get a pay rise round here is to threaten to leave\". Secondly, when an employee at the top of his or her salary scale is offered more money for performing essentially the same job he or she was doing before, it can blow a hole in organization-wide differentials. Finally, ad-hoc, knee-jerk pay rises for key individuals can undermine effective team-working - the very characteristics the organization may most have valued in the individual it seeks to retain.Information on the prevailing industry salary level can, moreover, be difficult to obtain. Outside the public sector, most organizations view the salaries and benefits they offer their employees as highly confidential and an important source of competitive advantage.\nComparing pay and benefit packages with those of competitors: One company has devised a solution. D3 Group carries out sector-specific salary surveys of senior jobs - the ones with key commercial impact on the business - so that companies can see how their pay and benefit packages compare with those of their competitors.First, a salary-survey members' forum is canvassed, to set the agenda for the survey and agree the roles, job dimensions, salary and other remuneration components to be surveyed. Adrian Graves, D3 Group managing director, explained:The criteria addressed are agreed by all participants before the survey begins.The survey takes information provided by participants and analyzes it to give a market perspective on current remuneration packages.Adrian Graves said:It is available exclusively to participating organizations, on a confidential and non-attributable basis, so that no data can be tracked to specific businesses. Each participant knows the identity of the other organizations, but not the data from them.Each participant receives a report that indicates its own salary level for relevant jobs, together with the median, upper and lower-quartile levels for those jobs. The focus is on keeping the report simple and immediately usable. Roles are defined in terms of the scale of the job-holder's trading position, rather than on detailed job descriptions. This helps to give a like-for-like market comparison for each job.Adrian Graves continued:We compare jobs according to their \"trading book\". We measure what is important to the profitability of the particular sector. And we keep the survey relatively small by ensuring that participants consist of the client's peer group - that is, the companies with which it would be interested in being compared.D3 facilitates the steering group of participants when deciding what output the members require, so shaping the information that has to be gathered.\nSnapshot at a given moment: In return for the company providing quite modest amounts of information, its remuneration committee receives objective and impartial data that can be invaluable in helping to ensure that the salary and benefit levels it sets are competitive.Of course, the \"answers\" provided by such a salary survey can only ever be temporary. The exercise will probably have to be repeated - and with increasing regularity as the pace of business change continues to quicken.But the salary survey at least gives a snapshot of salaries at a given moment. And at a time when more than a third of human-resource managers report that employee retention is their main preoccupation, having some information on what competitors are paying like-for-like employees is better than having none at all.As Roger Herman, author of Keeping Good People, puts it:Employee retention takes effort, energy, and resources ... and the results are worth it.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Examines the role of salary surveys in helping organizations to retain their top talent.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Describes how D3 Group carries out sector-specific salary surveys of senior jobs - the ones with key commercial impact on the business - so that companies can see how their pay and benefit packages compare with those of their competitors.\nFindings: - Reveals that each survey takes information provided by participants and analyzes it to give a market perspective on current remuneration packages. It is available exclusively to participating organizations, on a confidential and non-attributable basis, so that no data can be tracked to specific businesses. Each participant knows the identity of the other organizations, but not the data from them.\nPractical implications: - Contends that the answers provided can only ever be temporary and the exercise will probably have to be repeated - more and more frequently as the pace of business change continues to quicken.\nOriginality/value: - Explains that roles are defined in terms of the scale of the job-holder's trading position, rather than on detailed job descriptions. This helps to give a like-for-like market comparison for each job.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Where social enterprise practitioners draw the line : Towards an understanding of movement from social entrepreneurship as boundary work
|
[
"Boundary objects",
"Social enterprise",
"Transgression",
"Boundary work",
"Public services",
"Visual data"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: social and political: The modernisation of public services has become increasingly associated with new contractual arrangements in which charities, community groups and social enterprises have been energetically encouraged to compete for public contracts (Pestoff and Brandsen, 2010; Davies, 2011). This international phenomenon reflects a crisis in welfare systems and reduced state engagement in the direct delivery of public services (Defourny and Nyssens, 2006; Hogg and Baines, 2011). As Russell and Scott (2007, p. 28) found, experiences of social enterprise were of \"continuous change and unpredictability\" arising from numerous interactions with public sector and government. While recent research contributes empirical accounts of the operations of third-sector organisations (Greenhalgh and Harradine, 2012), we include differing practitioner views of social entrepreneurship, crossing boundaries of third and public sectors, as we believe these interactions cannot be understood from one perspective.\nSocial entrepreneurship as boundary work: Boundary work refers to everyday ways in which people construct narratives to negotiate social, organisational and commercial boundaries (Greenman, 2011). Lindgren and Packendorff (2006, p. 224) propose that boundary work means participants constantly re-draw the parameters as they exchange ideas and values, implying \"re-creation and change of world(s) they inhabit - including how they see themselves\". Informed by the European approach to critical narrative analysis in enterprise studies (Down, 2013), we recognise that there are \"multiple social identities and boundaries\" that \"give meaning to entrepreneurial activities\" (Greenman, 2011, p. 118). Jones et al. (2008) show similar thinking of how people draw lines between groups of \"us\" and \"them\".\nThe picture so far: social entrepreneurship in terms of policy: We consider social entrepreneurship against the background of how the third sector in England was subject to various political interventions during the New Labour era. In 2006, New Labour created an office for the third sector, and established funded support programmes for social organisations to improve their readiness to deliver public services, emphasising business solutions (Russell and Scott, 2007). In targeting third-sector organisations as delivery partners, programmes were initiated to develop the third sector and to promote social enterprise.\nApproach to research and methodology: The research sought to utilise the notion of boundary work, particularly the process, to better understand how practitioners negotiate social entrepreneurship. In considering the process of transition, Johnson et al. (2006, p. 135) argue social entrepreneurship researchers \"have to begin by understanding the ways in which people, through social interaction, actively constitute and reconstitute the culturally derived meanings, which they deploy to interpret their experiences and organize social action\". However, Brown et al. (2008, p. 1038) claim \"realities are fluid [...] constructions being constantly made and re-made in the conversations between insiders and between insiders and outsiders\". Yet, they found in most interpretive accounts a single, homogenised account is voiced.\nData analysis: models as boundary objects: Analysis utilising a narrative approach perspective offered a means of considering the tensions between the narrative logics, in this instance between the dominant positivist logic of entrepreneurship, as in the review of the literature, and that of narrative logic perspective (framed as a minor narrative). First, it examines prevailing ways of talking about social enterprise in public policy and much of the academic literature; and second, it queries what happens in everyday practice so as not to privilege government and academic narratives.\nInsights: perspectives of crossing and re-crossing boundaries: We consider in turn how participants negotiated boundaries around notions of: first, movement and evolved transitions, and - linked to this - (re)presentations of identity and identification; and second, perceptions of opportunity.\nConcluding thoughts: limits and promises of boundary work: This paper describes ways in which participants engage in social enterprise, specifically how they make sense of their positions and negotiate space and meanings. Previous studies have demonstrated that how organisations are perceived by infrastructure agencies affects both their access to resources and the \"boundaries\" and \"priorities\" for the field (Grenier, 2006); and that working at inter-sectoral boundaries highlights the need for social enterprises to be adaptable to changing social, political and economic climate (Alcock and Scott, 2007). Some theorists utilising cross-sectoral models, however, position social enterprise within a static location, within solid boundaries, thus neglecting movement.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer new reflection upon the contested interaction of social enterprises with the public sector. It does this by fore fronting the notions of boundaries, boundary work and boundary objects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper reports qualitative research with social enterprise practitioners (from social enterprises and support agencies) in the north of England. Accounts elicited through interviews are combined with visual data in the form of pencil drawings made by practitioners when the authors invited them to respond to and rework diagrammatic models from the literature about the social and economic dimensions of social enterprise.\nFindings: Participants explained in words and images how normative images of social enterprise depicting linear and static boundaries inadequately represent the complexity of ideas and interactions in their world. Rather, they perceived an iterative process of crossing and re-crossing boundaries, with identities and practices which appeared to shift over time in relation to different priorities.\nResearch limitations/implications: Through participant generated visual data in which social enterprise practitioners literally redrew models from the literature, the paper open space to show movement, transgression and change.\nOriginality/value: This paper is timely as social enterprises are becoming increasingly prominent in the welfare mix. The authors make novel use of conversations and drawings in order to better understand the dynamic and everyday practices of social enterprise within public services. In doing this, the authors also potentially contribute to richer methodological resources for researching the movement of services between sectors.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Aligning corporate real estate with the corporate strategies of higher education institutions
|
[
"Alignment",
"Higher education institutions",
"Strategy",
"Corporate real estate management",
"Espoused strategy",
"Strategy in-use"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the literature and practice of facility management, there has been an ongoing interest on how corporate real estate (CRE) can contribute to higher education (Housley, 1997; Amaratunga and Baldry, 2000; De Vries et al., 2008; Vidalakis et al., 2013; Beckers, et al., 2015). Since the past decennia, higher education has experienced substantial changes, such as the increased use of information technology in higher education (Collis and Van der Wende, 2002; Johnson et al., 2013), new learning approaches (Siemens, 2005; Marais, 2011), the development of learning communities (McLaughlin and Mills, 2008), changes in student behavior (Prensky, 2001; Veen and Vrakking, 2006), changes in student expectations (Beckers and Van der Voordt, 2013) and a changing policy concerning internationalization and educational quality (CPOO, 2008). These developments lead to changing strategies of higher education institutions. To support these evolving strategies, the CRE of higher education institutions has to be aligned with these evolving organizational strategies.\n2. Analytical framework: CREM is a relatively new profession. It dates back approximately 25 years (Heywood et al., 2009). According to Brackertz and Kenley (2002), the current awareness that CREM can contribute to organizational performance started with the work of Roulac (1986) at the end of the 1980s, and it gained prominence in the early 1990s with the publications of Nourse and Roulac (1993) and Joroff et al. (1993). Nourse and Roulac set a standard by defining CRE strategies and linking them to business strategies (Appel-Meulenbroek et al., 2010; Heywood, 2011). According to Nourse and Roulac (1993, p. 476):\n3. Multiple case study at Dutch UAS: CRE alignment is strongly related to a specific organizational context (Osgood, 2004). The present research aimed at studying CRE alignment in the context of higher education. The study was conducted at Dutch UAS. The Netherlands has 39 of these UAS, with a total number of 423,776 students and 41,429 employees (Vereniging Hogescholen, 2011/2012). In 2011, Dutch UAS spent 216 million on their CRE (OCW, 2013). That is 6.3 per cent of the total expenses (3.4 billion) for higher professional education.\n4. Research findings: This section will first present the espoused CRE strategies and CRE strategies in-use of the studied Dutch UAS. Second, it will discuss the alignment between these CRE strategies and corporate strategies (Types A and B alignment in Figure 1). Next, the alignment of CRE operating decisions with both types of CRE strategies will be discussed (Types C and D alignment in Figure 1). Finally, the relation between the four types of alignment will be discussed.\n5. Discussion and implications: The literature stresses the importance of the alignment between CRE and the core business (Osgood, 2004; Lindholm et al., 2006; Jensen, 2010; Heywood, 2011). According to Krumm et al. (2000), this alignment is important to obtain maximum added value for the organization as a whole. Porter's (1985) value chain also showed that, besides primary activities, support activities like CREM are of importance for an organization's performance. Building on Porter (1985) and other management literature, e.g. Zeithaml (1988) and Kaplan and Norton (1996, 2006), a distinction can be made between two ways in which CREM can add value to the organization, i.e. by cost reduction and value creation (Lindholm et al., 2006; De Vries et al., 2008; Jensen et al., 2013). Both ways were detected in the Dutch UAS study. Cost-controlling strategies were found in the strategic documents and were mentioned in the interviews. CRE operating decisions aimed at cost reduction were mentioned in the interviews with CRE managers as well. Value creation was found in terms of CRE strategies to support future developments, to increase user satisfaction, to support culture and to support user activities. These results are consistent with the findings of Housley (1997), who found that the key CRE strategies contributing to success of the organization were \"reduction of occupancy costs\" and \"providing humane work environment\".\n5. Conclusion: Due to the rapid and complex developments in higher education, the challenge of the present research was to shed more light on how CRE managers try to develop CRE strategies and take CRE operating decisions to align CRE with the evolving corporate strategies of Dutch UAS. The results show differences between the alignment of the corporate strategies with espoused CRE strategies and with CRE strategies in-use. The alignment of espoused CRE strategies showed a number of gaps, which might refer to a limited understanding of the possible added value of CRE for the organization and the end-users. On the other hand, CRE strategies in-use seem to be aligned quite well with the corporate goals. This suggests that CRE managers are aware that CRE can be more than just a support function or a necessity and how CRE can add value to serve the corporate interest. The CRE managers mainly steer on CRE alignment with corporate goals by formulating CRE strategies that support user activities and that control CRE costs. Beside these two added values of CRE, aligning CRE operating decisions is also related to supporting the organizational culture.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate real estate (CRE) managers of higher education institutions formulate their CRE strategies and CRE operating decisions to align CRE with the corporate strategies of these institutions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An analytical alignment framework has been developed, which was used to study the possible and actual connections between CRE management and corporate management at 13 large Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences. The data collection included a content analysis of the strategic plans of these universities and interviews with the CRE managers.\nFindings: The research findings show several layers of how CRE managers aim to align CRE with corporate goals to add value to the organization. It appears that the CRE strategies in-use are more clearly aligned with the corporate strategies than with the espoused CRE strategies.\nPractical implications: The paper emphasizes the relevance of involving CRE management in corporate decision-making to contribute to the attainment of the organizational objectives with an efficient and effective accommodation.\nOriginality/value: Substantial changes in learning and teaching practices in higher education lead to evolving corporate strategies, which result in the need for aligned CRE strategies and CRE operating decisions. This paper makes practitioners and researchers aware of the differences between alignment-based espoused CRE strategies and alignment that results from CRE strategies in-use in the field of higher education. The findings and insights might be applicable in other sectors as well.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Characteristics of relationships, types and strategies in a Brazilian cluster
|
[
"Innovation",
"Strategy",
"Relationships",
"Typology",
"Clusters",
"Specialization"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The analysis of local industry and its development has become an object of study for researchers aimed at understanding the successes and failures of agglomerations, arrangements or production systems (Bell and Albu, 1999; Mason et al., 2008). Many latent factors and variables interrelate and affect the performance of these systems, especially due to local specificities and how inter-firm interactions operate (Markusen, 1996; Oliver and Porta, 2006). It is within this scenario that this study takes place, with the intention of exploring the subjective and complex variables, which are fundamental for the relationship and cooperation structure in a Brazilian cluster.\n2. Conceptual evolution of the term cluster: According to Chrisinger et al. (2015), clusters can be defined as geographically concentrated groups of companies from a specific industry and supporting institutions. This concentration can provide improvements in productivity and regional prosperity.\n3. Research object: The research object is the footwear center of Franca, located in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The origin of the Franca shoe production chain was not accidental. History shows that it arose as a result of the composition of its population, its location and the initial activities where the economic primacy was in manufacturing shoes and in the tanneries that processed the leather. The records of Italian shoemakers since 1872/1877 were another fact that contributed to the origin of the production chain, considering the mastery of these artisans in the art of manufacturing shoes. In March 1921, the first shoe factory opened, although later it declared bankruptcy. However, the auctioning of the machinery led to the opening of more shoe factories. In the 1920s and 1930s, the location's tanning industry was already the third biggest in the state of Sao Paulo. The set of facts described above drove the verticalization of activities geared toward the manufacturing of shoes and thus factories arose for the most diverse inputs and products required for this industry.\n4. Research method: In this research, the approach is exploratory and explanatory, since an exploratory approach provides a greater insight to the problem, since it seeks direct information in the research object. The explanatory approach, on the other hand, permits inference, after testing the hypotheses, and points out any relation between the variables, and then reaches, or not, the solution to the proposed problem. The survey method is used because it permits working with a number of pieces of information representing sufficient critical mass to meet the research objective.\n5. Analysis of results: In this section, the tests of the research hypotheses are presented. The characteristics of the surveyed cluster and its respective types of relationships among members are also presented. It is important to highlight that there are two types of shoe manufacturers in the studied cluster, and they were named as: the center companies and the shoe companies. Center companies are shoe manufacturers that have power over smaller shoe manufacturers, i.e., they sell large orders and divide the production among several smaller shoe companies, obtaining bargaining advantages. This generates a type of dependence for the small shoe companies, who have to maintain a close relationship with them.\n6. Conclusions: The general objective of this study is to identify the characteristics/variables that explain the formation of groups of companies within a cluster. Each group has specific characteristics that determine the internal homogeneity and the heterogeneity between groups. Thus, in order to try to explain the research proposal, different cluster typologies, competitive strategies and variables associated with governance were elaborated. Using the constructed and applied research instruments and multivariate exploratory techniques to identify the level of significance of each variable for each group, it was possible to consolidate an instrument for analyzing typologies of industrial clusters. This is one of the main contributions of this study, the method/procedure of which can be reproduced for different objects of research (different clusters). In this sense, it was possible to identify propositions about this cluster's characteristics:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the theoretical development of the theme by the proposition of an industrial cluster typology method considering that the set of local variables related to the firms characteristics are essential for the strengthening of the interfirms' relationship and consequently their performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The theoretical basis of this study are the types of clusters found in literature and the research. A survey with several types of actors were performed with companies from footwear production chain in the region of Franca, Brazil. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics techniques as well as multivariate exploratory methods.\nFindings: This study highlight multiple characteristics derived from different cluster typologies within the same productive chain.\nOriginality/value: From a theoretical standpoint, the research results extended the perspective about the strategic role played by the local cooperation and also offer to managers and representative institutions a possibility to reflect on different types of governance principles adopted in collective actions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Isolation, characterization and utilization of starter cultures for the development of wheyghurt drink
|
[
"Starter culture",
"Lactic acid bacteria",
"Wheyghurt",
"Whey beverages",
"Food products",
"Pakistan",
"Customer orientation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Starters are preparations to assist the beginning of fermentation process in preparation of various foods and fermented drinks. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are among the most important starters used in production of fermented products such as cheese, yoghurt, sausages, sourdough bread and silage (Holzapfel et al., 2001). Lactobacillus delbruceckii ssp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus are widely used for preparation of yoghurt, cheese and fermented milk (Ayhan et al., 2005). The production of yoghurt in the world is a result of milk fermented by selective strains of Lactobacillus delbruceckii ssp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus (Ross et al., 2005).Regular intake of yoghurt produced by Lactobacillus delbruceckii ssp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus looks effective both in prevention and treatment of various illnesses in man like gastrointestinal disorders, hypercholesterolemia, antitumoral, reduced protein allergencity, vaginal discharge and osteoporosis etc. Wheyghurt drink made with yoghurt starter cultures showed potential therapeutic properties, and optimum sensory qualities (Kar and Misra, 1999).In cheese processing, the caseins are the proteins responsible for making curd while whey remains in an aqueous environment. Composition of liquid whey is; minerals (0.52 percent), water (92 percent), lactose (5.5 percent), proteins (0.80 percent) and a fraction of fat (0.37 percent). The biological components of whey, including lactoferrin, beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, glycomacropeptide, and immunoglobulins, demonstrate a range of immune-enhancing properties. Whey also has the ability to act as an antioxidant, antihypertensive, antitumor, hypolipidemic, antiviral, antibacterial, and chelating agent. A number of clinical trials have successfully been performed using whey in the treatment of cancer, human imune virus (HIV), hepatitis B, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and as an antimicrobial agent (Marshall, 2004).Out of 85 million tonnes of global production, 40 percent is still disposed as raw whey into sewage which leads to serious environmental pollution, because of its high BOD of 300000-500000 ppm. Therefore conversion of whey in fermented and non-fermented beverages is one of the most attractive avenues for utilization of whey for human consumption (Horton, 1995).The bioconversion of whey is an interesting process especially for therapeutic purposes in relation to economy, and with advantage for reducing environment pollution. Although yoghurt bacteria can grow well in whey these use of these organisms in the preparation of whey drink is still limited (Parente and Zottola, 1991). Several scientists suggested that whey could be used in the formulation of nutritious soft drinks or high protein beverages and also might be used as an additive in soup and fruit juices. Whey-based lactic beverages constitute an emerging segment of non-conventional dairy products that require sensory, physical and chemical characterization for quality control and product development (Jack et al., 1995).Presently human health has gained a lot of attention of the people and has become conscious towards their health and personality many times more than before. They demand for more healthy, nutritious and valuable products that can not only overcome their nutritional balanced diet plane but on the same side did not boost up their body weight. The starter cultures for the production of fermented products are not presently produced in Pakistan and are imported for industrial use. The use of LAB as starter culture may help to improve the quality and the shelf life of the food products. Therefore the present study was designed to isolate and characterize the suitable starter culture for the production of wheyghurt drink.\nMaterials and methods: Isolation of indigenous starter cultures\nResults and discussion: Isolation of microorganisms\nConclusion: Whey improve textural properties, extend shelf-life, emulsification and stability, improve flow properties, enhance color and taste and have been shown to provide beneficial functionality in wheyghurt drink. At present, there are many evident benefits that results from incorporating selected whey products into yogurt formulas. With nutraceutical or health enhancing benefits, the real benefit of adding whey products are the enhanced value resulting from flavor, texture and nutritional improvements. Current study concludes that during storage, color, flavor, taste and overall acceptability were affected significantly. But the interaction between treatments and storage was found non-significant to all the sensory parameters. It is also concluded that wheyghurt drink with 2 percent starter culture concentration (sample T3) obtained maximum scores concerning the organoleptic analysis and remained the best.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Whey products have conventionally been professed as a means of reducing ingredient costs. The authentic benefits of adding whey products are the enhanced worth resulting from flavor, texture and nutritional improvements as well as nutraceutical or health-enhancing payback. Therefore, the present study aims to isolate and characterize suitable starter cultures for the production of wheyghurt drink.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Keeping in view all the benefits of yoghurt technology this study was planned to isolate the starter cultures and optimize the conditions for the production of wheyghurt drink. The starter cultures (Lactobacillus delbruceckii ssp. Bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) were isolated from the yoghurt and further characterized on the basis of their morphological and biochemical characteristics. The wheyghurt drink prepared from starter cultures with varying starter culture concentrations (1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 percent) was analyzed for the physicochemical and sensory characteristics to explore the potential of wheyghurt drink.\nFindings: - During storage, color, flavor, taste and overall acceptability were affected significantly. But the interaction between treatments and storage was found non-significant to all the sensory parameters. At zero day maximum score (7.40) for overall acceptability was recorded for T3 and minimum score (5.60) was awarded to T4. After five, ten and 15 days of storage, judges observed a slight decline in overall acceptability in all wheyghurt drink samples. Hence it was concluded that wheyghurt drink sample T3 obtained maximum scores regarding the organoleptic evaluation and remained the best.\nPractical implications: - The key to growth is a continuous evaluation and modification of the product to match consumer expectations. Currently there are many apparent benefits that result from incorporating selected whey products into yogurt formulas. The starter cultures for the production of fermented whey products are not presently produced in Pakistan and are imported for industrial use. The use of LAB as starter culture may help to improve the quality and shelf life of the whey products.\nOriginality/value: - The research is useful for food manufacturers in order to develop functional food products for consumers. Understanding consumer needs and preferences is critical to successful product development and enhancing marketing values of a product. Nutritionally improved foods, such as wheyghurt over the conventional counterpart, will be highly successful in the marketplace. Consumers will prefer such kinds of foods because they are more conscious about their health and such foods provide them with what they desire, i.e. health benefits with good nutrition.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Vive la difference - but not in pay: French strive to close the remuneration gap
|
[
"Women",
"Employment legislation",
"Job evaluation",
"Gender bias",
"Pay gap",
"Remuneration gap"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: You always know that a problem which could and should have been addressed a long time ago is going to stick around for quite a while longer when people recognize it by its initials.\nEmployers face relatively little pressure and few legal claims: The comparable worth advocates question the gender neutrality of labor markets and traditional job structures and promote the use of gender-neutral job evaluation to better adjust wages to the relative value of jobs in a non-discriminatory way. This has inspired changes in pay practices in the USA and in Canada, and comparable worth is becoming an issue in European countries.\nGood practice for preventing gender bias in pay grading and job evaluation: The Expert Committee met every two months over two years to study the French retail trade job-grading system with the intention of providing employers and unions with guidelines to prevent the undervaluation of female-dominated jobs. Involved as HRM researchers, their contribution was to analyze how the job evaluation process in French pay systems may be gender-biased although using an apparently neutral criterion method.\nCriteria needs to be exempt from possible misinterpretation: An important issue is to identify the \"female-dominated jobs\". Jobs which gather 60 per cent of women will be taken into account, whatever the contract (part or full time, long or short term). These jobs should be described as neutrally as possible, based upon facts rather than opinions. It is necessary to report with precision the task to be done without judgment about its difficulty. Each job description will be matched with salary including all its elements (basic pay, bonus, grants and so on) for both men and women to compare them.\nComment: This review is based on \"Job evaluation and gender pay equity: a French example\" by Bender and Pigeyre (2016). Noting that the GPG in France has stalled over recent years, the authors describe input into establishing a French Equality Ombudsman's Guide which seeks to help employer and employee representatives, HRM experts or managers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Despite significant anti-discrimination laws in most countries, a gender pay gap still remains a substantial concern. The notion of comparable worth has been promoted for several years by the International Labor Organization and a few countries to fight against relatively lower female salaries. The purpose of this paper is to review the rationales for comparable worth and explain how gender biases, generally involved in traditional job evaluation, can be prevented.\nDesign/methodology/approach: After reviewing the motives, logics and three major applications of comparable worth logics in pay equity policies, the authors expose an analysis of a French sectorial job classification that the authors carried out as experts for establishing a French Equality Ombudsman's guide.\nFindings: The findings show how the redundancy and definition of job evaluation criteria, along with the weighting system, contributes to undervaluation of clerks' jobs, predominantly held by women. The authors also highlight the main recommendations of the guide to prevent gender bias in job evaluation, that are derived from this case study, among others. The authors conclude on the difficulties of implementing comparable worth in France, in a period of long-lasting economic crisis and of weak union power.\nOriginality/value: This experience is the first of its kind aEUR\" promoted by the Ombudsman aEUR\" in France. It has never been related in an academic journal as far as the authors know.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The changing demands of academic life in Ireland
|
[
"Performance",
"Research",
"Ireland",
"Workload",
"Faculty",
"Role"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Institutional change is a much more prevalent feature of the higher education (HE) sector in Ireland. While the international body of literature provides us with considerable understanding of how HE change is impacting upon higher education institutions themselves, the consequences of such change for the traditional values of academic life and work is an under-researched aspect of the Irish HE sector. To address this gap in understanding, a case study of the largest university in Ireland, University College Dublin (UCD) was undertaken and its aim was to determine the extent to which change in HE has impacted on faculty. This paper reports on the changing demands of academic life in Ireland. The research examined the teaching, research and service dimensions of the role of faculty, changes in their administrative responsibilities and general workload and the changing emphasis on performance outcomes and accountability. The findings highlight the increase in routine administrative duties and work intensification being experienced by faculty and the increased emphasis being placed on research productivity. By way of introduction to the case study findings, a brief overview of the current debates in the literature around the changing role and working life of the academic is presented next.\nThe changing academic workplace: While much of the current debate on academic life generally paints a rather pessimistic picture, Tight (2010a, p. 111) acknowledges the emphasis now being placed on the more \"challenging and under challenge\" nature of academic life. Indeed, the literature tends to depict the profession as one currently in crisis (Hyde et al., 2013) and where faculty have become subject to increasing demands (Ylijoki, 2005). In particular, the \"increased expectations for measurable outputs, responsiveness to societal and student needs, and overall performance accountability\" is undeniable (Houston et al., 2006, p. 17). Despite Qualter and Willis' (2012, p. 127) suggestion that HE now represents \"a fast-changing, complex and demanding arena in which to work\", the difficulty in determining the impact of internal and external change on the day-to-day work of faculty is acknowledged (Enders, 2004).\nCase study: While the changed character of Irish HE today has been noted (Higher Education Authority, 2008), the OECD (2006) recognised the potential impact HE change there could have on faculty and academic life (p. 173):\nConclusion: Over the past decade, change has become a much more prevalent feature of the HE sector in Ireland. The research reported in this paper took place against a backdrop of increasing pressures emanating from globalisation, a more concerted effort to ensure greater efficiency and accountability, declining government resources being allocated to the sector and increasing competition between institutions. However, what has been unclear in the Irish context is the extent to which these kinds of pressures have been impacting upon faculty. Through a case study of the UCD School of Business, the changing demands of academic life for faculty in Ireland has been highlighted. Of particular significance has been the shift in emphasis that has taken place, from the predominant focus on the teaching function to a much greater emphasis on research and publication outputs. Increased work intensification being encountered by faculty was noted, with some suggesting that this can be explained by changes in the grade approvals process, tighter grading deadlines and increased pressure on academics' time generally. The case also highlights the growth in routine administrative duties and increased bureaucratisation that has resulted from the information technology infrastructure implemented to support a modular environment and the increased teaching and learning compliance requirements that have emerged in recent years. These administrative requirements have, to varying degrees, placed greater demands on faculty members' time. While the increasing focus on performance and outputs was identified by the research participants, some faculty suggested that the increased intensification of work was something that they had quite happily imposed upon themselves given their own promotional ambitions. In conclusion, the case study points to the changing demands of academic life in Ireland, yet, our understanding of the pervasiveness of such demands on faculty across the entire Irish HE sector requires further theorisation and research. Of particular value would be a comparative case study of how faculty across the seven Irish universities are responding to the multitude of pressures arising from sectoral and insitutional change. Of interest, also, would be an examination of the implementation of workload models in Irish universities and the extent to which faculty performance and research output has indeed improved in recent years.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The consequences of institutional change for faculty is an under-researched aspect of the higher education (HE) sector in Ireland. The purpose of this paper is to report on the changing demands of academic life in Ireland.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study of the School of Business at the largest university in Ireland, University College Dublin, set out to determine the extent to which HE change is impacting on faculty. The research, involving 28 interviews with faculty and manager-academics, covered the five-year period since the appointment of a new President in 2004.\nFindings: The research provides evidence of an increasing focus on more explicit research output requirements; the growth of routine administration and teaching and learning compliance requirements; and the greater intensification of work and working hours.\nResearch limitations/implications: While the university was at the forefront in implementing large-scale institutional change in Ireland, further research is needed to explore the issues raised in this paper in the context of other schools and the remaining six Irish universities.\nOriginality/value: Few empirical research studies have been conducted in Ireland on how institutional change is impacting on the working lives of faculty. This paper serves to shine a light, for the first time, on the perspectives of faculty regarding the changing demands of academic life in Ireland.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The deductive frame
|
[
"Action research",
"Strategic planning",
"Management research"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In French (2009d), action research (AR) was utilised to develop the ideas that led to the creation and implementation of the inductive frame, represented by the compact big business (CBB) model. In this paper, I will describe how the AR process continued from the foundations created during the AR cycles described in French (2009d) and how the CBB Strategic Thinking System seminar series was created as the \"action\" element to satisfy the thematic concern. Also, I will discuss how AR was used to answer research question 2, the \"research\" element of the AR project, i.e. \"What questions and activities facilitate strategic thinking by small business principals?\".As discussed in preceding papers the AR process is a spiral of four fundamental elements: plan, act, observe, and reflect that emerge from a notion in the practitioners mind. This paper is based on this framework and applies the Perry and Zuber-Skerritt (1991) checklist.\nThe action research cycles: It was necessary to deliver four AR cycles[1] in order to complete stage two, the CBB Strategic Thinking System. We created objectives for each of the cycles. The objectives were developed during the planning stage of the cycle and were driven by the results of the previous cycle and the needs identified during the planning for the subsequent cycle.\nCycle four: establish the deductive frame: The Dick (1999) documentation model, utilising the concept of looking forward and looking back, was used but is not reported in this paper.The objectives for action research cycle four were:1. articulate the thematic concern and the research question;2. develop a methodology for the CBB Strategic Thinking System; and3. develop a structure for the CBB Strategic Thinking System.The delivery of a strategic thinking system for small business was a long-term goal of cycles four to seven of the project. Consequently, establishing the thematic concern and research question, as well as the structure for the seminar, were vitally important.The four action research cycles for the deductive frame are shown in Figure 1.The thematic concern\nCycle five: develop the question set: The objectives for action research cycle five were:* develop a set of questions that will help participants better understand the nature of strategy for their business and allow for the development of a strategic outcome; and* deliver the Strategic Thinking System to several small business principals as a \"pilot\".I had been reviewing the literature of general management, strategic management, marketing, and systems for several years. This literature is almost exclusively set in a modernist epistemological paradigm (Parker, 2002, p. 123). I had absorbed the views of many of the \"schools\" of strategic management thinking, but I was also aware of issues in accounting and sales and marketing, especially those of satisfying the customer and looking at the business from the perspective of the customer. I had read about many concepts of strategic management that fall outside the boundaries of the schools categorisation and had been deeply influenced by the concepts of adopting complexity theory as the best paradigm for examining organisational issues[2], and taking a critical epistemological approach. As a result, I was beginning to construct a preliminary set of quality universal questions which had coalesced from the literature. There needed to be a framework to the question set that would develop answers beyond the simplistic, cause-and-effect concepts of the modernist approach. The framework had been developed in cycle four.The question set was crucial to the success of the whole project. A significant premise for the entire AR project was that Simpson's (1997) view, that questions are more important than answers, was valid. The development of a set of universal questions that could be applied to small businesses in general was paramount. The set of questions needed to inspire the participants to delve deeply into the issues that they face in their business in order that the process of strategy creation could emerge. Strategies will emerge from the combination of the process of thinking deeply about the issues in the business by following a structured pattern of deep and rich questions from a CMS perspective, and then by applying the consequences of that thinking to a primary company objective.The first and therefore the most important and fundamental question to be developed had to set the tone for the whole programme. It had to be deep and rich and meaningful. Almost none of the SME principals had considered why they were in business and almost none could answer what was to become the first question.Question 1: What business am I in; what is the nature of my business?\nCycle six: the seminar: The objective for action research cycle six was to deliver the CBB Strategic Thinking System seminar series.The seminar series was delivered throughout the region in five different locations. To facilitate discussion, the maximum number of participants at each seminar was 20 and, over the course of 14 seminars, 240 small business principals participated. Each seminar was conducted over a single weekend. On the first day questions 1-8 were discussed and on the second day questions 9, 10, and 11 were answered. I was the facilitator for all the seminars and was assisted by the EO and an administrative assistant, who took notes of the proceedings. This continuity allowed for consistency during the AR process of reflection that occurred after each seminar.I will not describe the full content of the seminars, especially the specifics of the debates, but will restrict my comments to a precis of the strategy questions. The debate amongst the participants was often deep and protracted and generally related to the specific issues of their own businesses.It is the long-term goal of the whole project to deliver strategic business management skills to small business principals. In essence, all the research cycles that follow this one will be related to evaluation. Consequently, during this cycle we needed to discover whether the thinking system would deliver the benefits that we expected. We needed to find out how the participants reacted to the concepts and the delivery mechanism and whether the creation of an environment of deep and rich thinking supported emergence in line with concepts derived from complexity theory.Responses to question 1: What business am I in; what is the nature of my business?\nDiscussion: A total of 240 small business principals participated in the seminar series. Although a few were openly hostile and sceptical at the beginning of the programme, most were open-minded and interested to grow and develop their skills. We expected that we would have to have to be very \"hands on\" in helping participants to answer the questions, but this was not the case. Participants, who struggled with their ideas in the initial stages, were supported by their peers in general discussion. Where some of the participants struggled was not with the generation of ideas but with the ability to articulate those ideas and commit them to paper.Strategy is elusive. The debate in French (2009a) regarding definitions for strategy highlights some of the problems. The seminar participants came to the programme with superior operational skills. At what stage did strategy start to emerge? I have suggested in the body of discussion of this AR cycle that strategy emerged as the deep, rich thinking required to answer the questions, coalesced in the minds of the participants in accordance with the theories of strategy generation from complexity theory and the ideas of the learning and emergence schools. When the participants returned to the seminar for the second morning, it rapidly became apparent that the fundamental basis for their strategies had already developed and only the extension of the ideas and articulation were required.It is difficult to know exactly what strategy is and how it is created. I prefer Boyd's definition: \"a mental tapestry for harmonizing and focusing our efforts as a basis for realizing some aim or purpose in an unfolding and often unforeseen world of many bewildering events and contending interests\" (Boyd, cited in Hammond, 2001, p. 161). The CBB System develops a mechanism whereby strategy can be translated back to action and implemented. A total of 240 business principals completed the CBB Strategic Thinking System seminar and consequently we could claim that the objective for cycle six had been achieved: deliver the Strategic Thinking System seminar series. We could now concentrate on a follow-up process to investigate the value of the programme to the small business principals who had attended the CBB seminar.\nCycle seven: the follow-up: All the small business principals had finished their strategy. In accord with classical theory, that plan would need to be implemented, with the implementation process being investigated in AR cycle seven. The objectives for action research cycle seven were:* ascertain the participants' reaction to the seminar; and* discover whether their strategic plan was being implemented.Research cycle seven was completed for all 240 firms. The description of this cycle has been deleted for reasons of brevity as much of the ground is covered in French (2009e), \"The reflective frame\", and the complete research is described in French (2009d), \"Re-framing strategic thinking: the research - aims and outcomes\".The CBB Strategic Thinking System is a pragmatic tool intended to allow small business principals to benefit from the vast resources of the strategy industry - to move away from simplistic modernist ideas of hierarchy, control, and cause and effect, to the more emancipatory paradigm of CMS. It is especially intended to capture their imagination and channel their operational skills into developing strategic skills and subsequently using those skills to develop their own strategic thinking.The action element of this stage of the AR project is complete. A comprehensive theoretical system of strategic thinking for small business has been developed and tested. The seminar participants completed and implemented their strategic plans. The research element is complete and evidence has been provided that research question 2 has been answered.The question of what constitutes strategic results was discussed during the AR process and while the evidence, in the form of increased employment, indicates that strategic results were achieved, it was decided to examine the question of increased strategic performance by looking in more detail at a single company over a longer period and this process is discussed in French (2009e).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop a coherent model for small business principals to understand the strategic process and to be able to create and implement strategy for their own business.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Action research (AR) was undertaken to develop a system of questions, utilising the concepts developed in papers one to four of this series, especially the concepts that businesses are best understood as complex self-adapting systems rather than cybernetic systems.\nFindings: - A model was developed and implemented in approximately 260 businesses. The model utilised the ideas of the strategy scholars but took a Socratic approach rather than a more traditional prescriptive approach. A total of 11 questions were posited to the business principals in a seminar series. The questions were designed to initiate a process of thinking about the business that was both deep and rich enough to allow the phenomena of emergence to occur.\nPractical implications: - Hamel has suggested that the strategy discipline should be embarrassed by the fact that a subject that is the cornerstone of an entire discipline has no theory of strategy creation. Mintzberg suggests that strategy emerges but provided no mechanism for this process. In this paper the development of a series of questions is described that will allow for the creation of an environment for emergent strategic processes to occur and small business principals create their own strategies.\nOriginality/value: - Small business principals can now create their own business strategies without the need to understand the wide and often conflicting theories of the strategic process that is found in the strategy literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Transistors, electric vehicles and leapfrogging in China and Japan
|
[
"Business models",
"China",
"Disruptive innovations",
"Japan",
"Leapfrogging"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In 2009, China displaced Japan to become the second richest country in gross domestic product (GDP) after the USA. In the previous century, Japan displaced France in a similar fashion. It seems that, although a country may take the lead at one point, it is destined to lose it later. In the eighteenth century, the leading Dutch economy ignored the new technology of cotton spinning, which was taken up by the British, who grew rich from it. Similarly, in the nineteenth century, Germany displaced Britain from its dominant role in steel making by adopting the new Bessemer process. In each case, a newcomer embraced a technology that had been ignored by the incumbent, disrupted the established order, and eventually displaced the market leader.There are many possible explanations for this. For some it is a matter of simple economics (Brezis et al., 1993); for others it is a matter of strategy (Soete, 1985) while for others, it is simply that once a formula has proved successful, organizations become blinded to the existence of possible alternatives (Dosi, 1982). This article does not set out to explore these alternative hypotheses, but rather it examines two case studies that illustrate this process and draws practical lessons from them.The first case study describes the role the transistor radio played in the growth of Sony and, by implication, in the Japanese economy as a whole. The second case study concerns a story that is still being played out: the development of electric vehicles and the role that China might play. We use the notions of catching-up and leapfrogging to illustrate the different ways newcomers can challenge the position of incumbent firms. However, as the meaning of these terms is unclear and sometimes contradictory, we begin by defining each and showing how some of the more subtle distinctions between them result from the perspective of the observer.\n2. Catching-up and leapfrogging: The notions of catching-up and leapfrogging appear in articles on industrialization and economic development as well as those on strategy; both concepts are based on the idea that a technology has a fixed and predictable developmental path, which, once identified, defines the route for its development. Catching-up is generally used to indicate that a newcomer is able to follow this path at an accelerated rate and \"catch up\" with the leaders. Leapfrogging conveys the idea that, under certain circumstances, a newcomer can jump ahead of the leader in some way. However, beyond the idea of jumping ahead or moving along a known path more quickly, the notions of catching-up and leapfrogging are ambiguous and ill-defined.2.1 Catching-up\n3. Japan and the transistor radio: The story of how a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kenkyujo began by building transistor radios, changed its name to Sony, and went on to become one of the giants of the world of home entertainment is well documented (Sony, 1996). It spans more than 50 years and contains several examples of catching-up and leapfrogging.3.1 The transistor radio as catching-up\n4. China and electric vehicles: The second case study concerns China and the emerging market for electric vehicles. In many ways, China has already caught up with the USA and other Western nations. However, some of the biggest challenges for the twenty-first century remain: to reduce dependency on limited reserves of fossil fuels and to reduce atmospheric pollution. As Goldemberg (1998) notes, the need to find cleaner, more energy-efficient and less environmentally damaging technologies has never been more urgent.For many, the electric vehicle offers a solution to these problems and all major automobile manufacturers now have programs to develop hybrid (traditional engine+electric motor) and pure electric vehicles. China began its research into electric vehicles in the 1990s and, by the tenth five-year plan (2000-2005), electric vehicles had joined space flight as one of the \"863 projects\", indicating that they are now seen as a national priority. Currently, China plans that \"new energy vehicles\" should account for around five percent of annual new car sales. If this objective were reached, China would become one of the top five countries producing such vehicles.4.1 Electric vehicles as a replacement for traditional vehicles\n5. What can we learn from China and Japan?: As we indicated at the start of this article, the reasons behind the changes in the relative positions of nations is complex and a source of much debate. For example, the geography and demographics of the two countries in our case studies are very different. Japan consists of four large and numerous smaller islands, has a total land area of 378,000 sq. km, a population of 128,000,000 and very few natural resources. China is the world's most populous state and has a land area of 9,600,000 sq. km, a population of 1,300,000,000, and substantial reserves of natural resources. Given these differences, what are the lessons that can be learned from our case studies?The first is the age-old lesson \"never underestimate your opponent\". This is of course easy advice to give but difficult to follow. However, we believe that understanding the different ways in which leapfrogs can take place does make the task easier. In the case of a paradigm-changing leapfrog, the change in the status quo is so great that underestimation is almost inevitable, but with the others this is not the case, particularly with catching-up, which usually involves a series of planned, conscious decisions.The second is that improved quality does not always equate to improved value. This has been amply demonstrated by the rise of budget airlines but, as with Christensen's notion of disruptive technologies, it is a lesson that can apply to products as well. The success of Sony's transistor radios and the uptake of LSEVs in rural China do not stem from the inherent quality of the products but from the value proposition they make to consumers; the success, or otherwise, of the LSEV in the West will depend on the value proposition it makes there.The final lesson is related to this and concerns the importance of a good business model. Sony's approach of circumventing the dealer networks was driven by necessity but allowed them to create a profitable market with what was initially perceived as an inferior product. Similarly, in the case of LSEVs, while a logical argument can be made for their use, the business model to make them a commercial success in the wider world does not yet exist. To succeed, firms must master the technology, find a value proposition, and have the business model to make it profitable.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The goal of the article is to use the concepts of catching-up and leapfrogging that are most often found in the literature on developmental economics to explore the process by which newcomers overturn an established market leader.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The article uses two case studies, one of the initial development of the transistor radio by the Japanese and the other of the development of electric vehicles in China, to illustrate the application of these concepts to concrete examples.\nFindings: - The way in which Sony caught up with, and jumped ahead of, American radio manufacturers is explained using the concepts of catching-up and leapfrogging to emphasize the different phases in the process. This is contrasted with the development of electric vehicles in China which is a process that is still unfolding. The potential importance of one particular development, the low speed electric vehicle, is highlighted.\nPractical implications: - The concepts of catching-up and leapfrogging provide a simple method to visualize the ways in which a newcomer might overtake an incumbent. Their application to the case studies also highlights the crucial importance of a sound business model in this process.\nOriginality/value: - Although the case of Sony and the transistor radio is relatively well known, this article places it in a new conceptual framework. The case of the development of electric vehicles in general, and the example of the low speed electric vehicle in particular, is new and has not been widely explored.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
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