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Improving the effectiveness of employee learning: Why online tools can make a difference	[ "Workplace learning", "Employee development", "Technology", "Employee characteristics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nRole of learning in organizational development: Learning is rightly regarded as a critical component of any organization's growth and prosperity. In today's rapidly evolving business environment, it is difficult to see how firms can remain competitive if learning is not deemed a top priority.\nFactors which influence employee learning: An individual's motivation to learn is a logical starting point. Enthusiasm for any task is a huge plus and learning is no different in that respect. Participation is also much likelier when prospective participants believe that learning will lead to positive outcomes in terms of career advancement.\nTechnology pros and cons: However, the technological approach should not be viewed as a panacea for all training challenges. Learning technologies can be notoriously difficult to apply with a consistent degree of effectiveness across different contexts. The uniqueness of sector and workplace characteristics is a prime reason for this. Desired levels of interactivity might, thus, not be attainable. But companies that do their homework and acquire significant insight into learning within their specific workplace can succeed with online learning tools.\nLearning tools in action: The potential impact of technology on training effectiveness is illustrated by certain tools used within one multinational corporation operating within over 40 different nations. Skills and capabilities are key prerequisites of effective job performance. As one of the main tools deployed focuses on skills' development, this is clearly recognized by the corporation.\nComment: The review is based on: \"Predicting knowledge workers' participation in voluntary learning with employee characteristics and online learning tools\" by Hicks (2018), published in Journal of Workplace Learning. Various employee-related factors are known to affect learning in the workplace. In this detailed piece, the author reveals how the use of online learning tools can interact with such factors to enhance the overall effectiveness of learning initiatives.\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: Learning is key to organizational growth and development. Various employee characteristics can predict the outcome of learning programs, which can have a more positive impact on firm performance if relevant online learning tools are also utilized.\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" } ]
Making the sale	[ "Online marketing", "User experience", "Usability testing", "A/B testing", "Conversion rate", "Digital library services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: He was known as the \"Rattlesnake King\". Clark Stanley, born in 1854, was a former rancher from Texas when he began marketing what he called \"Snake Oil Liniment\", and he billed the concoction as the best treatment available for a myriad of ailments such as rheumatism, neuralgia, lame back, toothaches, among others. Mr Stanley sensationalized his product by billing the liniment, as being composed of \"snake oil\", which he claimed was actually bodily fluids extracted from a rattlesnake. During many of his sales pitches, he would take a dead rattlesnake and demonstrate the extraction process to a fascinated crowd. His efforts paid off, and Mr Stanley eventually distributed his product with the help of a Boston pharmacist. The snake oil product was a prominent attraction at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and reached its height of popularity and commercial success. Following the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, Stanley's Snake Oil was tested and found to contain everything but rattlesnake extract and was thus labeled a fraudulent concoction. The term \"snake oil\" has since become synonymous with fraudulent products and services and has helped to promote negative views of the marketing and public relations trade.\nVirtual proselytization: A key principle in online marketing has been given the label conversion rate. While this carries with it the terminology of religious proselytization, conversion in this context implies customer engagement. Just like marketing, generally, there is a large degree of variation between who the subject of conversion is, why conversion is important, how conversion happens, as well as the goals for conversion. This online marketing metric may seem far afield of library science; however, it can be surprisingly informative and useful for considering how online library services can be catered to patron needs.\nLeft or right?: In Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, the main character Alice encounters a very peculiar creature called the Cheshire Cat. Alice is lost in the woods of Wonderland and makes an enquiry of the Cat regarding which way she should go along the wooded trails. Their conversation has some bearing on the virtues of A/B testing:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to explore the use of the conversion rate metric as well as A/B testing which is complimentary to that measurement for the improvement of exposing and increasing usage of library digital services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This column is a viewpoint piece. A literature search was performed as well as ideas from cited books.\nFindings: There are no findings to speak of.\nOriginality/value: The use of certain marketing techniques such as the conversion rate and the use of user experience testing such as A/B analysis has the potential to increase the ability of libraries to objectively measure the impact of their online services and increase the efficacy of those services.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Benchmarking deep-sea port performance in the Hamburg-Le Havre range	[ "Competitiveness", "Industrial performance", "Data Envelopment Analysis", "Logistics", "Corporate strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, deep-sea ports in the Hamburg-Le Havre (HLH) range have changed from public utilities that focus on transport activities to companies that also focus on more advanced commercial activities (such as value-added logistics and industries) and profits. These changes have been caused by port privatizations, rapid growth in freight volume, congestion in and around ports, possible development of global port groups, and port market deregulation efforts by the European Commission. These developments resulted in increased competition between deep-sea ports in the HLH range and this typically results in improved efficiency and altered financial connections between government(s) and the deregulated company. As a result of increased demand for accountability, port benchmarking to assess the results of deregulation and analyze competition has received greater attention. Port performance is increasingly important, as deep-sea container carriers and container terminal operators are becoming larger and more integrated (Soppe et al., 2009). This means that efficiency of existing ports will also become more important, and mergers and port acquisitions (by other ports or by deep-sea container carriers) might be expected as well. Gonzalez and Trujillo (2009) researched the empirical evidence of efficiency measurements in the port industry. Their analysis revealed that data collection must be improved and, that it is necessary to be clear about the port activities when measuring efficiency. In our analysis, we focus on efficiency of deep-sea ports (not only container ports) in the HLH range. In this paper, we pose the question of how efficient deep-sea ports in the HLH range are compared with one another? To answer this question, publicly available data were used because private data sources are confidential. The paper consists of four additional sections. First, we describe deep-sea ports in the HLH range. Second, we review performance theory benchmarking, and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Third, we analyze the performance (i.e. efficiency) of deep-sea ports in the HLH range. We close the paper with a number of relevant conclusions.\n2. Deep-sea ports in western Europe: 2.1. Deep-sea ports in the -HLH range\n3. Efficiency: benchmarking and DEA performance techniques: Companies use different performance management techniques to obtain insight into the quality, cost-effectiveness, and profitability of their operations. According to Kim and Marlow (2001), \"efficiency refers to how well the resources expended are used.\" Ockwell (2001) suggests that efficiency is either a minimizer or a maximizer concept. Minimizing would then be applied to inputs (i.e. costs), whereas maximizing would be applied to outputs (i.e. sales). This definition is particularly suitable for the aim of our research, which analyzes the performance of deep-sea ports in terms of efficiency of the inputs (variables=employees, depreciation, and material/service costs) and outputs (variables=ships, throughput (tons), sales, and profits). Next to the container port sector, also the rail freight sector and airports have already been studied quite well in terms of efficiency. For example, Cantos and Maudos (2001) showed that rail freight companies that are more efficient in costs behave inefficiently with regard to revenue. Their conclusions are in line with Ockwell's (2001) efficiency concept. Wilson (1997) found that due to deregulation the US railroad industry had impressive cost savings and large productivity gains. Also among port authorities a privatization tendency can be observed. Research by Asmild et al. (2009) revealed that the reform initiatives in the railway systems in Europe have had a positive impact on efficiency of both material and staff costs (i.e. technical efficiency has improved). In this paper, the conceptual framework for the efficiency analysis (both inputs and outputs) of the deep-sea ports consists of two elements, namely: single-measure benchmarking; and DEA.\n4. Deep-sea port performance analysis: benchmarking and DEA: 4.1. Definition of variables\n5. Conclusions and policy implications: In this paper, we focus on answering the research question:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on answering the following research question: \"How efficient are deep-sea ports in the Hamburg-Le Havre (HLH) range compared with each other?\"\nDesign/methodology/approach: Input-oriented (and output-oriented) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) results demonstrate that the deep-sea port of Vlissingen is perfectly efficient and also that the port of Amsterdam is quite efficient. These DEA results are underligned by the single-point benchmarking results.\nFindings: The Dutch deep-sea ports are the most efficient ports in the HLH range. Finally, relatively smaller deep-sea ports (with a market share of about 5 percent, such as Amsterdam, Vlissingen, and Zeebrugge) are relatively more efficient than larger deep-sea container ports (such as Antwerp, Hamburg, and Rotterdam). It can be observed that especially in these larger ports, the container sector is (very) important as compared with the smaller ports. Furthermore, Dutch ports are relatively more efficient and receive the lowest subsidies, suggesting efficiency improvement opportunities for the Belgium, German, and French ports.\nOriginality/value: The originality of the paper is in its focus on all deep-sea ports in the HLH range (and not on container ports only) and in the combination of methods (DEA and single-point benchmarking).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Network service organisation: a multiple pilot study	[ "Property management", "Workplace", "Business support services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the new workplace environment of different business support functions, information must flow freely between groups with connected functions and up and down the corporate hierarchy (Joroff and Bell, 2001, p. 8). The operational management of support services is usually dispersed among the business units because of the close connections with the units serviced and the end users (Krumm, 1999). In many cases the operational management of services and end user relations are outsourced to external property owners and service providers and controlled by means of formal contracts. These business alliances cannot be solely \"controlled\" by formal systems but require a dense web of interpersonal connections and internal infrastructure that enhance learning (Kanter, 1993).Many facilities management (Roberts, 2001) and workplace (Bell, 2001) organisations are hybrid by nature. The responsibility for purchasing support services is often scattered among CRE, HR, or IT departments (De Zwart, 1995; Lambert et al., 1999; Young, 2001), causing functional \"silos\" in service management (Bogle, 1999). The existing organisational structures of FM and PM tend to repress the need for the integration of the strategic, operational, and structural dimensions of different functions and the general need to look at property and workplace issues broadly (Pitt and Hinks, 2001). In order to understand the integration of functions and to gain a broader view of supporting core businesses, it is necessary to study the connections between different activities.The purpose of this paper is to explain some of the connections in workplace networks:1. by describing the complex environment through network service organisation levels;2. by analysing the strategic, operational, and functional connections through the analysis of formal and informal interaction between the functional parts in four pilot cases; and3. by aligning future research needs for further analysis.\nNetwork service organisation levels: Network organisations\nPilot study: A pilot study leans more toward the \"exploratory study\" pole of case study design, and in its later stages, with the benefit of experience, it can have a more \"explanatory\" or \"confirmatory\" focus (Robson, 1993). According to O'Mara (1999), the business unit level is the best point at which to examine the value chains of CRE and FM. Therefore, an exploratory pilot study of business unit connections was chosen to examine the strategic, operational, and functional connections in network service organisations.The pilot study aims to provide significant insights, refine data collection plans, and develop relevant lines of questioning for the basic issues in future case studies. The information gathered was used in parallel with an ongoing review of relevant literature, so that the final research was informed both by prevailing theories and by a fresh set of empirical observations (Yin, 1989).Data collection\nTechnology park - small business units: The fourth environment studied was a technology park campus occupied by 140 separate small business units. The main task of the campus was to function as a business generator for institutions of higher education and research in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The campus was owned by three Finnish technology institutions and different capital investors. The network service organization was divided into two types of service providers. First, the technical services were managed by a unit responsible for maintenance and public area cleaning. Other services were managed by the service providers themselves. The technology park hired service providers on an entrepreneur basis. Providers of services such as data management, reception, mailing, telephone answering, photocopying, secretarial services and restaurant services marketed and sold their individual services to the 140 small organizations.Despite the entrepreneurial and occasional competitive situations, the individual service providers had shared roles, e.g. in meeting room services. The reception, catering and cleaning service providers provided co-operative services to the tenants with well-defined operational roles of joint service delivery. The use of the services was not based on long-term contracts or complex contract management roles, but instead on good daily service.The network analysis indicated that the interaction and co-operation was informal almost without exception. However, the open interviews revealed that even six months before the network analysis period the management of the technology park had organized formal meetings. They were held once a month and representatives from all service provider firms had participated in them. The agendas of these meetings had contained topics having to do with everything from general issues to specific details about customer service and quality management. Some service providers hoped these meetings would continue and some thought that the informal interaction was adequate for successful co-operation. One strong opinion was that the formal meetings had helped in building the strong informal ties between the service providers.\nConnections in pilot cases: The previous chapter serves as the units of analysis, and in the following, they are analysed in aggregate. Each case unit, while distinct in its size and context, can be subject to a similar analysis. In particular, given the explorative objective of this study, the interaction and co-operation of different functions were examined. The presented roles of strategic clients, network integrators and service units existed in all studied cases. Even though the roles had interrelated characteristics, based on the business unit's size and context, the case observations indicated that communication and the proactive exchange of information have three characteristics in the studied facilities management environments.Observation one, there is general need for multi-level interaction and co-operation. The corporate headquarters and large business unit cases had an evident need for multi-level interaction. The active role of strategic clients affected the strategic connections and interaction throughout the analysed organisations. Strong formal connections between HR and CRE improved the strategic connections in workplace management. Additionally, the interaction between strategic clients and the top management of service provider companies strengthened the dyadic relations between client and service provider companies and encouraged a problem-solving atmosphere on the lower levels of the network organisation.Observation two, the strategic connection is often weak resulting in a gap between strategic client and network integrators. Owing to the physical separation of centralised strategic clients and decentralised network integrators, the formal interaction had become binding. Formal meetings between strategic clients and functional key account and site managers enabled strategic information to be converted and delivered to operational managers. In the decentralised business units the network integrators functioned as primary information brokers and central connectors (Cross and Prusak, 2002) between the service units and business unit customers. Facility managers in particular had an important role in integrating the communication and information flow between several service units. However, the more work the network integrators had as a result of managing bigger organisations, the less time they had for formal interaction.Observation three, the traditional distinction between soft and hard services is still strong. Even though the service organisations were distinct, the soft user services had strong functional, formal, and informal connections. Despite the formal contractual boundaries, soft service functions such as catering, reception, and cleaning had a significant need for service process integration. Service ordering, complaints, and shared spaces connected the functional units in all the organisations. Maintenance service providers had strong vertical connections with client organisations in all the cases studied. On the other hand, cleaning service providers with management responsibilities were isolated from interaction with other units.Connections between soft and hard services and management functions were less obvious. In the case of the property investor the connections were limited to the property manager's interaction with a small number of business unit customers and to the maintenance service provider. Property and other service management functions that were a part of the same organisation or physically located on the same site had more formal and informal interaction. However, the functional connections were mostly limited to budgeting and ad hoc meetings concerning removals and a customer's needs for technical solutions.General observations were that, the proposed framework is a useful starting point for companies to study and improve the co-operation and interaction between different functions. The pilot study indicated strategic, operational, and functional barriers between the interviewees, without formal and informal connections. In general, formal connections such as cross-functional teams, task forces, and liaison roles increased the number of strategic, operational, and functional connections between all the functions in the network service organisation. Formal connections affected network connectivity in three ways:1. formal connections led to stronger and information-intense informal connections;2. network functions that were connected by formal links had a better foundation for sharing the mutual goals of supporting core businesses; and3. formal connections were readily compensated with informal connections in the cases of long-term interaction. The functions without formal connections were more disposed to the management's failure to look at workplace issues broadly than those with existing formal connections.The pilot study implied that without formal connections the functions of the network service organisation faced barriers to both vertical and horizontal interaction.The studies of the networked service organisations in the four pilot case environments provided unique insights into workplace network governance. The strategic co-operation and formal interaction should be agreed upon in the very beginning of an alliance relationship. In addition, strategic clients should enable facilities managers and other network integrators to act in boundary spanner roles. This creates stronger ties between strategic planning and operational service delivery.\nResearch implications: Our network analysis took place in the facilities management environment. However, on a general level our article contributes to many exchange theories of organisational behaviour sciences (Homans, 1958; Blau, 1964; Adams, 1965) arguing that structure of an organisation can be understood if we adequately understand elementary social behaviour of the organisation. Our article argues on a general level that post-modernistic organisations (Daft and Lewin, 1993; Heckscher, 1994; Ashkenas et al., 1995), such as network, boundaryless, temporary, hybrid and virtual organisations, that are fragmented and managed informally can benefit from formal control mechanisms and meetings.The paper gained added academic value by presenting an integrated framework promoting understanding to all parties involved in facilities management, and additionally by using the business unit level network to explore the interaction and co-operation of different functions in multiple network service organisations a framework. According to Then (1999) the model and framework building must be derived from a knowledge base that can better explain the requirements of core businesses; key real estate and facilities services attributes; and options evaluation to meet dynamic changes. Our framework building was based on the use of network analysis. The proliferating network paradigm has been studied in various organisational settings in several industries by using various types of network analysis methods from the late 1970s (e.g. Allen, 1976; Farris, 1979; Ticky and Tushman, 1979) till today.The results from pilot cases supported the framework. However, regardless of the popularity of the method, the conducted network analysis of pilot cases did not explain the whole value of centralised planning and strategic interaction between different workplace and service functions. Despite the need for formal interaction, the strategic roles and connections between user, owner, and service organisations remained unsolved. The empirical observations and the parallel literature review indicated a need for network analysis on a larger scale and at a strategic level.Network analysis and the identification of network holes can help identify gaps in information flows, the inefficient use of resources, and the failure to generate new ideas (Krackhardt and Hanson, 1993). Network analysis can be used as a viable tool for identifying connections and key roles (Cross and Prusak, 2002; Cross et al., 2002) between workplace, property management, facilities management, and service functions in complex organisation environments. When identified, the different key role players can be assembled into cost-efficient and practical forms of interaction.Further network analysis should be conducted focally from the user organisation's headquarters, expanding towards the decentralised business units and external owner and service provider networks surrounding them (Figure 2). The relevant lines of questioning should focus on the external network's interaction with the user organisation on both the centralised strategic client and the decentralised business unit levels. The relevant questions are: first, how are corporations and their business units structurally and relationally embedded (Andersson and Forsgren, 2000; Andersson et al., 2002) in their external networks? Second, how can organisations, functional units, and individual managers create connections that foster formal interaction on different network service organisation levels?\nConclusions: To understand the complicated roles within the workplace environment, it is necessary to study the interaction needs of different functions. The network service organisation presented here has three integrative organisational levels: strategic clients, network integrators, and functional service units. The exploratory pilot study of four business environments indicates that strategic, operational, and functional connections emerge from the personal contacts between people with different roles in the organisation. This paper proposes that formal connections increase strategic, operational, and functional interactions. The pilot study implied that formal connections create strong and information-intense interaction and a shared view of supporting the core businesses.The paper suggests that networks of workplace organisations should be studied by using network analysis in order to find suitable choices for formal interaction between different functions. Analysing single networks in asymmetric environments was found to be superficial. Connections and different network roles should be studied on a portfolio basis in order to understand and improve interaction between functions in the network context.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Centralised workplace and decentralised facilities management organisations combine several interacting functions. Different levels of a network service organisation are presented. The interacting functions are divided into three organisational levels: strategic clients, network integrators, and functional service units. The research paper demonstrates proposals, data collection plans, and relevant lines of questioning for future case studies and network analysis on the basis of the connections discovered in the pilot study environments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Strategic, operational, and functional connections are analysed by studying formal and informal links between the managers responsible for various functions. The research was conducted with four pilot cases divided into four types of business units: a corporate headquarters (a financial services group); a large business unit/subsidiary (a telecommunications service provider); a medium business unit in the area of property management (a real estate investment company); and a small business unit (a technology park). The pilot cases function as a laboratory for the authors future case studies.\nFindings: - The article provides information how formal connections such as cross-functional teams, task forces, and liaison roles create stronger ties between strategic planning and operational service delivery. The pilot study implies that without formal connections the functions of the network service organisation faces barriers to both vertical and horizontal interaction.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Regardless of the popularity of the network analysis method, the conducted pilot cases and the found connections did not explain the whole value of centralised planning and strategic interaction between different workplace and service functions.\nOriginality/value: - The network analysis takes place in a new facilities management environment. The article argues on a general level that post-modernistic organisations, such as network, boundaryless, temporary, hybrid and virtual organisations, that are fragmented and managed informally can benefit from formal control mechanisms and meetings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Productivity trends in the United States	[ "Productivity rate", "Economic trends", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: This paper investigates productivity growth and technical progress bias in the United States[1]. We build on a large body of recent literature that (unlike Solow, 1957) takes a flexible functional forms approach in a multiple-output multiple-input context. In particular, we follow the interesting and attractive work by Kohli (1978) and Diewert and Wales (1992) and estimate output supply and input demand functions in the context of a normalized quadratic (NQ) variable profit function using US data (over the period from 1960 to 2002) on six goods: output, exports, imports, labor, reproducible capital, and fixed capital.The usefulness of flexible functional forms depends on whether they satisfy the theoretical regularity conditions of positivity, monotonicity, and curvature, and in the literature there has been a tendency to ignore regularity. In fact, as Barnett (2002, pp. 199)put it in his Journal of Econometrics Fellow's opinion article, without satisfaction of all three theoretical regularity conditions:... the second-order conditions for optimizing behavior fail, and duality theory fails. The resulting first-order conditions, demand functions, and supply functions become invalid.In this paper, motivated by the widespread practice of ignoring the theoretical regularity conditions, we estimate the NQ variable profit function and impose the curvature conditions globally, using the Wiley et al. (1973) procedure, as in Diewert and Wales (1992). The main advantage of the NQ variable profit function comes from its property that correct curvature conditions can be imposed globally without destroying the flexibility of the functional form.The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 briefly describes the NQ variable profit function and the methods for calculating productivity growth, technical progress biases, and price elasticities. In Section 3 we discuss the data, in Section 4 we deal with relevant statistical issues, and in Section 5 we estimate the model, assess the results in terms of their consistency with optimizing behavior, and explore the economic significance of the results. The final section concludes the paper with some suggestions for future research.\n2 The NQ variable profit function: The NQ variable profit function can be written for n+1 goods (including both multiple inputs and multiple outputs) as: Equation 1 where V (p, k, t) denotes the variable profit (i.e. gross returns minus variable costs), p=(p1, ... ,pn) with pi being the price of the ith \"output\" (with inputs treated as negative outputs), t is the time trend (over the entire sample period), k is the (n+1)th good and denotes the minimum amount of fixed capital required to produce the vector of outputs and is assumed to be exogenously given in the short-term. a=[a1,a2, ... ,an],b=[b1,b2, ... ,bn],c=[c1,c2, ... ,cn],a=[a1,a2, ... ,an], and the elements of the n xn B[?][bij] matrix are the unknown parameters to be estimated - usually the a vector (a>0) is predetermined. As can be seen, V (p, k, t) in equation (1) is linearly homogeneous in p.For estimation purposes, it is a common practice to impose constant returns to scale (by setting a=0). Further, we impose two restrictions on the B[?][bij] matrix: Equation 2 Equation 3 The NQ variable profit function defined by equations (1)-(3) is technical progress flexible (TP flexible), as shown by Diewert and Wales (1992).2.1 The system of net supply functions\n3 The data: We use annual data for the United States over the period from 1960 to 2002. The data consists of prices and quantities for two outputs (domestic output and exports), three variable inputs (imports, labor and reproducible capital), and one exogenously given input (being an aggregate of land, the stock of inventories, and intellectual property). Our treatment of imports as an input to the production sector is standard in this literature (Fox and Diewert, 1999).The price and quantity aggregates for (domestic) output are derived from three components - private consumption, government consumption, and investment. The price and quantity data for private and government consumption are from the OECD national accounts, whereas those for investment are constructed using the increase in stocks and gross fixed capital formation prices and quantities both taken from the OECD national accounts. Similarly, the price and quantity data for exports and imports are from the OECD national accounts.Following Fox (1997), price and quantity aggregates for labor (our fourth input) are derived from two components: wage earners and self employed plus unpaid family workers. The price aggregate, p4, is calculated by dividing the compensation of employees by the number of wage earners, using OECD national accounts data for the former and Labor Force Statistics OECD data for the latter. The price of self employed plus unpaid family workers is taken to be 0.4 times the price of employment, p4. Hence, the compensation of self employed plus unpaid family workers is calculated as 0.4 x p4x(civilian employment - wage earners), with the data for civilian employment (that is, total employment) taken from the Labor Force Statistics OECD.Regarding reproducible capital (our fifth variable, y5), its quantity is calculated as y5t+1=(1-d)y5t+It, with the starting value of y5 being approximated by I1/[1-(1-d)/gI], where gI is the average annual growth rate of investment over the sample period and d the depreciation rate[4]. The price of reproducible capital, p5, is calculated as (R+d)pI, where pI is the price of investment, I, and R is the ex post rate of return. Finally, following Diewert (2001) we assume that the exogenously given input, y6, is an aggregate of land, stock of inventories, and intellectual property. We assume that initially land and fixed factors make up half of the residual input and inventories and intellectual capital make up the other half. Assuming that the latter grows at the GDP growth rate, gGDP, we set y6t+1=y6t[0.5+0.5(1+gGDP)], with the starting value of y6 (in 1960) approximated by p1y1+p2y2-p3y3-p4y4-p5y5. Finally, p6 is approximated by (p1y1+p2y2-p3y3-p4y4-p5y5)/y6.\n4 Statistical issues: The basic statistical issues are the choice of the parameter vector a and the breakpoints of the (linear) spline function, d(p, k, t). These issues are not trivial, if our results are to be reproducible.In the literature, there are two methods for determining the a vector. The first is to treat it as a vector of parameters to be estimated together with the other parameters of the model and the second is to fix a a priori. Although the method of estimating a is more appealing since it produces reproducible results, it could be that a'p is negative for some t, thereby violating the curvature condition (this is the case with our data as a'p is negative for the period from 1960 to 1969, when estimated together with the other parameters). For this reason, we follow Kohli (1989) and set a as follows: Equation 12 where \|xi\| denotes the absolute value of xi, with xi=yi/k[5].There are also different methods of determining the breakpoints of the spline function d(p, k, t), irrespective of whether linear or quadratic splines are used. One easy methods is the \"visual inspection technique.\" It involves the estimation of the model without splines and identifying those observations where the residual plots change from a zig to a zag. This is, however, a subjective method of determining the break points and with multiple estimating equations it is possible for each of these equations to suggest different combinations of breakpoints. Another method is the \"global search method,\" used by Diewert and Wales (1993) in the consumer context using 18 observations for Japan. This method requires that we estimate the model CTth times, where T is the number of observations and th is the number of predetermined breakpoints. Although this method works well when T is small, it is very costly in terms of CPU time with large T. For example, in our case with T=43 and with (say) th=5, we would have to run the model C435[?]1x106 times, which is not affordable.To overcome the difficulties of the global search method, in this paper we propose a new method which we call the \"semi-global search method,\" trying to mimic the global search method in a stepwise and workable manner. In particular, instead of determining all the breakpoints simultaneously (as is the case with the global search method), we search for the number of breakpoints in a stepwise manner. We first search globally for just two breakpoints which maximize the log-likelihood function of the NQ model with two breakpoints (or equivalently three linear splines). Then taking the two breakpoints identified in the first step as given, we respecify the model by searching globally for a third breakpoint by maximizing the log likelihood function of the model with three breakpoints (or equivalently four linear splines). Again, taking the three breakpoints identified in the first two steps as given, we respecify the model and search globally for a fourth breakpoint by maximizing the log-likelihood function of the model with four breakpoints (or equivalently five linear splines).The results of applying the semi-global search method for determining the optimal number of break points in the linear spline function d(p, k, t), are shown in Table I. Since the value of the log likelihood function increases each time a new breakpoint is added into the linear spline function, we need a stopping rule for this process and use a standard likelihood ratio test to determine the optimal number of breakpoints. Based on this rule, the optimal number of breakpoints is 5, at observations 12, 27, 36, 38, and 41, or equivalently, at years 1971, 1986, 1995, 1997, and 2000.\n5 Empirical results: We estimated the system of net supply functions (10), with a fixed as in equation (11), with five breakpoints at years 1971, 1986, 1995, 1997, and 2000, and global curvature imposed as described earlier by replacing the elements of B by the elements of K. All estimation is performed in TSP/GiveWin (version 4.5) using the LSQ procedure.5.1 Total factor productivity\n6 Conclusion: We used the NQ variable profit function and estimated TFP, technical progress biases, and related price elasticities, using annual data for the United States economy over the period from 1960 to 2002. To allow for more flexibility in modelling technical progress within the NQ framework, we combined the linear spline techniques, which had not been used in empirical applications in the literature of technical progress before, and proposed a new technique for determining structural breaks. Our results show that the NQ variable profit function with linear splines works very well and our technique for determining structural breaks is effective.Within the framework of two outputs and four inputs, our (TFP) estimates show that US productivity in the last decade recovered in a stepwise manner, rather than jumped overnight in 1996 (as some previous studies have suggested), and that the US productivity revival after 1995 has been volatile and fragile. By decomposing TFP, our estimates show that the five technical progress biases (for domestic output, exports, imports, labor, and reproducible capital) followed a similar pattern as TFP, with exports and imports being most favored by technical progress. Moreover, our estimates of technical progress bias for labor imply a declining domestic output growth rate for the near future.Regarding the price elasticities that we estimated, of more interest is the decline in the price elasticities of exports and imports over the sample period, and the links between the two outputs (domestic output and exports) and the two inputs (imports and reproducible capital). In particular, our results indicate that an increase in the price of imports favors exports, but an increase in the price of exports decreases imports through the substitutability and the difference in factor intensity between domestic output and exports. We also found that domestic output and reproducible capital commoved positively with each other because of the price link between them.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate productivity growth and technical progress bias in the USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Following the work of Kohli in 1978 and Diewert and Wales in 1992, the paper estimates output supply and input demand functions in the context of a normalized quadratic (NQ) variable profit function using US data (over a period from 1960 to 2002) on six goods: output, exports, imports, labour, reproducible capital, and fixed capital.\nFindings: - Results show that the NQ variable profit function with linear splines works very well and the technique for determining structural breaks is effective. Estimates show that the US productivity rate in the last decade recovered in a stepwise manner, rather than jumped overnight in 1996 (as some previous studies have suggested), and that the US productivity revival after 1995 has been volatile and fragile.\nOriginality/value: - This paper highlights productivity trends in the USA.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Complexities in innovation management in companies from the European industry: A path model of innovation project performance determinants	[ "Innovation", "European industry", "Innovation performance", "Innovation potential", "Organizational capabilities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Due to increased global competition, fast development of technologies and changing customer demands, firm performance is increasingly dependent on the continuous improvement and introduction of new products. As innovation is costly, time-consuming and characterized by many uncertainties, many studies delved into innovation success factors (Rothwell, 1972; Cooper, 1979a, b, 1987, 1999, 2001; Ernst, 2002; Evanschitzky et al., 2012). Despite the collection of a large number of factors which affect innovation performance, still around 44 percent of the innovation projects fail to achieve their profit targets, only one product concept out of seven becomes a new product winner and half of all new product launches are late to the market (Cooper and Edgett, 2009). Successful management of innovation projects is often related to proficiency of the project execution or the fit between the resources and capabilities with the requirements of the project (Harmancioglu et al., 2009). The persistent shortcoming to improve innovation processes may be related to the lack of exploration of an integrated framework of relations (Tsai and Huang, 2012) among organizational capabilities, innovation characteristics and innovation performance. Studies employ the resource-based view (RBV) in the context of innovation, but focus on accumulation of resources to enlarge the own knowledge and resource base (Kleinschmidt et al., 2007) or on the effect of the resource base or technology synergy on innovativeness and product advantage (Kock et al., 2011; Tsai and Huang, 2012; Kim et al., 2013). The effect of innovativeness and newness of innovation projects on the capabilities of the firm remains unexplored. The present study embarks on this gap and tests the effect of innovativeness and newness on functional and integrative communication capabilities (Verona, 1999). It complements existing literature also by taking integrative communication into account while other studies look only at the role of functional resources and capabilities (Molina-Castilo and Munuera-Aleman, 2011; O'Cass and Sok, 2012; Tsai and Huang, 2012).\nTheoretical background: Innovation is previously defined to include introduction of new products, successful commercialization of new combinations, based on the application of new materials and components, the introduction of new processes, the opening of new markets or the introduction of new organizational forms (Schumpeter, 1934). It consists of inter-related processes, including new idea conception, invention of a new device and the development of a new market in an integrated fashion (Myers and Marquis, 1969). Successful management of innovation projects is often related either to proficiency of the project execution or the fit between the resources and capabilities with the requirements of the project (Harmancioglu et al., 2009).\nResearch framework: Innovativeness and newness\nMethods of data collection and analysis: Data were collected from nine multi-national companies, from different industries. The number of employees per company ranged between 1,300 and 50,000 and 2010 turnover ranged from 0.4 to 8.2 billion euro (see Table I). Eight of the companies are headquartered in the Netherlands and one in France. The activities of these companies range from agri(-food) production and processing, provision of utility services, to the production of high-tech precision products for businesses.\nResults: In this part, the expected relations among the factors which affect innovation performance will be discussed on the basis of the PLS analyses. The measurement model, presented in Table II, provides an overview of the variables and constructs which are used to measure the concepts in our model. In addition to the factor loadings per item, also the composite reliability and the AVE per construct is presented in the table. Figure 3 gives a visual overview of the relations among the concepts as identified on the basis of the PLS analysis. The figure presents the path coefficients and the R2. Table AI provides an overview of the correlation coefficients among the constructs in our model.\nConclusions and discussion: Up to now, limited research attributed attention to an integrated framework of relations (Tsai and Huang, 2012) among organizational capabilities, innovation characteristics and innovation performance. The complexity of relations among innovation characteristics, organizational determinants, innovation potential and project performance is not fully explored, leaving a gap in knowledge.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated framework of complex relations among innovation characteristics, organizational capabilities, innovation potential and innovation performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The model is tested using partial least squares (PLS) modeling and 22 high- (96 respondents) and 16 (93 respondents) low-performing innovation projects from nine companies from the European industry.\nFindings: The results show that the level of innovativeness of the project is an important determinant of product potential, whereas the complexity entailed in innovativeness entices integrative communication among innovation project team members. As expected, projects which are new to the company are related negatively to adequateness of the existing functional capabilities of the firm. The negative effects can be mitigated through integrative communication capabilities. Management can foster communication and knowledge integration through adequate databases and communication structures as well as social relations. Also, higher project potential and successful project performance can be attained through focus on product superiority and quality but also on speed of product introduction into the market.\nOriginality/value: An integrated framework which includes innovation characteristics, organizational capabilities which bring together project execution proficiency and synergy of firm capabilities with the innovation project, as well as innovation potential and performance is absent in the existing literature. The absence of an integrated framework may be the reason why still a large number of innovation projects result in failure. The emphasis on management of complexities in innovation in the paper requires the focus on the under-explored effect of innovativeness and newness of innovation projects on the functional and integrative communication capabilities of firms. While studies which focus on the synergy between firm capabilities and the innovation project regard mainly the functional capabilities, the inclusion of also the integrative communication capabilities allows the present paper to integrate the synergy view with the view that proficiency of project execution is decisive for innovation project performance (Harmancioglu et al., 2009).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Young talent blooms at Tulip: Opportunities to grow for graduates and apprentices	[ "Food industry", "Training", "Graduates", "Apprenticeships", "Industrial placements", "Awards" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A UK food company has launched a scheme to provide first-hand experience across the industry to young people at every level of education.\nExposure to supermarket buyers: After graduating from university with a business degree, Adam Fincham joined Tulip in November 2010 as a category marketing analyst in the central-marketing team. He was responsible for supporting the brand team and various senior category managers across a number of accounts.At the beginning of 2012, he moved to work in a dedicated team that aims to increase business in a number of accounts offering growth opportunities. With this move came greater responsibility and the opportunity of greater exposure to some of the UK's major supermarkets' buyers.\"After graduating, my aim was to get a marketing graduate-level role in the fast-moving consumer-goods industry. Tulip has given me this opportunity,\" he enthused. \"It is a very large, progressive organization. With this come many opportunities to progress and develop.\"\nWatching for dramatic changes in the market: Liam, an apprentice with a BTec level 3 extended diploma in business retailing, supports senior category managers in their day-to-day tasks. These can involve developing presentations, keeping an overview of the market and watching for any dramatic changes that may have an effect on Tulip. He is also asked frequently to help other departments, such as product development, with small tasks to relieve the pressure they may have.\"The main job that is expected from me is to learn from the senior members of staff with whom I work every day,\" he explained. \"This is to ensure that my development in Tulip progresses and new opportunities can become available to me.\"He was asked to take part in the apprenticeship scheme after having joined Tulip for two weeks of work experience as a part of his sixth-form course.\"I especially enjoy the chance to visit different factories, travel around the country and constantly meet new people,\" he said. \"I also enjoy gaining knowledge and understanding of the changes that are happening in the market.\"Another main positive is that every day is different. Within the market there are always developments that have to be taken notice of and understood. As a result, I am constantly researching different products, categories and even customers.\"\nProcessing vast quantities of daily invoices: Luke, an apprentice with a National Vocational Qualification level 2 in business and administration, is required to learn the different skills required to work in departments such as purchase ledger, credit control, sales administration and reception.\"I have spent a certain period of time in each of these departments,\" he explained. \"For example, I spent about three months in credit control, where I was given a list of customers to call and raise manual recharges with on a daily basis.\"While I was with purchase ledger I helped to process a vast amount of daily invoices. Currently I am in sales administration, processing orders, taking calls from customers and other Tulip sites.\"One of my daily jobs is to provide reception services - whether it is covering lunch breaks, holidays or simply helping with the post. The main objective for me is to learn from the senior members of staff, which will not only enhance my overall knowledge but improve my general skills.\"I have worked with a variety of people learning different skills, which has helped me to improve as a person and enhanced my skills as an individual.\"\nDeveloping skills in market research, communications and presentations: Ellie is in her third year of studying for a degree in agri-food marketing with business studies at Harper Adams University College. The course includes a year out in the industry. She joined a Tulip subsidiary, Dalehead Foods, in June 2010.Initially she worked in the new-product development team at Linton. Here, she gained thorough understanding of how products are launched, from concept to supermarket shelf.After six months she joined the marketing team. \"I was involved in various projects that allowed me to build on existing knowledge and develop further skills in market research, communications and presentations,\" she explained. \"At the beginning of June 2011 I took the opportunity to work in the lamb-procurement team for my final few months.\"I am thoroughly enjoying my time working in the agricultural area of the business and meeting the dedicated farmers. I have had much involvement in helping to organize, set up and co-ordinate various events and have also prepared presentations and data analysis for the events based on feedback from internal projects. It is great to get to know the producers and involve them in projects and discussions, as it helps us to understand how we can help them.\"I have gained a huge amount of knowledge on the food industry and what processes are involved to run an efficient business striving to be the best in class. During the year I have achieved several certificates including the hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) food-safety qualification and spec writing, along with visiting the abattoirs and other processing units to understand and visualize the processes. I look forward to being able to apply all I have learned from Dalehead in my final year at Harper.\"Tulip's commitment to learning and developing has helped it to win the people-skills category in the Manufacturer of the Year awards, and the Food and Drink Federation's Community Partnership award in the Good Employer category. The company was a finalist in the Training Program of the Year category of the Food Manufacturing Excellence awards.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest Editor, wrote this article.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to describe food-company Tulip's Talent for the New Generation scheme, which provides first-hand experience across the industry to young people at every level of education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper explains the origins of the scheme and the form it takes. It includes first-hand descriptions by some of the people taking part in the scheme.\nFindings: - The paper describes the enthusiasm of young graduates, apprentices and people on industrial placements at Tulip.\nPractical implications: - The paper highlights the benefits to the company - whose growth depends on young talent - and to the individuals of the various training opportunities available at Tulip.\nSocial implications: - The paper outlines the real opportunities for participants to achieve their full potential by gaining experience with a fast-growing business.\nOriginality/value: - The paper reveals that the \"opportunity for all\" approach at Tulip seeks to ensure that, from face-to-face courses to one-to-one mentoring, employees are supported at every step of their career.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gives you wings or not? Exploring the impact of viewers' responsibility attribution and surprise on their attitude, identification and trust	[ "Crisis communication", "Trust", "Identification", "Inoculation theory", "Real-time rating", "Responsibility attribution" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's competitive markets, trust, a positive attitude toward brands and stakeholder-company identification are invaluable assets for companies. Trust, attitude and identification can play a mitigating role by softening the impact of a crisis on a company. Therefore, companies are eager to safeguard their public perception when they come under public scrutiny due to (alleged) corporate misconduct. Filmmaker Michael Moore was among the first to popularize the genre of critical, corporate-bashing documentaries, which due to their \"pervasive negative portrayals are consistent with [an] operational definition of crisis\" (Pompper and Higgins, 2007, p. 429). As organizational stakeholders see these documentaries, they might attribute greater crisis responsibility toward an organization, the effect being \"that increased attributions of crisis responsibility by stakeholders produce lower reputational scores among those same stakeholders\" (Coombs, 2007, p. 166). Films can create impressions among viewers that the portrayed company bears responsibility for certain events. This can, in turn, threaten the company's reputation and brand(s).\nConceptual framework: Crisis responsibility and trust are inextricably linked. Many see trust as essential for organizations to maintain their license to operate (Coombs and Holladay, 2014). The impression that an organization could be responsible for a crisis may entail stakeholders' losing trust, changing their attitude toward and/or identifying less with that organization. Essentially, losing trust, changing attitude and diminished identity are rooted in the violation of expectations (Luhmann, 2000). Stakeholders expect organizations to behave in a certain way and are disappointed if they do not. Disappointment, i.e. being surprised that behavior is different than expected, and crisis responsibility attribution are key variables to understand the outcomes of the perception of critical documentaries among viewers, i.e. changes in attitude, trust and identification. In combining the aspects of responsibility attribution during a crisis, trust, attitude and identification toward and with a company and negative affect and surprise, this study provides insights on how such critical documentaries affect viewers and thus stakeholders.\nMethodology: Procedure and participants\nResults: To test the effects of the stimulus on participants' attitude, trust and identification toward Red Bull, three mixed repeated-measures ANOVAs were performed. The analyses included as within-subjects variable the pre-post measurements of attitude or trust toward or identification with the company and two between-subjects factors as moderators: participants' attribution of responsibility and participants' perceived surprise concerning the portrayed deaths. For the first factor, participants were categorized based upon their averaged RTR responsibility attributions - either into participants attributing responsibility stronger to the companies (>50, n=72) or participants attributing responsibility stronger to the athletes (n=55). For the second factor, participants were categorized based on a median split (median=4.00) into surprised (n=63) and not surprised (n=64).\nDiscussion and limitations: There are three major limitations to this study. First, even though young people in the age group between 18 and 30 are the most important target group for Red Bull, the sample had two disadvantages: women were overrepresented in the sample, and no groups other than college students were surveyed. Thus, the convenience sample has only limited validity, and results need to be interpreted with care. Second, the measurement of identification proved to be difficult. Only a few participants actually identified themselves with Red Bull. Pre-stimulus identification was very low to begin with (M=2.42). Even though the reduction in identification in the post-survey (M=2.13) proved to be significant, a more robust finding would have likely been with a higher number of identified participants. With 13 people (10 percent) having an identification index score of four or higher in the pre-study, the level of identification among surveyed samples is in line with prior research, having found between 12 percent (Wolter et al., 2016) and 14 percent (Bhattacharya and Elsbach, 2002) of respondents as being identified with a brand. Therefore, future studies on the impact of critical coverage on stakeholder-organization identification should use larger samples of 1,000 respondents and more to include a sufficient number of self-identified persons. However, having the setting of the study in mind, especially using RTR, rendered a larger sample size unrealistic. Finally, the length and complexity of the stimulus posed an analytical challenge. While RTR provided second-by-second data to estimate at what point responsibility attribution shifted, it is still unclear what a part of the content caused it. As viewers watch films, they constantly form and re-evaluate their opinions. Therefore, the RTR data likely just show the tipping point of impression formation, not necessarily its cause. Future studies need to focus on more discrete units of media content to test different content categories against each other to determine what content influences opinion in what way.\nConclusion: This study found support for the central claim of the SCCT, that responsibility attribution is the key in crisis perception among stakeholders. Responsibility attribution toward a company in a crisis situation leads to negative outcomes in relevant dimensions such as attitude, trust, identification, and behavioral intention. Critical media content has an impact on stakeholders, and it does influence relevant behavioral outcomes; hence, documentaries targeting organizations present a viable reputational threat.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of critical, journalistic documentaries on viewers. More precisely, it investigates the effects of responsibility attribution and surprise on stakeholder attitude, trust and identification.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In a quasi-experimental pre-post setting, 127 participants viewed a documentary about Austrian beverage and marketing company Red Bull. The film inquired into the deaths of six extreme athletes sponsored by the company. As a critical, investigative piece, the documentary was designed to give viewers the impression that Red Bull was, at least partially, responsible for the athletes' deaths.\nFindings: Results show that responsibility attribution, the feeling of being surprised and being in a state of negative affect, had a significant impact on viewers' attitude and trust toward, and identification with Red Bull.\nOriginality/value: The study adds insights on surprise as a factor in viewers' assessment of responsibility. The study is original in terms of methodology by using real-time rating to ascertain which sequences trigger changes in responsibility attribution among viewers. Furthermore, implications of the study's findings with regard to inoculation theory are discussed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A model of entrepreneurship education in franchising - application of outside-in marketing with a behavioural focus	[ "B2B", "Entrepreneurship", "Education", "Entrepreneurship education", "Behavioural", "Outside-in marketing", "Pre-intervention stage", "Decision-making", "Franchise" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Firms develop relationships with many types of organisations such as educational institutions that can be important in relationship management, innovation and entrepreneurship development in a business network, especially for small and medium businesses (Chaston and Mangles, 2000; Timms et al., 2019; Young et al., 2019). A business network is \"a governance structure for organising exchange through cooperative, non-equity relationships\" among firms and other organisations (D'Cruz and Rugman, 1994, p. 276). The business network's actors are typically the firm, main suppliers, customers, key competitors and the non-business infrastructure which includes the service-related sectors, educational and training institutions, government, and other organisations such as trade associations, nongovernmental organisations, and unions (Ritter et al., 2004). Business relationships may be created with any partners showed in the network, and business relationships between any two actors can be influenced by the other actors in the network. As such, it can be concluded that educational institutions, being an actor in the business network of a firm, can increase value for firm through various function such as activity associations, actor connections and resource development (Hakansson and Snehota, 1995; Little et al., 2008; Welch and Wilkinson, 2002). More specifically, educational institutions help business network's partners nurture cooperative relationships. They are considered to serve as \"the loci of social memory\" (Ouchi, 1984, p. 29) as they contribute to a pool of knowledge and understanding which facilitates inter-organisational partnering (D'Cruz and Rugman, 1994).\nBackground to the franchising and entrepreneurship education intervention: General EE programs tend to target all types of entrepreneurs (Edelman et al., 2008; Fayolle, 2013). However, this study proposes that there is a need to tailor EE approaches to different types of entrepreneurs to increase program efficiency. Franchising falls under the umbrella of entrepreneurship as it is considered to represent an entrepreneurial partnership or cooperative arrangement between two types of entrepreneurs, namely, franchisors and franchisees (Gonzalez-Diaz and Solis-Rodriguez, 2012; Thaichon et al., 2019). Notwithstanding, franchisees do not represent fully independent entrepreneurs, but lie somewhere between being employees and independent contractors (Buchan, 2010; Lee et al., 2015; Ketchen et al., 2011; Kim and Stepchenkova, 2018). In a franchising business model, the franchisor grants the rights to a franchisee for the local distribution of a service or trademarked product under a long term contract (Miller and Grossman, 1990; Weaven et al., 2019). In return, the franchisee pays an up-front fee as well as ongoing royalties and is required to confirm certain conditions and standards (Justis and Judd, 1989). This is different from independent business owners who have full control of their business operation. Efficacious educational intervention cannot be achieved through generic entrepreneurship education. Successful educational approaches need to accommodate the atypical nature of a franchise relationship in which two parties (i.e. franchisor and franchisee) are bound together in a contract but seek mutual and separate profitability (Parliament of South Australia, 2007). As such, any education program seeking to assist individuals in forming realistic assessments of the franchise opportunity (i.e. during pre-entry, purchase and post-purchase evaluation stages) must be context (i.e. franchising) specific and relevant.\nEntrepreneurship education and inside-out approach: Entrepreneurship education is the application of enterprise skills specifically to the creation and growth of organisations, with entrepreneurship education focusing on developing skills (Jain and Chaudhary, 2017; Nabi et al., 2017) and applying an enterprising mindset in the specific contexts of setting up a new venture, developing and growing an existing business, or designing an entrepreneurial organisation (Williamson et al., 2013). Verheul et al. (2001) suggest that EE should focus on \"the promotion of entrepreneurship and [stimulate] entrepreneurial skills and knowledge\" which resonates with Shane's (2008) assertion that EE for \"would-be\" entrepreneurs should include approaches for these individuals not only to enter small business but to be successful in such endeavours. This comprehensive academic domain has witnessed continued growth worldwide (Katz, 2003; Neck and Greene, 2011; Fayolle, 2013; Nabi et al., 2018), with the design and implementation of EE programs being open to some criticism.\nApplying the outside-in marketing perspective to entrepreneurship education: Outside-in marketing, the opposite of the \"inside-out\" concept (Schultz et al., 1993), is the practice of learning the language of the audience and prospects and designing marketing communications for them on (and in) their terms (Mathewson and Moran, 2016). This would ensure communication-in-use which is defined as messages sent by a communicator forming value for a receiver for a specific purpose (Finne and Gronroos, 2017). In this approach, educators must look beyond the established disciplines to start with the context and nature of the audience of EE and what they are trying to achieve. This involves a complete focus on the audience that delivers innovative and relevant approaches to planning, developing and implementing an EE program which provides value for the audience through a positive change of their behaviour such as performance and relationship management (Kerr et al., 2008). Therefore, the outside-in view can be considered external alignment which is important to guarantee an effective relationship between education and business environment (Mulder, 2017). This notion takes the theory of strategic alignment of learning objectives, learning processes and assessment of learning proposed by Biggs (1999) as a starting point. In other words, it increases the relevance of the EE program towards the audience and the context.\nPre-intervention: development and implementation: As depicted in Figure 1, the planning process in the pre-intervention stage included situation analysis, objective setting and decisions in relation to the communication strategy, i.e. content and mode.\nIntervention: Access to the intervention was via a university website, specifically designed to disseminate important information and updates to the franchising community as a whole. The website's accessibility was linked to key-word searches involving words or phrases derived from the term \"franchise\". As such, the website was highly visible to potential franchisees and, given that the EE intervention was provided free of charge, there was little barrier to participation. After two years, almost 2,500 people had accessed this resource. While majority of the participants were prospective franchisees, a small number of current franchisees, current and prospective franchisors, and industry support professionals also took part in the program. Regular surveys were sent to new participants of the pre-entry franchise education program to gather demographical information about the types of people completing the program and to obtain their feedback regarding future improvements. It was revealed that most people discovered the program when searching for general franchise information. The most common messages that participant recalled after completing the program were how to conduct proper due diligence and characteristics of franchises, such as the franchisor-franchisee relationship, franchisor support structures and franchise fees.\nPost intervention: evaluation and reflection: Two years after the program's launch in 2010, the Department of Industry, innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIICCSRTE) commissioned an investigation into the effectiveness of the EE intervention. This investigation followed a quasi-experimental research design, which involved the administration of an online survey of franchisees who had not participated in the EE intervention (control group) and franchisees who had participated in the EE intervention (experimental group).\nDiscussion: The impact of any educational approach needs to be adequately defined both conceptually and methodologically to ensure appropriateness and efficiency. In recognition of current deficiencies in entrepreneurship education and, in particular, an overarching reliance on generalist programs (O'Connor, 2013), a specific and uniform EE program was purposely crafted to target specific entrepreneur behaviour of franchisees. The results show how the behavioural focus in education helped a particular group of entrepreneurs, the would-be and new franchisees who were investigating franchising as a business model of opportunity exploitation. The outside-in marketing approach helps to increase the effectiveness of the entrepreneurship education through promoting entrepreneurship and stimulating entrepreneurial skills and knowledge (Verheul et al., 2001) and at the same time assisting individuals to start and succeed in their small businesses (Shane, 2008).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Drawing on an outside-in marketing perspective, this paper aims to outline the development, implementation, evaluation and reflection of a real-world entrepreneurship education (EE) intervention with cognitive, affective and ultimately behavioural objectives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A specific and uniform EE program specifically targeted to current \"would be\" entrepreneurs who were investigating the franchising business model was developed, focusing on the behavioural outcomes. The effectiveness of the EE intervention was evaluated using a quasi-experimental research design, which involved franchisees who had not participated in the EE intervention (control group) and franchisees who had participated in the EE intervention (experimental group). The administration of the national on-line survey yielded a total of 520 responses (194 in the experimental group and 326 in the control group).\nFindings: The planning process in the pre-intervention stage included situation analysis, objective setting and decisions in relation to the communication strategy, i.e. content and mode. The effectiveness of the EE intervention was evaluated in the post-intervention stage. The findings indicate that EE intervention resulted in participants' positive cognitive, affective and behavioural outcomes such as performance and relationship management. Finally, following a reflection process, additional elements covering topics related to work-life balance were incorporated into the module pertaining to an individual's suitability to become a franchisee.\nOriginality/value: This paper proposes a conceptual framework that represents an outside-in EE approach whereby problems, audiences, objectives and communication strategies (content and method) are strategically intertwined to produce relevant, measurable and diagnostic behavioural outcomes. The EE intervention can also improve the B2B relationship between actors in a business network.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Performance assessment of manufacturing SMEs: a frontier approach	[ "Performance measurement", "Data envelopment analysis", "Manufacturing industry", "Turkish SMEs" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Impact of globalization supported by enhancement in new technology has altered the way of doing business in today's contemporary world. The way of achieving and surviving in this ambiance is to apprehend the important alters in the business area, and get ready to appropriate competition and capitalize on opportunities related with the new dynamic business area.\nStrategic competitive priorities: Competitive strategy of a company is the element that describes the manufacturing strategy and the determination and application of its competitive priorities and policies toward business success. The final aim of a manufacturing strategy is to reach the optimum production capabilities to support its competitive strategy (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1984).\nDEA: DEA is a linear programming technique that provides dynamic collective comparative results for evaluating the productivity of organizations based on multiple inputs and outputs. DEA technique was first introduced by Charnes et al. (1978) upon the seminal work by Farrell (1957) based on the measurement of productive efficiency, and called as CCR (Charnes et al., 1978) model in the literature. In that model, the objective function was to maximize the output values to inputs for the organizations called as decision-making units (DMUs) in DEA terminology. DEA is a methodology that measures relative efficiency of DMUs that has been paid attention by many scholars compared to traditional methods due to its advantages. DEA provides an efficiency score for each unit that accommodates comparison between obtained scores. It is relied on peer group comparison that efficient elements will yield the efficient frontier and inefficient elements will be enveloped with their reference sets of frontiers. Some recent implementations of DEA performance measurement analysis in different fields are given in Table I.\nConceptual model: Since the aim of this study is to analyze SMEs' performance with regard to competitive priorities and their affects over business performance, proper performance measures (as input and output variables) have to be operationalized. The model is based on an efficiency perspective of using manufacturing resources for high performance results. Shown in Figure 1, the left-sided variables are the inputs of the performance measurement while the right-sided factors are the consequences. However, in a real case there may exist some more relative variables for efficiency evaluation, the most significant factors are considered in the model. To expand the study and provide more realistic approach compared to previous researches we are interested in broad and sufficient indicators to observe how firms use their resources through the best performance level. Instead of measuring performance efficiency under one priority, we used multiple variables for some priorities.\nMethodolgy: Research instrument and data collection\nResults and findings: In the proposed model, an output oriented Constant Returns to Scale is used since the objective is to increase efficiency by improving output levels. For this purpose output oriented CCR model was run through the DEA Solver Pro software that is utilized for many efficiency analyses.\nConclusion: In this study, strategic competitive priorities of the firms have been taken into consideration and it is aimed for assisting the view of how the development of internal resources and capabilities in SMEs can bring sources of competitive advantages and enhance their business performance in the competitive areas. To accomplish this goal, the output oriented DEA model was utilized.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure and evaluate the performance efficiency of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey. The industry-based efficiency evaluation provides management with information regarding the relatively best practice sectors in the observation sets and locates the relatively inefficient sectors by comparing with the best practiced ones.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this study, an evaluation model is constructed to come up with efficiency analysis for manufacturing SMEs and output-oriented CCR data envelopment analysis approach is utilized to figure out best practiced SMEs. The proposed efficiency measurement model is utilized for 744 SMEs from ten different sectors. Based on the efficiency results, efficiency score of the studied sectors are compared and improvements needed for becoming an efficient unit are reported.\nFindings: The results showed that 94 companies efficiently performed in general perspective. The analysis also revealed that \"Wearing Apparel, Dressing and Dyeing of Fur\" and \"Chemicals and Chemical Products\" manufacturing sectors were found to be the inefficient of the overall usage of strategic competitive priorities.\nOriginality/value: Based on the previous literature, this study brings more recent perspectives such as service activities and financial power to the four main competitive priorities of cost, quality, flexibility and delivery. The variables used in this study are as follows: Proximity to Market, Ability to Control Costs, Potential Labor Force, Product Quality, Prompt Advantage, Certification, Product Assortment, Distribution Channel, Pricing Policy, Service, Capital, Machinery-Equipment Track, Profit Margin and Market Share.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Not just the taste: why adolescents drink alcopops	[ "Alcohol", "Alcoholic drinks", "Young people", "Adolescents" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Ready-to-drink alcohol products (RTDs), commonly referred to as \"alcopops\", have been a source of much controversy since their introduction in the mid-1990's (Forsyth, 2001). In Australia, there is increasing evidence that RTDs have become the drink of choice for young people (Colman and Colman, 2003). For example, a survey of 400 young people (aged 12 to 21 years) from Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney (Australian Divisions of General Practice, 2003) found that 45 per cent of females and 33 per cent of males reported an RTD as their last drink consumed; with a clear age-related decline (over 50 per cent of 12 to 14 year olds, 40 per cent of 15 to 17 year olds and 20 per cent of those over 18 years of age). More recent data showed that 25 per cent of 12 to 15 year olds and 34 per cent of 16 to 17 year olds who were \"current drinkers\" identified RTDs as their usual drink (White and Hayman, 2006). Studies in other countries have also found that the attractiveness of alcopops declines with increasing age (Center for Applied Research Solutions, 2006; MacKintosh et al., 1997; Sutherland and Willner, 1998; Huckle et al., 2008); and that female adolescents are the most likely to consume alcopops (Center for Applied Research Solutions, 2006; MacKintosh et al., 1997; Huckle et al., 2008; Roberts et al., 1999; Brain et al., 2000; MacCall, 1998; Romanus, 2000).There is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that the preference for alcopops is a result of marketing strategies that entice youth into consuming these drinks (Mosher and Johnsson, 2005). However, the specific features of RTDs which make them attractive to youth are still poorly defined. The existing literature highlights \"taste\" - both the lack of evident alcohol taste and the similarity to familiar soft drink precuts (component parts) - as one of the most important attributes of alcopops (Australian Divisions of General Practice, 2003; Center for Applied Research Solutions, 2006; MacKintosh et al., 1997; Hughes et al., 1997; CHOICE, 2007; Copeland et al., 2007). Other factors which have been identified in a small number of studies include portability and ease of concealment (Center for Applied Research Solutions, 2006; Hughes et al., 1997); affordability (Hughes et al., 1997); ability to control alcohol intake (Center for Applied Research Solutions, 2006); and perceived \"fit\" between the product/brands and the desired image of young people (MacKintosh et al., 1997; Hughes et al., 1997; Gates et al., 2007; Smith et al., 2005).However, there is a dearth of research which examines the relative role of these factors in young people's decisions to consume RTDs. The present research aims to determine the features of RTDs which make them attractive to young Australians (aged 12-17 years), which features are most important in determining choice of RTD over other alcoholic drinks, and whether these vary by age and gender. Study one aimed to address the question using a qualitative focus group method, and study two utilised quantitative survey techniques to provide further refinement of hypotheses relating to age and gender.\nStudy one: Method\nStudy two: A quantitative survey was designed to collect data on preferred products (and reasons for preferences). Respondents were also asked to rank the importance of six factors (identified in the literature review and focus groups) in their decision making regarding choice of alcohol products: \"What it tastes like\", \"What it costs\", \"How easy it is to get\", \"Alcohol strength\", \"What it looks like\", and \"What my friends drink\". Participants were also asked to provide dichotomous \"yes/no\" responses to indicate if they would be more likely to buy a pre-mixed alcohol product if it was resealable, if it looked like a soft drink, or if it was an energy drink. Drinking behaviour was assessed using questions designed to be similar to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT; Saunders et al., 1993) but relevant to frequency of drinking in young people (e.g. \"How often in the last year have you had an alcoholic drink?\"). A final draft of the survey was pilot-tested among a convenience sample of young people within the target age group and several questions were removed to reduce the response burden to less than ten minutes. A talk aloud session with pilot participants indicated that the survey was easily understood and answered by the target group, and that the survey demonstrated adequate face validity.Data collection\nDiscussion: The results of the two studies helped to expand on the characteristics of RTDs which make them popular for 12 to 17 year olds. The predominant factor influencing the preference for RTDs across both genders was clearly taste, followed by alcohol strength and cost. Focus group results also showed that alcohol strength was a key driver of product choice, with females and younger drinkers generally expressing a preference for products with a lower alcohol content, whereas males aged 15-17 were more ambivalent about the choice of low- versus high-strength RTDs. Convenience was an important factor in drink choices, including the ease of carrying, and concealing, RTDs. The physical appearance of the products was another key contributor to their appeal for younger drinkers, including the importance of colour in making a drink more appealing and having a range of colours and flavours to choose from. The association between price and choice was complex, with the choice of a specific RTD for many a trade-off between price and alcohol strength. Advertising was spontaneously mentioned by participants in the focus groups as a reason for their preferences for specific brands and products; and the non-drinkers and experimental drinkers articulated that advertising was a key influencer for perceiving a particular brand or product to be one they would like to try. This finding concurs with other research suggesting that alcohol advertising (particularly that which appears on television) plays a substantial role in motivating consumption of RTDs (Gunter et al., 2009).It was clear from the focus groups that RTDs are the drinks of choice for young female drinkers, and to a lesser extent young males (who reported preferring spirits and beer as well as RTDs), with two-thirds of product choices in the card sort activity being RTDs. Survey results supported this finding, with females significantly more likely than males to think that others their age regularly consumed RTDs than males. Females were also less likely than males to place emphasis on the cost or ease of attaining of RTDs, and were more likely to rate (presumably lower) alcohol strength as important.The apparent popularity of RTDs among female participants serves to support results of previous research, such as the role of their sweet flavour, soft-drink like appearance, and lower alcohol content. However, findings from both studies provide evidence that while RTDs are often perceived as predominantly \"girlie\" drinks, with particular appeal for females, there are effectively two types or categories of RTDs in Australia, each with appeal to a different target group. The stereotypical \"girlie\" RTD (fruit flavoured, bottled in a pretty colour, relatively low alcohol) continues to be the drink of choice for young females. However, rum- or bourbon-based, usually canned, RTD is seen as a \"boys\" drink that serves a more concerning role for adolescent males; like the \"girlie\" version it tastes like the more familiar soft-drink base and thus is \"easy to drink\" but its the higher alcohol content also makes it \"easy to get drunk\" while still maintaining the \"macho\" image typically associated with consumption of beer.As expected, younger participants (those aged 12 to 14 years) were significantly more likely to place importance on the appearance of RTDs than their older counterparts. This partially supports the expectations of the study, that younger people are more influenced by the appealing appearance of the products. The tendency to rely on looks as a key cue in preference may reflect their limited experience with other features of the alcohol products. Younger participants were also significantly more likely to place importance on the strength of the alcohol in RTDs, which, from analysis of focus group discussions, appeared to be a preference for lower alcohol content. Contrary to expectations, taste was not considered to be as important to young participants as it was for older participants. Again, this may reflect the younger participants' limited experience with the taste of the products.Results of these two studies elaborate on previous research, by indicating that RTDs are appealing to young people for a number of reasons, many of which differ in importance depending on age and gender. Future research should aim to solidify findings using a longitudinal design, in order to ascertain whether attitudinal preferences towards RTDs, gained early in adolescence, transfer into the behaviour of purchasing/consuming RTDs.Limitations\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to determine the features of alcopops which make them attractive to Australian adolescents, which features are most important in determining choice of ready-to-drinks (RTDs) over other alcoholic drinks, and whether these vary by age and gender.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Mixed methods study. Participants in Study 1 (focus groups) were 72 adolescents aged 12-17 from New South Wales, Australia; four groups each from Sydney (metropolitan area), Wollongong (regional) and Dubbo (rural); and in Study 2 (survey), 1,263 adolescents aged 12-17 recruited through schools, mall intercepts, and online.\nFindings: - The predominant factor influencing preference for alcopops across both genders was taste, followed by alcohol strength and cost, although the association between price and choice was complex. Convenience was an important factor, including ease of carrying and concealing, as was the physical appearance (particularly for younger drinkers). Non-drinkers and experimental drinkers reported that advertising was a key influencer.\nPractical implications: - These results elaborate on previous research, indicating that alcopops are appealing to young people for a number of reasons (including taste, cost and alcohol strength), many of which differ in importance depending on age and gender. Given that advertising was found to be a key factor in the preference for alcopops, alcohol-related media literacy education may help young people to resist these harmful persuasive messages.\nOriginality/value: - This study goes beyond previous research into the role of taste preferences to explore the complexity of reasons for adolescents' alcohol consumption. In doing so, this research provides the basis for future educational and policy interventions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An investigation of competitive pricing among apparel retailers and brands	[ "Clothing", "Retailers", "Brands", "Pricing", "Competitive strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Pricing is a dimension that can be identified from the perspective of the customer as well as that of the retailer/manufacturer (Sivakumar, 2000a, p. 294).Price defines a firm's competitive position in the market and consumers use price to evaluate quality of a brand or retailer (Dolan and Simon, 1996; Gabor and Granger, 1966). Apparel retailers operate in an intensely rivalrous and highly saturated market environment, with slow sales growth and high price competition (Standard and Poor's, 2004a). Competition among apparel retailers has increased in recent years as the industry has experienced price deflation and discount mass merchants have gained power. Large discounters have driven down apparel prices with cheaper imports and forced a convergence among a small range of price frequencies (Dolan and Simon, 1996; Fratto, 2004). To compete successfully against a discount dominated retail environment, apparel retailers and brands are forced to reduce costs and increase economies of scale, or increase prices and redefine their positioning (Standard and Poor's, 2004b). Unless a firm finds alternative ways to compete, the decline in competitive advantages in today's retail marketing environment will be detrimental to a retailer's success against its competitors (Plunkett Research Ltd, 2004a). Several key trends have contributed to this volatile competitive environment (Plunkett Research Ltd, 2004b; Standard and Poor's, 2004b):* discount superstores, or super-merchandisers, creating competition and driving down retail prices;* market saturation of specialty store, major chains, and shopping centers;* department store repositioning;* discounting and sales promotions;* weakening of category killers;* growth of sophistication of alternative channel or multi-channel retailers (bricks, clicks and catalogs);* force of fashion;* consumer evolution (demographics, psychographics); and* product homogeneity, same or similar products found at multiple price levels.Although literature exists, regarding how brands compete based on product attributes and characteristics, no empirical data were identified that addressed how price determines or influences competition among brands (Blattberg and Wisniewski, 1989), and more specifically for apparel retailers and brands. A significant amount of literature relating to competition within the grocery, or general merchandise sector discusses the notion that markets contain price and quality tiers for many products (Blattberg and Wisniewski, 1989; Sivakumar, 2000b). The purpose of this paper is to investigate competitive pricing strategies of apparel brands and retailers.The research objectives of this paper are:* to identify key price competition issues for apparel retailers;* to discuss price tiers as a strategy; and* to discuss the presence of these strategies among apparel retailers and brands.The paper begins with a broad discussion of competition by examining Porter's (1998a) five forces model , and narrows by examining specifically, price competition within price tiers in the retail apparel industry by both stores and brands. Competition is a key source of motivation for firm strategy and therefore provides a framework for the discussion of pricing. Included are case studies of apparel retailers and brands incorporating the concepts of pricing strategies, brand positioning, and price competition, with a focus on retail channel relationships.\nCompetition: Competitive forces\nRetailers and pricing: Retail channels\nStore branding as a pricing vehicle: A brand is viewed from both a supplier and consumer perspective. For the consumer, a brand creates an image or association, and communicates a value proposition in the form of product, service, and information experiences (Kotler, 2003; Mariotti, 1999). A supplier uses a brand as a source of competitive advantage or as legal protection for distinguishable product characteristics (Kotler, 2003). Common between both perspectives is the concept of a brand as a vehicle for communication of product differentiation.Value is the ratio between the benefit and cost of a consumer's purchase. Brand value or brand equity incorporates the concept of quality as it relates to the identity of a brand. The degree of brand-name recognition, perceived brand quality, mental and emotional association, and value perception encompass brand equity (Aaker, 1998; Kotler, 2003). Aaker (1996) describes brand equity as a set of assets and/or liabilities linked to a brand and the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or that firm's customers. Brand equity increases consumer confidence in their purchasing decision, and strengthens the emotional attachment to the purchase (Aaker, 1998).Store branding strategy\nPrice tiers: Price tiers are a new research area used to characterize competition among brands, initiated by the growth of store brands (Sivakumar, 2000b). In a market, price and quality tiers are used to categorize brands (Blattberg and Wisniewski, 1989; Sivakumar, 2000a), accounting for the perceived positive correlation between price and quality that identify the tier (Sivakumar, 2000a). Tiers may also refer to companies allocating portions of operations to specific channels, markets or consumer segments (Dolan and Simon, 1996; Sivakumar, 2000b). A firm may have product entries in multiples tiers thus engaging them in activities across market boundaries.As of yet, there is no verified method of formally classifying tiers, but rather based on the researcher's judgment (Sivakumar, 2000a). A value map depicts tiers based on perceived value vs price. Dolan and Simon (1996) visually depict three price tiers on a value map, aligning brands or products based on their perceived product value versus price (Figure 3). Price tiers are typically depicted as three markets, often based on a \"good, better, best\" strategy, or for some retailers, national brand, store brand and generic brand (Dolan and Simon, 1996). The number of tiers in a value map is ultimately market or product specific. Regardless of the number of tiers a product, brand, or firm's position on the value map implies a positioning strategy and a relevant competitive set of steps needed to maximize that strategy (Dolan and Simon, 1996).The price tier strategy is proactive and requires costs to be set after the price is determined. Inherently, a price tier strategy warrants a focus on a price point or price range (Dolan and Simon, 1996). Thus, price dictates the position, which then dictates the acceptable cost level; see Figure 4 (Dolan and Simon, 1996).Inter-tier asymmetric price competition\nPrice tiers as a differentiation strategy for apparel marketers and retailers: Current market data indicate retailers and brand marketers are implementing a price tier strategy in order to reach consumers beyond their traditional tier (Standard and Poor's, 2004b). Much of the incentive to enact a price tier strategy is evident with the nature of retail competition. Retailers are no longer competing solely with their channel members but rather across several retail channels and in different price tiers. The view of price tiers varies depending upon the specific organization. Retail business segments/store formats or a brand within the retail business segments/store formats are representative of price tiers for the retail apparel. Several apparel retailers and brands use a three-tier strategy approach. From a brand perspective, a brand may have a product in each tier, or a retailer may have a retail format in that reaches three consumer segments in three different retail channels.Apparel retailer - Gap, Inc.\nSummary and future research: This article focused on the concept of price competition in the retail apparel industry. The lack of relevant price competition literature relating to the retailer apparel industry, forced the exploration of price competition literature, from the grocery and automotive sector. However, the pricing literature as conducted by Blattberg and Wisniewski (1989), Sivakumar(2000a, b, 2003) with other industries, relates to apparel retailers and brands, especially concerning store brands. Exploring the concept of competition at a macro level by examining Porter's (1998a) five forces, price competition is an outcome of firm rivalry. The rivalry creates the need for competitive strategies including pricing strategies that used to defend a firm's position in the industry. Price tiering is a vehicle for market positioning for the retail apparel industry.Retailers are enacting a price tier strategy by branding their retail store formats, or engaging store brands as a vehicle of differentiation for a tier. Retailers and brands can be successful with a price tier strategy, unless they however, fail to differentiate between tiers, other than on price alone. Success longer term will require a commitment to a cost-based business model, as opposed to a firm reacting to their competition with a price cut. In addition deflationary retail prices, influx imports, large presence of discounters and access to consumers, retailers have motive to reach out and gain as much market share as possible.Retailers and brands are recognizing the need and the potential to reach across retail channels to forge consumer relationships. Highly positioned, marketed and merchandised store brands are replacing former generic private labels. In addition, the influx of designers and higher end national brands down trending to the mass market is providing a unique business model for traditionally luxury channel members. This type of strategy will continue as retailers and brands seek to differentiation themselves in a highly saturated market. Retailers developing store brands, or seeking store brand development are competing not only between tiers within their own stores, but in addition, with brands of different tiers outside other their stores. The effect of this strategy on retailers across all channels has yet to be determined. Issues exist concerning retailer and brand equity, and proliferation as well as lack of channel distinction.Areas for research extension exist primarily in collecting empirical data for the examination of the concept of price competition with the retail and apparel industry. Investigation of perception of price tiers by consumers, as well as other firms would be a viable component of this research. To accomplish this successfully, retail channels further are in need of definition and reclassification to include the role of price, location and target consumer. An analysis of apparel retailers and brands would provide insight into the market positioning, brand value, and pricing strategies. Comparing that analysis with consumer purchase or audit data would provide a means to measure the cohesiveness of a retailer or brand strategy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to investigate competitive pricing strategies of apparel brands and retailers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper begins with a broad discussion of competition by examining Porter's five forces model, and narrows by examining price competition within price tiers in the retail apparel industry according to store format and brands. Included are case studies of apparel retailers and brands incorporating concepts of pricing strategies, brand positioning, and price competition, with a focus on retail channel relationships. The paper analyzes the impact of price competition on apparel retailers and brands, and further examines price tiers as a competitive strategy.\nFindings: - The study reveals that the concept of price tiers is applicable to apparel retailers and brands. Price tiering is a vehicle for market positioning for the retail apparel industry. Retailers are enacting a price tier strategy by branding their retail store formats or engaging store brands as a vehicle of differentiation for a tier. Retailers and brands can be successful with a price tier strategy, unless they fail to differentiate between tiers on factors other than on price alone.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The lack of relevant price competition literature, relating to the retailer apparel industry, forced the exploration of price competition literature from grocery and automotive sectors.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides useful information on the impact of price competition on apparel retailers and brands, and also price tiers as a competitive strategy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Organizational positioning and planning of sustainability initiatives: Logic and differentiators	[ "Hospitals", "Planning", "Triple bottom line", "Corporate social responsibility", "Sustainability", "Positioning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A strategy is the ability not only to decide what to do, but also what not to do (Porter, 1996). By choosing some activities and not others, an organization can position and differentiate itself from its competition (Leonard and Rayport, 1997). Historically, these ideas have helped both academics and practitioners in areas such as marketing and supply chain, to understand value creation and competitiveness (e.g. Hilletofth et al., 2012). In this study, a similar approach is applied to enhance our understanding of organizational sustainability initiatives.\n2. Framing economic, social and environmental sustainability: Sustainability, as many consider it today, might seem to be a concept that is relatively young. To some extent this is true, which is evident from the proliferation of CSR and sustainability papers in scientific journals since the turn of the millennium (Aguinis and Glavas, 2012; Baden and Harwood, 2013; Fassin and van Rossem, 2009).\n3. Methodology: This study applies an inductive approach based on in-depth interviews with executives from a selection of private and public hospitals across Spain. As argued by Kovacs and Spens (2005, p. 137), inductive research may be rooted in theory to a varying degree. In this case, the researchers embarked on the research with an interest in areas such as public/private management, CSR and sustainability. Our specific study was driven by a desire to find out how sustainability initiatives are initiated, disseminated and accepted within organizations. As such, the goal is either to start theory building, or to identify theory that can explain what is being observed. This approach is not always evident when research is communicated, but there are exceptions (Eriksson and Svensson, 2016b; Rotaru et al., 2014). Suddaby (2006) argues that this approach is desirable, but that positivistic influences and expectations from editors push authors to present their research in a conventional manner.\n4. Findings and discussion: Table III provides an overview of the principal empirical findings.\n5. Research implications: One research implications, based on the empirical findings reported in relation to the sustainability logic of private and public hospitals initiatives is illustrated in Figure 2. This depicts the principal subject elements of sustainability initiatives explored in this study, dividing the healthcare industry into the logic and differentiators between private and public hospitals, in relation to the positioning and planning of sustainability initiatives.\n6. Managerial implications: This study has reported and revealed the organizational positioning and planning of the sustainability initiatives in both private and public sectors of Spanish hospitals, which appears potentially relevant to other organizations and industries. In fact, private and public hospitals appear to be opposite (see Table III) to each other when it comes to the logic, positioning and planning of sustainability initiatives.\n7. Conclusions and suggestions for the future: This study contributes to determining the logic of organizational positioning and planning of sustainability initiatives in private and public organizations in the healthcare industry. It also describes and explains the organizational reasoning that determines the differences between public and private hospitals, with respect to the performance initiatives and actions of sustainability, an aspect that has not been addressed in existing theory and previous studies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the logic and differentiators of organizational positioning and planning of sustainability initiatives between private and public organizations in the healthcare industry. Sustainability initiatives refer to organizations' economic, social and environmental actions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is based on an inductive approach judgmental sampling and in-depth interviews of executives at private and public hospitals in Spain have been used. Data were collected from the directors of communication at private hospitals, and from the executive in charge of corporate social responsibility in public hospitals. An empirical discourse analysis is used.\nFindings: The positioning and planning of sustainability initiatives differs between private and public hospitals. The former consider sustainability as an option that is required mainly for social reasons, a bottom-up positioning and planning. It emerges merely spontaneously within the organization, while the sustainability initiatives in public hospitals are compulsory. They are imposed by the healthcare system within which the public hospital, operates and constitutes a top-down positioning and planning that is structured to accomplish set sustainability goals.\nResearch limitations/implications: A limitation of this study is that it is undertaken exclusively in Spanish organizations from one industry. This study differs from previous ones in terms of exploring the positioning and planning of the sustainability initiatives, which focus on the organizational logic of such sustainability initiatives. There are both common denominators and differentiators between private and public hospitals.\nPractical implications: The logic of determining the positioning and planning of the sustainability initiatives is mainly about satisfying organizational needs and societal demands. Nowadays, organizations tend to engage in sustainability initiatives, so it is essential to understand the logic of how organizations position and plan such efforts.\nOriginality/value: This study investigates the path that follows sustainability initiatives in public and private organizations. It reports mainly differentiators between private and public organizations. It also contributes to explaining the organizational reasoning as to why companies make decisions about sustainability initiatives, an issue which has not been addressed sufficiently in existing theory studies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managers' psychological challenges in implementing corporate responsibility in supply chains	[ "Sustainability", "Supply chain management", "Management", "Corporate responsibility" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Research on supply chain management (SCM) has, over time, become increasingly intertwined with various different concepts of corporate responsibility, such as corporate social responsibility (CSR), triple bottom line (TBL) and business sustainability (Fassin and Van Rossem, 2009; Aguinis and Glavas, 2012; Baden and Harwood, 2013). There are several definitions in the literature on CSR, TBL and business sustainability. For example, Aguinis and Glavas (2012) use a definition of CSR that establishes it as a corporate concern. Bansal and DesJardine (2014) argue that sustainability requires a long-term perspective, which is related to the definition of sustainable development proposed by the WCED (1987, p. 43), including a responsibility for future generations. Svensson and Wagner (2012) define business sustainability as an organization's efforts to manage its impact on Earth's life and eco-systems and its entire business network.\nScope and theory selection: The theory selection for conceptualizing managers' psychological challenges in feeling responsibility of stakeholders is limited to four areas of psychological theory, united through two principal dimensions in supply chains (or supply chain networks), namely, distance and the number of people (Figure 1). Distance is divided into physical and psychological. Distance and the number of stakeholders involved and affected accumulate throughout the upstream supply chain.\nConceptual framework: An early exception to the lack of psychological theory is Bandura et al. (2000), whose research can be applied within a conceptual framework, considering intra-organizational aspects of corporate responsibility. Based on psychological theory, these authors explain how individuals attempt to escape moral responsibility, but this might only address part of the problem. Evolutionary and cognitive limitations may also be restricting factors, making it difficult for managers to feel truly responsible for corporate transgressions across organizational borders and judicial boundaries in supply chains. If so, SCM research requires an additional theoretical foundation to understand managers' psychological challenges in feeling responsible for stakeholders and implementing corporate responsibility across organizational borders and judicial boundaries in supply chains.\nResearch implications: Viewing a certain phenomenon through different theoretical lenses is a step toward identifying the most relevant theory for dealing with it (Rotaru et al., 2014). Accordingly, the research community has several steps to take before being able to present managers with a definitive theory of maximized corporate responsibility in supply chains.\nManagerial implications: Some companies have acknowledged the problems associated with working with (too) many suppliers and therefore restrict the potential for their suppliers to subcontract manufacturing (Ciliberti et al., 2009). Recently, Egels-Zanden (2015) introduced four different supplier types. The disregarded suppliers are likely to be placed outside the responsibility boundaries of the purchasing company. Such suppliers provide products for internal use and are used only occasionally. These are just examples that show how companies try to manage the complex task of extending corporate responsibility across organizational boarders. Clearly, companies struggle to deal effectively and appropriately with corporate responsibility that is expected from them.\nConclusions: We conclude that the four psychological theories of the conceptual framework in Figure 6 indicate that human capacity is restricted in several ways when it comes to managers' ability to feel responsibility for stakeholders, which is affected by the business decisions and operations in supply chains. For example, it is important that the sufferer be humanized, for managers to feel responsibility (relationship and humanization theory). Managers can have a limited number of stronger relationships with stakeholders and a weaker relationship with a larger number on a name basis (number-of-people-suffering theory). When the number of stakeholders suffering increases, it is also harder to relate to the suffering. It is also likely that the suffering is perceived differently, because of the same-race effect (superficial-identification theory). Furthermore, managers might not be as inclined to act in the best interest of the stakeholder sufferer (bystander effect theory) when they are not alone in observing the suffering.\nLimitations and proposals for the future: We have focused primarily on the effect of the context on individuals and their inner and immediate sense of wrong and right, not their reasoning about such dilemmas. The applied context therefore presents limitations which managers cannot internalize and thus cannot convert into actions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to conceptualize managers' psychological challenges with respect to implementing corporate responsibility throughout supply chains.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Four areas of psychological theory are introduced to expand the understanding of the challenges involved in implementing corporate responsibility in supply chains, namely, relationship and humanization theory; the number-of-people-suffering theory; superficial-identification theory; and the bystander effect theory.\nFindings: The common denominator between the introduced areas of psychological theory is that all consider the expected degree of corporate responsibility in supply chains to extend beyond managers' ability to cope so that failure is probable.\nResearch limitations/implications: Supply chain management research needs to consider various psychological challenges to effectively address corporate responsibility in supply chains. This research shows that it is important to include theory from psychology to truly understand the challenges faced by managers, although only a few theories are presented here. More comprehensive reviews are needed in the future.\nPractical implications: Managers require guidelines based on psychological theory to assist them in overcoming their inabilities in this context.\nOriginality/value: SCM research advocates responsibility for all those affected by this phenomenon, but the lack of theoretical grounding to meet the prevailing psychological challenges hampers the efficacy of putting the current recommendations into business practice. The paper is one of only a few to address managers' psychological challenges in dealing with corporate responsibility across organizational borders and judicial boundaries in supply chains.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Embeddedness and turnover intentions in extra roles: A mixed-methods analysis of the United States Marine Corp Reserve	[ "Embeddedness", "Turnover", "Extra roles", "Role conflict" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Much is known about what drives turnover in organizations. However, organizational behavior research has generally focused on primary work or home roles and has neglected other roles in which individuals engage such as volunteer work, second jobs, and community, religious, and leisure activities. Role scholars acknowledge that most individuals hold three or more salient roles at any given time (Roccas and Brewer, 2002) and participation in extra roles may impact important life decisions (Ashforth et al., 2000). Further, many organizations rely on members or employees contributing in an extra role capacity (Kim et al., 2007). These extra roles may be an additional source of role conflict affecting individual and organizational well-being (Hambrick et al., 2013; Simmons et al., 2016). Extra roles thus deserve greater attention (Kossek et al., 2012). This study extends the literature by examining drivers of turnover in extra roles through a mixed-methods investigation of turnover intention in the US Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR).\nStudy setting: The setting for this study was the USMCR. There are approximately 100,000 dedicated Marine reservists (www.usmcu.edu/historydivision accessed September, 2016). Marines can serve as obligors, those who have signed a commitment for a specific period of service, or as non-obligors, those who serve at their own discretion (Armed Forces Reserve Act, 1952). The USMCR includes three categories, Retired Reserve, Standby Reserve, and Ready Reserve. The Ready Reserve is further divided into the Selected Reserve and the Individual Ready Reserve. Members of the Selected Reserve are obligated to attend training drills, usually one weekend a month and two weeks each summer (Department of the Navy, 2009). Participants were non-obligors from the Selected Reserve (SMCR). These reservists were required to attend training drills but could end their affiliation with the Marines at their discretion.\nResearch design: This study utilized a mixed-methods, exploratory-sequential design (Creswell and Clark, 2011; Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2009). The research team included civilian faculty, a PhD student, and both Reserve and active duty military officers. In Phase 1 (qualitative analysis), we employed an inductive approach (Charmaz, 2006; Corbin and Straus, 2008). We analyzed interview data to identify drivers of turnover among USMC reservists. Consistent with an adapted grounded theory approach (Lofland and Lofland, 1995), we then iterated between the data, emerging themes and existing literature (Corbin and Straus, 2008). In the final stage of Phase 1, we compared our findings to extant literature (Corbin and Straus, 2008; Eisenhardt, 1989). We concluded that there is a strong conceptual fit between our findings and the job embeddedness construct and integrated our findings with this construct to develop and test a predictive model.\nPhase 1 - qualitative study: Although, with few exceptions (e.g. Alfes et al., 2015; Allen and Mueller, 2013), research has not given much attention to turnover in extra roles, turnover in primary work roles has held the attention of scholars for decades (Hom et al., 2017). This literature provided sensitizing concepts (Charmaz, 2006; Bowen, 2006), which guided our qualitative analysis and provided a foundation for comparison of the Phase 1 findings with extant research (Corbin and Straus, 2008; Eisenhardt, 1989).\nPhase 2 - quantitative analysis: Data and method\nDiscussion: This study makes several contributions to the literature. It identifies drivers that explain turnover in extra roles, while also expanding our understanding of embeddedness beyond the primary work context. Further, it shows that salient extra roles can be an additional source of role conflict that impact functioning in people's lives.\nConclusion: This study shed light on the value and applicability of the embeddedness framework to organizations other than one's primary job. Perhaps one of the greatest attributes of the embeddedness framework lies in its capacity to provide a useful framework with which to study turnover in multiple contexts. There is tremendous potential for future research to expand the embeddedness framework by applying it to a variety of extra role organizations and pursuits such as volunteer work, community organizations, religious/spiritual affiliations, and/or hobbies. This study adds to this literature by developing a profile of embeddedness in the USMCR context, but we echo the call of Lee et al. (2014) to continue exploration and refinement of the specific contributors to embeddedness across contexts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers of turnover intention in extra roles.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This mixed-methods study began with a qualitative analysis of interviews of US Marine Corps reservists, which identified drivers of turnover and suggested a predictive model and hypotheses, tested with a subsequent quantitative analysis.\nFindings: The results show that relations, meaning, and role conflict predict embeddedness in the US Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR), which is negatively related to turnover intentions. The sub-dimensions of the three drivers are clarified.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research contributes to understanding the antecedents of embeddedness and turnover in extra roles. It also highlights extra roles as a source of role conflict. This study was limited to the USMCR, one extra role. All participants in the qualitative phase of the study were male officers. Although the quantitative study included enlisted and officers, men were still more strongly represented. The results should be replicated across different types of extra roles and should include different job types and personal characteristics.\nOriginality/value: This study develops and tests a predictive model of embeddedness and turnover in the understudied context of salient extra roles. It clarifies antecedents of embeddedness in an extra role context and indicates that salient extra roles may be an additional source of role conflict in people's lives.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Bullying in the workplace: How HR practice can be improved	[ "Workplace bullying", "Human resources", "Organizational culture", "Complaints" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A firm's human resources (HR) department has a significant responsibility with regard to providing the workplace with a positive environment. Such a clearly demanding task becomes more difficult still when incidents of bullying occur.\nBullying and the role of human resources: The damaging effects of workplace bullying are often widespread. Victims obviously bear most of the brunt. But the negative consequences do not stop there. The risk of harm to witnesses can be considerable. And as hostility, tension and unease take hold, organizational performance will suffer accordingly.\nFactors that impact on investigating a bullying complaint: The first step is to determine whether the complaint has enough substance. As different parties involved will have their own versions of the alleged bullying, this task is inherently difficult. Yet, HRP must somehow navigate their way through the subjectivity to ascertain whether an investigation is warranted.\nWhat organizations should do: There is little doubt that the firms need to address bullying issues at the earliest possible stage. Failing to do so guarantees an increase in complexity and a progressively lower likelihood of an outcome which satisfies all parties.\nComment: The review is based on \"Workplace bullying complaints: lessons for 'good HR practice'\" by Bevan Catley, Kate Blackwood, Darryl Forsyth and David Tappin. The thorny issue of workplace bullying is explored in detail here. Much of the focus is on the complaints procedure, and the authors provide further valuable insight into the challenges that human resource personnel typically face. Practitioners can gain valuable insight into ways in which HR practices in this area can be improved.\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: A firm's human resources (HR) department has a significant responsibility with regard to providing the workplace with a positive environment. Such a clearly demanding task becomes more difficult still when incidents of bullying occur. The damaging effects of workplace bullying are often widespread. Victims obviously bear most of the brunt. But negative consequences do not stop there. The risk of harm to witnesses can be considerable. And as hostility, tension and unease take hold, organizational performance will suffer accordingly. This makes it even more imperative for HR personnel (HRP) to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Decisive action will reduce the possibility of such future instances. However, the trouble is that the HRP remain uncertain of the best approach to tackle accusations of workplace bullying.\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" } ]
A paradoxical approach symbiotic to postmerger integration: a French longitudinal case study	[ "Longitudinal case study", "Merger process", "Paradoxical approach", "Symbiotic integration", "Postmerger integration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are pervasive phenomena in business development strategies (Cartwright and Schoenberg, 2006; Donnelly et al., 2005). Their world volume exceeded 5,000 trillion dollars in 2015 (Dealogic, 2015). Yet, in spite of this high number, the failure rate remains high (Bauer and Matzler, 2014). Although decades of research have identified the variables and processes that affect the success of M&As, the reasons for frequent failure remain poorly understood (King et al., 2004; Stahl et al., 2013).\nTheoretical framework: Post-merger integration\nMethod: To understand the impact of the paradox between autonomy and interdependency on PMI, scholars have relied on detailed qualitative data to trace the evolution of this paradox throughout the merger process (Angwin and Meadows, 2015). Several researchers have recommended using a process approach to analyze the merger process (Stahl et al., 2013). An ongoing longitudinal study helps to understand the changes that occur (Hitt et al., 1998; Van Marrewijk, 2016) and adds to the knowledge on the capabilities that promote a successful PMI (Gomes et al., 2013). We therefore conducted a longitudinal case study of a merger pursued in real time from the signing of the agreement and then over two years. We first explain the selection of the case study and then put the merger back into context. We itemize the data collection and provide details on the conduct of our analysis in three major steps: analysis of the data over time, identification of the issues, and assessment of the findings.\nFindings: Our results are presented in two parts. First, we present the paradox between SI and OA according to the items identified in the literature. For SI, these included the degree of coordination, shared common ground, the degree of the balance of power and the integration of interdependency in the decision-making process. For OA, these included the degree of structural separation and integration, independence in the day-to-day management of the business and the degree of knowledge transfer. Second, we underline the role of the capabilities that fostered the coexistence of SI and OA.\nDiscussion and implications: This study focused on the following question: How are OA and strategic interdependence (SI) balanced during the PMI process?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine post-merger integration (PMI) through the lens of paradox to determine how paradoxes contribute to successful integration. Although PMI has been identified as crucial to understand merger success or failure, the literature on PMI drivers remains inconclusive.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on the theory of paradox and two key elements of PMI, strategic interdependency (SI) and organizational autonomy (OA), the authors describe the merger of two listed French companies using longitudinal data.\nFindings: The authors identify how the paradox between OA and SI was triggered and fostered PMI success by leading to symbiotic integration. They also show that two capabilities were central in helping the paradox to evolve: preserving the specificities of the organizations and pooling their respective capabilities. These capabilities result from basic decisions and actions during the integration implementation, such as highlighting the expertise of the target firm, refocusing the core activity while valorizing each company's expertise, clarifying the identity of the new organization on the market and enhancing joint piloting and transferring both general management capacity and functional abilities during the reorganization period.\nPractical implications: The authors offer several useful insights for managers trying to manage paradoxical tension throughout the merger process. This study encourages managers to embrace inconsistencies as they make decisions and to shift to dynamic decision-making as a way to adapt to complex contexts.\nOriginality/value: This study adopts a global and inclusive approach to focus on OA and SI and flesh out a picture of the integration process. It proposes a dynamic process model to conceptualize the stage-wise nature of the PMI process by highlighting the interrelations between OA and SI dynamics.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Transaction convenience in the payment stage: the retailers' perspective	[ "Sweden", "Customer service", "Retailers", "Cash free society", "Payment forms", "Transaction convenience" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper focuses on the transaction part of service convenience (Berry et al., 2002). Transaction convenience deals with the activities that consumers need to complete to acquire the right to use a certain product or service (Thuy, 2011) and we specifically address the payment stage. The payment alternatives have grown in number, making the payment stage increasingly complex as the associated advantages and disadvantages are hard to estimate and evaluate for both retailers and customers.\n2. Frame of reference: 2.1 The personal interaction between salesperson and customer\n3. Method: This paper focuses on the Swedish context where card payments by debit or credit cards dominate the payment system. According to the Swedish central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, the value of cash (coins and banknotes) in circulation in Sweden has fallen from 9.6 per cent of GDP in 1950 to 2.7 per cent of GDP in 2011. In comparison, in 2011 the figure for the USA was 7.1 per cent and for the UK 3.7 per cent (Riksbank, 2013). Furthermore, according to a survey commissioned by the Riksbank in the autumn of 2010, 59 per cent of the respondents said that they preferred to pay in cash for sums below SEK 100[1]. For sums between SEK 100 and SEK 500, 22 per cent preferred cash. Moreover, slightly more than nine out of ten individuals in the Riksbank's 2012 interview survey responded that paying by card in a store is quick and easy (Riksbank, 2013).\n4. Findings: 4.1 \"Undercover research\" data\n5. Discussion, conclusions, implications, limitations and suggestions for further research: 5.1 Discussion and conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to shed light upon how retailers view alternative payment forms and to what extent they are willing to risk offending their customers by imposing payment restrictions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This exploratory study consists of three consecutive parts: first, 100 situations of paying for goods or services; second, interviews with 25 of these 100 retailers; and third, observations at a meeting between retailers and bank representatives on various aspects of card and cash payments.\nFindings: Retailers are unwilling to risk offending their customers and do not normally undertake any actions to affect the customers' choice of payment form, except for proactively or reactively excluding the use of certain expensive credit cards, and card payments for small amounts. The retailers only take the risk of causing customer dissatisfaction when they feel that the sacrifice for not doing so is too costly, and in these cases the salespersons act very late in the purchase process. Other aspects than payment costs (such as safety, time and environment) seem to have little impact on individual retailers' actions at the payment stage.\nResearch limitations/implications: The present study focuses solely on the retailers' point of view on the payment stage, implying a need for additional research on customers' and bank representatives' views on the same matter.\nPractical implications: Retailers try to nurture their customer relationships also when they are proactive or reactive, i.e. by pointing to the high cost of a particular payment form and/or asking customers to help with small change. Sending signals that invite customers to assist may not only be a way to affect how customers pay, but also foster relationship development.\nSocial implications: It seems that environmental costs have not filtered down to the firm level, at least not in an observable way. Any further move towards a \"cashless society\" has to emanate from other sources.\nOriginality/value: No previous study has focused on the way selling companies approach their customers at the payment stage in terms of proactive, reactive and inactive behaviour.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Social inequality and access to social capital in microfinance interventions	[ "Microfinance", "Inequality", "Self-help groups", "Social capital", "India" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Empowerment of weaker sections through poverty alleviation programs brings a key element of social justice to the development discourse. Among others, microfinance projects through group-based financial operations such as self-help groups (SHGs) have gained significant popularity in highly populated South Asian region of the globe (Anand et al., 2019). As a form of community-based organizations, SHGs demand a close attention to understanding its dynamics in the realm of social fabric particularly prevailing in the developing societies. SHGs as a group of 10-15 people support each other by means of lending and borrowing their members in financial crisis (Bagazonzya, 2009). In this way, social support in SHGs forms a social capital that enables individuals to access the financial resources (bank and internal group borrowing). Although SHGs are not the only model that delivers microfinance facilities, yet because of their group size, they are highly popular in highly crowded regions of the world. Irrespective of the delivery models, the linking concept of social capital and microfinance has yielded significant studies in South Asia (Basargekar, 2010; Government of India, 2008; Krishna, 2006; Obeng, 2014; Sanyal, 2009), Europe (Olejarova et al., 2003), South Africa (Pronyk et al., 2008) and Islamic states (Hassan, 2014).Social scientists have applied the social capital framework in socioeconomic policy research (Woolcock, 1998, 2001; Krishna, 2006) and acknowledged the benevolent intent of the microfinance intervention to create social capital that enables the poor communities to raise their capacity to access credit and improve savings (Feigenberg et al., 2010; Postelnicu and Hermes, 2018). However, another group of scholars questions the depth of such empowerment within the SHGs (Banerjee and Jackson, 2017; Bateman, 2012; Maity and Sarania, 2017; Pal, 2012; Sanyal, 2009). In other words, they point out potential hierarchy and unequal access of social capital existing within the SHG members by their social categories, which may be overshadowed by the overall promises and expected benefits of SHGs. These social categories in stratified developing countries play a crucial role in defining social relations and community structures. For example, in male-dominant patriarchal societies in Africa and South Asia, SHGs are considered as a tool to fight against male dominance, especially in economically poor communities (Alemu et al., 2018). Similarly, the fact that Indian societies are divided by caste, class and religiosity poses important challenges to implementing group-based policy interventions (Lahiri-Dutt and Samanta, 2006). Taken together, it suggests a strong possibility that due to the social hierarchy prevailing on the age-old traditional patriarchal societies, access to credit institutions might be dominated by the group members belonging to the relatively dominant social categories.The paper highlights the role of the categories such as castes, religion and gender in the formation of such group-based social capital that might have a greater relevance to the stratified societies but has been empirically underexplored in the literature. This study fills the gap in the literature by empirically examining the \"depth\" of access to SHGs with the new analytical distinction between membership in general and multiple SHG membership while constructing empirical models that investigate whether access to SHGs is stratified by social categories. Thus, the study aims to shed light on the social dimensions that create unequal access of such group-based social capital and can be empirically measured by the SHG membership. It further aims to connect the findings with the ongoing debate of good and bad effect of social capital for the society.Specifically, the results of this paper urge the anti-poverty development interventions to consider more than simply the number of formed groups in their goal-setting and assessment of the program. It also concludes that social capital effect for collective society might not be good for all under the influence of certain social classes. The paper is organized as follows: theoretical background, methodology, analysis, findings and conclusion.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Linking social capital and microfinance groups\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Description of data depository and earlier related research\n4. Analytical results: The descriptive statistics of the study sample are given in Table 1. This shows a percentage-wise distribution of variables present in the data with the range and mean of numerical variables. The main dependent variable, participation in SHGs, shows that approximately 20 percent of the sample respondents had membership. Numeric variables such as age and education suggest the sample respondents are on average 40 years old, and at least high school (ten years of formal schooling) passed with highest level of education reported as graduate (15 years of formal schooling) or postgraduate (more than 15years of formal schooling). The dummy coding of other key variables of multiple group membership and leadership along with the other reference categories of gender, caste and occupation are put together to be included the logistic regression. The number of the sample after pairwise missing treatment includes more than 16K residents. 4.1 Membership in general (at least one SHG membership): Model1\n5. Discussion: This study strongly validates and adds empirical evidence to the scholarly arguments criticizing the microfinance interventions for their potential to create inequality and overestimate women empowerment (Sanyal, 2009; Sriram, 2010). The findings supplement the qualitative critiques of recent microfinance interventions arguing for its potentiality to make its member vulnerable in socio-economic dimensions (Banerjee and Jackson, 2017). It helps understand how social structures can potentially shape the individual behavior in group membership (Cohen, 2009) and can exhibit subsequent elite capture on social capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Government of India, 2008). There is a strong indication that social capital generated through the mass group interventions in the stratified developing societies is largely favoring the people on the top in the social hierarchy (male, higher caste and comparatively well-off occupation classes). This is similar to the notion of European's elite capture on social capital (Bourdieu, 1986). The hidden within-group dominance by the certain social categories is obvious in this study, as they tend to maximize their gains by accessing more and more credit and financial services in the case of SHGs. However, this is the critical way of looking at such big group interventions. Though, the possibility of benevolent nature of social capital favoring the poor cannot be ignored as it enables them with a platform (SHG membership) to link with financial institutions; yet, at the same time, the dominance (in multiple group membership) indeed requires scholarly attention and policy makers to see the deep down the macro view of the celebrated micro finance intervention. This put together can be used to understand the adverse effects of social capital for the collective society that have been argued income of the twenty-first-century literature (Efindic, Bojana, and Rebmann, 2017; Field, 2003). It also indicates the need of critique of social capital should be done in the light of the fact that sociocultural context itself shape individual behavior, thereby producing the good and bad effects of the social capital. This finding is consistent with the ninth report on social capital (Government of India, 2008) that has extensively argued about using the social capital for country's development but warns that such group-based social capital may be misused by the power holders.\n6. Limitation: The results are entirely based on the empirical analysis of secondary data. So, the conclusions rely on the authenticity of data collected by the earlier scholars. However, the paper is an attempt to supplement the earlier qualitative studies that pointed out need of the empirical examination of accessing social capital via membership of SHGs.\n7. Conclusion and future research: The microfinance approach of community empowerment commonly focuses on SHGs as an institution that provides the ample opportunities to access credits and obtain social and financial support. The current paper has begun by questioning this assumption, and its empirical analyses indicate that participation in these SHGs may serve disproportionately to the dominant social categories, and thus, these institutions may potentially exacerbate the pre-existing inequality in the society. The dominance of social categories reported in this paper shows that the socio-cultural context governs the individual behavior in group participation. It echoes the socio-psychological perspective of individual behavior and opposes the interactionist and economist perspective that assumes atomized individuals in explaining group behaviors. Therefore, policy makers should be cautious for a possibility that microfinance interventions may actually aggravate the inequality that they aim to fight, particularly when they do not take into account the existing dominant social categories that prevent equal participation in SHGs and thus differential benefits from group-based social capital. Thus, the paper helped to establish three major arguments here. First, microfinance efforts may provide the disadvantaged with social capital that is characterized by improved resource access, whereas it may also become another leverage for the advantaged that can bring a new form of complex inequality due to unequal access of social capital generated through such group-based interventions. Second, the study reinforces the notion that socio-cultural contexts govern the individual behavior of group participation, and it calls for a revisit to the critical statements of social capital as to whether social capital is bad in itself or it is the capture by the social classes that monopolizes the benevolent nature of social capital. Third, the study helps establishing an empirical regression framework to capture the impact of group-based microfinance interventions.Within this interdisciplinary framework of social capital and social inequality, future research should focus on micro-level case-specific insights on how much such inequality is detrimental or benevolent and for whom. It would be also promising to look into the magnitude of such inequality caused due to uneven access of group-based social capital in other stratified societies beyond India. Scholars can focus on meso-level properties such as within group and neighborhood dynamics (e.g. individual network effect) to assess the dominance over social capital operating through the hierarchical structures.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the inequality perpetuated through social categories in accessing the social capital generated through the microfinance interventions in India as the country has pronounced economic inequality by social categories like many developing stratified societies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study uses survey data collected from 75 villages in rural India and tests whether the formation and maximization of social capital through self-help groups (SHGs) is dominated by social categories, e.g. high-caste groups, males and superior occupation classes. Using logistic regression framework, the study assesses the formation and maximization of social capital through multiple SHG membership.\nFindings: The paper finds that the microfinance approach of empowering weaker sections is considerably limited in its success, in the sense that it provides them with the opportunity to the credit access and support through SHGs. But, the empirical model further indicates that social capital in form of these SHGs may fall prey to the dominant social categories, and thus, these institutions may potentially enhance inequality.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper is derived from the secondary data set, so it is unable to comment field reality qualitatively.\nPractical implications: Microfinance policy makers will have an improved understanding of inherent social inequalities while implementing group-based programs in socially stratified societies.\nOriginality/value: Social capital, if treated as an outcome accumulated in form of groups, provides with an important framework to assess the unequal access through the microfinance interventions. Overlooking the inherent unequal access will deceive the purpose of social justice in the group-based interventions. The microfinance and other welfare policies engaged in group formation and generating the social capital need to be more sensitive to the disadvantageous sections while focusing on multiple group access by disadvantaged social groups.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The importance of industrial ecology in engineering education for sustainable development	[ "Australia", "Universities", "Curricula", "Sustainable development", "Industrial ecology", "Engineering education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: This paper presents the results of the introduction of the concept of industrial ecology in the engineering curriculum to enhance students' knowledge of engineering for sustainable development (ESD). Many professional engineers are developing projects to achieve sustainable solutions, but there is still a gap between the knowledge that they acquire in their university degree and the concepts of sustainability they practise as an engineer (Loden and Biswas, 2010). Economic, social, intergenerational and intragenerational aspects all need to be considered in engineering design to attain sustainable solutions.The engineering context of sustainability involves the design and management of sustainable technology, research into environmental and social impacts and management of resources from cradle to cradle (Boyle, 2004). Industrial ecology takes all these aspects into account as it encompasses a broad range of sustainability related topics, including life cycle assessment, cleaner production and eco-efficiency strategies, industrial symbiosis, green chemistry, green engineering and design for the environment, that help conserve resources and mitigate pollution for current and future generations.Technology revolutionises society and social issues are at stake with every innovation process and, therefore, an engineer should be trained not just as a pure designer of a technology, but as a social engineer (Mulder, 2004). According to a national review of engineering education, there are evolving demands for future engineers, including the ability to communicate more clearly, to function effectively in multidisciplinary and multicultural environments, and to understand their ethical, social, professional, business, economic, cultural, global and environmental responsibilities (Bryce et al., 2004). However, sometimes the solutions developed by engineers are seen as creating new problems with technological solutions to environmental problems often recognised as inferior to social solutions. For example, DDT, which is used as a pesticide to kill mosquitoes, has caused tens of millions of needless deaths and hampered agricultural production. Love Canal pollution, the Three Mile Island accident, the Bhopal gas explosion, the Chernobyl explosion and the Mexican Gulf oil spill are some engineering catastrophes that have caused considerable social and environmental risks.Development of new technologies can only take place if technologists and engineers have a good understanding of the needs of those who will be affected by the new technologies. Engineering innovations need to respond to social demand while taking ecological and economic principles into account.University engineering degrees need to produce graduates who are able to apply sustainability principles throughout their professional career. Ultimately, over the next 20 years the majority of university engineering departments will make the transition to engineering education for sustainable development as society addresses the challenges of sustainable development, including climate change (Desha et al., 2009; Desha and Hargroves, 2009)A small number of Australian universities - Curtin University, University of Technology, Sydney and The University of Sydney - offer ESD for undergraduate students (Bryce et al., 2004; El-Zein et al., 2008). The Centre for Excellence in Cleaner Production (CECP) at Curtin University offers a unit on ESD to all engineering departments in the Faculty of Engineering, where the concept of industrial ecology is taught to all engineering students to enable them to develop sustainable engineering solutions. The theory and case studies in this unit were based on CECP's 11 years experience in the area of industrial synergies, eco-efficiency and cleaner production for the Kwinana Industrial Council.This paper reviews the concept of industrial ecology in the engineering curriculum and its value in promoting sustainable engineering education. The paper discusses:how industrial ecology has been included in the engineering curriculum at Curtin University;how industrial ecology relates to sustainable engineering;the learning outcomes of industrial ecology in the engineering curriculum;how education through the proper pedagogical strategies can make sustainable engineering learning achievable; andhow students have benefited from the concept of industrial ecology in their engineering education.\n2 Methodology: In order to address the questions raised in the introduction, a theoretical framework for assessing sustainability learning outcomes due to incorporation of the concept of industrial ecology into undergraduate and postgraduate engineering programs has been developed.The assessment framework has been built upon the concept of sustainability, industrial ecology and expected learning outcomes to assess how the Engineering Faculty at Curtin University has included a core engineering unit (ESD) and four postgraduate units (Cleaner Production Tools, Eco-efficiency, Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Technology) in its undergraduate and postgraduate engineering program to enable modern engineering education to reflect the benefits of industrial ecology in the implementation of sustainable engineering solutions and decision-making processes.Using this framework, the author investigated how the syllabus, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary assignment tasks, lectures and tutorials have been developed since 2006 in order to develop the concept of industrial ecology in undergraduate and postgraduate engineering education. The evaluation reports of these industrial ecology units, published by the Teaching and Learning Department of Curtin University at the end of the semester, have been reviewed to obtain both qualitative and quantitative information.This framework investigated the application of pedagogical strategies at the following two general levels that have been applied since 2006 to generate increased student satisfaction in these new and challenging subjects:Passive learning. Lecturing, writing exercises, problem demonstrations.*Active learning. Problem based learning (PBL), case studies.Segalas et al. (2009) followed a similar approach in introducing sustainable development in engineering education.Finally, feedback from former students who are now in the workforce has been collected to determine the implications of industrial ecology knowledge in attaining sustainable solutions in their professional carreer.\n3 Industrial ecology in the engineering curriculum: 3.1 What does industrial ecology involve?\n4 Student benefits from including industrial ecology in the engineering curriculum: 4.1 Student satisfaction at undergraduate and postgraduate levels\n5 Conclusion: The future of engineering education in a rapidly changing world is dependent on the ability of that education to develop talented engineers, proficient in technical acumen, sustainability assessment, social awareness and communication skills. While in the past changes in education paradigms have occurred over long periods of time and were largely driven by science and technology, the modern environment for engineers is fraught with growth challenges, complex political and socio-political hurdles and economic goals that do not necessarily include triple bottom line objectives. In addition, the university environment can also temper the potential outcomes from increasing the sustainability content in engineering education given the general lack of student maturity in understanding the value of sustainability objectives in engineering together with course limitations on sustainability content and the arduous and lengthy processes involved in changing course curricula.Curtin University has relied on the teaching of one major sustainability-related unit at undergraduate level together with the postgraduate units offered by CECP as a major part of the sustainability education on offer to its students.This paper has highlighted the value of industrial ecology in developing sustainability concepts for engineering education and in providing a template for both assessment and understanding in terms of engineering responsibilities as they apply to modern sustainability principles. In addition, the paper explained how different pedagogical strategies, including passive and active learning, have been applied over five years to enhance student satisfaction. Some of these useful pedagogical approaches are the inclusion of case study presentation from industry and the use of documentary films and sustainability-related engineering problems. Interviewing recent engineering graduates who completed the undergraduate ESD unit regarding the application of their engineering sustainability knowledge in their professional career was beyond the scope of this research. However, some postgraduate students' comments after the completion of the course indicated that they have benefited in developing sustainable engineering solutions in their workplace.The industrial ecology course helps to provide a framework for incorporating relevant and impactful strategies in making engineering more sustainable. It is an important link between reducing the environmental impacts associated with modern consumption in an economically feasible way in order to preserve resources for future generations through sustainable engineering solutions. Further research on how students' comprehension of sustainability has changed after the introduction of those modules can be carried out.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to show how industrial ecology can facilitate the achievement of sustainable development through its incorporation into an engineering curriculum.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A model has been developed for assessing sustainability learning outcomes due to the incorporation of the concept of industrial ecology into undergraduate and postgraduate engineering programs. This model assesses how the Engineering Faculty at Curtin University has included a core engineering unit (Engineering for Sustainable Development) and four postgraduate units (Cleaner Production Tools, Eco-efficiency, Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Technology) in its undergraduate and postgraduate engineering program, to enable modern engineering education to reflect the benefits of industrial ecology in the implementation of sustainable engineering solutions and decision-making processes. Using this model, this paper demonstrates how the syllabus, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary assignment tasks, lectures and tutorials have been developed since 2006 in order to develop the concept of industrial ecology in undergraduate and postgraduate engineering education. The paper has also analysed the different teaching methods that have been applied since 2006 to generate increased student satisfaction in these new and challenging subjects.\nFindings: - The university environment can temper the potential outcomes from increasing the sustainability content in engineering education, given the general lack of student maturity in understanding the value of sustainability objectives together with course limitations on sustainability content and the arduous and lengthy processes involved in changing course curricula.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Since the Engineering for Sustainable Development unit has been introduced only recently, it was beyond the scope of the research to interview graduate engineers who completed this unit to investigate how they have applied the concept of industrial ecology to achieve sustainability outcomes in their workplaces.\nOriginality/value: - This research is distinct in that it investigated the implications of the incorporation of industrial ecology into the engineering curriculum.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Social influences on young people's sexual health in Uganda	[ "Sexual health", "HIV", "Prevention", "Young people", "Uganda", "Africa", "Empowerment", "Rural regions", "Youth" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Two key messages drive the widely endorsed joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) 2011-2015 strategy, getting to zero (UNAIDS, 2010). The first is the need to intensify HIV prevention by implementing more comprehensive forms of sexuality education, encouraging public discussion about sexuality, changing the social, cultural, economic and political context and by addressing social, sexual and gender factors that create HIV-related vulnerabilities. The second is young people's role in leading and owning what has been called a socially transformative approach to HIV prevention. The UNAIDS strategy states that \"it is critical that we empower and facilitate young people as change agents in activating their communities to redress harmful social norms governing sexuality, gender roles and other behaviour\" (UNAIDS, 2010, pp. 34-5).Two broad sets of factors have been identified as contributing to detrimental sexual health outcomes such as STIs, HIV infection and unintended pregnancy - individual risk and societal vulnerability (Mane and Aggleton, 2001). Individual risk is characterised by what individuals know and how they choose to act to reduce or increase their chance of acquiring an STI or becoming pregnant, whereas societal vulnerability stems from socio-cultural, economic, political and legal factors constraining individuals' opportunities to reduce risk (Melendez and Tolman, 2006, p. 29). In recent years, there has been a shift from attempting to understand risk behaviour as primarily determined by individual-level attributes, towards a greater recognition of the importance of social influences (Aggleton, 2004; Ingham, 2006).The influence of contextual factors on young people's sexual health is well documented (e.g. Bhana et al., 2010; Bhana and Pattman, 2011; Campbell et al., 2005; Masvawure, 2010; Parker, 2009; Samuelson, 2006). This includes the powerful impact of proximal factors (e.g. interpersonal relationships, and lack of access to condoms, information and sexual health services) and distal factors (e.g. cultural beliefs, poverty) on young people's lives (Eaton et al., 2003; Kaufman et al., 2004; Rivers and Aggleton, 1999). Improving the sexual health of young people requires actions to target a range of social, cultural and economic influences enabling and supporting health protective behaviour among young people and other community members (Collumbien et al., 2006, p. 156).Against this background, the research described in this paper sought to explore the risks and vulnerabilities confronting young people in rural areas of Uganda. It analyses social and cultural aspects of rural Ugandan society influencing how young people should or should not behave. It cautions against too strong a focus on the individual, using recent research on age- and gender-based social influences as a lens through which to analyse the broader consequences of young people's relationships, and the influence of social context on sexual practices and outcomes (see also Ingham, 2006). Without this focus, HIV prevention and sexual health programming may be limited, creating further problems for young people.Work which explores young people's sexual health practices might usefully pay greater attention to what Aggleton et al. (2006, p. 4) have called the systematic \"structuring of vulnerability\" to HIV and sexual health risk. The sociological concepts of \"doing gender\" (Melendez and Tolman, 2006, p. 33) and \"performing age\" (Laz, 1998) offer insight into how this takes place, describing the ways in which people produce, live through and reproduce gender and age relations in society. With respect to gender relations, for example, Melendez and Tolman (2006, p. 33) have argued that:[...] by engaging in the process of behaving in, thinking about, or even feeling in the prescribed ways that [a] society ascribes to males and females, each person actively enacts gender - over and over and over again. This process makes it virtually impossible to 'see' the production of gender until one is aware of this process. Thus gender relations, as well as gendered individuals, are constantly created, maintained and reproduced in everyday life.A similar process operates with respect to age-related expectations, with young people and adults being intimately involved both in the production and reproduction of age-related norms and behaviours. Engaging with these ideas, we seek to identify more clearly than hitherto some of the consequences - both intended and unintended - of these different processes.\nMethods: This paper draws on findings from a multi-method study undertaken in Uganda. Work examined aspects of everyday life for young people in three cultural groups (Basoga, Bagisu and Baganda) in three rural areas - Iganga, Mbale and Mpigi - with a focus on HIV and sexual health. The aim of the research was to better understand what empowerment means in relation to young people and their sexual health, from both conceptual and practical programme perspectives. Choice of the three cultural groups and rural settings was based on the partner NGO programmes which were also under study. In this paper, which is one of several detailing findings from the study (see also Bell, 2012; Bell and Aggleton, 2012a, b), we focus in particular on the social and cultural influences affecting the sexual health of young people, aged 11-24 years.The research approach was rooted in a number of ethnographic principles (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995). It aimed to be \"emic\" rather than \"etic\", exploring how participants constructed and interpreted behaviours in the light of their social realities and meaning systems. It also aimed to be context-sensitive and reflexive, whereby the researcher tried to remain self-critically aware, questioning his own behaviour, attitudes, values and beliefs in the light of the influence these may have on the research. Various data collection methods were utilised including participant observation, key informant interviewing and participatory techniques.Following pilot work to develop the methods used, in-depth qualitative and ethnographic enquiry was conducted with respondents participating in three HIV prevention and sexual health programmes. This included 52 single-sex focus group discussions and 117 in-depth interviews with young men and women aged between 11 and 24 years, in and out of school. Focus groups, comprising between 5 and 12 participants and lasting between 45 and 90 minutes, were carried out with young people in each of the three research areas: with young men in (19 focus groups) and out (eight focus groups) of school, and with young women in (19 focus groups) and out (six focus groups) of school. The choice of focus group participants was dependent on the focus of local NGO interventions, whereby one of the programmes only worked with students, and the other two worked with young people in and out of school. Focus groups with young people out of school were organised by friendship group, and focus groups in school were conducted in class-based groupings (first two years of secondary school; final two years of primary school at the start of the study). Focus group discussions elicited information about respondents' experiences of being a young person in the local area, and their perceptions of social differences (e.g. between young and old, male and female, rich and poor) and associated local power relations. Focus groups were undertaken in English where possible, and in local language with translation support.Interviews were conducted with young men aged between 12 and 18 (38 interviews) in school, young men aged 15-24 (19 interviews) out of school, young women aged 12-17 (38 interviews) in school and young women aged 13-22 (22 interviews) out of school, 11 of whom were young mothers. Topics explored during the interviews included family and home life, social networks, young people's roles and responsibilities, income generating opportunities, emotional well-being, relationships and sex and future aspirations. The large sample size of 117 interviews (41 in Mbale, 35 in Mpigi and 41 in Iganga) was necessary as data saturation needed to be achieved with young people of different ages, in and out of school, across a range of topics. Interviews were undertaken in English where possible, and in local language with translation support.Purposive sampling was used to select young people from the focus groups for interviews to meet the broader research objectives of better understanding empowerment processes affecting young people's sexual health. For this reason, young people were chosen to reflect a broad range of life experience in relation to: reported sexual behaviour (e.g. sexual experience, and involvement in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship); levels of confidence and self-esteem (e.g. open and willing to talk, or shy and embarrassed when talking in groups); financial independence (e.g. opportunity to earn own money); types of family livelihood (e.g. subsistence farming or salaried jobs); and parental support (e.g. small family, polygamous families, single parents or orphaned).Contextual information was also gathered in each fieldwork site through interviews with parents (17), teachers (seven), religious leaders (seven), local clan leaders (six), community-based NGO/CBO workers (12) and local government staff (33). After an initial period of analysis, further participatory research (including semi-structured thematic conversations, life history interviews and participatory exercises) took place with 23 of the 117 young people previously interviewed.Together, these methods produced several rich data sets, including transcripts, field diary notes and pictures/diagrams from participatory exercises. These were subjected to a rigorous grounded and systematic analysis by the first author following Crang's (1997) system of thematic \"open\" and \"axial\" coding. Open coding involves reading through the data to increase familiarity and to record \"theoretical memos\" (Crang, 1997, p. 186) as analytical reminders for generating ideas and making links between different data. Axial coding describes the process of linking or organising open codes into themes and sub-themes, and providing evidence to support thematic findings. No data analysis software was used. Findings, interpretations and inferences were cross-checked against one another through processes of \"triangulation\" to maximise validity (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995).Ethical review of the study took place at the institution from where the study was conducted (Royal Holloway, University of London). Ethical principles including voluntary participation, informed consent, confidentiality, maintaining anonymity through the use of pseudonyms and the ability to opt out of the study at any stage were adhered to throughout the study. Informed consent was gained from young people themselves, as well as from parents for those respondents aged under 18 years.\nFindings: Research participants and context\nConclusions and implications: Throughout this paper we have highlighted how social influences, especially age and gender roles and expectations, impact upon young people's sexual health in rural areas of Uganda. The findings reveal the existence of few opportunities for young people to talk openly about sexual matters. Within the contexts studied, there are strong constraints on their ability to build relationships with peers, partners, parents, teachers and clinic-based and community health workers. As a result, sexual relations tend to take place without support, advice and dialogue, increasing the likelihood of negative health outcomes.This paper also illustrates the systematic nature of vulnerabilities that arise from restrictive factors within the local social context. Through their efforts to conform to gender and age norms, parents, teachers, extended family members and community health workers, together with young people themselves, reproduce the very ideologies, practices and relations that make young people vulnerable in the first place. These findings have important implications for HIV prevention and sexual health programming. In settings such as those described in this paper, young women and young men are likely to engage in sexual activities, whether or not adults find this acceptable. However, if programme and service assumptions are not aligned with the realities of young people's lives, young people are unlikely to be reached by or engage with them and secretive sex will remain the norm.The findings illustrate clearly the influence of social and cultural contexts on young people's vulnerability to sexual ill-health, and the need for sexual health and HIV prevention work to consider how programme design and implementation might encourage changes to longstanding social beliefs. Understanding of, and action to transform, the broader social context is therefore fundamental to successful programme development. Whilst findings relate to young people in rural Uganda, reference to other studies with similar findings in other African countries (see Samuelson, 2006; Harrison, 2008) would suggest that issues raised in this study have relevance to other settings as well.From a research perspective, more work is required to identify the strategies used within NGO programmes and by young people themselves, to challenge and rebalance power relations between young people and adults. It is also important to understand better the tensions that can arise when these actions occur. From a programme perspective, it is important to continue to work with young people to build individual knowledge and life skills, but also reflective dialogue about sexuality and health more broadly. Tackling the relational and contextual influences affecting risk and vulnerability involves creating environments that are more facilitative of young people's sexual health (Campbell et al., 2009; Campbell and Cornish, 2010). Achieving this goal requires work with adults as well as with young people to acknowledge that change may be required in community attitudes and to understand what impact this change may have on society more generally. Dialogue and engagement with adults about their own sexual and reproductive health may have an important role to play as part of a larger process building bridges across age and gender divides.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of social context on young people's sexual lives and sexual health, and to highlight the need for HIV prevention and sexual health programmes which better take into account these contextual influences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper draws on findings from a multi-method, qualitative study involving young people aged between 11-24 years, conducted in three rural areas in Uganda. Data were collected by means of 52 single-sex focus group discussions, 117 in-depth interviews, and further participatory research with 23 of these young men and women. Contextual information was gathered through interviews with parents (17), teachers (7), religious leaders (7), local clan leaders (6), community-based NGO/CBO workers (12) and local government staff (33).\nFindings: - Local beliefs about age and gender suggest that intimate relationships and sexual behaviour among young people are forbidden, or at least should be hidden. Social norms produced and reproduced both by adults and young people themselves increase the likelihood of secretive, unprotected sexual relations, and inhibit young people's ability to seek sexual health-related support and advice.\nOriginality/value: - An understanding of these contextual influences has important implications for improving the design of HIV prevention and sexual health programming in rural communities in Uganda.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does unit pricing influence store price image dimensions and shopping intentions for retail stores?	[ "Behavioural pricing", "Shopping intention", "Store price image", "Unit pricing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: When assessing price information provided by a retailer, customers are confronted not only with the package price of a product but also with its unit price. The unit price indicates what a given product costs per unit of measure, such as the price per quart, per litre or per pound, and can be found on most price labels in supermarkets. This additional information helps consumers determine the lowest-priced product alternative, independent of the package size. Unit pricing affects both customers and retailers. For customers, this additional information is a source of greater transparency regarding retailers' pricing practices and allows for more sustained decision-making. In turn, retailers must be aware of the increased transparency of unit pricing and its influence on customer behaviour and perceived store image.\nFramework and hypotheses: In line with the arguments presented in the introduction, we suggest that unit price presence and unit price prominence influence a retailer's store price image, which in turn has an effect on shopping intentions. Furthermore, we assume moderating effects regarding the impact of unit prices (in particular, their prominence) on different price image dimensions. Figure 1 illustrates this overall framework.\nExperiment 1: Methodology\nExperiment 2: The methodology of Experiment 2 was similar to Experiment 1's methodology, except for three differences. First, the experiment was administered online. Whereas Experiment 1 took place in a laboratory, in Experiment 2, participants could take part at their leisure. The online setting also allows for a broader variety of psychographic and demographic factors among participants and does not focus on students. Participants were recruited via a professional online panel that is representative of the German population aged 16 to 69 years. Therefore, the results are more generalizable than those of the first experiment. Furthermore, respondents were only allowed to participate when they were logged in via PC or Laptop (as mobile end devices would allow respondents to zoom in the unit price easily when it is less visible).\nGeneral discussion: Using a computer-based shopping scenario, we analysed the impact of unit pricing on store price image and consumers' shopping intentions. We conducted this analysis by means of ANOVA, PLS-SEM, mediation analysis and moderation analysis.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: While previous literature focusses on the impact of unit pricing on the customer level by analysing customer awareness and product choice, the present research aims to highlight the impact unit pricing has at the store level.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The impact of unit pricing on the store price image is investigated in two experiments. While the first experiment assesses the general influence of unit price presence and unit price prominence on store price image, the second experiment provides further insights into the influence of unit price prominence on store price image and shopping intentions under consideration of moderating variables.\nFindings: This research demonstrates that the availability of unit prices influences several store price image dimensions positively, namely, price processibility, price perceptibility and evaluation certainty. There is also an indirect positive effect on value-for-money perception. Furthermore, unit price prominence has a positive effect on the dimension price processibility. There is a positive influence of unit price presence and unit price prominence on the consumers' intention to shop at a given store through the store price image.\nOriginality/value: This paper adds to the existing unit price and store price image literature and derives implications for retailers as well as for policymakers regarding the presentation of unit prices on price labels. Policymakers can use the results for motivating retailers to use unit price information more actively and present it more prominently beyond the minimum regulatory standards.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Power and politics in gender research: a research note from the discipline of accounting	[ "Feminism", "Gender", "Accounting", "Politics", "Management power" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A symposium addressing both research methodology and gender gives an ideal opportunity to consider how these two issues inter-relate in a number of ways and contexts. This research note offers a brief insight into the discipline of accounting to discuss the interaction of research methodology and gender in this particular environment. My reflections presented at the symposium, derive from a wider project exploring the potential of feminist research methodologies to influence accounting research on gender, to examine the dialectic between feminist theory and women's experience, and to raise consciousness of, and also proactively to seek to change, inequalities within accounting (Haynes, 2008a). Whereas the project encompasses broader concepts of subjectivity and reflexivity, as well as power, this research note raises issues of power and politics embedded within research methodology. To consider methodology is to theorise on how knowledge is produced, with an awareness of the relationship between the process and the product of research.\nFeminist methodology: Feminist approaches to methodology acknowledge that methodological decisions are powerful in the politics and practice of knowledge production and in what comes to count as authoritative knowledge. There may be many moral and political viewpoints, or different feminisms, in which a researcher can position herself, so a distinctively prescriptive view of feminist methodology is problematic (Harding, 1987b). However, as Millen (1997, p. 6.3)suggests:Any research may be considered \"feminist\" which incorporates two main aims: a sensitivity to the role of gender within society and the differential experiences of males and females, and a critical approach to the tools of research on society, the structures of methodology and epistemology within which \"knowledge\" is placed within the public domain.The central facets of feminist research methodology would include challenging objectivity and valuing subjectivity; recognising the links between ontology and epistemology, and between research process and product; developing non-exploitative relationships within the research; aiming to bring about change for women; valuing the personal and the private as worthy of study; and using reflexivity as a source of insight (for further discussion Harding, 1987a, b; Letherby, 2003; Lorber, 2001; Maynard, 1994; Ramazanoglu and Holland, 2002; Reinharz, 1992; Stanley and Wise, 1990).\nPower and politics in research: Feminist research has an inherent political purpose, seeking to challenge mainstream or \"malestream\" knowledge (Letherby, 2003). It contests dominant perspectives based on the silences of women and others marginalised persons as \"others\". Feminist methodology and theory would seek to challenge this dominance by problematising and centring women's and other's diverse situations, not only to give voice to those who are both marginalised in traditional research and in their respective societies, but also to engage with a wider political agenda, which challenges the justice of such marginalisation.A feminist approach to methodology also recognises that the process of research is a series of political, negotiable choices, from the initial identification of the research project to publication. Feminist approaches attempt to avoid gendered power relations embedded in research, affecting women researching each other as well as men researching women, through participative approaches to research, assuming some level of inter-subjectivity between the researcher and the participant, and the mutual creation of data. While these approaches are not without contradictions and problems, in the accounting context much research follows traditional processes of research in which the researcher objectifies and depersonalises research subjects, hence reinforcing the power held by the researcher.\nGender and accounting: In the accounting context, power relations are inherent in the development of accounting bodies and the inclusion of skilled workers within them, by the domination of a male elite. Historically, the profession has been highly male-dominated with barriers to entry for women persisting since the early 1900s (Lehman, 1992), its professional echelons being a male preserve until the latter half of the twentieth century (Westcott and Seiler, 1986), and with women often being confined to the clerical and secretarial functions (Kirkham and Loft, 1993). In more recent decades, women accountants have had to contend with issues such as the professional deskilling of bookkeeping roles (Cooper and Taylor, 2000); unequal salary differentials between men and women (Brennan and Nolan, 1998); patriarchal or sexist assumptions applying to professional identity and career progression (Haynes, 2008c; Whiting and Wright, 2001); and the gendered socialisation processes and notions of embodiment within the profession (Anderson-Gough, et al., 2005; Haynes, 2008b).A large proportion of research on gender within the accounting context relates to equality of opportunity between men and women, particularly in the US, using what Alvesson and Due Billing (1997) call \"gender-as-a-variable\" within research, which tries to explain various forms of gender inequity, by investigating the extent to which men and women differ in orientations on various issues. In accounting, for example, these may include ethics (Ameen et al., 1996; Smith and Rogers, 2000), career drivers (Chia, 2003), job turnover intentions (Mynatt et al., 1997), sexual harassment (Nichols, et al., 1997), behavioural attitudes (Lowe et al., 2001), sex role stereotypes (Hull and Umansky, 1997), and communication techniques (Gaffney, et al., 2001).These gender-as-a-variable studies explore what might be deemed to be sex differences between men and women, using quantitative research methods aimed at providing an objective and neutral assessment of an issue by eliminating irrational (prejudiced) elements such as gender stereotypes hidden in the research design or in ways of reasoning. Such work frequently accepts scientific assumptions about economic rationality and decision behaviour, and provides functionalist explanations of gender differences that ignore wider political issues. While quantitative data may be a highly useful tool in addressing issues of critical importance to women by providing evidence of inequality, its interpretation is subject to political interpretation. The drive for research into gender equality in accounting has often settled for exploring gender divisions, without necessarily exploring the socially constructed gendered notions and forms that underpin such differences. In other words, the gender-as-a-variable literature is concerned to explore issues of gender equality, examining differences, without challenging either the power relations embedded in the research methodologies which investigate them, or the underlying social, cultural and political assumptions which cause or underpin inequality. In doing so, it is potentially allowing gender inequalities to persist and gender divisions to perpetuate further gender inequality.\nConcluding comments: A feminist approach to research, in aims, nature, scope and methodology, would examine the social, cultural and political context of gender relations with a view to challenging their foundation and perpetuation. By increasing understanding of what effect methods have on the output of knowledge production, claims about knowledge can be reconstituted, and a more democratic knowledge about, of and for accounting can be developed. Feminist theories and methodologies, and an emancipatory research politics informed by them, can be applied to a range of challenges and areas in the accounting (and Management) context. These may include the development of accounting practices; social issues, such as the exploitation of workers; environmental issues, such as the lack of recognition of externalities in financial reporting systems; ethical and unethical practices by organisations; economic and political factors relating to ownership of capital; professional issues relating to behaviour, identity, and career progression; as well as relations between men and women.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to offer a research note exploring how feminist methodologies could bring new insights into research on gender in the accounting context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper applies some central tenets of feminist research methodology to a brief critique of current research on gender and accounting, in order to overcome some of the power relationships inherent within the research and define a more explicitly political research agenda.\nFindings: - The paper suggests that much research in the accounting is concerned with gender-as-a-variable, rather than being distinctly feminist, thus missing the opportunity to radicalise the agenda. It calls for a wider application of feminist methodology to the accounting context.\nOriginality/value: - This paper offers a brief insight into the discipline of accounting to discuss the interaction of research methodology and gender in this particular environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Embodied refusals and choreographic criticalities: Seventh grade boys of color writing "Mute"	[ "Storytelling", "Critical literacy", "Embodiment", "Black boyhood", "Black feminist theory", "Superheroes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the spring of 2017, a group of seventh-grade boys, five of whom identified as Black and one of whom identified as Latino, worked together in a weekly in-class, superhero storytelling project. In this project, students were asked to create superhero stories set in their community. Jason, Jay, JT, Davee, Kev and Timmy created a character they eventually named \"Mute.\" In their story, Mute battled a villain, Enzo, to win back his kidnapped daughter. In accordance with his name, Mute was voiceless, faceless, and it was later decided, raceless behind his mask.\nReview of literature: Black boy literacies\nTheoretical framework: A Black feminist theoretical framework may seem mismatched with this all-boy storytelling group and my own positionality as a white female researcher. I take seriously the history of white women appropriating the work of Black feminists for their own academic gain (duCille, 1994). I recognize my indebtedness to the work of Black feminist scholars (Muhammad and Haddix, 2016; Butler, 2018; Baker-Bell, 2017; Lindsey, 2015; Richardson, 2013), who have recommended that these perspectives have the potential to rearrange how we think about literacy in English education settings. I believe this theoretical stance best sheds light on the group's turn toward concrete and embodied material in their \"Mute\" narrative. While other frames might see this turn as \"uncritical,\" Black feminist theorists show how it moves around the essentializing narratives Dumas and Nelson (2016) describe and makes space for a human(e) understanding of their character.\nContexts and methods: Mountview middle school\nFindings: In this section, I present two moments in which the Mute group's authoring of embodied characteristics and actions allowed them to narratively move around rather than respond directly to larger racialized and individualistic social narratives. In this deflection, Mute's authors make room for their character and story to be read in situated, specific and loving ways. I argue, following Black feminist theorists, that the Mute group's narration of embodiment in their authored story offers a new means of conceptualizing critical work in literacy education.\nConclusion: Often our critical perspectives in literacy theory assume that students will explicitly revise and respond to the narratives they are encountering in their texts and worlds. This leads to an increased focus on how students' reading and writing practices might be directly indexing and countering larger injustices. In contrast, the Mute group's storytelling indicates that critical reimaginings can refuse a painful return to constraining frames. In their narrations of embodiment, the Mute group moved beyond the deconstructive \"anti-stance\" identified by Patel (2015) and began to instead build a character and world that existed apart from controlling social narratives.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to describe the work of a group of seventh-grade boys in a middle school superhero storytelling project. In this project, the boys, one of whom identified as Latino and five of whom identified as Black, created a voiceless, faceless, raceless superhero named \"Mute.\" Using a Black feminist theoretical framework, the author considers how the boys authored embodied moments in the construction of their character and in a basketball scene. The author argues that within the narrated space of the story, embodiment functioned as a critical tool for authoring spaces that thwarted and bypassed dominant social narratives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The white, female, university-affiliated author was a participant-researcher in the \"Mute\" group's ten storytelling sessions. The ethnographic data set collected included fieldnotes, recordings and copies of all the writing and images of the group. The author uses this data to conduct a narrative analysis of the Mute story.\nFindings: The author suggests that the group's authoring of embodiment and choreography in their story makes space outside of the binary stances often available in traditional critical analyses. Instead, the group's attention to embodied aspects of their character(s) allowed them to refuse either/or positions of such stances and construct a textured reality that existed beyond these bounds.\nOriginality/value: Black feminist theorists have warned that critical readings are potentially essentializing, risking a reification of the same systems they hope to overturn. The Mute group's invention of a superhero character and their use of authored embodiment deflected such essentializing readings to imagine a new, more just (story) world. Thus, the author recommends an increased attention to how students are writing and reading embodiment to fully see the everyday ways they are critically working both against and beyond the social narratives that organize their lives.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Have "European politics" and EU policy making replaced the politics of member state countries?	[ "European Union", "Economic policy", "Social policy", "Immigration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In order to assess the contribution of former and current politicians it is necessary to examine key themes. These would include economy, trade unions, populist themes social justice and foreign policy. The impact of the European Union (EU) on these themes can then be examined.Thatcher has recently been suggested by Middleton (2006) as being the only party leader to win three general elections in that century. Economic performance was robust but only during certain times of the premiership. Inflation became under control but control was later lost during the tax cuts of the Lawson boom in the late 1980s. Privatisation both had success stories, for example, British Telecom and British Airways though the privatisation of the railways proved to be a failure. Green (2006), author of Ideologies of Conservatism, states that there were positive changes from the winter of discontent and the tranquillity of trade unions experienced by the 1990s. Neo liberalist policies became the main focus though government expenditure remained high due to the costs of high unemployment in the short term. Like its European counterparts the UK continued to fund the public sector and some declining industries such as the car industry and Rover until later in the term when it was felt more politically acceptable to reduce subsidies and privatise further. France is now to some extent having to reform the labour market and reduce subsidies due to EU legislation though this is a much slower process than in the UK and there is a greater will in France to maintain a social Europe if possible. In terms of the electorate populist themes were pursued to attract voters such as social policy reforms accept for the poll tax which encountered many problems. In terms of foreign policy there was success on the Cold War, South Africa and the Falklands in terms of electoral opinion though the many disputes with Europe including joining the European exchange rate mechanism at the wrong time was not always seen in a positive light.On the Economy the labour party has delivered economic stability and social justice has come second unlike previous labour governments. In this sense, Thatcher can be seen as the mother of new labour according to Middleton (2006). This was a similar approach to the Thatcher government whereby inflation was brought under control, however in the late 1980s tax cuts did lead to inflation getting out of hand. Both the European Central Bank and UK political parties alike have a policy of controlling effectively the rate of inflation, therefore in this domain both domestic politicians and the EU have influenced the political agenda. In addition trade union membership has declined and citizens have been given an EU charter of fundamental rights which has greatly reduced the role of trade unions.Blair at a recent September 2006 speech stated that popular themes were migration and terrorism. It remains to be seen how effective he has been in these areas though on immigration both conservative UK politicians and labour politicians alike are opting for future policies of managed migration.There was however a difference in policy making between the Thatcher and Blair governments concerning immigration. Blair opted for a more open policy where immigrants may have helped put downward pressure on wage inflation. This lack of downward pressure in the Thatcher era helped contribute to inflation getting out of control in the late 1980s. However, of late Blair has opted for a more restrictive policy on immigration from Bulgaria and Romania similar to both other EU countries and the more strict policies of the Thatcher era. In some ways again, EU politicians are having similar policies since the UK was one of a small few EU countries to have an open door policy on migration from Eastern Europe between 2004 and 2006.\nThe French viewpoint: In France, politicians in the 1980s differed from those of the UK. Mitterand tried to pursue a government expansionist policy in the early 1980s which lead to a balance of payments deficit. However, since then, France has embarked upon policies of privatisation and tax reduction though still maintains more social policy compared with the UK including a 35 hour maximum working week (Floyd, 1999). However, France remains more protectionist than the UK with a greater amount of government ownership in industry though this is being reduced due to the single European market legislation. France also has higher levels of unemployment than the UK and greater protection for workers as well as higher levels of benefit for those unable to find work. Sapir (2006) suggests that further reforms are necessary to compete in the global economy. It must also be remembered that France has a higher level of educational achievement compared with the UK though the UK is now beginning to catch up. Managed migration is also the main policy though on foreign policy like that of Germany, there has been less support for US policies including the use of armed conflict to combat global terrorism. More recently the French Government has lowered taxes in a similar fashion to the UK both France and Germany have also adopted a more positive outlook towards foreign direct investment and increasingly see this as potential for future job creation. The UK has attracted the highest level of FDI according to the World Investment Report (2006) though other countries are starting to catch up.\nThe situation in Germany: Germany has also adopted reforms to reduce costs of employment like in France and the UK. Taxation has been reduced and Angela Merkel the first female Chancellor has introduced reforms to make it less costly to hire and fire workers similar to what has happened in the UK in earlier years. There is a neo classical gradualist approach like that suggested by Kornai (1995) since countries like France and Germany were starting at a higher social welfare base than the UK. New member states from transition countries may also be prepared to move quicker in the neo liberalist direction since the collapse of communism destroyed some of the social values very quickly and many countries then looked quickly for new alternatives (Marangos, 2004). However, Germany remains different to the UK in that trade unions have greater consultation under the process of codetermination.Scandinavian countries have also opted for high levels of skill and high levels of trade union representation though these countries can afford to keep a social model due to the high level of skill and productivity. Sapir (2006) also states that the Mediterranean countries and Germany are under the greatest pressure to reform their labour markets and make them more flexible due to the fact that skill levels have not been as great as the Scandinavian countries. The German economy has failed to create enough jobs to absorb Eastern Germany, there is also less focus on encouraging people to take on more credit like in the UK as Germany in the past has focused more on low inflation and stability as well as increased amounts of investment. Much of manufacturing has now shifted to China and policy is starting to shift towards encouraging the service sector as well as producing more low cost semi finished products abroad.\nImmigration and establishing common standards: Germany like France and the UK is managing migration though Germany adopts a similar policy to France concerning US Policies to combat global terrorism. There have been also a number of measures to promote mutual recognition of qualifications across Europe. This has included the professions directive whereby qualified professionals are able to practice all over Europe. There are still however cultural barriers to be overcome. In addition, there is the higher education directive whereby any one studying in Europe can transfer the credits they achieve to studying in another country. Language barriers however still need to be overcome though many institutions now offer programs in different languages. Cultural barriers also restrict trade, in some cases there may be national preferences as well as major differences in the way business is carried out. Levels of corruption also vary across Europe despite the numerous directives that have taken place to establish common business laws across member states. Measures in the social chapter also include equal rights for disabled, race and sex discrimination are also covered along with equal rights and benefits for part time workers. Minimum wages and a maximum working week are also included. All these developments lead to a more integrated Europe where similar types of policy and political decision making is taking place across member states.\nEuropean policy making: The EU influences policy making for member states in many ways. Firstly, the single currency and the stability growth pact prevent countries from letting inflation get out of control. Daly (2006) shows how this policy has hampered developments in social policy as countries are prevented from investing more in this area due to the restrictions imposed by the ECB on budget deficits. In some ways, therefore the ECB have imposed more Thatcherite policies on EU countries that EU politicians cannot escape from, some say this is Thatchers revenge for her former disagreements concerning Europe.In addition, both the UK and Europe have left interest rate decisions in the hands of independent policy makers and most countries in Europe have been willing to raise interest rates as inflationary pressures have begun to creep in.Finally, it needs to be considered where the main areas of EU policy making and integration are taking place in member states. According to Dearden (2006), firstly the EU has the single market where all tariff barriers are removed. There also needs to be access to competition in all industries and this explains why privatisation is taking place across Europe which recently included the telecoms and energy sectors. In this way, economies become similar with an emphasis on freer markets and individual politicians have less influence on economic policy making. Some EU countries however particularly the Mediterranean ones have been slow to open up markets, for example, Greece was given a five year extension to comply with opening up its telecom markets. In a similar way, France still has a small amount of state ownership in its car industry for example. There have also been variations in policy making in the energy sector, recently France and Germany have stock piled energy supplies rather than selling them in the open market which indicates how difficult it is to create a single market for all types of goods and services. According to Sapir (2006), around 70 per cent of the EU economy is now attributed to the service sector so more progress needs to be made here. However, it is argued that in time further integration will take place and markets finally become open. Evidence has shown that prices in Europe have become more competitive due to the process of competition and integration, for example car prices in the UK have fallen in the last five years and are almost the same today in nominal terms and considerably lower in real terms.There is also a single currency for many countries which means all countries have the same goals of low inflation and balancing their budget. The UK differs here from Continental Europe in that historically the UK has experienced higher levels of inflation than Germany, there is a desire in the UK to avoid boom bust cycles and have a similar approach to Germany with more stability, though it is too early to tell if the historical past has been left behind. At present, the world has experienced low levels of inflation partly due to the emergence of countries like China where manufactured goods are being produced at low prices due to the benefits of the World Trade Organisation. There is currently some upward pressure on interest rates due to higher oil prices though interest rates remain low at present. There has also been wage restraint and declining trade union membership in many industrialised countries. Recent inflation levels in the UK show rates to be higher than the Eurozone and the UK has more debt similar to the US economy, however at present inflation rates are not varying significantly with the rest of Europe.Inflation may be slightly higher than we think due to the new use of CPI measure rather than RPI which would include council tax and mortgage repayments (Floyd, 2006). There is also a social charter giving rights to workers including a maximum 48 hour week and this helped to integrate social policies across Europe. However, the countries still vary since minimum wages are not the same all over Europe reflecting the income disparities that exist. It has also been argued however that UK employment legislation has increasingly come in line with the policy of the EU. For example, the UK now gives equal rights for part time workers and a minimum wage which did not exist under the Thatcher legacy.More recently matters of age discrimination and disability have been strengthened under EU legislation for all EU member countries.\nFurther EU policy making: There is also a competition policy to prevent monopolies and price fixing which can now be applied on a Europe wide basis. Environmental policy is also being developed and the EU has signed up to Kyoto to reduce emissions over the next decade. There are finally other policies common in Europe including regional aid to reduce income disparities all over Europe. These measures are designed to promote balanced growth across Europe whereby the poorer EU members are given the lion share of funding. In this way European member states move closer together in terms of development prospects. The UK has also benefited from EU regional aid and this helped make up for government turning its back on regional policy over the Thatcher period of office and in this sense policy here became under the command of EU rules and regulations. On matters of defense and security, there have been measures and financial aid available to promote peace in Europe though the EU remains split on a common foreign policy. There have also been attempts to manage migration of late and the EU has begun to promote the use of identity cards. These policies are likely to become more integrated in the future.\nConclusion: It has therefore been shown that the influence of the EU has had a huge impact of the politics of EU member states. This has taken place in the fields of economic policy making, labour relations, environmental policy and business regulation. However, as shown in the three country examples, the countries still vary on the degree of social provision being offered though over time things have been moving in the same direction. The forces of globalisation are attributing to more common ground for the member states particularly concerning the opening up of the labour market. Opening up a single European market has led to all member states having to further embrace competition, free enterprise and capitalism. There are also differences however over a single currency though all countries have the same goal of low inflation. Evidence has also been shown that opposition parties are offering little in the way of alternative policies in most EU countries. This is unlikely to change if EU policies move further forward in new areas such as migration and the further widening and deepening of the EU.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the ways in which the European Union (EU) is influencing policy making in EU member states. It covers the historical development of the UK, France and Germany. There is evidence to suggest politics and economic policy making in these countries are now similar particularly in the areas of adopting anti inflationist strategies and opening up markets. However, some differences remain particularly regarding the flexibility of labour markets in the various member states.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper draws on the various components of integration theory and incorporates also a business history approach.\nFindings: - The main findings indicate that the EU is gradually having more influence over member states, newer areas of development include social policy, immigration and an increasing neoliberalist approach towards opening new markets. However, countries are still given some flexibility, for example, there are still a number of countries not yet willing to join the Euro currency.\nOriginality/value: - The paper illustrates the important role of the EU in formulating policy for member states in today's increasingly competitive business environment. Business needs to be fully aware of these implications in order to become more successful while operating in the expanding European market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Turkish school principals' earthquake experiences and reactions	[ "Earthquakes", "Natural disasters", "Principals", "Turkey", "Case studies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: At 3.01 am, on August 17, 1999 an earthquake registering 7.4 on the Richter scale hit the northwest part of Turkey, centering on the cities of Izmit, Adapazari, and Istanbul. This earthquake caused deaths of more than 17,000 people, and left tens of thousands of people injured, homeless and suffering for the loss of loved ones. On 12 November 1999, another earthquake registering 7.2 on the Richter scale struck the cities of Bolu and Duzce in the same region and caused further devastation and casualties. In following years (2002 and 2003) two more earthquakes hit the east of Turkey.The August 17 and November 12 earthquakes hit the schools when the children were not in the buildings. However, 443 secondary and high school teachers, 36 retired teachers, 13 pre-school and 1,072 elementary school teachers from seven cities in the region lost their lives as a result of this natural disaster. Moreover, 102 school buildings collapsed and 1,503 buildings were heavily damaged. In order to rebuild and refurbish those buildings, the Ministry of Education announced a need for $59 million. It should also be noted that students and teachers in the region were in need of accommodation, health, education, and clothing (Ministry of National Education 2004; Can, 2001).After the earthquakes, the provinces organized crisis committees in cooperation with the Governors to provide smooth transitions to turn the peoples' lives back to normal. School principles, who took part in those committees, tried to continue with their educational and instructional activities in addition to their struggle to bring solutions to the many problems they encountered.This qualitative research aimed to explore the school principals' earthquake experiences, opinions, reactions and actions during and after the two major earthquakes (August 17, 1999 Adapazari and November 12, 1999 Duzce) in Turkey. Since there are not enough research-based studies about school principals' experiences, opinions, reactions and actions during and after earthquakes, this qualitative study seems essential in that it will attempt to delineate the experiences and reactions of school principals in such an unexpected natural disaster.\nConceptual framework: Research in natural disasters\nResearch design and methodology: A qualitative methodology was used since the goal of the researcher was to gain an in-depth understanding of how principals' experienced and reacted to the earthquakes. Their experience may inform future policy, practice and research about school leaders.Research participants\nFindings of the research: The analysis of the school principals' reactions and opinions yielding six major categories emerge from the data. In this part, these categories are presented and discussed separately.Earthquake as an unexpected situation\nImplications and conclusion: An earthquake is considered to be an unexpected event by school principals since it cannot be precisely predicted. Some school principals also emphasized that the earthquake is a divine phenomenon. There are variations, on the other hand, in terms of school principals' reactions toward earthquakes. Those who did not panic during that time reported that they had calm personalities; they trusted the buildings they had, and they had had previous experiences with earthquakes. Most school principals said that they were shocked during the earthquake. Moreover, they experienced fear, anxiety, panic and stress.While school principals considered the earthquake as a negative experience in the short term, they accepted it as a positive experience in the long term. The school principals' efforts just immediately after the earthquake included: visiting their school to determine the damages, learning about and calling the teachers and other personnel, ensuring the accommodation for school teachers and other personnel if they needed, determining the damages at schools, preparation for prefabricated installations at their school garden, taking an active role in a crisis centre and getting the tents, inviting a psychologist to the school and ask for help, starting the classes and making sure they were in line with the curriculum.School principals' routines did not change drastically with the earthquakes. School principals faced problems related to the education carried out in the tents. They further emphasized the need to determine who will do what after an earthquake. Moreover, they also pointed out that problems should be dealt with a well-planned coordination.The school principals need to determine where and from whom they will request help during the earthquake. In addition, there is a need for an on-going education for students and school staff during and after the earthquake. There should also be practices from time to time. Each school needs to develop an action plan for a possible earthquake. Schools also should be in close contact with the board of education to solve the emerging problems in cooperation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The main aim of this paper is to explore the elementary school principles' experiences and reactions toward two earthquakes, which hit the north-west region of Turkey on August 17 and November 12, 1999.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A qualitative methodology was used since the goal of the researcher was to delineate the experiences and reactions of school principals in such an unexpected natural disaster. Data included interview and official documents and was analyzed through content analysis.\nFindings: - The findings indicated that school principals considered earthquakes to be an unexpected phenomenon. Second, while school principals considered earthquakes as a negative experience in the short term, they considered it a positive experience in the long term. Third, they felt the earlier regulations prepared by the Board of Education for natural disasters, such as for earthquakes, were not adequate. Finally, school principals lived through mixed emotions between their professional careers and their families.\nResearch limitations/implications: - School principals' experience may inform future policy, practice and research about school leaders.\nOriginality/value: - The lessons learned from this article should be helpful, not only to schools and other educational departments, but also to other organisations in Turkey.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Writing a scientific publication for a management journal	[ "Research methods", "Management science", "Publications" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The purpose of this paper is to:* encourage researchers to use data and ideas they already have to in order to prepare a publication;* give guidance about to how to structure a paper and get it published; and* raise debate in the journal about the essential ingredients for management research to be considered both scientific and practically useful.It is a personal and informal paper by a management researcher in the later stages of his career, with experience of reviewing many poor papers for publication as a reviewer and editor and with experience of publishing papers in many types of journals. A number of other researchers and reviewers may well disagree with the guidance here. However, it has been found useful by researchers taking part in courses and they have reported that it helped them publish. It certainly does not represent guidance by the editors for this journal or any other reviewers.In the academic field research is judged in terms of whether it is published, and the status of the journal in which it is published. The number and quality of a researchers' or a research units' publications decides appointments, promotion, whether research grants are awarded and the power of a unit within an academic organisation. For better or worse, increasing productivity and quality of publishing is the key to success for individuals and unit.Most data and ideas are not published, often for good reasons. However, most researchers and research units have data and ideas, which could be published but which lie unused because of lack of time and know-how about how and where to publish. Working on these data and ideas develops skills to do better research in the future. Writing is thinking. Publishing is presenting the final organised version of your thinking.Structuring the material for presentation in a paper and getting peer reviews is a powerful way to learn how to do better research next time. \"If only we had done the research in a different way it would be so much more publishable!\" is unfortunately an all-to-common reflection afterwards. As director of research and course leader my role is to ensure there is a good plan for the research before committing more time and money. I need to know \"what is the title of the paper which comes from this research, and in which journal will it be published\". I also need to know \"how will the knowledge produced contribute to reducing suffering?\" (the practical value).This paper does not address the question of making time to write for publication. \"No time\" is for many reasons: researchers do not know how best to write the paper, or do not have the motivation, or fear confronting their limitations. They may not know a suitable journal, or may feel it may be a waste of time because no one will publish it, or do not realise how important publishing is. The answer to all of these is that it is better to address \"the publication issue\" sooner rather than later - better to know whether you have what it takes to be a researcher and want your career in this field than to discover this years later.Example\nDoes the material meet basic scientific requirements?: A first step is to consider your data and/or ideas and ask whether they meet some basic requirements for scientific publication. These are:* Are the methods for gathering data valid for investigating the study concept or question? (This also applies for a method for a review of already-published research.) This is whether the method will give data about the study concept or study question or data about something else.* Are the data gathered reliably and systematically, following a defined method? This is whether another researcher following the same method would gather the same data. Could they reproduce the study from the description?* Are the methods for analysis valid for answering the study question and systematically and correctly applied?* Do the conclusions follow from the findings and are all conclusions supported by data and or justified?* Are the findings generalisable beyond the one site, case or situation?* Does the study relate the findings to previously published research and show that it either fills a \"important\" gap in empirical knowledge, provides conflicting or supporting evidence, or tests a theory?If all the above are met, then the study makes a scientific contribution. But the contribution is only \"significant\" scientifically, if the answer is yes to this question:* Does the study provide an explanation, understanding or prediction which is valid? (This question is related to the generalisablity question.)This is a tough set of requirements to meet, and the question when starting to write may be \"Could the materials be developed to meet these requirements?\"If the answer is \"More or less, but I am not sure how well it meets these requirements\" then it is certainly worth going onto the next steps towards publishing, and using your doubts to decide what to say in the discussion section about the limitations of the research.If the collected data are not valid for the question, perhaps the data can answer another question, which is important. Sometimes data validity is poor because the sample was poor for some reason (e.g. biased or too small). One question is whether more data collection is possible and would give data needed for a worthwhile publication, without repeating the whole study? Sometimes a more extensive analysis of respondents compared to the full population can help better to assess bias or to decide how best to do supplementary data collection.If the answer is a clear \"no\", it does not rule out the paper for publication. Some journals are largely for practitioners (clinicians or managers). These will publish papers which do not meet such high demands for methods rigour (e.g. \"small\" sample, or a simple \"before-after\" study), or will publish papers which do not give explanation or prediction. More later on choosing the right journal.The answer may be \"no\" because you have no or little empirical data but that you have an idea or a view about concepts. Most journals interpret their mission to publish \"original research\" as providing new and significant empirical findings, as well as meeting other criteria for originality. Conceptual or ideas papers are often more difficult to publish, although many journals have special sections for \"commentary papers\" or \"debate\" papers. The answer is to find a journal, which might publish what you have to say. Note the structure and style to these types of papers, and then use writing to clarify and focus your ideas and relate them to what has already been published, or show that there is little published and why this is an important topic, idea, or point. Think about how the example study above of quality activities in one organisation meets these requirements and what would be needed to make the study meet these requirements.One definition of what is scientific is \"what is published in scientifically refereed journals\". However, my experience is that reviewers often disagree and the guidance given to scientific referees by different health management journals varies considerably from very specific and scientifically rigorous to allowing the reviewer to decide using their own criteria.\nWriting the paper: Step 1: overview\nFinding a journal and meeting journal requirements: You may already have decided which journal to aim for at an early stage. Even if you have, the work of reviewing previous research will take you to other journals which might publish your paper - your \"plan B\". You need to know the preferences of different journals for papers in terms of: subject area, methods bias, and degree of scientific rigour demanded. Some journals are happy to publish small sample qualitative studies, and these journals vary in the level of scientific rigour and evidence presentation they demand of a qualitative study.As well as varying along a spectrum from \"low scientific demand\" to \"rigorous scientific demands\" (and high status), journals also vary from \"practitioner only\" to \"researcher/academic only\". Some journals, which have mostly practitioner readership also have rigorous scientific demands, such as some clinical journals (e.g. British Medical Journal, and Quality and Safety in Health Care). Some journals which are largely for practitioners (clinicians or managers) often publish papers which do not meet such high methods rigour (e.g. small sample, simple before after study) or which do not give explanation or prediction. Journals' demands do change over time.Get a feel for the style and type of paper the journal tends to publish by looking at a few editions. But also go through the \"guidance to authors\" section in the Journal and follow these requirements closely.\nConclusions: This personal paper by an experienced researcher and reviewer gave guidance for writing a research publication. It considered what makes a study and a research paper scientific in the management field and is intended to raise debate in the journal about both publication and scientific criteria in management studies in health care. Many of the points made by the paper can be summarised by noting some of the most common reasons why papers are rejected for publication:* over 6,000 words or not meeting the journal word limit;* not focusing the paper on one limited subject or question - trying to cover too wide an area or different subjects so that the reader gets confused about the main point or subject;* no clear linking between problem, research reviewed, research question, methods and design, findings, discussion and conclusion: irrelevant material or new ideas introduced not related to the single theme;* poor linking to previous research, important previous research missing;* repetition, or too-much detail, or too-little detail typically about data collection methods, findings, and background;* limitations or alternative explanations not discussed sufficiently;* title, abstract or conclusion does not describe what was presented; and* referencing method not followed consistently to cite other research.The final advice is: do not give up - the more you revise and the more reviews you get, the more you learn and develop as a researcher. My first published scientific paper went through 34 drafts and 11 submissions. It taught me a few things. (See Appendices 1-4.)\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to stimulate debate about criteria for assessing the scientific contribution of a piece of management research and to guide and encourage researchers in writing papers for publication. The paper also seeks to reduce the number of papers submitted to journals and reviewers which are really unfinished early drafts or which do provide knowledge which could contribute to reducing suffering.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper draws on and discusses the difference between practical research for a manager and scientific research, as well as the author's experience as researcher, writer, reviewer, editor, research methods course leader and director of research.\nFindings: - The discussion highlights that the author should draft the paper under the suggested headings and fulfil criteria of validity, reliability, supported conclusions, generalisability, ensuring that each section follows on from the other, and that the findings are related to previous research.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This is the author's personal view about how to carry out and write research to get published, without discussions of other views.\nPractical implications: - The findings in this paper may provoke more debate about management science and the role of this journal. The guidance may help many researchers publish their management research.\nOriginality/value: - The paper links practical guidance with discussion of criteria for scientific contribution in a readable way.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Monitoring trends in research student experience	[ "Research student experience", "Quality assurance", "Student feedback" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In Australia, in the past decades increasing attention has been paid to the quality of research education by universities, governments, prospective employers and industry partners. The success of research students and quality of graduates are important national issues given the positive relationship between the educational level of the population and the national levels of productivity and innovation. Consistent with national trends towards increased numbers and diversity of the general student population, research student cohorts in Australia are becoming larger and more diverse, requiring institutions to actively manage factors influencing the research student experience of a range of academic and general services.\nMethod: Participants and procedure\nQuantitative findings: Items rated as being of highest importance to HDR students\nQualitative findings: BAs and needs improvement comments\nDiscussion and conclusion: The RSSS was introduced at the subject university in 2005. The survey is conducted biennially with all HDR students. The results of the survey are communicated with schools, relevant administrative units and the postgraduate student union. The associate deans (research) and relevant head of administrative units are asked to review the results and identify key improvement initiatives. The planned improvements are then discussed and agreed for implementation by relevant senior managers. The university monitors the progress on new initiatives and its impact in the next cycle of survey. The postgraduate student union is actively engaged in \"closing the loop\", i.e. communicating survey results to students, and working in partnership with the university to act upon areas needing improvement. Since 2005 the university has been communicating the planned improvement using a postcard \"feedback - it counts\" campaign. The postcard is a joint initiative between the university and the postgraduate student union. For example, in 2005-2006, the following planned improvements were implemented and communicated:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present approaches effectively used by a large multi-campus Australian university to improve the research student experience as a direct result of their feedback. These approaches include: identifying trends in the research student experience and areas needing improvement through the Research Student Satisfaction Survey conducted by the University in 2009, 2011 and 2013; prioritising and implementing improvement solutions; and monitoring the improvement actions to measure their efficiency based on student feedback, and to identify areas warranting further improvement attention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Quantitative study was undertaken with research students.\nFindings: The study outlines the need for universities to have a systematic approach in measuring and enhancing the experience of research students. Systematic approach enables the university to take timely action to enhance student experience.\nResearch limitations/implications: Undertaking analysis of the survey at faculty or school level. Increased accountability on Associate Deans (Research) to implement improvements at faculty level.\nOriginality/value: The paper is based on ten years of study in a large multi-campus university.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implicit assumptions in high potentials recruitment	[ "High potential", "Recruitment", "Pharmaceutical industry", "Segmentation", "Human resource management", "Targeting" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Only flexible companies that proactively learn and adapt will sustain themselves in ever-changing environments (Collins, 2001). Accordingly, learning capability is a common and important element in talent definitions (Ready et al., 2010). Camps and Luna-Arocas (2012) found that the output of human resources (HR) management practices is related to the performance of a company through the organizational learning capability. The vital organizational capabilities to learn and adapt can be potentially achieved through:\nMethod: We investigated and analysed the implementation of marketing instruments to recruit high potentials in the pharmaceutical industry using the grounded theory method (GTM). GTM is a collection of approaches that are grounded in data (Corbin and Strauss, 2008). Our study uses LaRossa's (2005) approach, which offers a comprehensive guide for pursuing grounded research. The coding process began after the first interview, memoranda were written and conceptual models, describing the factors that influence the implementation of marketing instruments in this field, were designed to keep track of the evolving concepts and the relationships between them.\nResults: This study revealed the difficulty HR professionals had describing the key characteristics of high potentials. In response to the direct request to \"describe a high-potential employee\", four respondents cited promotability (\"at least two levels\"), and two respondents deferred to the line managers who defined the potential of employees. However, all interviewees used the term high potential when answering other questions, which suggests that each had an implicit concept of the characteristics of a high potential in mind regardless of a formal definition., Most of the companies in this study used performance as an indicator for potential of an employee, a finding similar to Silzer and Church (2010).\nDiscussion: We offer a different definitional perspective of high potentials. Current research on definitions of high potentials has been based on observations of performance and/or career progression of high potentials or interviews using direct questions (Ready et al., 2010). Instead we focused on the implicit assumptions HR professionals have about high-potential employees, thus adding a new perspective on high-potential recruitment and management to the literature on high-potential management. Previous research has focused on the dimensions of high potentials and leadership, which can be evaluated through more formal assessment procedures. Our study is the first that focuses on the initial informal selection stage. As such, it frames high potentials' recruitment and development based on HR professionals' perceptions and considerations when selecting talent in the recruitment and development process. This approach is important because several information technology (IT) platforms (e.g. Gild & Sutro) offer algorithms to search for \"optimal\" candidates without revealing the criteria these algorithms use. Moreover, some companies (e.g. Google) have been increasingly using algorithms to search for new candidates (Hafen, 2016). However, such algorithms could potentially lead to a more equitable recruitment process, but only when the algorithm search characteristics applied are evidence-based and transparent.\nConclusion: Our study responds to the call for research to investigate the implementation of talent identification (McDonnell, 2011). We found that research using direct interview techniques should be balanced with research using observation and/or indirect interview techniques. Applying appropriate and transparent identification practices of high potentials and talent in an organization is a common and key element of classical talent literature (Ready et al., 2010) and in recently developed talent models, such as \"boundary-less model of an organization\" (Foster, 2015). Thus, by giving a new perspective on how HR professionals initially identify and select high potentials for further evaluation, our study complements existing empirical findings about talent definition for several talent models.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Professionals of human resources (HR) use different criteria in practice than they verbalize. Thus, the aim of this research was to identify the implicit criteria used for the selection of high-potential employees in recruitment and development settings in the pharmaceutical industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A semi-structured interview guide was developed and used to collect data from 15 European and US recruiters in the pharmaceutical sector. The interview guide included an embedded association test to identify potential differences between implicit assumptions about high potentials and verbalized criteria among participants.\nFindings: These include differences and similarities between the criteria to define high potentials and the implicit assumptions HR professionals use in their initial selection of employees who are selected for further assessment and development programmes.\nResearch limitations/implications: Size of the sample is a limitation. Therefore, the conclusions drawn from this study should be treated with a degree of caution.\nPractical implications: Learning how HR professionals use implicit assumptions about potential recruits should inform practitioners about selection, promotion and training strategies. Given the increasing application of automated search algorithms to identify and select high potentials for recruitment, development and promotion purposes, future studies should account for the differences between used and verbalized criteria underlying the development of these systems.\nOriginality/value: This study shows how the used implicit assumptions of HR professionals about high potentials differ from verbalized statements and guidelines.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Expected scenarios of environmental threats in Iraq compared with Kuwait's case	[ "Kuwait", "Iraq", "Warfare", "Oil industry", "Fire", "Sustainable development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Historical background\nConclusion: Blowing up the Iraqi oil wells or diverting their flows into the rivers Tigris and Euphrates are considered as the worst possible scenarios that may happen at the \"cradles of civilization\". Such scenarios are nightmare scenarios, since damage from fires and smoke could be just the tip of the iceberg if oil gets pumped into them, and it will be very difficult to use them for firefighting. However, as Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, ordered his followers to attack oil installations in Iraq and other Gulf States in mid-December 2004; such attacks are expected to be escalated by terrorists and other groups and should be taken seriously by all the concerned environmental planners looking to prevent what could become one of the worst ecological disasters in history.Accordingly, the problems associated with security and repetition of terrorist attacks will undoubtedly prevent or postpone any sustainable development in Iraq, especially in the oil industry and the two rivers-based projects, for at least the next decade, as the situation was during the eight-years Iraq-Iran war that was started at 1980 and ended at 1987. The effects of unsustainable development can become entangled with traditional forms of conflicts in a way that may widen and deepen the latter in Iraq.On the other hand, the Kuwait experience and the current situation in Iraq illustrate the many reasons the USA and its allies would make the protection of Iraq's oil fields a prime concern. If the current terrorist attacks unexpectedly ignite Iraq's oil wells using the scorched-earth tactic, it would be a weapon that would be used long after the shooting and suicide bombing ends.As in the case of Kuwait's catastrophe, environmental worries about repetition of terrorist attacks on Iraq's oil installation should be given serious attention and receive the immediate consideration that they need, since the high cost of environmental degradation by such eco-terrorism scenarios may gets more expensive if left unattended.The special fund dedicated to finance involvement in case of emergency; which was suggested after Kuwait's catastrophe by the Former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev to ensure that environmental concerns will receive the immediate attention that they need, should be initiated at this stage and the fund, which was supposed to be financed by nations, companies and foundations should be available immediately now before future catastrophes occur in Iraq.On a regional level, all neighbors of Iraq should be encouraged to pay closer attention to the potential economic and environmental consequences of the escalation and repetition of terrorist attacks on Iraq's oil installations on their whole region.Finally, the conflagration in Kuwait demonstrates the danger in conducting large-scale modern combat in an environmentally fragile area, and shows how exposed all oil-producing nations, such as Iraq, are to this type of environmental and economic disaster in the future.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to review the literature about the environment as one of the victims of war throughout the history of mankind. Kuwait's environment, as a victim of the scorched-earth tactic carried out by the retreating Iraqi forces in 1991, is also reviewed. The probable scenarios of an environmental threat in Iraq as a result of exploding the oil wells or discharging crude oil into the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, are elaborated, taking into consideration the repetition of the current terrorist attacks on Iraq's oil installations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The difficulties likely to face the firefighting efforts in such scenarios, compared with Kuwait's experience, are mentioned, with reference to the main differences between Kuwait's and Iraq's oil fields, topography, logistic services and security situation.\nFindings: - Owing to the large oil-reserves in Iraq, the prospective environmental damages and economic losses are expected to be enormous. As the terrorist attacks on Iraq's oil installations may escalate, the potential scenarios of oil discharge into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, or the use of scorched-earth tactics in Iraq, might become the worst man-made ecological disasters in history.\nPractical implications: - It is believed that such scenarios should be taken seriously by the concerned environmental planners and the need to secure Iraq's oil fields is paramount.\nOriginality/value: - This paper highlights the problems associated with maintaining an adequate level of security and the potential repetition of terrorist attacks which will undoubtedly prevent or postpone any sustainable development in Iraq, especially in the oil industry and the two rivers-based-projects for at least the next decade. The effects of unsustainable development can become entangled with traditional forms of conflict in a way that can widen and deepen the latter in Iraq.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of values and leadership style in developing OCB among Arab teachers in Israel	[ "Organizational commitment", "Transformational leadership", "Organizational citizenship behavior", "Individual values" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has become one of the more researched outcomes in the field of organizational behavior and industrial psychology (Ehrhart and Naumann, 2004), as shown in several comprehensive literature reviews (LePine et al., 2002; Organ and Ryan, 1995; Podsakoff et al., 2000). The concept had its roots in the work of Katz and Kahn (1966), who identified three types of behavior required of employees for the effective functioning of an organization: the decision to join and remain in the organization; the performance of prescribed roles in a dependable manner; and the undertaking of innovative and spontaneous activities beyond the prescribed role requirements. The last of these was termed \"extra-role behavior\" by Katz (1964) and \"OCB\" by Bateman and Organ (1983).\nConceptual framework and research hypotheses: Schwartz's individual values model\nMethod: Subjects and procedure\nFindings: We first wanted to establish the discriminant validity of the scales applied in the study. We performed an exploratory factor analysis on the 20 items of the transformational leadership scale using principal component analysis. The findings revealed a clear and strong one-factor solution explaining 53.5 percent of the variance. This finding strongly supports the one-dimensionality of the transformational leadership scale, bolstering the conclusion that \"[...] the MLQ essentially assesses a single, overarching, second-order construct\" (Carless, 1998, pp. 356-357). Indeed, similar findings were reported by Shin and Zhou (2003), Koh et al. (1995), Grant (2012), Curphy (1992), and Carless (1998).\nDiscussion: This study continues an important research agenda that has begun only recently, namely, examining the effect of individual values on employees' attitudes and behaviors at the individual level. Indeed, by examining the impact of values on OCB and in-role behaviors, this study expands this line of research significantly (Ang et al., 2003; Clugston et al., 2000; Farh et al., 2007). The study contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it examines the mutual effect of exchange variables, leadership, and commitment, together with individual values on important behaviors such as in-role performance and OCB. Second, the data for the study were collected from different sources (data on values and performance from the schools' principals and data on the exchange variables from the teachers). Such an examination provides interesting insights into the relationship examined, together with reducing common method errors. Finally, this study examined Arab teachers, who represent a culture unlike the Western (and largely English-speaking) cultures frequently examined in the literature. Examining such a culture provides us with different insights into the relationships examined here. For example, do theories examined primarily in Western societies hold when examined in a very traditional culture such as the Arab one?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between individual values, social exchange variables (organizational leadership and transformational leadership), and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and in-role performance. Specifically, we posited that the principals' values would be transmitted to the teachers and would thereby affect the latter's OCB and in-role performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was administrated in a sample of 1,268 teachers and their 64 principals, all of them employed in Arab schools in Israel.\nFindings: The results of HLM showed that the principals' individual values were related to two of the outcome variables: Openness to change was related to altruistic OCB and self-transcendence to in-role performance. However, the nature of the relationships found was not according to expectations. The findings showed a strong positive relationship between the two social exchange variables and all three outcome variables. The results demonstrate that both individual values and social exchange variables are concepts that can increase the understanding of employees' behavior in the workplace.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors conclude by emphasizing the need for further research on the relationship between values, social exchange, and performance and by suggesting some directions for such research.\nOriginality/value: The data for the study were collected from different sources (data on values and performance from the schools' principals and data on the exchange variables from the teachers). Such an examination provides interesting insights into the relationship examined, together with reducing common method errors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mapping out Arab international book fairs: Investigating the development of the Muscat book fair	[ "Oman", "Libraries", "Arab book fairs", "Book fairs", "Book publishing industry", "Muscat international book fair", "Reading habits" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Book fairs play an important role and involve several participants in the publishing industry and the advancement of knowledge enquiry (Moeran, 2010). The history of book fairs dates back more than five centuries, with the Frankfurt Book Fair being renowned as the oldest, largest and most famous (Moeran, 2010; Weidhaas, 2009). Book fairs have evolved over time, however, recent rapid advancements driven by information and communication technology have only occurred in the past three decades, which has fundamentally transformed and reshaped the traditional perception of book fairs.\nContextual background: Arab book fairs\nMethodology: A variety of approaches were used in this study to obtain findings, such as a detailed literature review with an analysis and discussion thereof, questionnaires from MBF visitors and interviews with book fair organisers in Muscat, Sharjah, Beirut and Frankfurt, as well as observations from site visits. Each of these methods helped provide findings which were complimentary to the objectives of the study.\nFindings: Descriptive summary\nDiscussion of findings: This section includes interpretation of the integrated quantitative and qualitative results of the current study, with comparisons drawn from previous studies where applicable, which will assist in determining the current state of the MBF and proposing an appropriate framework for development.\nChallenges: One of the most important challenges faced by international book fairs is their ability to implement developments within the information and communication technology and digital environment. As Song (2012) indicated, this study found that the Frankfurt Book Fair vigorously tracks advancements associated with the publishing industry and the technology of digital and interactive text. Therefore, modern book fairs could attract exhibitors and publishers of digital content, including vendors and providers of electronic books and journals. Therefore, modern book fairs such as Frankfurt can also be credited with the development of digital publishing standards. Respondents to this study's questionnaires also stressed on a need to exhibit technological advancements in the publishing industry, including display of e-readers and e-books.\nConclusion: Aside from the main objective of this study (which focused on the future development of the MBF), it also outlined the current state of the publishing industry and international Arab book fairs, and discussed the drawbacks and ramifications of the shortcomings within the industry that weaken the role of Arab book fairs in the evolution of the Arab publishing industry. It is hoped that the recommendations for improvement of Arab book fairs, specifically in fulfilling the requirements of a flourishing Arab publishing industry, will provide useful insights for implementing changes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the status, challenges and impacts of the Arab international book fairs, with particular focus on the Muscat Book Fair. This study proposes a framework to assist in the design and organisation of future Arab book fairs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study used a variety of methods to obtain data, including questionnaires, site visits (both regional and international), observations and interviews. A literature review was also undertaken which helped determine major worldwide issues related to aspects of book fairs and the publishing industry, focusing on Arab book fairs.\nFindings: Arab international book fairs remain relatively traditional, however, there are several examples of innovative improvements in some states. Reading habits and literacy trends were found to be influenced by dominant socio-cultural factors, emphasising religion and children's literature. This seems to have a reverse effect on the publishing industry. Results also revealed a number of disadvantages related to economic downturns and political instability. Despite continuous expansion, Arab book fairs still suffer from various obstacles which affect the publishing industry's growth. There are other obstacles that they face which are directly associated with distribution and marketing as well as violations of intellectual property laws.\nPractical implications: This study proposes a framework for future improvement of the Muscat Book Fair. It discusses the engagement of local cultural institutions, non-profit community and academic organisations, as well as private sector organisations. These will leverage value and help keep abreast of international developments in book fairs/publishing. It is hoped that the proposed framework will be beneficial to those running book fairs at a regional level, and to countries with developing economies.\nOriginality/value: There have been no previous empirical studies investigating book fairs in the Arab states. This study adds to the currently scarce body of literature related to book fairs and the publishing industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How organisations can affect employees' intention to manage enterprise-specific knowledge through informal mentoring: a vignette study	[ "Mentoring", "Self-determination theory", "Perceived organisational support", "Vignettes", "Knowledge management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Mentoring is regarded as one of the major ways in which organisations can manage their knowledge. As Wickert and Herschel (2001) state, knowledge management (KM) depends upon human interaction. Creating mentoring relations can be an effective means to establish such interaction (Wickert and Herschel, 2001), which ultimately contributes to the extent to which knowledge is shared in organisations (Karkoulian et al., 2008; Nguyen et al., 2019). More formally, mentoring (along) with training is viewed as one of the core practices of an organisation's KM system (Gallupe, 2001). Through the transfer of career- or job-related knowledge from midcareer and senior employees or mentors to junior organisational members or proteges, organisations archive craftsmen knowledge about previously solved issues. As such, mentoring prevents organisations from reinventing the wheel.\nMentoring: a definition: The motivation to mentor depends on the type of mentorship under consideration (Allen, 2003); therefore, we must explain what the term \"mentoring\" means. In this study, we focus on informal mentoring aimed at career support or \"a spontaneously developed and informal form of providing career support that is not officially mandated within the organisation and characterised by an often intimate, interpersonal relation between the mentor and the protege as well as by informal rules regarding contract duration, targeted goals and interaction frequency and content\" (Allen, 2003, p. 136; Eby and Lockwood, 2005, p. 442). A first feature of mentoring is the provision of career support, which means that the mentor transmits job-related knowledge to the protege and assists the individual's career advancement. Doing so empowers the protege and, thus, helps organisations manage enterprise-specific knowledge. A second feature of mentoring is that mentorships are not formally arranged and, hence, not structured along stringent (selection) criteria and tight guidelines (Allen, 2003). Therefore, we focus on informal mentorships that are governed by reciprocity rules of exchange (parties abide by unspecified and unwritten obligations and rights that are usually not subjected to a formal bargaining process; Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005). A final, inherent feature of these so-called \"informal mentorships\" is that they develop naturally (Ragins and Scandura, 1999) without an internal mandate, meaning that mentoring has a volitional nature and is often not an integral part of employees' formal job description and remuneration. Together, these features enable us to study informal mentorships through the lens of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) or \"employee behaviour that is discretionary (i.e. not an essential part of one's contractual tasks, also called extra-role behaviour), not formally rewarded, and [supposed to] benefit the functioning of the organisation\" (Organ, 1988, p. 4).\nA self-determination theory- and perceived organisational support-based approach to mentoring: A thorough review of the literature on the mentor's perspective on mentoring revealed five core organisational determinants for general willingness to mentor: co-mentor consultation, supervisory support for (volitional) mentoring, learning opportunities, time pressure and organisational restructuring (an overview is available upon request). In this study, we rely on a combined SDT and POS theoretical perspective to detail the mechanisms linking these determinants to midcareer and senior employees' intention to volitionally mentor proteges. The theoretical point of departure is that volitional mentoring constitutes an exemplary form of optimal worker functioning. According to SDT, optimal functioning or \"[...] employees' [positive] attitudes towards the organisation\" (Van den Broeck et al., 2014, p. 1907) is instigated by a theoretical mechanism called basic need fulfilment, especially when activities are undertaken volitionally (Gagne and Deci, 2005). Employees need to feel part of a community (need for relatedness), to be enabled to work in a self-directed manner (need for autonomy) and to feel capable of doing their work (need for competence). These needs are posited to be fulfilled through a social context that promotes values such as affiliation, personal growth, empowerment and community contribution (Gagne and Deci, 2005; Van den Broeck et al., 2014). Detailing these so-called \"intrinsic values\" (Van den Broeck et al., 2014) is central to SDT's qualitative approach to values that pays attention to the content rather than the amount of value endorsement necessary for optimal functioning.\nHypotheses: Analogous to a SDT and POS theoretical perspective, we classified our determinants into two overarching categories: organisational intrinsic value support (containing co-mentor consultation, supervisory support for volitional mentoring and learning opportunities) and hindrance demands (containing time pressure and organisational restructuring). This classification has much appeal, as the theoretical underpinnings differ for determinants across categories but overlap for those within categories. For example, supervisory support forms an integral part of autonomy-supportive work climates characteristic of intrinsic value support, whereas restructuring fits theoretical notions of job insecurity pertinent to hindrance demands. It furthermore contains across-discipline precursors of autonomous motivation, citizenship behaviour (Gagne and Deci, 2005) and KS (Witherspoon et al., 2013), showing predictive validity. Hypotheses relating both categories to general willingness to mentor are detailed below.\nMethod: Procedure and participants\nResults: Multilevel results\nDiscussion: This study represents one of the first efforts to understand the relationships between organisational conditions and workplace characteristics and midcareer and senior employees' willingness to mentor volitionally. Before detailing implications, we should make clear that our conclusions apply particularly to non-managerial employees. We consider this an addition to the literature for two reasons. First, we portray mentoring as a volitional activity. This opens up possibilities to concentrate especially on those who intend to mentor proteges because it is enjoyable. Such a dedicated focus is commendable, as a remaining unanswered question is how non-managerial employees' mentoring intention can be fostered. Second, half the non-managerial subsample is employed in knowledge-intensive industries such as IT/technology, pharmacy/health care or finance. Almost two thirds of them hold an occupation in which intergenerational knowledge transfer is indispensable for sustainable organisational growth, enhancing the utility of our study for the KM literature.\nConclusion: This study shows that organisations can enhance experienced employees' intention to volitionally provide career support to junior colleagues through endorsing intrinsic values (e.g. providing learning opportunities) and removing hindrance demands (e.g. lowering time pressures). We extend the KM and mentoring literature by conducting a semi-experiment on the organisational drivers and barriers of general willingness to mentor, construed as a means to nurture KM. By forcing respondents to base their mentoring intentions on a parsimonious yet theoretically sound set of organisational aspects, we respond to Witherspoon et al.'s (2013) call to study KS and concomitant attitudes from specific organisational scenarios.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the role of organisational conditions and workplace characteristics in midcareer and senior employees' intention to volitionally provide career support to junior organisational members, their proteges.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Hypotheses are tested using multilevel linear modelling on a heterogeneous sample of Dutch employees ages 29 to 69 who participated in a vignette study in the autumn of 2017.\nFindings: In line with the hypotheses, the findings of this study show that volitional (informal) mentoring is positively related to an organisation's endorsement of intrinsic values (e.g. learning opportunities) and negatively to the presence of hindrance demands (e.g. time pressure).\nPractical implications: Practitioners could facilitate co-mentor consultation, employ autonomy-supportive direct supervisors and fulfil psychological contract obligations by providing job security and learning opportunities. Organisations could also lower time pressures through job carving.\nOriginality/value: This study extends extant mentoring research by combining insights from perceived organisational support (POS) and self-determination theory (SDT) to examine the role organisational conditions and workplace characteristics play in aiding or hindering volitional mentoring. It enriches extant knowledge management studies on the link between organisational aspects and (intended) knowledge sharing behaviour by showing that similar organisational motivators predict volitional mentoring, thereby launching a call to study knowledge management through volitional mentoring using a SDT- and POS-based lens. A methodological novelty is the reliance on a vignette study.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Total factor productivity growth and its contribution: lessons from the Chinese construction industry pre- and post-2008 financial crisis	[ "Construction industry", "Total factor productivity growth (TFPG)", "2008 financial crisis", "Lessons" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Total factor productivity growth (TFPG) and its contribution (TFPGC) have vital strategic implications in promoting the competitive advantage of the construction industry. Although there are still some slight differences in the definition of total factor productivity (TFP), the present work adopts the classical concept of Solow residual (Gehringer et al., 2016; Ren et al., 2018). Within this setting, TFPG is equal to the residual that the growth of total output subtracts the growth of all inputs, and TFPGC is further defined as a rate of TFPG to the output growth. As a crucial driver of economic growth, TFP has been regarded to effectively drive the development of the industry through TFPG and TFPGC (Ren et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2020; Zha and Li, 2017). Compared with TFP, other drivers (e.g. labor and capital) are deemed as unsustainable drivers due to the law of diminishing marginal utility (Reijnders, 2018; Ye et al., 2019). On the contrary, TFP is a sustainable growth driver. Because the growth driven by TFPG and TFPGC depends almost on technological progress (Liu et al., 2016; Magdalena and Malcolm, 2017), where the marginal utility tends to increase rather than diminish (Wang et al., 2020; Ye et al., 2019). Due to this reason, for any country, industry or even company, TFPG and TFPGC are broadly viewed as vital determinants in seeking themselves competitive advantage (Kapelko and Oude Lansink, 2015; Liu et al., 2016; Ye et al., 2018). Hence, to achieve the desired competitive advantage, it is a common strategy for any nation to improve TFPG and TFPGC in the construction industry.In this background, promoting TFPG and TFPGC is recognized as a global survival strategy for the hyper-competitive construction industry (Hu and Liu, 2018; Meng and Brown, 2018; Sawan et al., 2018), especially in a challenging economic environment after 2008 global financial crisis. As previously noted, the crisis outbreaking in 2007 and hitting most countries in 2008 is well known for its enormous devastation, which is even considered to be the most disastrous economic event since the great depression in 1929 (Aghimien et al., 2018). In response to the recession, various survival actions are adopted to enhance the competitive advantage of the industry in most developed and developing countries (Tansey et al., 2013; Treshani and Waidyasekara, 2015). Unfortunately, the performance of these efforts is overall poor, TFP even presents negative growth in many countries (Abdel-Wahab and Vogl, 2011; Bernard and Mohamed, 2015; Hasan et al., 2018). As a result, this dilemma directly causes numerous construction enterprises to go into bankruptcy. For example, according to Tansey et al. (2013), the number of construction firm failures in the UK was 2,785 in 2008 with a much increased number in 2009. Similarly, in Ireland, four of the top ten construction companies failed to survive in the recession, while the failed number increased from 120 in 2007 to 740 in 2011 (Aghimien et al., 2018).Conversely, in response to the crisis and recession, the performance of the Chinese construction industry seems to be more successful. Since the financial crisis hit China at the end of 2008 (Ma, 2018), the total number of construction enterprises has been increasing (Wang et al., 2018b), which means few firms fail to survive in a challenging economy. Moreover, recent studies indicated that TFP in the industry achieved significant growth after the crisis (Tan et al., 2015; Ye et al., 2018, 2019). Compared with aforementioned countries that did not cope well with the recession, it seems that some effective survival lessons had been waiting to be mined and revealed in the Chinese construction industry, particularly in promoting TFPG and TFPGC. Therefore, measuring TFPG and TFPGC and further refining the potential successful lessons will have important practical implications in the industry.Against this unique background, this empirical paper aims to investigate and reveal the potential successful lessons in the Chinese construction industry. In this regard, a special comparative analysis of TFPG and TFPGC before and after the crisis has not yet investigated (more details see Section 2.2.2). Given that such comparative analysis usually mines more valuable information (Kapelko et al., 2014; Lai, 2015), this work is thus conducted primarily based on a comparative analysis between pre- and post-2008 financial crisis. To that end, the first objective is to measure TFPG and TFPGC. More importantly, the second objective is to discuss and analyze these results, which can mine and reveal the essential reasons behind their evolution. On this basis, the third objective is to summarize the potential lessons of promoting them and propose practical policy implications.The remaining sections of this paper are arranged below. A literature review is conducted in the next section. The methodology is described in Section 3. The used data is introduced in Section 4. Section 5 and 6 report the results and discussion, respectively. The final section summarizes the conclusions and further provides some important policy implications for better survival in a challenging economy.\n2. Literature review: The above research design implies a crucial research premise; namely, TFPG and TFPGC in the Chinese construction industry were indeed influenced by the 2008 financial crisis event. Thus, to fill the research objectives, Section 2 consists of two subsections: Section 2.1 will review the impact of the crisis on TFPG and TFPGC in China; Section 2.2 will conduct an overview on the measurement of TFPG and TFPGC at the construction industry level, which makes the selection of measurement method and knowledge gaps be presented clearly. 2.1 Impact of the 2008 financial crisis on TFPG and TFPGC in China\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Solow Residual Approach\n4. Data collection: According to the aforesaid research method and selected measurement indicators, a plan of data collection in this paper is determined, as illustrated in Figure 1. As stated by Zhang et al. (2018), in the last two decades, the most important reform of the Chinese construction industry has been perceived to be the market-oriented reform, which aimed to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). Meanwhile, past studies have demonstrated that becoming a member of WTO would have a remarkable impact on TFPG and TFPGC (Ozyurt, 2009; Tian and Yu, 2012). To better achieve research aim and objectives, the comparative analysis of TFPG and TFPGC pre- and post-2008 financial crisis should be in the context of joining WTO. Given that China formally joined WTO on December 11, 2001, and the global financial crisis hit China at the end of 2008, the pre-2008 financial crisis period was limited to 2002-2008. Due to data availability, the whole surveyed period was from 2002 to 2016. On this basis, the post-2008 financial crisis period was defined from 2009 to 2016.As previously highlighted, measuring TFPG and TFPGC is based on the selected indicators for input and output variables. Naturally, the major data to be collected are the data of fixed assets, the number of employees and total value added, all sourced from the China Statistical Yearbook on Construction published by the Chinese Bureau of Statistics (CBS). For output data, the raw value added data are nominal values. Consequently, the aided value-added index in construction is collected to remove the effect of the price factor, the data of which are from the China Statistical Yearbook published by CBS as well. By doing so, 2002 was selected as a base year, and all output data were at a constant price level.Similarly, the aided fixed assets investment price index being from China Statistical Yearbook was also introduced to eliminate the impact of price factor on capital input. Nevertheless, as illustrated in Eqn 9, fixed assets are affected not only by depreciation but also by incremental fixed assets investment. Thus, these data must be collected as well, which are from China Statistical Yearbook on Construction. In addition, the selection of period 0 in PIM is very important. Because of data limitation, 1989 was considered as period 0, while the period 1989-2000 was chosen to calculate the average capital growth rate (g) and depreciation rate (d). In reality, such a time arrangement is also in accordance with the previous study (Ye et al., 2019). More importantly, from the view of economics, these arrangements are considered to be reasonable. Because the average depreciation rate was up to 8.23% during the period 1989-2000, which ensured that fixed assets formed before 1989 would be absolutely depreciated in 2000 at the least. In other words, K0 had little impact on the capital stock estimation. Afterwards, according to Eqns 9 and 10, all fixed assets data were at the 1989 price level.Conversely, as another input, labor input data is much easier to collect. However, the raw labor input data are an instantaneous year-end value, which does not express an annual average value. Hence, following previous studies (Wang et al., 2020; Ye et al., 2019), the total number of employees was estimated by averaging annual numbers as below: the current labor input = (year-end number of employees + previous year-end number of employees)/2. Additionally, to calculate the share of labor input, the aided data of employee salaries from China Statistical Yearbook on Construction should be collected as well.After the above-collected activities, the relevant data to measure TFPG and TFPGC were obtained and listed in Table 3. On this basis, the measurement scheme is implemented in the next section.\n5. Results: 5.1 TFPG pre- and post-2008 financial crisis\n6. Discussion: Based on the above results, it can be seen that TFPG and TFPGC pre- and post-2008 financial crisis indeed have remarkable differences. According to research objectives, in the following sections we will discuss these results step by step. In detail, a reliability discussion is planned first. Subsequently, an evolutionary analysis of TFPG and TFPGC is arranged. Eventually, some lessons are summarized and learned. 6.1 Reliability of measurement results\n7. Conclusions, policy implications and future study: 7.1 Conclusions and contributions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In response to the 2008 financial crisis, the performance of the Chinese construction industry seems to be more successful, especially in total factor productivity growth (TFPG) and its contribution (TFPGC). Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate and reveal the potential successful lessons in this regard.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is conducted innovatively based on a special comparative analysis of TFPG and TFPGC between pre- and post-2008 financial crisis. Solow Residual Approach is used to measure TFPG and TFPGC for the period 2002-2016. Given that the crisis hit China at the end of 2008, the pre-2008 financial crisis period is from 2002 to 2008, and the post-2008 financial crisis period is limited to 2009-2016.\nFindings: The results indicate that the industry indeed has better performance in promoting TFPG and TFPGC, TFP thus achieved significant accumulative growth before and after the crisis. However, from an evolutionary perspective, both TFPG and TFPGC presented an overall downward trend from before the crisis to after the crisis. Further, the game between the centrally planned economy and the market-oriented economy was identified and revealed as the essential reason behind the evolution of TFPG and TFPGC.\nPractical implications: Some valuable lessons for policies and practices in promoting TFPG and TFPGC were summarized and learned from the Chinese experience, such as reducing administrative intervention and making the construction market play a decisive role.\nOriginality/value: This study provides some new empirical evidence to enrich the overall body of knowledge on growth theory, especially in promoting TFPG and TFPGC.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Banking patronage motives of the urban informal poor	[ "Urban communities", "Poverty", "Disadvantaged groups", "Banking", "South Africa", "Social economics" ]	[ { "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 developing nations such as South Africa, India and Indonesia, the vast majority of consumers are poor by international standards. One of the many challenges in these emerging markets is to determine how to uplift the poor. The South African Banking Council (2003) hopes to play a significant role in this, by ensuring that the banking industry improves access and services to banking facilities for this segment of the population.The problem is that many of the formal banks are not developing and adapting their products and services to meet the needs of the poor (Moore, 2000). Instead, the formal banks are continuing to market complex products and services designed for more affluent consumers whose market behaviour is markedly different from that of the poor. While some of the formal banks have begun to market directly to the poor, very little is known about the importance that poor people place on selected patronage factors in choosing bank products, or on the perceived usefulness of the various banking services that support the products. The purpose of this study is to identify, amongst the urban informal poor, the importance of selected patronage factors in choosing banking products, and to determine the perceived usefulness of the various banking services.Informal settlement (often referred to as squatter camps or shanty towns) are densely populated settlements comprised of members housed in self-constructed shelters under conditions of informal or traditional land tenure (Fraser and Manson, 2003). In South Africa, the urban informal settlement is driven by the legacy of Apartheid, shortages of government low-income housing and abject poverty. Despite the efforts of government to improve housing conditions, it is clear that informal settlements will remain part of the urban landscape in South Africa for many years to come (Ballantyne and Oelofse, 1999).\nLiterature review: Banking in South Africa\nResearch methodology: Research design and data collection\nResults: Demographics of the sample\nConclusions: It was shown that 71.3 per cent of respondents in Zandspruit Informal Settlement had a bank account. Of these respondents it was found that there was a significant association between having a bank account and various demographics such as income level, employment status, and level of education. For this reason P1 is supported.From the mean ratings of the perceived importance of selected patronage factors it was found that there was a significant difference in perception between respondents with bank accounts and those who did not have bank accounts. Respondents with bank accounts perceived all statements in the questionnaire to be more important or more useful than did those without accounts. P2 is therefore supported, meaning that there is a difference between the importance of selected patronage factors for individuals with bank accounts and for those who do not have bank accounts.From the mean ratings of the perceived usefulness of specific banking services it was found that there was a significant difference between respondents who had bank accounts and those who did not have bank accounts. Respondents with bank accounts perceived all statements in the questionnaire to be more important or more useful than did those without accounts. P3 is therefore supported, meaning that there is a difference between the perceived usefulness of specific banking services for individuals with bank accounts and those who do not have bank accounts.Four factors for selected patronage factors were identified through factor analysis. The four factors that influence the perceived importance of selected patronage factors in banking the poor are: the consumer benefits factor, the promotional factor, the basic credit factor, and the consumer accessibility factor.Four factors for specific banking services were identified through factor analysis. The four factors that influenced the perceived usefulness of specific services in banking the poor are: the transactions media factor, the tertiary plan factor, the secondary plan factor, and the primary plan factor.To ascertain which demographic characteristics play a role in defining each factor, several independent sample procedures were conducted. The results suggested that a number of demographic characteristics such as age, household income, employment status, and education level played a role in defining some of the factors. P5 is therefore supported, meaning that there is a difference between the factors that define the perceived usefulness of specific services and demographic characteristics.The results of the cluster analysis recommended that for both the selected patronage factors and the specific banking services factors there were five distinct clusters.The five clusters for selected patronage factors were significantly associated with respect to whether or not the respondents had a bank account, with respect to gross household income, and with respect to employment status. P5 is therefore supported, meaning that there is an association between the importance of selected patronage clusters and demographic characteristics.The five clusters for specific banking services were significantly associated with respect to whether or not the respondents had a bank account and gross household income. P6 is therefore rejected, meaning that there is an association between usefulness of specific banking services clusters and demographic characteristics.Further insights were also gained from the responses to the open-ended questions. The overwhelming response was that security is a major concern, specifically when drawing cash from ATMs.Implications for management\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the banking needs of urban informal poor consumers in South Africa. These consumers find it difficult to obtain access to banking products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A survey of consumers was undertaken in a large informal settlement outside Johannesburg. A qualitative exploratory pilot study was undertaken first to gain a better understanding of these consumers and to develop a research instrument. Second, a quantitative analysis was undertaken among 200 households.\nFindings: - Banking products used by the sample are discussed as well as all their patronage motives. It was established that the majority of consumers did have a bank account and there was a significant association between having an account and various demographics such as income level, employment status and level of education.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Each informal settlement may have unique characteristics and therefore it may be difficult to generalize the findings.\nPractical implications: - Banks will have to address the patronage factors of these consumers as they have very different needs when compared to middle and upper income customers. Specify strategies are recommended to bank management.\nOriginality/value: - No study has been done on the banking needs of this segment of the market and very little is known about the urban informal poor in general. This paper gives insight into how banks can play their part in uplifting the poor in societies where they make up large segments of the population.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Work-family culture in academia: a gendered view of work-family conflict and coping strategies	[ "Gender", "Conflict management", "Family roles", "Design of work", "Portugal", "Academic staff" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Higher-education institutions have been going through a major transformation with a significant impact on the role and working practices of the academics (Barry et al., 2001). In the context of the \"increasingly economistic and managerial ethos, which surrounds university life,\" (Currie et al., 2000, p. 269), academic jobs have become more demanding in terms of effort, as well as time. With growing institutional demands and accountability and work intensification a 50 or 60 hours per week workload became the norm in many universities (Jacobs and Winslow, 2004). In a study conducted in Australia, Currie et al. (2000, p. 270) reported that academics felt the pressure \"to give more time to the university, work overtime and weekends while not being paid any more money for doing so\". Similar examples of academic overwork could easily be found across Europe. An individual orientation, and an unlimited time devoted to academic work with total commitment to the \"cause\" (Cummins, 2005) are not new requirements in academe but perhaps universities have pushed it too far in recent years and became \"greedy institutions\" (Currie et al., 2000).Research on work-family conflict has found that such conflict is higher among those who work longer hours or have greater work demands, and report higher job involvement and greater autonomy (Eby et al., 2005), thus rendering the academic context particularly sensitive to work-family issues. The fact that total commitment might be self-imposed by social and career expectations does not change the main argument in this paper: as the long hours culture becomes \"the norm\" in university settings academics are increasingly likely to feel the tensions between work and family life, and the work-family culture that prevails in academia is unlikely to make things easier for faculty members, particularly women, trying to balance the job requirements and the demands of family life.Universities have traditionally organised academic careers based on the male life patterns making it more difficult for women to advance their careers while building a family (Armenti, 2004; Moen and Sweet, 2004). However, the intensified organisational demands and the current expectations that academics will devote unlimited time to their work raise new gender issues worth addressing. The gendered division of household labour, and the gendered expectations of family obligations and responsible parenting that remain in Western societies (Acker and Armenti, 2004; Jacobs and Winslow, 2004) also play a significant part in the tensions between work and family, particularly for mothers of young children.The paper looks at the tensions and conflict between academic work and family life that arise from work intensification and increasing career demands in the particular context of Portuguese academia. Drawing on the concept of work-family culture (Thompson et al., 1999), the paper discusses its influence on the level of work-family conflict and the effectiveness of work-family policies.The paper begins with a review of the key issues related to the tensions and conflict between work and family, and the prevailing gender role attitudes. Particular attention is paid to the main features of the Portuguese context concerning work and family. It then looks at previous research on the effectiveness of work-family policies and the gendered nature of work-family culture in academic settings. After dealing with the research design and methodology, the paper presents the analysis and interpretation of interview data. The concluding section discusses the major findings and their implications.\nWork-family conflict and the Portuguese context: There is a growing body of literature addressing the relationship between work and family regarded as two separate domains competing for the time and energy of individuals (Byron, 2005; Eby et al., 2005). Although the tensions and conflict between work and family might be universal, the social and cultural contexts appear to play an important role in the level of conflict and the factors that give rise to that conflict. In fact, the social support provided by the welfare system, the labour legislation, the division of domestic labour, the level of sex segregation at the workplace, and the gender roles and status vary considerably between countries affecting the level and explanatory factors of work-family conflict (Crompton and Lyonette, 2006; Lyonette et al., 2007). Contextual factors, however, remain overlooked in the literature.Work-family tensions and conflict\nWork-family culture and policies in academia: In the last decades, work-family programmes and family-friendly policies were included in the HRM best-practices repertoire and presented as advanced people-oriented management practices expected to be found in the best places to work. The argument was that \"employers could accrue benefits and reduce costs if they establish work-life initiatives that fit organizational needs and also address the needs of employees\" (Pitt-Catsouphes and Googins, 2005, p. 470). However, there is evidence showing that work-family programmes and policies designed to mitigate the difficulties of employees with particular family needs, primarily mothers of young children, are likely to have a greater impact on the organizational image and reputation than on the employees' well-being (Blum et al., 1994). Quite often, those policies are merely \"empty shells\" with little correspondence in supporting practices (Hoque and Noon, 2004). The enactment of family-friendly policies and their translation into day-to-day operations require a family-friendly culture, in other words, a culture that challenges traditional gender role assumptions and is responsive to work-family issues (Swanberg, 2004).Work-family culture in academia\nMethod: The exploratory nature and goals of this study intended to understand the tensions between academic work and family life as they are influenced by the prevailing work-family culture recommended the use of in-depth interviews and a qualitative research methodology normally considered the most appropriate approach for studies of this nature or intended to explore cultural issues (Hatch, 1993).The study was conducted in a Portuguese public university selected for reasons of access. Like most other universities elsewhere in the country, the distribution by rank in this institution shows significant gender differences with gender figures closer to parity (percentage of women ranging from 39 to 45) at the junior ranks, and a gender gap increasingly wide the closer it gets to the very top. At the associate and full professorial levels, the percentage of women ranges from 22 to 32. The usual gender segregation by field of studies was also detected, with women overrepresented in areas like education and underrepresented in the technologies. Overall, the gender distribution by rank at this particular university is very similar to the one found at the country level. While not claiming that the results can be generalised to the overall sector, the fact that this particular university ranks close to average amongst public universities in the country in terms of size, status, and demographic indicators in general, adds to the relevance of the conclusions drawn from this study.Interviewees were selected using a staff database containing information about gender, age, marital status and academic rank. The sample is not statistically representative of the population, though an effort was made to include individuals at different career stages and with different academic and family backgrounds. Overall, 32 in-depth interviews were conducted (15 men and 17 women). Their age ranged from 25 to 64. Nine men and seven women were senior academics, and six men and ten women were junior. Nine interviewees were single and 23 were married. Amongst the married academics, ten women and eight men had children, in most cases dependent children.The initial contact was made by e-mail, and a brief description of the nature and goals of the study was sent to the participants. The interviews lasted between one to two hours and were tape-recorded. The open-ended questions covered a wide range of issues related to the relationship between work and family (description of a typical day schedule at the workplace and at home, task allocation at home, individual efforts to accommodate work and family demands, and organizational support to work-family issues).The interviews were transcribed verbatim and content analysed without computer-assisted qualitative research software. Interviews were coded using themes and concepts that emerged from the interviews and the literature review (Rubin and Rubin, 1995). In the analysis, themes emerged pertaining to work-family conflict, the unequal division of housework and childcare, unsupportive marital relationships, and negative work characteristics (role overload and long-hours work). The work-family culture themes were related to the lack of informal and formal support by the university with regard to parenthood and childcare, and the view of commitment as availability to long-hour journeys.\nFindings: The first section looks at the tensions and level of conflict between academic work and family life. The second section examines how gendered assumptions about motherhood and work commitment have prevented this organization from developing a positive work-family culture, thus rendering work-family policies largely fruitless.The tensions and conflict between academic work and family life\nDiscussion and conclusions: In this study, it was found that men and women in academia face considerable difficulties in reconciling work and family. These difficulties are primarily felt by women, particularly mothers of dependent children and are attributed to the preservation of traditional gender roles in the family, to an ineffective legislation, and a work-family culture that is clearly family-unfriendly.Despite the progress made by women in the last decades, a major barrier to equal opportunities \"both in the labour market and the domestic sphere is the influence of the normative ideology of gender roles in marriage\" (Arber and Ginn, 1995, p. 26). Fathers appear to have a choice between concentrating on their careers with a limited involvement in their families, and trying to combine work and childcare responsibilities. Unlike fathers, mothers have no choice to look after their children. For women, whether they were married or not, the decision to have a family has significant career consequences. In a context of work intensification in higher education, the full commitment to the \"cause\" (Cummins, 2005) can only make things worse in terms of equal opportunities between men and women.The data show that both men and women experience work-family conflict, but they do it differently. Women tend to show a major concern for family matters. Married women with young children, in particular, regret not being able to pay enough attention to their families and children and referred to housework and childcare as major constraints to their academic performance. Men appear to show concern for both work and family, in similar terms, and seldom refer to housework or childcare as constraints to their academic performance.The study concluded that the prevailing work-family culture in this particular university hinders the effectiveness of the work-family policies and legislation. And it does so, in two ways. On the one hand, academics, particularly mothers of young children, perceive negative career consequences associated with the use of the family benefits available to them and the time devoted to family matters. On the other, the time academics are expected to devote to work and the use of long hours as an indicator of commitment act as a deterrent to the adoption of family friendly policies.This study illustrates the cumulative effect of traditional gender roles in the family and the negative work-family culture in the organization, both contributing to higher levels of work-family conflict. The traditional gender roles in the family finds support in a work culture that still considers family issues as women's issues, while allowing organizational cultures to thrive on the gendered assumption that women are less committed to work simply because they are mothers.The gap between policy and the practice of equal opportunities is well documented in the literature (Bagilhole, 2002; Doherty and Manfredi, 2006; Hoque and Noon, 2004) and the current study provides additional evidence that simple benefits provided by work-family policies and legislation can be undermined by a negative work-family culture. In the current case, the university seemed to have opted out from its social responsibilities and even the implementation of maternity legislation was undermined by management practices. The fact that such a state-of-affairs was allowed to carry on in a public institution and at a time of public concern for the steadily decline in birth rates in the country is quite revealing of a negative work-family culture, not simply at the organizational level but at the level of society as a whole. The extent to which that social and cultural background is reflected in other higher education institutions requires further examination.Also, significant is that individual faculty members did not blame the university for not being socially responsible. In other words, while regretting the lack of childcare facilities individuals seemed to accept that the institution was not responsible for their provision considering it was up to individuals to solve their own problems. When asked about equal opportunities in their particular university, most men and women interviewed rated their university very positively. If there is discrimination, it is limited to the private realm and to the unequal distribution of domestic work:I think that in the academic context the situations of gender discrimination do not exist, at least I don't see them happening. This school is an example of that: it has many women. [...] I think that some inequality of opportunities persist in tasks outside paid work, at the level of home responsibilities which are not equally shared. I think that in spite of women pursuing an academic career they still have less time available to invest in their career than men (female assistant professor, 34-years old, married, childless).This line of argument rests with the notion of separation of family from work, and reinforces the idea that work-family issues concern the individuals, women in particular, and should be dealt with at that level. Most interviewees in this study appear to share the view that \"having children is a private choice, has nothing to do with business or society, and therefore is a strictly individual concern\" (Bailyn, 1999, p. 212). From this viewpoint, the university as such has no responsibility in promoting equal opportunities, and it is up to the individuals to find ways of accommodating work and family. The following quotation from a female academic illustrates this viewpoint:I think that the university does not have to do anything about it. It's up to individuals to resist this ideology that attributes to women the family responsibilities and try to change things. It is people who have to change [...] (female assistant professor, 39-years old, married, mother of one).For work-family needs to be translated into supportive policies a sense of entitlement has to be developed, that is to say that employees are entitled to voice their needs and change traditional working practices for family reasons (Lewis, 1997). Family-friendly initiatives are often interpreted as perks similar to recreation facilities, rather than a matter of basic human needs and rights. In this study, it is apparent the low sense of entitlement to work-family benefits, particularly among women academics. They seem to view maternity leave as a choice the organization was allowed to make on their own conditions and terms, rather than a mandatory legal provision. Changing this state-of-affairs requires the acknowledgment that work-family issues are not \"women's problems\" (Liff and Cameron, 1997) but problems that also concern the organization and, indeed, society as whole. This study suggests that to change work-family culture, the gendered assumptions that are underlying workplace practices and the current family arrangements have to be challenged. Why universities appear to lag behind in this process of social transformation deserves further research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper looks at the tensions and conflict between work and family life that arise from work intensification in higher education, in the particular context of Portuguese academe. Drawing on the concept of work-family culture, the paper aims to discuss its influence on the level of work-family conflict and the effectiveness of work-family policies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study was conducted in a Portuguese university. Data were collected from 32 in-depth interviews with faculty members from different backgrounds and affiliations.\nFindings: - The preservation of traditional gender roles in the family as well as a work-family culture that is largely family-unfriendly helps to understand the tensions and conflict between academic work and family life. These tensions are mainly felt by women particularly mothers of dependent children. The data also suggest that work-family policies are fruitless unless they are supported by a positive work-family culture.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Study limited to a single university.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides evidence of the cumulative effect of the traditional division of gender roles in the family and a negative work-family culture in the organization in contributing to increasing levels of work-family conflict, particularly in a context of work intensification.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Blogs and the design of reflective peer-to-peer technology-enhanced learning and formative assessment	[ "Blogs", "Peer‐to‐peer learning", "Formative assessment", "Technology‐enhanced learning", "Online learning", "Higher education", "Students", "Sweden" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The body of research concerning the design of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) (Kukulska-Hulme and Jones, 2011; Laurillard, 2008a) and educational technology (Januszewski and Molenda, 2008) is growing rapidly (Balacheff et al., 2009; Beetham and Sharpe, 2007; Lindberg and Olofsson, 2010). Lately however, such research has been criticized (cf. Bebell et al., 2010; Laurillard, 2008b; Olofsson and Lindberg, 2011) for: a lack of a clear and theoretically informed design of the educational technologies to be used in higher education for learning and teaching purposes; and a lack of a sound and theoretically informed analysis of the empirical research on issues concerning educational technologies. Mor and Winters (2007, p. 67) support this critique stating:Every piece of technology designed for education assumes, and therefore supports, a particular organizational structure and a specific prioritization of knowledge. Yet these assumptions are often left unmentioned.Although educational technology has been described in a number of ways over the in this paper educational technology is to be understood as \"[...] the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources\" (Januszewski and Molenda, 2008, p. 1). In this study technological processes and resources are addressed by looking at online peer-to-peer learning, focusing on a course study design that integrates the use of blogs for formative assessment.The use of blogs, wikis and simulations in online higher education is increasing (Conole, 2010; Laurillard, 2008b). Online practices in universities are also facilitated by an increased availability of virtual learning environments supporting integrated systems of social learning. Research on the social dimension of learning in TEL higher educational practices cannot be seen as a completely new phenomenon - it seems to be properly established in educational research (see for example Balacheff et al., 2009; Jonassen and Land, 2000; Olofsson and Lindberg, 2006). Research into the social dimension of learning seems to illustrate a shift in focus: from individual learning towards collaborative learning (see for example Dillenbourg, 2008) thereby providing an increase in the theoretical basis for understanding educational practices. Different kinds of frameworks and ideas of design combined with TEL have been established (see for example, Hannafin and Land, 1997; Westera, 2010).In this paper, we address how blogs can provide for, and facilitate, reflective peer-to-peer learning highlighting online formative assessment. The analysis is done using students' blogs in an online higher education course provided by a university in Sweden, and builds on the ICE framework of Fostaty Young and Wilson (2000) and Fostaty Young (2005) focusing on ideas, connections, and extensions of content matter in text documents. This analytical framework will be further explained below.\nAssessment: Assessment designed and carried out for formative purposes is of continuous interest in higher education (Black and William, 1998; Sadler, 1989; Shephard, 2009). According to Sadler (1989) formative assessment is used for creating an ongoing process of shaping the students' learning and improving their understandings and competences. Further, it is used to create opportunities for students to, by means of feedback, develop a better understanding of their own learning activities combined with an understanding of learning for life, not for the test (Cooper, 2000; Stout, 2002; Williams, 2008).This move towards a more process-orientated, or formative, character of assessment seems to be parallel to the increased interest in the social dimension of learning within higher education. In addition, it seems to have directed research towards investigating collaborative learning activities in which the university student not only receives feedback or review from the teacher but also from co-students. Peer-to-peer learning framed by the practice of assessment has gained growing interest in research (see for example Keppell et al., 2006; O'Donovan et al., 2004; Price et al., 2007; Tseng and Tsai, 2007). Lately, these educational activities have increasingly been supported by technology (Stodberg, 2011).\nPeer-to-peer learning: Turning to peer-to-peer learning, the main thrust seems to be creating shared educational spaces for university students that can be either physical or virtual in character, and in which the students, among other activities, can engage in communication with each other; discuss course-related issues; help each other in order to deepen their understandings; and facilitate learning processes (Scott et al., 2009). The frameworks for the students' collaborative and peer-to-peer activities can range from being rather regulated and teacher-centered to scenarios in which the students could both set the agenda for the content focus and for the way their collaborative work should be carried out. This can be understood in terms of scaffolding. In the context of online higher education there are signs implying that carefully designed scaffolding is important for productive peer-to-peer learning situations (cf. Sharma and Hannafin, 2007; Westera et al., 2009). However, critical voices in research literature point out that this form of scaffolding can disturb equally important self-directed learning strategies among the students (e.g. Scott et al., 2009).Parallel to the development of learning designs different kinds of technological resources have been implemented in the educational environment in order to support the learning activities hoped for by the educational provider. Examples are research on games (Kennedy, 2004), blogs (Klamma et al., 2007), pods (Lee and Chan, 2007), simulations (Hall and Soderstrom, 2011), video-paper (Hauge and Norenes, 2009), and wikis (Lund et al., 2009). In this paper, the students performed collaboratively in a peer-to-peer situation using blogs hosted on a shared online environment. Aside from the instructions given by the teachers on what to focus on in the blogs, the learning activity was handed over totally to the students.\nBlogs: Blogs can be described as \"simple content management tools enabling non-experts to build easily updatable web diaries or online journals\" that are \"networked between several users who post thoughts that often focus upon a common theme\" (Kamel et al., 2007, p. 5). However, blogs no longer need to solely consist of written text or postings (Hain and Back, 2008). Lately, blogs using video postings, so-called v-logs, have become popular and more frequently used in online educational spaces (Lindberg et al., 2010; Olofsson et al., 2011; Warmbrodt et al., 2008). Characterising all types of blogs is their location in a shared online space with an intention to facilitate the learners' reflective thinking. According to Hatzipanagos and Warburton (2009), these reflective practices are two-fold. First, they have a meta-reflective function and second, they function as reflections concerning other learners' comments related to one's own posting in the blog. This view is supported by Augustsson (2010).Given this brief background in which peer-to-peer learning, formative assessment and blogs builds a triad of research interest, we will analyze the use of student blogs through an interpretative approach as part of a formative assessment practice. Specifically, to investigate how reflective peer-to-peer learning can be designed and provided through the use of blogs in online higher education.\nCourse design and research methods: The empirical setting is an elective online higher education course with focus on \"ICT and new media as learning support\". The course design comprised individual assignments as well as assignments to be conducted collaboratively within a study group. The assignments were text-based (as in the case of the blog). In total, 23 students were enrolled in the course. Students were of different age groups, some already working, others still at the university. For assessment purposes, all students had to publish online blogs of their own as well as provide comments upon their peer-students' individual blogs. The theme for this assignment was \"knowledge about research\", and the blogs were kept for a period of 3-4 weeks. The students had access to podcast-lectures and course literature and their task was to use the individual blogs for writing theme-related comments and reflections. In addition, the study guide stated that the students should read and comment upon their co-students' blogs. Commenting and engaging in discussions were allowed, as well as replying on comments in the blogs. The podcasts provided by the teachers were to be connected to the readings in the course literature. These guidelines were created to support the students' knowledge on the issue and to facilitate peer-to-peer learning when using the blogs. When the blog assignment ended, the course also had summative assessments.The analysis was done using the total number of blogs and related comments published online. In total, the 23 students wrote 26 blogs (three students wrote two blogs) and 123 comments (nine of which were replies to other students' comments on the author's blog). While one student did not comment on any blog of the others, the number of comments from other students ranged from one to 11 with a median of five comments. One blog was not commented on by any other student (one of the double blogs); the other blogs received from one to ten comments with a median of five comments.\nAnalytic framework: For analysis of the blogs and comments the ICE (Ideas, Connections, and Extension) three level classification model (Fostaty Young, 2005; Fostaty Young and Wilson, 2000) was used. ICE is a process-orientated approach to content assessment said to relate students to their own progress and not to standards and norms. This model can be understood as a more dynamic alternative to the more static or hierarchical Bloom's Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956). In the ICE three level classification model the component of Ideas is the first step in the analytical process of describing the fundamentals, facts or information. The second step involves looking for connections as articulated relationships between ideas. Connections relates to previous knowledge and associates new bits to things already known. Extensions, the final step, is internalising ideas and connections to a degree that they help to answer deeper questions such as how new knowledge provides for a view of the world. Ideas are demonstrated in terms of fundamentals, basic facts, vocabulary, definitions, details, and elemental concepts. Signs of connections are shown when students demonstrate how basic concepts are related or when students make connections between what was learned and what they already knew. Extensions reveal themselves when students use new learning in novel ways and display answers to questions such as what this means or how this shapes their view of the world (Fostaty Young and Wilson, 2000).The ICE three level classification model was used as follows. At first, each blog was interpreted within the framework as containing ideas, connections and extensions. Thereafter, comments are interpreted. Even though the ICE approach allows an analysis of each student blog and comments and thereby revealing potential progress on an individual level, the analysis will focus only on the blog contents and comments in order to see how peer-to-peer practices unfolded.\nBlog content and findings: In this section the contents of the student blogs are presented. Starting with the content written individually in the student blogs, we thereafter present some examples of comments posted by co-students on those individual blogs. The ICE three level classification model is used for analytical purposes. In the discussion section the findings will be related to issues concerning peer-to-peer learning and formative assessment online.Ideas only\nDiscussion: The aim of the paper has been to analyze the use of student blogs as part of a formative assessment practice. Specifically, we have investigated how reflective peer-to-peer learning can be designed and provided through the use of blogs in online higher education. The analysis reveals that the students' use of blogs, as a technological resource, contained relevant issues concerning the course assignment displaying the students' knowledge at different levels. Since the assignment in its character was a reflected exercise, this is perhaps not especially surprising. However, the extent to which the students actually commented on the contents of the blogs, and did not only restate the content of the blogs appears to be more interesting. Since the students were left to work on their own, and the teachers in the online course remain invisible in the blog exercise, the blogs in themselves seem to work as a resource for peer-to-peer interactions supporting the process of knowledge extension among the students. The blog activity was characterized by a willingness to help each other to further understand rather than to correct and patronise (cf. Sharma and Hannafin, 2007; Westera et al., 2009).As an overall assessment, the course design seems to afford an informal and formative process of assessment scaffolding the students' knowledge extension. In this process, the students' own as well as peer-to-peer learning activities became central. It appears as if the course design in a way encouraged and supported an understanding of learning for life, not for the test (cf. Cooper, 2000; Stout, 2002; Williams, 2008). The designed use of blogs in the online course created a reflective practice in which the blogs served both a meta-reflective function and as reflections concerning other learners' comments related to one's own blog posting (cf. Hatzipanagos and Warburton, 2009). We argue that the study presented in this paper is an example of a theoretically informed design of an educational technology that worked to enhance learning in online higher education.Some critical considerations concerning the use of the ICE classification model\nConcluding remarks: According to Bebell et al. (2010), Laurillard (2008b), Mor and Winters (2007), and Olofsson and Lindberg (2011) the lack of sound and theoretically informed design is a major weakness in online higher education practices. The current study contributes to the knowledge in the field by focusing on how formative assessment as a designed peer-to-peer practice may stimulate an online learning activity. The learning design was carefully designed to scaffold productive peer-to-peer learning by the use of a varied set of technology and learning content resources, underlining research findings by Sharma and Hannafin (2007) and Westera et al. (2009). The ICE (Ideas, Connections and Extensions) classification model (Fostaty Young, 2005; Fostaty Young and Wilson, 2000) provided a dynamic resource for the analysis of blog contents giving valuable insights on the design of online higher education practices.The study has shown how the use of blogs as part of a formative assessment practice in online higher education provides possibilities for designing reflective technology-enhanced peer-to-peer learning. The students enrolled in the course showed signs of demonstrating connections between new knowledge and prior knowledge. They were also able to utilize new means of learning in a peer-to-peer practice without direct involvement of a teacher during the course process.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of blogs as part of a formative assessment practice, to report how reflective peer-to-peer learning can be designed and provided in online higher education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research relies on a qualitative approach. The empirical setting comprised an online higher education course in which 23 students were enrolled. All students wrote individual blogs, and the analysis was done using all postings and comments from the blogs. For the analysis the ICE (Ideas, Connections, and Extension) three level classification model was used.\nFindings: - The designed blog exercise turned into an informal and formative type of assessment that scaffolds the students' learning, providing a reflective peer-to-peer technology-enhanced learning design.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study is limited to one online higher education course. Additional research on educational technology and e-assessment is needed. In particular, research on the informed design of technology-enhanced learning practices characterized by formative e-assessment and the role of the designed use of blogs in the facilitating and enhancement of the students' peer-to-peer learning.\nPractical implications: - The paper demonstrates that the design and use of blogs embrace a formative assessment approach that cultivates the students' reflective peer-to-peer learning.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides insight into the designed use of blogs in online higher education together with the potential in formative assessment for learning. The ICE three-level classification model provides a dynamic possibility to analyze online higher educational practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Heuristics versus econometrics as a basis for forecasting international inflation differentials	[ "Heuristics", "Forecasting", "Deflation", "Exchange rate regime", "International inflation differentials" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This article addresses the topic of forecasting inflation in countries that consider fixing their exchange rate or that already live with a pegged currency. For the purpose of forecasting, we will present three simple heuristics based on historical analogy and an econometrically estimated model. These different forecasting strategies are compared by conducting out-of-sample forecasts. As will be shown, simple heuristics based on economic intuition perform well in such a forecasting contest.\n2. Simple forecasting heuristic based on selective historical data: Let us first clarify what we mean by the term \"forecasting heuristic\". A forecasting heuristic consists of a simple rule of thumb. The simplest such heuristic is the no-change prediction, i.e. static expectations. Such a simple heuristic can be compared to more sophisticated ways of forming predictions in out-of-sample exercises in forecasting. The interesting point is that simple heuristics in a broad set of forecasting tasks often do very well in such comparisons (Gigerenzer and Todd, 1999). In the field of monetary economics a very prominent such exercise (albeit without the term heuristic mentioned) was performed by Meese and Rogoff (1983) who documented that a no-change prediction for the short-run course of the nominal exchange rate cannot be outperformed by monetary models of the exchange rate. Similarly, a no-change forecast for stock prices is hard to outdo even with sophisticated econometrically estimated models (Lo and MacKinlay, 1999). For longer horizons, the no-change heuristic performs less well. For predictions, one or several years into the future trend movements become relevant (Engel et al., 2007). For this reason, forecasting the future with the historical average growth rate (capturing trends) becomes a reasonable forecasting heuristic. This kind of forecasting heuristic is what we want to consider here. However, before presenting and comparing forecasts we need to clarify what sort of growth rates we should consider as the basis for our forecasts for longer-term inflation differentials.\n3. Rankings of forecasts from simple heuristics: The first task is to empirically identify the periods of fixed and flexible exchange rates for each country covered here. For this purpose, we use as an operational measure the criterion that an exchange rate is considered fixed if it varies by less than half a percentage point from month to month. If variations exceed this threshold, we speak of floating rates. When we use annual data, we consider a year to be one with a fixed exchange rate when all monthly changes are below the threshold specified. Depending to the criterion adopted, the episodes of fixed exchange rates in the three countries are as follows: for Finland 1962-1966 and 1998 until the present, for Luxembourg 1962-1966 and 1996 until the present, and for Portugal 1962-1967 and 1999 until the present.\n4. Prediction based on econometric modeling: Here, we develop an econometric model estimated for each of the countries covered. The forecasts from these econometrically estimated models are then also assessed as to their forecast ability and compared to the simple forecasting heuristics. The notation for identifying countries here is as follows: the domestic country (with the superscript d) is either Finland, Germany, Luxembourg or Portugal. The superscript f (for foreign) for the three small economies is Germany. For Germany, no influence of a foreign variable can be found. The equations to be estimated are the following:\n5. Likely ranges of price level developments: So far, we have only focused on point forecasts. Yet, we need to pay attention to one more point that is particularly relevant for inflation forecasts. How accurately can the four entries of our forecasting competition anticipate the variation in inflation rates? Policymakers are particularly concerned about the upside and the downside potential of inflation when they consider giving up monetary autonomy under a pegged currency. Both elevated inflation as well as deflation - recall the situation of Switzerland - can pose challenges to the choice of a regime of fixed exchange rates. Hence, we want to assess what the various forecasting strategies tell us about the likely range of inflation under fixed exchange rates. For this purpose, we take the same forecasting period we used before. To keep the approaches comparable we again perform forecasts for each of the three countries' inflation rate and base this forecast on the course of German inflation over the five years of this out-of-sample exercise.\n6. Conclusions: This article tackles the question of how to assess the likely inflation differential across countries given that a country has, or is considering to adopt, a fixed exchange rate or a common currency. We propose and compare four different forecasting strategies. Among the forecasts considered, we have three heuristics that use historical analogy as the basis of reasoning. The simplest heuristic suggests that we base prediction on data from historical inflation differentials. A more sophisticated heuristic suggests that we adjust inflation differentials from times of flexible exchange rates to the growth rate of the nominal exchange rate. For countries that have a history with both fixed and flexible rates, there is an additional forecasting heuristic. Under this approach, the data informing the forecast is limited to observations from earlier times of fixed exchange rates. We compared the three heuristics and an estimated econometric model in an out-of-sample forecasting exercise.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to address the issue of prediction of inflation differences for an economy that considers either fixing its exchange rate or joining a currency union. In this setting, individual countries have limited control over their inflation, and anticipating the possible course of domestic inflation relative to inflation abroad becomes an important input in policy-making. In this context, the author compares simple forecast heuristics and econometric modeling.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study compares two basically different approaches. The first approach of forecasting consists of simple heuristics. Various heuristics are considered that differ with respect to the economic reasoning that goes into quantifying the forecast rules. The simplest such forecasting heuristic suggests that the average over all available observations of inflation differentials should be taken as a predictor for the future. Bringing more economic insight to bear suggests a further heuristic according to which historical inflation differentials should be adjusted for changes in the nominal exchange rate. A further variant of this approach suggests that a forecast should exclusively rely on data from earlier times under a pegged exchange rate. A fundamentally different approach to prediction builds on dynamic econometric models estimated by using all available historical data independent of the currency regime.\nFindings: The author studies three small member countries of the Eurozone, i.e. Finland, Luxembourg and Portugal. For the evaluation of the various forecasting strategies, he performs out-of-sample predictions over a horizon of five years. The comparison of the four different forecasting strategies documents that the variant of the forecast heuristic that draws on data from earlier experiences under fixed exchange rates performs better than the forecast based on the estimated econometric model.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study provide helpful guidelines for countries considering either joining a currency union or fixing their exchange rate. The author shows that a simple forecasting heuristic gives sound advice for assessing the likely course of inflation.\nOriginality/value: This study describes how economic theory can guide the selection of historical data for assessing likely future developments. The analysis shows that using a simple heuristic based on historical analogy can lead to better forecasts than the analytically more sophisticated approach of econometric modeling.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Organisational capabilities: antecedents and implications for customer value	[ "Organizational culture", "Market orientation", "Human resource management", "Customer service management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organisational capabilities enable organisations to deliver superior customer value consistently (Narver et al., 2004). Hult and Ketchen (2000) identify four capabilities:1. market orientation;2. entrepreneurship;3. innovativeness; and4. organisational learning.It is important to integrate these capabilities as they support organisations in creating superior value in turbulent markets (Slater and Narver, 1995), and in contributing to the creation of potential advantage for organisations (Hult and Ketchen, 2000). These capabilities are imperative for organisations if they are to deliver superior value to customers consistently (Slater and Narver, 1994). In this study we add human resource practices as an important complement to achieving superior customer value especially in a service delivery setting. Research on market orientation, learning orientation, innovation, and customer value has shown these to be related to organisational performance (Flint et al., 2005). Customer value has become an increasing concern to consumers and marketers (Patterson and Spreng, 1997), and should be the focus of business activities (Walter et al., 2001). According to Slater and Narver (2000) customer value is created \"when the benefit to customers associated with products/services exceeds the cost of the offer to the customer\" (p. 120). The concept of customer value has been included in relation to market orientation, organisational learning, entrepreneurship, and innovation (e.g. Slater and Narver, 1994), although in most studies the primary dependent variable of interest has been business performance. This study seeks to examine the implications of organisational capabilities for customer value. Fundamental to this study is that organisations seek to define value they want to provide their customers. This is often based on their view of competition and the need to gain a competitive advantage. On the other hand customer value from the customer's perspective is the experience relative to total costs. This study seeks to investigate whether the antecedents to customer value as seen by managers coincide with those that drive customer value from the customers' perspective.The paper is organised as follows: first, the conceptual framework is presented in Figure 1 linking organisational capabilities to customer value. Second, the propositions are presented, and this is followed by a discussion of methodological issues relevant to this research. Finally, the results and discussion are presented followed by limitations of the study and its potential implications for managers and academics.\nLiterature review: Customer value\nResearch methodology: Sample\nDevelopment of the measures: Learning orientation\nDeveloping the models: Cultural variables\nResults and discussion: The aim of developing the two models regarding the relationship between the organisational capabilities and customer value was to find which model explains more of the variance in customer value and to compare these when customer value is viewed from both the manager and customer perspectives. The innovation in this paper was in obtaining data for all the independent variables from the managers (i.e. what do managers invest to drive customer value as they perceive it?). Data for the dependent variable (i.e. customer value) was obtained from both managers and customers (hotel guests). In a way the use of customer value minimises common method variance - a matter of considerable worry in doing survey data research using principal informants (see Lindell and Whitney, 2001). The instrument for measuring customer value was identical for the two groups. This allowed us to investigate the independent factors on two similar dependent variables. The principal argument is that managers invest in capabilities to enhance business performance; thus, instead of depending on their perceptions of delivering customer value, we are interested in evaluating how customers experience the customer value being created for them. Customer value was operationalised from its dimensions (i.e. reputation for quality, value for money, prestige) because each seemed to capture a different but important aspect of customer value.The results of Model 1, investigating the cultural capabilities (i.e. learning orientation, integrated market orientation, intrapreneurship) explains approximately 42 per cent of the variance in customer value (see Table IV). The relationship between learning orientation and customer value (H1) is not supported. Perhaps this finding indicates that the industry is stable and managers do not consider themselves as active learners. It is possible that managers do not consciously associate their learning with the delivery of superior customer service. Integrated market orientation is significantly associated with customer value (b=0.366, p<0.001). This finding is consistent with findings of Shoham et al. (2005). The inclusion of latent need satisfaction increased the explanatory power of market orientation over the model with traditional market orientation (we did a separate test to verify this). It must be realised that customer value is a strong predictor of financial performance or at least an important antecedent of performance (Flint et al., 2005; Spiteri and Dion, 2004). To achieve superior customer value, organisations need to have a deep understanding of the customer's expressed and latent needs so that they can outperform competitors as customer needs evolve. This finding is in line with Narver and Slater (1990), who suggest that market orientation is associated with delivery of superior customer service, with Weinstein and Pohlman (1998), who note that outstanding business performance is dependent upon the ability of a market-oriented organisation to provide superior value to the customer, and with Slater and Narver (2000), who argue that that a well developed intelligence generation capability is positively associated with superior customer value. From Table IV the results indicate that intrapreneurship is a significant predictor of customer value (b=0.240, p<0.001). The more an organisation encourages managers and employees to initiate new value-adding activities the more the organisation is able to deliver superior customer value. In the provision of hotel services, the more close interaction between the service providers and their customers, the greater the opportunity to add value to customers' experiences and adjust to fickle and fast-changing customer needs. Thus, the greater the empowerment of the customer-facing employees, the more likely it is that they can increase customer value along the whole value chain by responding timely and appropriately without being too closely bound by routines and precedents.The results of Model 2 show that human resource practices and the three types of innovation explain approximately 48 per cent of the variance in customer value. Human resource practices are positively associated with customer value (b=0.236, p<0.001), providing support for H4. This finding is consistent with the finding by Mavondo et al. (2005). As noted before, human resource practices are critical to the delivery of customer value, especially in the service sector. Humans are the most adaptable resource available to a business; they are able to learn and acquire more relevant skills needed to meet customer needs and hence contribute to creation of customer value. This finding is in line with the view of Mittal and Sheth (2001), who suggest that human resource practices are considered one of the important factors in facilitating organisations to deliver superior value to customers.Product innovation is significantly and positively associated with customer value (b=0.225, p<0.01), and hence H5a receives support. The ability of an organisation to offer new products, modified products or repackaged products provides excitement to the total offer and may impact positively on customer value. Product innovation is generally considered to contribute to refreshing the offer, attract new customers or retain old ones. In the context of this study new products may include new dishes, new facilities, new booking and payment options, etc. These products may save the customer time, provide more convenience and lower the cost of doing business, and hence significantly contribute to total customer value and organisational performance. Process innovation is positively associated with customer value (b=0.294, p<0.001). In the context of this research, process innovation parallels the notions underpinning TQM. It is possible to improve hotel processes and at the same time improve customer value. This could be achieved through such activities as efficient service, better labour organisation, automation of routine and non-value adding parts of the value chain. All these and similar activities improve efficiency and effectiveness and are consistent with delivery of superior customer value; thus H5b is strongly supported. Administrative innovation was not associated with customer value, and hence H5c was not supported. This seems to indicate that respondents felt that administrative innovation was too far removed from the end customer for it to contribute directly to customer value. Generally, administrative innovation is seen as an internal phenomenon that may contribute to efficiency but rather far removed from customers.From the customer's perspective, as can be seen in Table V, in general the results indicate that factors in the cultural capabilities model (Model 1) explain a miserable 2 per cent of the variance in customer value. Model 2 is just as unimpressive as Model 1. These results show that managerial perceptions of value delivered have no relationship with the customer value as experienced by customers. The findings are problematic. These results suggest that managers enact their own perceptions with respect to customer value, that there is a big difference between what businesses think they are delivering and what customers actually experience. This suggests that businesses can invest in capabilities that they believe deliver customer value but in fact have no relevance to customers.Several reasons can be advanced for this finding. First, from the in-depth interviews there was no evidence of systematic research on customer satisfaction being conducted in the industry. Where this was carried out, it was normally customer feedback, which was rarely - if ever - analysed. Thus, information on customer satisfaction and customer value was rarely put to good use in informing management about the drivers of customer satisfaction. Second, these findings send a powerful message that customer research should be given priority, yet many managers invest in benchmarking competition. While this is desirable it should take back seat relative to customer research. Third, these results may indicate significant problems of common method variance. Managers consciously provide responses to questions on delivery of customer value that make them look good or achieving. The message for marketing research is that performance measures should preferably be obtained from other sources than the key informant. Fourth, and perhaps just as important as common method variance, is the potential problem of measure equivalence (see Mavondo, 1999; Mavondo et al., 2003; Steenkamp and Baumgartner, 1998). It is possible, despite strong psychometric results such as reliability and discriminant validity, that managers and customers were mapping different constructs for customer value. However, whatever the explanation, these findings send a rather chilling message about resource deployment in the Indonesian hotel industry. However, it is accepted that since these results are not dyadic, the guest sample may not be identical to the hotels surveyed. However, the hotel classification was closely matched in selecting the hotels from which the guests were chosen. It is believed this is not the major reason for these findings. These findings lead us to conclude that there is a serious disconnect between management perspectives and customer perspectives of customer value in the Indonesian hospitality industry.\nConclusion: The study sought to address the relationship between organisational capabilities and customer value (defined from both the business and customer perspectives). The results suggest that each model presented explained a significant proportion of the variance in customer value from the managers' perspective, but none of the models was useful for explaining customer value as experienced by customers. This study makes a number of academic and managerial contributions. First, the study highlights potential problems associated with the key informant method of data collection and indicates the need for marketing researchers to be sensitive to this problem, which can make findings unreliable. Second, the findings suggest that organisations must invest in customer research to identify the true drivers of customer value and consequently business performance. It is argued that this might lead to superior resource deployment. Third, the results suggest that instead of benchmarking competitors, perhaps a more productive route is to invest in research on customer needs and in identifying the true drivers of customer value. From a managerial perspective, the results suggest that the proximate determinants of customer value are associated with the implementation stage, i.e. innovative products and innovative processes and human resource practices. This suggests that empowerment of frontline employees in a service setting is important and is strongly associated with superior delivery of customer value. However, the results also suggest that investment in culturally supportive programs has significant benefits for customers.The implications of the study for academics may be that common method variance cannot be wished away; it may have to be seriously designed for to ensure that it is not confounding research findings. The other implication is that a test of measure equivalence is essential before making substantive conclusions even after minimising the confounding effects of common method variance. Because our findings are at variance with expectations, there may be culture-specific factors associated with Indonesia that were not investigated, indicating these results may not be entirely generalisable. The study has used a dependent variable of customer value that can be examined across different respondents within the same organisation and across industries, allowing comparisons to be made more easily than financial performance measures. This is because the conceptualisation and operationalisation of customer value and its computation is less complex yet robust and less controversial, and can be applied across businesses of different sizes and in different industries.\nLimitations and suggestions for future research: In undertaking the comparison of managers and hotel guests we attempted to match these to corresponding hotel classifications. However, because the data was not collected from the same hotels, this could make the results not entirely comparable. The use of two languages in the study may have created some problems. The questionnaire was rigorously tested in both languages and through translation and back translation. There still remains the possibility that the interpretation of the questionnaire could be different. The problem is also associated with different levels of familiarity with questionnaires between the relatively well-educated managers and the relatively heterogeneous sample of customers. In addition, given the very significant differences in customer service perspectives adopted by managers and customers, there is a need for in-depth qualitative study to establish how the items were interpreted by the different groups perhaps through measure equivalent methodology. We recognise that the variables in our model might best be examined using path modelling to take into account the different levels at which the variables occur in the organisation. This would allow a specification that views cultural antecedents as independent variables and implementation capabilities as mediators. This would give a more holistic interpretation of the finds through examining the direct, indirect and total effects of the cultural variables. This suggests that the present specification underestimates the impact of cultural variables.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to investigate the cultural and implementation organisational capabilities that contribute to provision of superior customer values through operationalising customer value from both the business and customer perspectives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Two samples were developed: one for hotel managers (n=231) and the other for hotel guests (n=385). Data for the organisational capabilities were collected from managers; data for customer value were collected from both managers and customers. Two models were tested with respect to the relationship between cultural capabilities and implementation on customer value.\nFindings: - The results indicate that, among the cultural variables, integrated market orientation and intrapreneurship are significantly and positively related to customer value. The implementation capabilities, human resources practices and innovation are significantly related to customer value as seen by managers, but none of these was significant when regressed on customer value as experienced by customers.\nResearch limitations/implications: - A test of measure equivalence would be desirable to establish whether customers and managers in responding to questions on customer value use the scales equivalently.\nPractical implications: - The study suggests that managers should adopt the customer's perspective as a useful guide to resource deployment and a potential source of sustainable competitive advantage. This enables organisations to invest in capabilities valued by customers.\nOriginality/value: - The value of the paper lies in obtaining data for all the independent variables from managers, and data for the dependent variable, i.e. customer value, from both managers and customers, hence limiting common method bias.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What is your recession playbook?	[ "Recession", "Economic growth", "Corporate strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: By the time you read this column, the National Bureau of Economic Research may declare the USA to be in recession. Economists define a recession as a decline in the gross domestic product for two or more consecutive quarters. If not a recession, economic growth in the world's largest economy is likely to have slowed in successive quarters as a consequence of the credit crunch arising from the failures in the sub prime and collateralized debt obligation markets.\n1 Managing in a downturn: Recessions do not last forever\n2 Colgate bypasses recession: Colgate-Palmolive achieved consistent increases to their global revenues and profits in prior downturns. This was done through innovative product launches and increased advertising spending to support their product sales, complemented by improved acquisitions, divestitures, and efficiency. In 1991, Colgate acquired the Murphy-Phoenix company, bringing a unique product to its portfolio that increased revenues and had significant international potential (PR Newswire, 1991). In 1992, it launched the Stand-Up tube and positioned it as a cleaner, environmentally friendly alternative to tubes and pumps (Deveny, 1992). In the first quarter of 2000, Colgate launched Total Fresh Stripe, which strengthened its leading position in toothpaste. The introduction of Speed Stick clear antiperspirant and Palmolive Spring Sensations dishwashing liquid also increased market share during 2000[1]. While introducing new product variations, Colgate also improved its margins by consolidating manufacturing and distribution, investing heavily to automate old plants and getting rid of unrelated businesses (Morgenson, 1991). While some may argue that personal-care products are recession-proof, Colgate-Palmolive's unwavering commitment to investing in product development and growing both revenue and profitability enabled it to outperform peers with similar products in both the recessions.\n3 \"Danaher business system\" key to managing in recession: Danaher Corporation, a diversified manufacturing and technology company, also performed well during both the 1990-1995 and 1998-2003 periods through a combination of acquisitions, improved efficiency, and better product and financial management. In 1990, it acquired Easco Hand Tools to grow incremental sales and earnings by broadening distribution channels, increasing international sales, and generating efficiencies from consolidating overheads and improving factory utilization. In 1991, the company also formed Danaher Tool Group, Industrial Products Division to become more market-focused by bringing leading brands under one umbrella and providing end-users with a complete package of industrial products (Industrial Distribution, 1991). Danaher was able to reap the benefits of acquisition and consolidation, with profits more than doubling while revenue grew by 14 percent in 1992.The \"Danaher Business System\" and its discipline with mergers, acquisitions, and consolidation was a key to this success. While many companies believe it is best to maintain the culture of an acquired company, Danaher focuses on how to improve margins through all available means. Even before a deal, its executives undertake a careful estimation of an acquisition target's profit margins as a Danaher company. For example, when Danaher bought Fluke in 1998, margins were 8 percent, but managers believed these margins could not climb to 20 percent without hurting quality and innovation. Fluke had an engineer-centric culture where most good ideas got funding. Danaher changed this. Fluke narrowed its product focus, sped-up inventory turns, and reduced floor space. By 2006 margins had risen to 21.5 percent (Business Week, 2007).Danaher also restructured its finances to lower its cost of capital and improve performance. It entered into a credit agreement with Bankers Trust Company in 1990 for $300 million. The proceeds from the financing were used primarily to refinance Danaher's existing senior debt, including debt assumed as part of the company's acquisition of Easco Hand Tools, Inc. Annualized interest savings from the refinancing were expected to exceed $1 million (PR Newswire, 1990). Danaher also completed a $100 million private placement debt financing in 1992 to improve the capital structure of the company. This debt-financing represented the lowest cost of long-term capital in the company's history and provided added flexibility to finance its future growth (PR Newswire, 1992). Effectively synchronizing strategies pertaining to acquisitions, finance and operations maintained Danaher's high-flyer status through multiple downdrafts.\n4 Taking a broad perspective on recession: As these brief examples illustrate, there are a variety of strategies that contribute to the bottom line and help companies navigate through recessions. Managers at high performers during recessions seem to approach strategy from a broader perspective, using alternatives beyond cost-cutting and lay-offs. They focus resources on the longer-term mission and success of the company. Indeed, when we looked at the contrasting low performers, we found they often managed core processes like receivables poorly or chose to indiscriminately cost-cut through layoffs, only to find it difficult to restore staff to support future growth after the recession. As recessions do not last forever, it will be prudent to set up playbooks in advance for navigating back to growth.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine how managers can respond to recessions and navigate their companies to success looking at the last two recessions in the US.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research identified those companies that substantially exceeded the performance of their peers in the last two recessions. News stories and publications on these companies were cross case analyzed to establish hypotheses of how managers can best manage through a recession.\nFindings: - The research found those organizations that sustained their focus on revenue growth and market share, and where managers had broad mindset and considered a broad set of options for action were most likely to succeed, in contrast to those who did across the board staff and cost cuts.\nOriginality/value: - This examination of prior strategies offers managers guidelines for navigating recessions. There is little published research on this topic in strategy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
If and when social and economic leader-member exchange relationships predict follower work effort : The moderating role of work motivation	[ "Social exchange", "Leader-member exchange", "Intrinsic motivation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, leaders do not treat all subordinates alike, but rather differentiate between subordinates and develop a high-quality exchange relationship with some, and a low-quality exchange relationship with others (Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995). These exchange relationships have typically been assumed to fall on a single continuum from low- to high quality, where low-quality exchange relationships represents economic exchange relationships, and high-quality exchange relationships represents social exchange relationships (e.g. Wayne et al., 2009). Based on social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and research on organizational exchange relationships (Shore et al., 2006), Kuvaas et al. (2012b) recently argued that the assumption of a single continuum may not be warranted because social and economic exchange relationships represent qualitatively different forms of relationships. Although some prior research investigates multi-dimensional approaches to LMX (Greguras and Ford, 2006; Liden and Maslyn, 1998), these still focus on the social part of the LMX dimension. Whereas a social leader-member exchange (SLMX) relationship is characterized by a long-term orientation where exchanges between subordinates and leaders are based on feelings of diffuse future obligation, an economic leader-member exchange (ELMX) relationship has a more transactional, and contractual character, is more short term, and rests upon formal status differences, downward influence, and short-term discrete agreements (Kuvaas et al., 2012a). In line with their hypotheses, Kuvaas et al. (2012a) found that SLMX relationships were positively related to follower work performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), whereas ELMX relationships were negatively related to these outcomes. The first aim of our study is to replicate the findings by Kuvaas et al. (2012a). However, whereas Kuvaas et al. (2012a) measured work performance as both work effort and work quality, we investigate the relationship between SLMX and ELMX relationships and work effort only in the present study. Work effort, or the amount of energy an individual put into his/her job (Seo et al., 2010), is crucial for organizations because of its strong association with task performance (e.g. Kanfer and Ackerman, 2004; Yeo and Neal, 2004). The differentiation between work effort and work quality is in line with expectancy theory, which predicts effort, but not necessarily other aspects of work performance such as the quality of the output of work. It is also in line with meta-analytical findings of the relationship between individual pay-for-performance and productivity, namely that pay-for-performance is associated with increased performance quantity, but not performance quality (Jenkins et al., 1998). Thus, in order to give ELMX a \"fair chance,\" it should be empirically tested against a type of output it has a theoretical potential to influence positively.\nTheory and hypotheses: Outcomes of SLMX and ELMX relationships\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: The CFA we performed on the full scales of a five-factor model representing SLMX, ELMX, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and work effort, pointed toward a well-defined measurement model (kh2(220)=503.89, p<0.01; kh2/df=2.29; RMSEA=0.06; CFI=0.96; NNFI=0.96; SRMR=0.08). Furthermore, the results of the paired constructs tests support discriminant validity, as demonstrated by the significantly better fit of the five-factor model over more parsimonious models (see Table I for details). In addition, convergent validity was supported as all factor loadings were statistically significant with a mean standardized loading of 0.77 (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988).\nDiscussion: Focussing on SLMX and ELMX relationships (Kuvaas et al., 2012a) as two separate dimensions, the main purpose of the present study was to explore the direct and indirect associations between SLMX/ELMX relationships and work effort.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize social leader-member exchange (SLMX) and economic leader-member exchange (ELMX) as two separate dimensions of leader-member exchange, and examines how intrinsic work motivation moderates their relationship with follower work effort.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were obtained from 352 employee-leader dyads from the public health sector in Norway (response rate=61.9 percent). Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the relationship between subordinate rated SLMX and ELMX relationships and leader ratings of work effort.\nFindings: This study replicates prior research showing that SLMX is positively related and ELMX negatively related to followers' work effort. A significant interaction between SLMX and intrinsic motivation is also revealed, suggesting that SLMX relationships are important with respect to work effort for followers who exhibit lower levels of intrinsic work motivation.\nResearch limitations/implications: The data were cross-sectional, thus prohibiting causal inferences.\nPractical implications: SLMX relationships may be particularly important for the work effort of followers low in intrinsic motivation. Leaders may draw on this finding and seek to aid the development of the relationship by means of relationship-oriented behaviors.\nOriginality/value: Given the importance of maximizing the performance of all the followers, a better understanding of the conditions under which SLMX and ELMX relationships relate to work effort is particularly important. The present study advances knowledge on SLMX and ELMX relationships by demonstrating how intrinsic motivation moderates how SLMX and ELMX relationships relate to follower work effort.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The devil's dictionary of business strategy	[ "Lexicon", "Dictionaries", "Strategic terms", "Management strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: accounting n. The fanciful and avant-garde attempt of a group of bohemian green-eye-shade-wearing rebels to assign objective value to the various flailings of humans on earth.actionable adj. Having achieved such a level of obvious necessity that even a corpse would be compelled to respond with vigor, yet somehow not enough to make the living act.Admin n. The only part of the company that actually matters, as they are the only ones who have a checkbook and can reject expense reports.app n. A yet-to-be-defined useful computer virus of a type that eventually will take the place of every function, process, and human being in our economy.asset n. Something that sounds good to have, until you realize that the more of them you have, the lower your return on assets is.bandwidth n. Originally, the throughput capacity of computer connections; now denotes the (almost always tragically limited) capacity of fellow employees and superiors to adequately appreciate one's special genius.blame n. The unspoken anti-currency of organizational life, constantly seeking to concentrate itself within the undeserving and/or unwary.bleeding-edge adj. Obsolete as of next quarter.bricks and mortar n. Facilities from a bygone era once devoted to purveying goods to actual humans; now normally used as temporary storage facilities for the household goods of evicted homeowners, squatting de-hired human resources, or seasonal Christmas decoration or Halloween costume stores.Box, The n. 1. The mythical geo-cognitive realm within which thought is normally constrained, and outside of which everyone is urged to think. 2. The boundaries outside of which one should never, ever think unless one wishes to pursue other interests. 3. Normal human logic.boil the ocean v. 1. To engage in a task that is too large by its very definition, e.g. You want me to stay seven more minutes? What are we, boiling the ocean here?boiled frog syndrome n. A metaphor for a situation in which what appears to be a pleasant and positive state of affairs very gradually turns into a highly negative thing, e.g. when a metaphor that at first appears an apt description of a certain type of troublesome syndrome in human affairs metastasizes to the point where it is used to describe every damned thing in the universe.bucket n. A category, as described by a manager who believes that if he calls a category by its correct English name, he will somehow instantly be seen as a girl, a fate he regards as worse than death.buy-in n. Enough rope to hang oneself with, combined with a perfect illusion of wholehearted support, encouragement and aid in time of trouble.c-suite n. That bourne from which no mere manager returns, and which no misfortune can ever really penetrate, that is thus so divorced from everyday affairs and the concerns of customers and employees that it is often the most mortal threat to the continuation of the enterprise.change management n. A type of specialized management that is not concerned with eternal and unchanging and ageless human affairs, but rather with that arcane stratum of business matters that is characterized by mutability and uncertainty.competition n. 1. The essence and basis of the capitalist system, the avoidance of which is the goal of 90% of activities within capitalist businesses. 2. Enemy alien businesses who are out to steal our families' food and shelter, until our current employers decide they can dispense with our services, after which they become splendid noble rivals of great sagacity, ingenuity, and moral worth whom we have admired from afar for decades.consultant n. 1. An unemployed person. 2. A smooth-talking amoral Armani-clad flim-flam artist devoted to applying whatever his or her firm has decided is the most profitable solution of the month to a client with all the subtlety of an industrial metal-stamper, regardless of appropriateness of fit or effects on any human resources that might be impacted (see impact, below). 3. A human resource that does not have to be paid benefits.consulting i. 1. (archaic) A profession devoted to guiding companies to profitability on the basis of shared risk and reward. 2. The mechanical replication of originally creative and novel, but now tired and hackneyed, approaches to clients in order to make them more like every other business in their sector. 3. The state of being unemployed.core competency n. That activity at which any particular business is most proficient, and to which it should restrict itself, forsaking all other activities, until it is prepared to be swallowed by a larger organization of exactly the same type.cubicle n. A storage device for an individual human resource.data n. Numbers that are either telling harbingers of an inevitable and eye-popping future if they conform to pre-existing prejudices, or else, a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing, if they do not.due diligence n. Actions taken in order to convince outsiders that actions have been taken to convince outsiders.finance n. 1. (acc. to Finance) That portion of the organization devoted to maximizing shareholder value; a bulwark against ridiculous schemes of the Marketing and Sales departments that would in its absence instantly bankrupt the company. 2. (acc. to Marketing and Sales) That portion of the company that is devoted to squelching any good idea, killing customer relationships, and generally making anyone with an iota of humanity miserable.future n. That realm of which nothing is known for certain, and therefore within which the grandest illusions and the worst nightmares may be entertained; but which somehow never actually arrives.granular adj. Of a grossness and abrasiveness sufficient to capture the attention of a human resource.headcount n. Something that must be reduced at all costs.Human Resources n. 1. (acc. to Human Resources people) A department devoted to ensuring that the organization has the best mix of human beings to accomplish the aims of the organization, and also to ensuring that said human beings are satisfied with their employment experience in the organization. 2. (acc. to most other employees) A department devoted to achieving the ends of Satan on earth. 3. H-- resource an individual humanoid employed by the organization.hypercompetition n. Competition, when it is happening to you.ideation n. The noble quest to create new ways to flog tampons and beer.impact v.t. 1. To collide with and crush, e.g. \"The asteroid impacted the moon\"; \"His molar was impacted in the car crash.\" 2. To collide with and crush, e.g. \"Joe's super idea to sell tampons in Men's Rooms really impacted the bottom line.\"incent v.t. To motivate human resources using methods that assume they have the refined tastes and morals of a jackal.job n. A temporary mistake by Human Resources in which a human resource is actually retained on the books as a headcount.labor n. An obscure and ill-paid ritual that is nowadays strictly confined to third-world countries.learnings n. Dimly perceived thumps on the head administered by reality to the crania of managers.leverage v.t. To use something for some purpose, e.g. \"Jill leveraged our core competencies to achieve the customer's goals,\" \"Joe leveraged the crowbar to get the Cheetos bag out of the vending machine.\"low-hanging fruit n. Apparently easy accomplishments or goals that for some reason have resisted the advances of previous generations of managers, possibly because they are very slippery, poisonous, or explosive.MBA n. 1. A Master of Business Administration degree, conferred generally upon people who have mastered little, have almost no business experience, and who have administered nothing more taxing than styling gel to their hair.manufacturing n. The obscure and arduous production of shiny objects for rich people in America, Europe and now even China by Vietnamese, Bangladeshi and Indonesian persons.marketing n. 1. (acc. to Marketing department) The core of the business enterprise; the ascertainment of customer needs and goals, and the coordination of the organization's resources and services to meet those goals. 2. (acc. to Finance department) A bunch of unproductive liberal-arts majors wasting company money at conferences about nothing in particular other than getting drunk and talking a lot of rot.meeting n. A forum in which human resources who congenitally need to hear themselves speaking in order to make sure they are actually alive torture other human resources who would really rather be working.micromanagement n. Management, when it's happening to you.pointy end of the spear n. Human resources, usually ill-paid, who are rumored to be somewhere out there and who actually interface with the customer, whoever that may be.sales n. 1. (acc. to Sales department) The only people who actually make money for the company, because they are the only people who actually meet with the customers and convince them to buy the crap that Engineering and Marketing have cooked up and Manufacturing have mangled into existence. 2. (acc. to everyone else) Goldbricking souses spouting self-help nonsense and attending bizarre conventions and getting dangerously emotionally entangled with the customer.silo n. 1. A part of the organization where loyalty to one's craft or team exceeds loyalty to the company as a whole, and which must therefore be smashed down by change management (see above). 2. The only part of the company that we really feel comfortable in and the only one containing people we can stand.solution n. A serious, probably mortal problem in its embryonic stage.stakeholder n. Annoying person or institution to whom affection and devotion must be faked because otherwise they can really screw us up.synergy n. The sort of extra surge of energy and output beyond the mere sum of its parts that results from the combination of certain elements, as in a merger or in a nuclear fusion reaction; i.e. either entirely mythical and nonexistent (cold-water fusion), or else very, very radioactive (hot-water fusion).Wall Street n. The ultimate strategist in all American publicly-traded companies, always castigated for its short-sightedness, but almost always and almost everywhere obeyed by all not surnamed Buffett.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to humorously define various common business and strategy terms to amuse and illuminate.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is a lexicon.\nFindings: - The paper finds that man's search for meaning can end up with one's nose in a dictionary.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is a diversion.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Construction contractors integrating into facilities management	[ "Facilities", "Innovation", "Construction industry", "Sweden" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In many cases, firms that operate in the market for facilities management and deliver facilities services have their origins in a particular service or ability, from which they have expanded their service offerings to include coordination of a range of services. Thus, FM may emerge from firms that have a history in building maintenance, energy systems, cleaning, employment services, industrial maintenance or other specialized services, responding to a growing demand for outsourcing and relying on external providers of facilities services. In the present investigation, focus is on construction as an origin of FM activities.Construction contractors typically engage in several business areas, sometimes changing their patterns of diversification rapidly. A Canadian survey of construction innovation found that in three years, 2 per cent of firms had been involved in a merger, 3 per cent acquired other business and no less than 11 per cent set up a new business or division (Anderson and Schaan, 2001). Among leading manufacturers there has been a growing concern with the distance to end customers. Because of this, firms have felt the need to integrate forward into services produced with their manufactured goods as a base (Wise and Baumgartner, 1999), since delivering these services has been perceived as more profitable than selling only the manufactured goods. However, according to the standard view of the construction sector and as it is treated in official statistics (Winch, 2003) construction contractors appear to be more similar to services providers than to manufacturers, but it cannot be excluded that a downstream move towards a combination of construction and facilities services would benefit from the same logic as in manufacturing. Historically, there are many Scandinavian examples of builder-developers who continue as owners of blocks of flats that they have built, receiving income from tenants while operating and maintaining properties, relying on their own employees for these facilities services.During the second half of the 1990s, the major Swedish construction contractors analysed their potential for entering the FM market, and specialized subsidiaries were launched. In one case, the Skanska group, a strong path of growth was initiated by also acquiring the facilities service FM subsidiary of a major telecommunications group; however, the high growth rate led to the company being sold in 2004 to a large private equity investor, only to continue a series of acquisitions: in 2005, both the FM subsidiary of a major car manufacturer in Sweden and the FM arm of a rival construction group were acquired. Although this development is unique in the Swedish context, there are other construction contractors who are active in the domestic market, albeit on a smaller scale.The purpose of this investigation is to analyse why certain construction contractors engage as FM service providers. The focus is on the outsourcing of FM services to construction contractors as external service providers.After an overview of the literature on contractor integration and diversification, the Swedish 2006 survey of construction contractors is outlined. With the survey data as a base, how contractors active in FM differ from other contractors is analysed, and finally the need for both better theoretical foundations and data is identified. Also, the policy consequences for strategy development in firms are approached.\nIntegrating into FM: The dynamics of providing new services or integrating with other firms to broaden the range of services offered by construction firms has been addressed by researchers who approach the question of which services to include as a special case of the general problem of determining the boundaries of the firm. Construction contractors regularly exhibit tendencies to diversification, and this is often the case even for small firms with only about 100 employees. When construction firms engage in FM, it is not immediately clear whether the intent is diversification or vertical integration, reaching forward to end customers.Vertical integration\nSurvey method: A survey questionnaire in two parts was prepared and tested in a pilot version on three construction contractors. The first part of the questionnaire contains questions about which principal activities the firm has been engaged in and about participation in European R&D projects, while the second part includes the majority of the questions. These questions are mostly binary yes/no or with a given set of alternative responses. The time period covered is three years in retrospect (2003-2005).The total population is the 50 construction contractors that in 2004 had the highest turnover as recorded for their Swedish construction activities. Turnover and employment data were provided by the Swedish Construction Federation, BI, and were derived from company annual reports for 2004. The size range is considerable: firm No. 1 had 141 times the turnover of firm No. 50. In terms of employment, the range is between 11,653 employees in Sweden and only 16, where the smallest firm has a high turnover per employee ratio. The size distribution of these firms in the Swedish market is such that there is a gap between firms with slightly more than 2,000 employees or more and firms with slightly more than 500 employees or less, which is reflected in Table I. In the population, there are smaller firms with a higher, sometimes much higher, turnover per employee than the average ratio for the large firms, who may depend less on subcontracting.The questionnaire was distributed to the 50 firms early in 2006 by letter, mostly after initial telephone contacts. After reminders, answers had been received from 44 firms, corresponding to a response rate of 88 per cent. Respondents were managers responsible for development activities, which in the case of the smaller contractors often meant the managing director. These 44 firms submitted information on business activities belonging to 17 types of activities as specified in the questionnaire. An eighteenth type of activity (wholesale of building materials) listed in the questionnaire was not reported by any of the respondents. The new European classification of economic activities, NACE Revision 2, allows a much better identification of FM activities than earlier; in the questionnaire, \"Services to buildings and landscape activities\" (81) and \"Office administrative and support activities\" (82.1) were brought together in order to correspond to FM as a whole.Firms that are active in FM turn out to be much more diversified than other firms: the average number of principal activities for firms active in FM was 9.0 and only 3.6 for other firms. This could be thought to depend on contractors active in FM being larger than the average contractor, but this is not really so. However, there is a clear pattern of FM active contractors, regardless of size, engaging in a wide range of activities along the whole value chain from raw materials to end user services. Thus all eight contractors with FM activities were also active in quarrying or manufacturing, mostly the latter, whereas only 36 per cent of FM inactive contractors had integrated backward into production of materials or components. In comparison to non-FM active contractors, there was a higher proportion of FM active contractors engaged in other pure service activities such as leasing of equipment, consultancy and testing services, so it would therefore be wrong to speak of a cluster of contractors with a generally strong pure services profile.The questionnaire contained an explicit OECD Frascati Manual (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2002) 6th edition definition of R&D:Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge [...] and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.And the Oslo Manual 3rd edition definition of innovation:An innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), or process, a new marketing method, or a new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisation or external relations (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2005).Firms were asked to report on three levels of innovation efforts, the lowest being simply R&D efforts, followed by innovations new to the firm, and on the highest level, innovations that they perceived to be new to the country. The phrase \"new to the market\", although recommended in the Oslo Manual, was avoided because of its ambiguity in a construction setting - would respondents think of the local region or the world market when answering?Operationalizing the concept of capabilities and competence is no straightforward issue. Formal educational level was used as a proxy for competences: thus, respondents were asked about which categories of employees, according to level of formal education, were engaged in R&D or innovation activities: craft training, secondary technical education, university level technical education and research degrees. Service characteristics have been interpreted as eight types of utilities to customers, interpreted as perceived customer (client) satisfaction effects (Table II). Studies of construction service quality dimensions inspired by the SERVQUAL scale, the development of Key Performance Indicators for construction and of non-price multiple criteria for contract awards led to the selection of these eight types of client satisfaction. Tether (2003) has proposed a distinction between inward and outward looking innovation activities, and a further six perceived internal effects of R&D and innovation were identified in the questionnaire. Respondents were asked to tick yes/no for each perceived external and internal effect of their activities in R&D or innovation.\nAnalysis: Highlighting issues raised in the literature, Table III compares data from construction contractors (n=8) that are active in FM with data from the majority of contractors, those who are not in FM (n=36).Table III shows clearly that contractors engaged in facilities management were more innovative in general (and tend to follow the already mentioned intensive principle for service innovation according to Gallouj, 2002) when compared to contractors without an FM business. It is also clear that the level of formal education of employees in FM active firms is higher, and this is not only a consequence of the average size of these firms being greater; one of the firms with at least one employee with a research degree belongs to the 50-249 employees bracket. Thus there is a competence profile that differs. One interpretation of the crucial importance of having employees with a high formal level of education can be developed by applying a distinction between three levels of buyer-seller relations for facilities services, as when Ventovuori and Lehtonen (2006) identify arm's-length relationships, operational partnering and strategic partnering in FM; it is possible that strategic partnering presupposes formal education on an equal level at both sides of the table.With as few as eight firms engaged in providing facilities services, it is only variables with large differences in percentages between columns in Table III that can be said to define a clear pattern. For some variables, the percentages for FM active contractors are at least twice those of the other contractors. Thus a perceived reduction of global negative environmental effects is a feature that FM active contractors are likely to associate with their R&D or innovations. Higher ability to communicate with client is another comparatively strong driver of this kind, and a wish to stabilize capacity use in the firm is evident among those who deliver facilities services. The FM engagement can be thought of as an escape route from the project dependency of traditional construction activities (Gann and Salter, 2000). Innovation perceived to improve relations to clients and to suppliers appears as more important than innovation geared to better relations within the firm itself.One interpretation is that client relationships in FM are demanding and that the dialogue with prospective clients takes an ability to generate trust that goes with a high level of education.\nConclusions: The analysis of the Swedish construction contractor survey of innovations indicates that construction contractors who engage in FM are different. They are more active in identifying and exploiting business opportunities. Rather than just engaging closer to their end customers, those who integrate downstream into the FM field also tend to integrate upstream. They are more innovative in general than non-FM contractors, and this is not only to be explained by greater size of contractors that provide FM services. They also tend to have employees with a higher level of formal education. While it might be tempting to sell property-related services for any construction contractor who is faced with strong variations in demand for traditional construction, a wider range of employee capabilities is necessary to proceed to deliver a broad spectrum of FM support.Of the bodies of theory outlined initially, it appears that competence-based views of service innovation are supported by the patterns identified in the survey data.Although there are obvious limitations in drawing conclusions from a survey that identified only eight contractors active in FM, these do constitute an important part of the domestic FM supply. Miozzo and Dewick (2004), in their comparison of networks and innovation in construction in five countries, emphasize that Swedish contractors have very strong collaborative links. Other countries with other traditions might follow different paths.It is sometimes argued that there is a unique project culture, typical of construction, which is difficult to reconcile with the emphasis on long-term relationships in FM contracts. However, construction is changing, and partnering initiatives and multi-year framework agreements are symptoms of company strategies that intend to reduce the short-termism that many have associated with construction contractors. Entering a strategy that includes continuous FM service delivery, associated with better learning of what makes their customers satisfied, should increase the potential for having more loyal, recurrent clients for construction projects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to analyse why certain construction contractors engage as facilities management (FM) service providers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Against a background of theories of vertical integration, information asymmetries and service innovation, a questionnaire survey of the 50 largest construction contractors in Sweden has been conducted.\nFindings: - Of 44 respondents, eight were engaged in FM, and these differed by being more diversified both into a broader range of services and also upstream from traditional construction. Those engaged in FM were more innovative in general, and they tended to have employees with a high level of formal education.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The Swedish situation may differ from that in other countries. Competence-based views of service innovation are supported by patterns identified in the survey data.\nPractical implications: - Construction contractors entering the FM supply market need to develop a competence strategy that transforms a project view into a broader understanding of support services, continuously delivered.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first study of any national market for the purpose of determining characteristics of construction contractors who integrate into FM.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Lean Six Sigma in policing services: A case study from an organisational learning perspective	[ "Public sector", "Six Sigma", "Lean", "Lean Six Sigma", "Organizational learning", "Police services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This view point paper is developed from one of the pilot case studies undertaken by Police Scotland in partnership with Heriot-Watt University. Like many public sector organisations, the police service has faced significant budget challenges over the past ten years and has had to undertake wide-ranging restructure programmes to maintain high-quality services at low operational costs. This is combined against the backdrop of Police Scotland being a new organisation created from what was at the time the largest public sector merger in the UK history.\nBackground to Police Scotland: Police Scotland is the national police service in Scotland, UK and was created in April 2013 by the merger of eight regional police services and two national agencies. Police Scotland provides all policing services to the 5.3 million citizens of Scotland and has 23,000 staff of which 17,234 are warranted police officers. The service has an annual budget of almost PS1.1bn but like all public sector organisations, Police Scotland has significant challenges through budget reductions and associated savings targets. Police Scotland remains a relatively young organisation with a significant ongoing transformation programme. As part of the transformation and organisational change programme, the organisation adopted a continuous improvement (CI) approach utilising LSS tools, principles, concepts and methodology.\nCase study background: This case study was conducted in the Criminal Justice Services Division of Police Scotland, over a period of six months, with the aim of improving process efficiency for the group information sharing process as part of the Criminal Justice Functional Re-design program (CJFRP). The organisational change programme was established to deliver an efficient, streamlined Criminal Justice operating model to provide quality support internally to Police Scotland and to external partners. The change team identified that as their role was to deliver efficient and effective processes, they should exemplify this by making their own internal project processes as efficient and effective as possible. Consequently, areas where project efficiencies could be made were scoped.\nCase study - use of LSS methodology: The approach used followed the DMAIC roadmap and this section briefly shows the tools used and the team approach taken in delivering the LSS deployment. As a first step in the LSS project journey, it is essential to have all the human resources who take part in the project to be aware of the LSS methodology. For this purpose, four of the team members on the project were trained in LSS at Green Belt level. A project champion, who is head of the police operations in CJFRP, was assigned to the project as a management diplomat. The role of the project champion is to work closely with the LSS project leader to govern the project, facilitate sponsorship and help in making management decisions and allocate time and financial resources dedicated to the project. The role of four LSS project team members is to contribute to the project through meeting participation, assistance with LSS tool selection and LSS tool utilisation when and where applicable (Table I).\nCase study - results: Once the project team delivered their new processes and governance arrangements, the project team calculated the outcomes based on the lifecycle of the project and linked to the project plan. This resulted in identified savings of 78 per cent in travel costs and 43 per cent in staff time for attendance at the team meetings. For team workshops, the savings were calculated as 73 per cent for travel and 1.5 per cent in staff time. When both travel and saving costs were combined over the lifetime of the project (64 weeks), overall savings of 62 per cent (PS31,335.36) was realised for team meetings and 29 per cent (PS7,111.80) for team workshops.\nLSS from an organisational learning perspective: As previously stated, this paper is intended to look at opportunities for wider organisational learning through the lens of reflective of a particular case study of an earlier project by newly trained LSS Green Belts. This approach is intended to inform the direction of overall CI programmes and how they link into the wider \"change\" and \"business as usual\" governance processes and business approaches.\nSummary: This paper takes a different approach to exploring some of the factors which may influence success in CI initiative such as LSS in the public sector (Fryer et al., 2007) and seeks to add a different perspective by focussing on strategy alignment as a means for a co-ordinated, successful and sustainable LSS deployment. The case study has demonstrated a further application of LSS in the public sector in general and a police service in particular. It was used as part of a wider co-ordinated CI initiative and while it successfully delivered cashable savings and efficiencies. The case study has been used in this paper as a reflective tool to extrapolate learning from the wider programme and how it related to other business processes, tools and techniques deployed by the police service in Scotland at that time. A key learning point referenced here is ensuring that an LSS initiative is capable of developing and using learning to improve and adapt as well as the recurring theme of the importance of leadership and focus in undertaking this scale of strategic coordination.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper is based on a single case study carried out as part of a change programme but is used as a reflective tool to draw on some of the wider organisational learning which can be considered when implementing, reviewing or re-energise a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Programme. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study approach has been used and referenced throughout the paper with references to literature to support the wider learning points drawn which are then applied to any continuous improvement (CI) programmes.\nFindings: The paper presents a range of learning points which are drawn from a successful deployment of LSS within a change project carried out as part of an overall programme in Scottish policing services.\nResearch limitations/implications: The points are drawn from a single case study which was deployed within a wider change programme and is supported by wider literature but is used as a vehicle for informing strategic considerations within an organisation.\nOriginality/value: This case study is drawn from policing services in the public sector which alone is an area that has not been significantly studied. It is used to explore wider implications in terms of strategic alignment, organisational performance and project management and presents the argument that the design of a CI programme is much wider than the implementation of LSS itself.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Integrity, ethical leadership, trust and work engagement	[ "Work engagement", "Integrity", "Trust in leader", "Ethical leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Identifying the situations that foster work engagement of employees is vital for the sustainability and growth of organisations (Bakker and Demerouti, 2008; Den Hartog and Belschak, 2012; Tims et al., 2011). Engaged employees are more productive, enjoy their work, and are more efficient and involved in their work (Tims et al., 2011). One of the conditions that are critical in strengthening work engagement is organisational trust (Buckley, 2011). Because employees are more likely to engage in their work if they are drawn upon themselves to perform their roles, trust on the part of management is essential. Excessive monitoring and enforcement from management can hamper employees' tendency to engage in their work.\nConceptualisation of ethical leadership: Researchers have begun to consider ethical leadership as a separate leadership style in itself rather than focusing only on the ethical elements of other leadership styles (e.g. transformational, authentic and servant leadership) (Brown et al., 2005; Kalshoven et al., 2011; Yukl et al., 2011).\nAim of the study: Work engagement is the driver behind an organisation's competitiveness and success, in that an engaged employee demonstrates the willingness to put extra effort into the work and to reach optimal performance. Because the relationship between leaders and followers is so important in the company, trust and leadership are key aspects that should be considered, especially when it can contribute to the presence of employee work engagement.\nThe relationship between trust in leader and work engagement: Work engagement is present when an employee is fully committed to the work through focussed energy and a positive state of mind (Tims et al., 2011). Trust in the leader can be defined as the employee's willingness to accept vulnerability on the basis of positive expectations of the intentions of the leader (Schoorman et al., 2007).\nThe relationship between ethical leadership and work engagement: When employees are treated in a fair and respectful way by their leaders, they are likely to think about their relationship with their leader in terms of social exchange (Blau, 1964) rather than economic exchange. Furthermore, they are likely to reciprocate by putting extra effort into their work, through enhanced job dedication (Brown et al., 2005) and willing to become more actively engaged in work (Macey et al., 2009).\nThe relationship between ethical leadership and trust in the leader: Social exchange theory suggests that trust grows as leaders and subordinates interact in high-quality relationships (Blau, 1964). Ethical leaders' fair and caring treatment and open communication signal trust that subordinates are likely to reciprocate.\nThe relationship between leader integrity and trust in the leader: Yukl (2013, p. 331) refers to integrity as \"honesty and consistency between a person's espoused values and behaviour\". Drawing on social exchange, trust in leaders is built on ethical leaders' behaviours such as integrity, and reliability behaviour, which likely result in trust that subordinates may reciprocate. Thus, based on social learning theory, subordinates will be inclined to trust ethical leaders because of their role modelling behaviour demonstrated through their credibility and trustworthiness. Ethical leaders also have the courage to transform their moral intentions into ethical behaviours, which can be referred to as a high behavioural consistency (Zhu et al., 2004). When employees perceive this consistency, followers' trust in the leader is likely to increase.\nThe relationship between leader integrity and ethical leadership: Brown and Trevino (2006) reported that leader traits such as honesty, integrity and trustworthiness contributed to the \"moral person\" facet of ethical leadership. Mayer et al. (2012) showed that an ethical leader's personal values (e.g. integrity and altruism) are an integral part of their social identity and help them to be a moral person. Integrity shows some conceptual overlap with ethical leadership, yet is only one facet of ethical behaviour (Palanski and Yammarino, 2007). Research by Mayer et al. (2012) shows that leader's ethical behaviour flows from the leader' own personal moral values.\nConceptual model: Based on the in-depth literature review and theoretical arguments presented above, a structural model was formulated showing the postulated relationships between leader integrity, ethical leadership, trust in the leader and work engagement. The structural model, illustrated in Figure 1, reflects the various paths and linkages between the different latent variables. It is clear from Figure 1 that integrity would be a significant driving force for a person to engage in ethical leadership in an attempt to influence followers (Brown et al., 2005; Kalshoven et al., 2011; Mayer et al., 2012; Palanski and Yammarino, 2007). A leader with integrity would be perceived as trustworthy, which will lead to trust in the leader (Colquitt et al., 2007; Kalshoven et al., 2011; Kannan-Narasimhan and Lawrence, 2012; Mayer and Gavin, 2005; Palanski and Yammarino, 2011). An ethical leader's concern for the best interests of subordinates, openness to input and fair decision making would enhance the experiencing of ethical leaders as trustworthy by their subordinates (Dadhich and Bhal, 2008; Eisenbeiss, 2012; Johnson et al., 2012; Kalshoven et al., 2011; Van den Akker et al., 2009). Ethical leaders want to empower employees through training and support, and they want to provide freedom to their employees to show initiative through responsibility and authority, which leads to employee engagement in their work (Den Hartog and Belschak, 2012; Macey et al., 2009). When the employees perceive the leaders as fair in the distribution of rewards and treatment of their efforts, trust in the leaders will increase that would lead to a climate in which employees are engaged in their work (Buckley, 2011; Wong et al., 2010).\nMethod: Participants\nResults: Reliability analysis\nDiscussion: The relationship between trust in leader and work engagement\nLimitations of the study and suggestions for future research: Although this study offers valuable insights about the consequences of ethical leadership, some limitations need to be considered for the purpose of providing information on how future studies can be improved and extended. First, this study was a single-source study. Multiple sources of data could be considered in future studies, such as leader self-assessments of their own integrity and ethical leadership, and peer ratings.\nManagerial implications: As confirmed through this study, mutual trust and employee engagement will strengthen when integrity behaviour and ethical leadership are present in the work environment. The good fit indices of the measurement models confirmed the postulation that moral persons and moral managers are perceived as such by subordinates (Stouten et al., 2012). As stated by Brown et al. (2005), it remains important to be a moral manager, not just a moral person, through implementing moral values and an ethical vision, making it visible by living it out in the organisation. Practical guidelines therefore would suggest leading through ethical role modelling, developing performance criteria that reward ethical behaviour, facilitating fair and ethical solutions to problems and conflict, monitoring fraud and corruption through internal and external audit systems and promoting a code of ethical conduct (Yukl, 2013). To prepare managerial leaders for dealing with typical moral challenges and dilemmas, training programmes should be developed aimed to create ethical awareness and to develop managers' capacity to find morally justifiable solutions by using interactive learning techniques (e.g. case studies, role play and coaching).\nConclusion: Organisations should take full responsibility for ensuring that ethical leaders drive management practices and that trust in the leaders is developed through the presence of ethically based business systems and functions. By strengthening these factors, work engagement is promoted amongst employees because of the trust they have in their leaders for taking their interests into consideration, and for behaving in a fair and ethical manner when decisions are made in a changing work environment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how leader integrity and ethical leadership can influence trust in the leader and employee work engagement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected using an electronic web-based questionnaire completed by 204 employees from various business organisations. Data were analysed by means of item analysis and confirmatory factor analysis conducted via structural equation modelling.\nFindings: High levels of reliability were found for the measurement scales. Good model fit was demonstrated for the measurement and structural models. Empirical support was found for all the postulated relationships in the structural model.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first to analyse the joint relationships between leader integrity and work engagement through the mediating role of ethical leadership (i.e. moral management) and trust in the leader. The findings emphasise the key role played by ethical leaders in creating an ethical and trusting work climate conducive for employee engagement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Creative use of technology for learning and development: avoiding controlling tendencies	[ "Learning", "E‐learning", "Training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nE-learning problems: E-learning approaches and related uses of technologies have grown. Some of the early errors of merely translating boring paper material into boring screen material have moved on (but many of these errors persist). I still have a number of concerns about where we are with all this technology stuff. In one research study on the use of e-learning the company found that it was the young people who were most critical of what was provided. The company was surprised - I am not. Young people are less tolerant of inflexible provision.Basically there is too much of a \"push\" mode from e-learning providers, in that they pump out the material and learners have to respond. The trend, away from the formal training world, is for more \"pull\" modes where you, the learner, go out and pull in what you need - and you control it.Some examples of the concerns I have (and some solutions) are outlined below.\nConcerns and solutions: 1. Commercial e-learning suppliers usually keep very quiet about all the free (and often more flexible) resources out there on the Internet. Some universities have put their whole MBA curriculum on the web for free. Sites like findarticles.com provide a range of free material and I access papers and articles for free from professional associations that I belong to.One of my colleagues commented: \"Free material on the web is fantastic. I am learning some Dutch thanks to a pod-cast style of site called www.lauraspeaksdutch.info/ It is a site created by a Dutch guy with an American girlfriend to teach her Dutch and he created it online for her - and now it is being shared all over the world: how liberating is that as a learning movement?\"2. Blogging is one example where learners can develop ideas that can be shared with others - and avoid a controlling e-learning provider dictating content. Wikis are an expanding development of collectively created material.3. In general I get the sense that the educational world has progressed more than the business world in its use of technology (this is unusual as it is more often the other way round). We are collaborating with the Learner Centred Design team at a local university. They quite sensibly reckon that you first of all find out what people want to learn and how they want to learn before coming up with technological solutions. Too often commercial suppliers of e-learning in the business sector produce material that they want to promote without really understanding what learners want and how they want to learn. Too much e-learning is still a solution looking for a problem to attach it to.4. In working in an international company recently we had a final presentation from participants on what they had learned. One person had left the company and gone back to the US (the program was based in The Netherlands). She put material on YouTube in her new location in Austin, Texas, and her presentation was shown in The Netherlands as part of the final presentation from her group. It is nothing special to do this. There are many cost-effective modes available to make life easier for us.5. Too often e-learning is a static mode with prescribed content driving the learning. Dynamic approaches include forums, chat and other modes that are driven by learners. Social networking via the web has taken off and this is again driven by participants, not by someone controlling content in the way that many e-learning providers assume is necessary.One of the team that I work with commented to me: \"I just used a message board to get some advice about something I was asked about during a session with some clients about using music and it was great: I could put a question up and within four hours someone had given me the information and links that I needed. This is learning which meets my immediate needs and means that I am in control of this.\"Add to this the growth of Second Life, where organizations are using this virtual space in creative ways, and you have a further example of the desire for people to create their own \"content\".6. A total of 12 years ago I was involved in running an on-line Masters degree offered from an institution in the US. I was based in the UK and interacted with students around the world. I provided no content for my leadership course. I gave some guidance at the start as to how we would work together in groups and I provided an annotated bibliography of the field. I helped students design their own programs of learning and prompted them to use their own contexts. Most were senior HR, L&D and OD professionals and they carried out creative work in their own companies using the online environment to share ideas and support each other. Note that there was no imposed curriculum and the content either came from them or from texts that they could track down online or in libraries and that related to their needs.7. M-learning (mobile learning) may be becoming more important. Desktop solutions that require presence at a static screen are less tolerated by many young people. While at university my daughter listened to podcasts for lectures that she had missed. Progressive education establishments recognize that they need to communicate with students via SMS/text messaging. Young people on the move expect not to be tied down with static equipment and e-learning that does not respond to this may be limited in future.My favorite device for learning has the following features:it is totally portable;it can be used literally anywhere in the world, including during takeoff and landing on aircraft;it does not need any maintenance and never goes wrong;it is highly flexible and easy to navigate around;it requires no electricity, batteries or any powering devices;it is easy to store and to re-use; and*it is called a book!\nConclusion: Technology has a lot to offer. I welcome being able to work from my office at the top of my garden and not to have to go into an office building any more. And I value the resources I can draw on using technology. But I want to drive this and not be dictated to by over-controlling e-learning providers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to challenge assumptions about e-learning and its use in organizations; to show how organizations can take a more sophisticated stance on the use of technology for learning.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The article is based on work done in a variety of organizations plus research in HR functions.\nFindings: - The need is for organizations to re-examine some of their assumptions about the use of technology. Also organizations need to make e-learning more user friendly and more appropriate for individual needs.\nPractical implications: - The article has real practical implications for leaders/managers and learning and development professionals - for example it shows how organizations can use free resources instead of buying into expensive commercial material.\nOriginality/value: - The article will be of value to managers and learning specialists who are involved in decisions about learning strategies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Blurred roles and elusive boundaries: On contemporary forms of oversight surrounding professional work	[ "Professional associations", "Accounting and auditing regulation", "Boundary work", "Independent oversight", "Professional regulation", "Regulatory space" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Economic and financial crises often lead to changes in laws, rules, and mechanisms of control (Hancher and Moran, 1989). Professional scandals are no exception as they also provoke calls for regulatory changes (Woods et al., 2011; Carnegie and O'Connell, 2014). This has been the case for \"established\" professions such as medicine (Hassenteufel, 1999; Woods et al., 2011; Allsop, 2006), law (Rhode and Paton, 2004; Rochvarg, 2003; Paton, 2008), and accounting (Humphrey et al., 2011; Carnegie and O'Connell, 2014), where a relatively long period of self-regulatory dominance is now increasingly challenged in terms of public oversight. While the obscurity of their epistemic foundations (Power, 1997), coupled with their monopoly privileges and their renowned expertise, historically constituted a relatively effective hindrance to outside regulation (Freidson, 1986; Abbott, 1988), professions have recently come under external scrutiny after having been accused of losing sight of the public interest.\n2. Audit regulation in France: The first post-Enron initiative aimed at creating an independent regulatory body to oversee the audit industry came in July 2002 from the US Congress. The PCAOB was established to protect investors and the public interest, and was intended to reinforce the financial audit function. Following the US' lead, several countries set up national statutory bodies to oversee audit firms' practices (Humphrey et al., 2009). In France, the Financial Security Law (Loi sur la Securite Financiere - thereafter LSF) that came into effect on August 1, 2003 created the H3C, an independent audit oversight authority. It was explicitly designated as an Independent Administrative Authority (IAA) in an ordinance promulgated on September 8, 2005. Prior to this, French law had been silent about the exact nature of oversight regulation, despite the significance of the issue at stake.\n3. Theoretical framework: 3.1. The regulatory space concept\n4. Method: This longitudinal study uses data collected over a nine-year period, from the establishment of the H3C in 2003 up to 2012. We conducted interviews and examined documents such as legal texts, project proposals, business reports, minutes from meetings, and press releases. To overcome the absence of primary data for the initial years of the H3C's regulatory activity, the interviews were supplemented by documentary material consisting of articles found in professional magazines and regulators' websites.\n5. Boundary work in shifting regulatory space: The profession was upset by the shock of [LSF] and H3C's arrival. It was necessary to review our plans, to modify behaviors, to adapt strategies by exchanging views and especially by engaging in strong means of lobbying to convince the authorities that these rules were certainly praiseworthy and necessary, but not necessarily with such restraints (CNCC member, September 2010).\n6. Affirmative initiatives and shifting mindsets: Several studies maintain that regulations initiated after corporate collapses and professional failures usually produce few significant changes (Salter, 2002; Paton, 2008; Richardson and Kilfoyle, 2009; Malsch and Gendron, 2011). Despite lofty ambitions, regulatory reforms often end in the establishment of symbolic changes that do not significantly affect regulatees' mindset and behavior (Salter, 2002; Carnegie and O'Connell, 2014). The Green Paper can indeed be viewed as evidence that substantive regulatory change following audit failures had not been implemented in the past (Humphrey et al., 2011). At first glance, our three-stage analysis, which illustrates the audit profession's ability to preserve a prominent role in France's regulatory space, does not seem to contradict this general observation about the symbolic impact of changes. Under the co-regulation regime, the CNCC is partially involved in standard setting and audit firm inspections. However, inertia and social change often intertwine in the regulatory field (Gendron and Smith-Lacroix, 2015). We thus found indications of significant change in the attitudes expressed by a number of auditors regarding the acceptability of independent oversight:\n7. Discussion and conclusion: This study sheds light on contemporary forms of oversight surrounding professional work. Using the example of auditing regulation, we extend the studies by Malsch and Gendron (2011) and Canning and O'Dwyer (2013), which provide contradictory findings regarding independent regulators' abilities to defy professional resistance to change. Our main interest has been to examine how the creation of a new form of audit oversight in France disrupted the status quo and motivated the professional body (CNCC) to engage in boundary work, seeking to define and circumscribe a distinct and significant regulatory role for itself. Our longitudinal analysis is predicated on the notions of regulatory space and boundary work, which we found useful to examine professionals' actions, strategies, and reactions in a shifting regulatory context. As stressed by Astley and Sachdeva (1984), regulatory spaces are subject to tension because the regulator possesses legal authority while professionals have some of the resources required to carry out regulatory work. It is particularly insightful to examine boundaries dynamics between the main players, and how they may shift over time.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend research on contemporary forms of oversight surrounding professional work in an era characterized by increased skepticism regarding professional claims and the rise of independent regulatory authorities. The authors investigate the interplay between key actors as well as the shifting role boundaries in a distinct regulatory space, following the introduction of a new public oversight framework.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis draws on the notions of regulatory space and boundary work to better understand the development of independent audit oversight in France. The authors adopted an interpretive approach to conduct a longitudinal case study based on 33 interviews and documentary data produced from 2003 to 2012.\nFindings: The study provides a narrative of the boundary work carried out by the French audit profession as it tried to reinvent its role in the new regulatory order. In the case, boundary work engendered a hybrid regulatory pattern, named \"co-regulation,\" reflecting both the logic of independent regulation and the logic of self-regulation. The main consequence of this is that zones of mutual involvement were constructed - thereby suggesting that to become a reality, independent oversight of professional work needs to accept some operational dependence from professionals.\nOriginality/value: The study illustrates the elusiveness of boundaries surrounding actors' role within contemporary forms of professional regulation. More generally, hybrid development suggests that professions are proactive and, to some extent, successful when it comes to developing alliances and manipulating changes within their regulatory space.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Books as a knowledge translation mechanism: citation analysis and author survey	[ "Knowledge management", "Intellectual capital", "Relevance", "Academic research", "Citation analysis", "Scientometrics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge management and intellectual capital (KM/IC) is a burgeoning scholarly management discipline which has existed for just over a decade. Despite this, it has already gained recognition within the business community and can boast various attributes of an academic discipline. For example, it has its own set of journals (Bontis and Serenko, 2009; Serenko and Bontis, 2009), university courses (Ruth et al., 2003; Bontis et al., 2006), theories (Grant, 2002; Serenko et al., 2007), and scientometric studies that attempt to understand the past, present and potential growth of the field (Serenko and Bontis, 2004; Rodriguez-Ruiz and Fernandez-Menendez, 2009; Ma and Yu, 2010; Serenko et al., 2011b).To facilitate the future of KM/IC as a well-recognized discipline, it is critical not only to promote scholarly research but also to ensure the success of KM initiatives in organizational settings (Jennex and Olfman, 2005; Jennex and Olfman, 2006). However, academics and practitioners define KM success from different perspectives; whereas the former concentrate on theoretical and generalized measures, the latter focus on specific measurable impacts, such as productivity outcomes and overall effectiveness (Jennex et al., 2009). They also have different goals and career objectives in mind. Academics want to achieve recognition within their own research community, whereas practitioners wish to use the knowledge generated by scholars to solve current organizational problems. As a result, the impact of scholarly KM/IC research on the state of practice has been questioned (Andriessen, 2004; Ferguson, 2005). For example, there is evidence that terminology used by KM/IC researchers has little relevance to industry professionals (Eijkman, 2011). Despite theoretical advancements in the KM/IC field, IC reporting has not become the central system for the valuation, measurement, and reporting of intangible assets (Andrikopoulos, 2010). Initially, the scholarly side of the KM/IC discipline was represented by both academics and practitioners; gradually, however, industry professionals withdrew from academic research. For example, in 1994 non-academics generated 30 percent of all peer-reviewed KM/IC articles, but by 2009 their output dropped to only 10 percent (Serenko et al., 2010).KM/IC scholars create new knowledge in the form of refereed journal articles and conference proceedings, which may be delivered to industry professionals through two channels (Booker et al., 2008). The direct knowledge dissemination approach assumes that practitioners educate themselves by reading scholarly publications. However, evidence suggests the opposite; practitioners are mostly unaware of scholarly works, rarely read them, and find scholarly papers outdated, difficult to comprehend and of little value (e.g. see Pearson et al., 2005). According to the indirect knowledge transfer method, scholarly knowledge is delivered to practitioners by means of knowledge translation mechanisms, which summarize, contextualize and transform knowledge existing in peer-reviewed sources, and present it to busy professionals in a very compact, easy to comprehend form. Examples of these mechanisms include classes, workshops, industry magazines, online sources, and books. In a previous investigation, Serenko et al. (2011a) explored the role of KM/IC books as an indirect knowledge dissemination mechanism, and concluded that books serve as knowledge distribution agents and that the body of knowledge published in peer-reviewed sources is used in the development of book content. The books, in turn, are read by practitioners and students, who later join the professional world. Their study, however, relied on self-reported data (i.e. author interviews). The present investigation takes a step further; it attempts to expand the proposed framework and test it through a different method (i.e. citation analysis from 40 authored and 9 edited books) followed by a survey of 35 book authors.\n2. Literature review and study's model: 2.1 Practical relevance of scholarly research\n3. Methodology: A comprehensive search for KM/IC books was conducted. First, the authors of this study were familiar with many books published in the field. Second, an online search of the major book publishers, Amazon.com, Google Books, and Google Scholar was done based on several keywords, such as knowledge management, intellectual capital, intangible assets, organizational learning, learning organization, knowledge and business, knowledge and organization, knowledge transfer, knowledge engineering, community of practice, knowledge market, etc. The search was based not only on the book title, but also on the book description and content. As a result, 40 authored books and nine edited books in English language were identified. Three of them were printed in the UK, and the rest in the USA. The books were published for the period from 1994 to 2009, with approximately the same number of books appearing per year.The data collection process consisted of two stages. The first phase included an analysis of authored book and edited book citations. For this, all citations in each book were classified based on their type (e.g. peer-reviewed article, book, book chapter, practitioner magazine, website, etc.) In order to eliminate the effect of book size (i.e. number of pages), the citation type count was converted to percentage. At the second stage, an online survey of book authors was conducted. The editors of edited books were excluded from the survey since they did not generate the book content themselves, but only provided guidance to the authors. Survey questions pertained to four areas:1. The author's academic vs practitioner orientation (academic vs practitioner self-identification, number of peer-reviewed articles published, number of practitioner articles published, and years of full-time university/college teaching experience).2. The author's motivation to write the book (theoretical vs practical).3. The book's target audience (academic vs practitioner).4. The extent to which non-citable book content sources were used, which cannot be identified by means of citation analysis, such as personal research, personal work experience, discussions with academics and discussions with practitioners.When the same author wrote multiple books, motivation and target audience questions were repeated for each book individually. If only one author of a multi-authored book completed the questionnaire, his/her data was used for that book. If multiple authors of the same book completed the survey, their responses were averaged. Sixty-seven unique authors were identified and contacted by email, followed by two reminders. The questionnaire is available in the Appendix.\n4. Results: Table II provides an overview of the sample of 40 authored books and nine edited books studied. A total of 35 completed questionnaires were received, yielding a response rate of 52 percent. Overall, author survey data on 32 books were obtained and used for analysis. For the eight books that had no author survey data, descriptive analysis of citations was done, but these books were excluded from further correlation analysis.There were ten female and 25 male authors. On average, they published 2.7 peer-reviewed and 8.6 practitioner articles per year, and had eight years of full-time university/college teaching experience. A total of 70 percent of them had a PhD, primarily in the fields of management, social science, engineering, computer science, psychology, and economics. Table III outlines general citation data and demonstrates that edited books contain more citations than authored books on average. Table IV and Table V show the categories of content sources for authored books and edited books, respectively. Books represented almost a half of all citations in authored books, followed by practitioner magazines, peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and general online resources. Other types of citations were very rare. Overall, peer-reviewed sources, such as refereed journals, refereed conference proceedings, and book chapters (which are usually peer-reviewed) constituted 20.4 percent of all citations in authored books. In edited books, a somewhat similar pattern was observed, but peer-reviewed journals were used more frequently, with all peer-reviewed sources constituting 37.9 percent of all citations.Table VI presents correlations among different categories of citations. Three observations have been made. First, book citations act as a substitute for all other categories of citations; the more authors cite books, the less they cite other types of sources. Second, peer-reviewed journal citations correlate positively with practitioner magazine citations, and negatively with general Internet sources. Third, citations of conference proceedings correlate positively with general Internet citations; this may happen because both types of sources are located through search engines.The citation data were correlated with the results of the author survey. Several findings emerged as reported in Tables VII to IX. First, there is a strong relationship between the author's degree of academic vs. practitioner orientation and the overall number of citations; in general, more academically-focused authors use more citations than practitioner-centered. Second, results show that academically-focused authors wish to contribute to theory, target other scholars, and get ideas from other academics. Those who are more practitioner-oriented are motivated to contribute to practice, target other practitioners, use fewer citations, and get ideas from other practitioners and personal work experience. Third, the validity of the self-reported academic vs. practitioner scale was further confirmed. Authors who publish more scholarly articles identify themselves as academically-focused, are less inspired to contribute to practice and do not target practitioners. The more practitioner articles authors publish, the fewer citations they use in their books. Authors who are more academically-oriented have more university/college full-time teaching experience, cite more sources, target other scholars, and publish more academic and fewer practitioner articles.Fourth, academically-focused authors cited more peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, and fewer unreliable online sources than practically-focused authors. Fifth, the number of citations is negatively correlated with three self-reported measures: personal research, personal work experience, and discussions with practitioners. However, it positively correlates with discussions with academics. Therefore, instead of relying on published material, practice-focused authors develop their book content based on their existing knowledge and advice from their professional colleagues. In contrast, academic authors rely on the body of knowledge published in peer-reviewed sources and consult other academics. Even though some of the correlations in these tables were not statistically significant, most were in the theoretically proposed direction; the lack of statistical significance was a result of a small sample size of authored books (32).Table X further demonstrates that personal research and discussions with academics act as a substitute for peer-reviewed journals. Authors, who use more personal work experience and ideas obtained from discussions with academics, use more refereed journal citations. Personal work experience also substitutes for information from book chapters. Note that statistically significant differences among these four self-reported content sources were observed, F(3, 123)=7.242, p<0.01.\n5. Implications: The purpose of this study was to explore whether KM/IC books serve as a knowledge translation mechanism. A theoretical model was adapted from Serenko et al. (2011a) and extended further. Empirical data were obtained from two sources: citation analysis of 40 authored and nine edited books; and a survey of these books' authors. Since both data sources were conceptually and empirically independent, confidence in the validity of the findings is assured. Based on the results, eight implications are proposed that warrant discussion:5.1 Implication no. 1: the body of knowledge that exists in peer-reviewed sources, such as peer-reviewed journals, book chapters and conference proceedings, is used to develop the content of KM/IC books\n6. Limitations and conclusion: Despite its contribution, this study has several limitations. First, it is possible that some KM/IC books were missed. KM/IC is a very broad field. In this study, various keywords were used to identify as many relevant books as possible, but it is difficult to ensure full coverage of the topic. Second, several of the identified book authors might not have received survey participation requests since all correspondence was sent by email, and some email addresses might have been inactive or some messages might have been accidentally deleted by spam filters. Third, only books published in English were selected. This was done to ensure the accuracy of citation analysis. Nevertheless, this may limit the generalizability of the findings. Fourth, despite authors' intentions, it is possible that some of the books included in this study were never used as textbooks and were read predominantly by academics. In this case, the transfer of scholarly knowledge to practice did not occur. Fifth, there are several problems associated with citation analysis (Serenko and Dohan, 2011). For example, the fact that the source was cited does not mean that the authors actually read the original publication. Negative citations, when the cited work is critiqued, still contribute to the overall citation count. Self-citations may also distort the findings. Not all citations are equal; whereas some cited works are heavily used to form the book's core arguments, others are cited to merely beef-up general statements. Nevertheless, citation analysis is a popular method in scientometrics. It is hoped that future researchers will continue this line of investigation and address the limitations above.In conclusion, this investigation represents one of the first documented attempts to study the role of books as the disseminator of knowledge from the academic to the practitioner audience. Overall, it is concluded that previous statements on the irrelevance of scholarly KM/IC research are not empirically grounded. In fact, scholarly knowledge reaches current and future practitioners through indirect channels with the assistance of knowledge translation mechanisms, such as books.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - As a response to the claims that much of management academic research is irrelevant from the practitioner perspective, this study aims to empirically investigate whether books serve as effective knowledge distribution agents and whether peer-reviewed publications are used in the development of book content.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A citation analysis of 40 authored and nine edited books was done, followed by a survey of 35 book authors.\nFindings: - This study refutes the previous claims that management academic research has made little impact on the state of practice. Peer-reviewed sources, such as refereed journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings, are used to develop the content of knowledge management and intellectual capital (KM/IC) books. Even though most business professionals do not directly read academic articles, the knowledge existing in these articles is delivered to them by means of books and textbooks.\nPractical implications: - Scholarly research has played a significant role in developing the KM/IC field. This study confirms the existence of the indirect knowledge dissemination channels where books serve as knowledge transmission agents. Therefore, academics should not change their research behavior. Instead, infrastructure should be developed to facilitate the transition of scholarly knowledge to practitioners. The question is not whether academic research is relevant, instead it is whether it reaches practitioners in the most efficient way.\nOriginality/value: - This is the most comprehensive empirical investigation of the role of books in academic knowledge transition ever conducted.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Developing a typology of disruptive customer behaviors: Influence of customer misbehavior on service experience of by-standing customers	[ "Netnography", "Service experience", "Customer misbehaviour", "Customer-to-customer interactions", "Disruptive customer behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Misbehaviors and actions of other customers present in a service encounter can have significant effects on by-standing customers' service experiences (Bitner et al., 1994). Customer misbehavior refers to \"behavior in exchange settings which violates the generally accepted norms of conduct in such situations and which is therefore held in disrepute by marketers and by most consumers\" (Fullerton and Punj, 1993, p. 570). While some individuals may unknowingly exhibit these misbehaviors, some others may intentionally perform these misbehaviors to take advantage of the service motto of \"customer is always right\", disrupting the service experience of by-standing customers in the process.\nLiterature review: Given the social nature of service encounters, customer-to-customer interactions are believed to play a delicate but important role in overall service experience (Grove and Fisk, 1997). As suggested by the service management theory, customers' perceptions of service quality can be affected by behaviors of other customers present (Nicholls, 2011). More specifically, conduct of other customers can influence affective responses of others present (Buck et al., 1992) because other customers present in a service encounter are simply more than just by-standers; they are considered as co-producers and participants of one another's service experiences (Moore et al., 2005). As indicated in Eiglier et al. (1977) servuction system model, the other customers category, in addition to the inanimate physical environment and the contact personnel, is one of the three main determinants of customers' perception of service quality (Suh et al., 2015).\nMethodology: Data collection\nResults: Seven categories of disruptive customer service behaviors were identified from 219 anecdotes analyzed. The types of disruptive customer service behavior categories vary in severity and style, with different causes for such behaviors. The seven categories are labeled as the:\nDiscussions and conclusions: Conclusions\nLimitations: Like any other study, this study is not free of limitations. While the use of netnographic data was unique in studying customer misbehaviors, the authenticity of this type of data is difficult to verify. Dishonesty and misrepresentation poses significant challenges in netnographic research, which are considered as some of the major limitations of conducting netnographic research, especially when researchers use data from anonymous posters. For example, a few of the websites' stories are ranked based on popularity, suggesting that users who shared these anecdotes could have potentially embellished some of the details to make their story more compelling. Likewise, as anecdotes were pooled from several different websites, there was no means to maintain consistency in word length and anecdote format. While these restrictions exist, it was important to study this topic via a non-traditional method to generate new insight on customer misbehaviors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the phenomenon of disruptive service behavior: an act by a customer that negatively affects the service experience of other customers and to identify typology of disruptive behaviors of customers that can negatively alter the service experiences of by-standing customers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Anecdotes of customers' service experiences that were negatively affected by the behavior of other customers were gathered from several customer review and discussion websites using a netnographic study approach. Data were analyzed using a qualitative data analysis approach with an iterative and inductive methodologies.\nFindings: The analysis produced a typology featuring seven categories of disruptive behaviors of customers: \"Inattentive Parents with Naughty Kids\", \"Oral Abusers\", \"Outlandish Requesters\", \"Hysterical shouters\", \"Poor Hygiene Manners\", \"Service Rule Breakers\" and \"Ignorant Customers\".\nPractical implications: Using the typology developed in this study, managers and operators of hospitality businesses can identify specific customer service behaviors and develop strategies and actions to minimize the impact of those behaviors on the service experience of other customers.\nOriginality/value: Even though a great deal of attention has been given to how employees can damage customers' service experiences, much less work has been conducted on disruptive behaviors of customers as an influential factor of service quality and satisfaction. This study aims to address this gap in the literature by developing a typology of disruptive customer behaviors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Why teams achieve higher negotiation profits than individuals: the mediating role of deceptive tactics	[ "Deception by commission", "Deception by omission", "Deceptive negotiation tactics", "Individual negotiator", "Negotiation profit", "Negotiation team" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In many business negotiations, teams are involved rather than individual negotiators because the negotiation task is generally rather complex (Wilken et al., 2013). Existing research - in particular, the great many studies that \"treat negotiating teams as unitary players\" (Halevy, 2008, p. 1)[1] - has established several reasons why teams are also often better negotiators than individuals. For example, teams can spread the workload among multiple team members, have more information processing capacity (Brett et al., 2009; Cohen and Thompson, 2011) and feel more self-confident than individual negotiators (O'Connor, 1997). For negotiations in which teams face individual negotiators, Thompson et al. (1996) show that teams make more accurate judgments about the other party's preferences through high levels of information exchange, which also enables them to establish agreements in which profits are distributed primarily on their side of the bargaining table (Brodt and Thompson, 2001; Cooper and Kagel, 2005; Hill, 1982; Polzer, 1996).\nDeceptive negotiation tactics: Negotiations are processes that resolve conflicts through the exchange of information regarding the interests and priorities of the negotiating parties (Lewicki, 1983; Rubin and Brown, 1975). In these processes, negotiators need to decide how much information they are ready to share with their counterpart (Aquino, 1998; Raiffa, 1982). This question is of high importance for negotiators, as any disclosure of information about their own interests and priorities does not necessarily result in the opposing party following suit; rather, the disclosure might remain unilateral, and the opposing party could gain an information advantage (Lax and Sebenius, 1986).\nDeceptive negotiation behavior on the team level: Using prisoner's dilemma games, scholars have established empirical evidence for a higher competitive orientation of teams than of individuals (Insko et al., 1990, 2005; Wildschut et al., 2001, 2002, 2003)[6]. Scholars argue that this orientation originates mainly from an in-group-out-group view shared by all team members (Brewer and Kramer, 1985; Cohen et al., 2010; Polzer, 1996; Tajfel et al., 1971; Wildschut and Insko, 2007). This characteristic is described as an in-group favoring norm (Wildschut et al., 2002), a kind of own-group morality that leads team members to care only about the interests of the team and to disregard the interests of individuals outside their in-group (Cohen et al., 2006, 2009). The current study adopts Cohen et al.'s (2006) phrasing that in the words of Niebuhr (1941, p. 222), \"the group is more arrogant, hypocritical, self-centered and more ruthless in the pursuit of its ends than the individual\". The authors conclude that the behavior of teams often breaks the moral code that would pertain to individual behavior.\nMethod: General study set-up\nResults: Preliminary remarks\nDiscussion: Summary\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate the use of deceptive negotiation tactics to explain why teams can attain higher negotiation profits than individual negotiators. The study distinguishes deception by commission (i.e. active misrepresentation of preferences) from deception by omission (i.e. passive misrepresentation of preferences).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample used to test the mediation hypothesis was made up of data from two electronically mediated negotiation simulations encompassing 75 negotiation dyads with 278 participants. The methodology involved coding deceptive negotiation tactics from the log files by counting utterances related to indifference options that enabled negotiation parties to deceive.\nFindings: The results show that teams do apply deceptive negotiation tactics more frequently than individual negotiators and that this behavior helps them increase their negotiation profits.\nOriginality/value: The findings are valuable for two reasons. First, the study included controls for other important antecedents of deceptive behavior and negotiation outcome (e.g. negotiators' nationalities, first bids). Consequently, the empirical results underline the importance of considering team size to understand its impact on profits through the use of deceptive tactics. Second, although this study does show that deception increases negotiation profits, the absolute level of deception is rather small (on average just one deceptive statement per negotiation).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Country-of-origin effects in service evaluation in emerging markets: some insights from five West African countries	[ "Country of origin", "Emerging markets", "Ethnocentrism", "Culture", "West Africa" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: International service providers, such as McDonald's and Walt Disney, often face the strategic dilemma of how to position their service offerings in other cultures in part because of the \"American\" appeal of their market offerings or country-of-origin (COO) effects (Cateora and Graham, 2007). While positioning a market offering on the basis of its US consumer cultural values and lifestyle seems to be a logical and viable positioning strategy for US firms, it may potentially conflict with prevailing consumption norms in host countries with different cultural values and lifestyles, which may ultimately induce anti-American sentiments in this era of anti-globalism.Given this dilemma of how far to position a service on the basis of its American COO attributes, the challenges for US firms are to determine if COO effects exist for their service, to examine whether COO effects will assist or hinder US standardization, and to position their services accordingly in each emerging market. COO refers to the tendency among individuals to infer the quality of a product from its country of manufacture. For example, products or services from countries with a positive image tend to receive favorable evaluations (Han and Terpstra, 1988; White and Cundiff, 1978; Peterson and Jolibert, 1995). Favorable evaluations may then lead to purchase. The effect of COO has been associated with certain conditions, including the buyer's ethnocentric attitude towards COO attributes and his/her underlying cultural values (Han and Terpstra, 1988). Thus, optimally positioning a service on the basis of COO attributes and keeping cognizant of individual cultural values and ethnocentric attitudes should help firms maximize positive evaluations while avoiding resistance from possible conflict with prevailing norms in emerging markets. However, the feasibility of this positioning strategy in emerging market nations is quite unclear because of the lack of systematic framework for linking COO effects to service evaluation in emerging market settings.The consumer utility maximization perspective (Messinger and Narasimhan, 1997; Bell and Lattin, 1998; Chiang, 1995) offers a conceptual basis for guiding US and western industrialized firms on how far to position their services on the basis of their COO preference in emerging markets. According to the utility maximization perspective, consumers and stakeholders of a service would evaluate and select COO attributes that maximize both short-term and long-term benefits or utilities associated with a service. This linkage transcends cultural differences and individual lifestyles, and thus holds promise for examining the COO-evaluation linkage under a variety of global market conditions.In this research, we examine reactions in five West African nations to the \"Americana\" appeal of a growing service originating from the USA - the US style of university education. We explored the argument that positive evaluation toward a US style of university education was associated with the utility of its Americana appeal. Some individuals will derive greater utility from COO attributes than others in efforts to maximize total utility. Knowing the utility function of the target segment, or highest importance stakeholder, in influencing service evaluation can be valuable to the service firm. Also, knowledge of the country-of-origin preference of the targeted stakeholder can direct the US firm to either stress US standardization or down-play US standardization. US firms strategically can design and position their services in emerging African markets according to the emphasis, or weighting, on COO attributes and the country-of-origin preference.The West African higher education market offers an interesting setting for addressing the question of how far to position a US service on the basis of its American COO attributes in part because of the relative paucity of US services in this region of the world. In the past several decades, the economies of West African nations have moved more and more toward free-market economy. Liberalization of major sectors of the economy, including the higher education system, has led to a steady increase in demand for US services. Concurrently, the existing education institutions have failed to respond to the changing educational needs of these nations, including the need for more innovative, non-private funded, market-driven higher education systems typical of US institutions. While a few non-governmental institutions have set up some schools in response to this growing need, most of these schools have thin curricula with heavy emphasis on pecuniary rather than academic goals. Moreover, there are few regional, private fee-based university educational service providers. Thus, our study assessing market potential of a US type of university education for the West African region offers unique insight into the effects of COO attributes on service evaluation. Specifically we analyze service evaluation of four different stakeholders (educators, students, parents, and employers) in French speaking and English speaking West Africa. Such variations in the existing educational market could uncover potential effects of ethnocentric and cultural differences, such as collectivism (versus individualism) on COO-evaluation linkage, an issue that remains controversial in the COO literature (Gurhan-Canli and Maheswaran, 2000a, b). In addition, the focus of our study in West Africa provides strategic guidelines for US services providers in other sectors, such as airlines and hotels, as they contemplate entry into the emerging West African markets.In the rest of the article, we review the COO construct, including the conditions under which COO may serve as an effective basis for positioning a service. We then formulate our propositions based on qualitative studies carried out in five West African countries, including Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Nigeria. We present a conjoint analysis study conducted in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, followed by our findings and recommendations for further research.\nCountry of origin: Country-of-origin has been defined variously to include a buyer's evaluative reaction to the country of manufacture of products (Han and Terpstra, 1988; White and Cundiff, 1978). It is described as an extrinsic product cue that is distinct from a physical product characteristic or intrinsic attribute (Han and Terpstra, 1988; White and Cundiff, 1978; Peterson and Jolibert, 1995). The extant research reflects a lack of agreement on the relative influence of COO in consumers' overall evaluation (for reviews of COO research results, see Bilkey and Nes, 1982; Liefeld, 1994; Peterson and Jolibert, 1995; Gurhan-Canli and Maheswaran, 2000b). However, a review of 340 studies by Pharr (2005) provides evidence affirming the role of COO and the conditions facilitating this role.Conditions for COO effects\nA qualitative study: Propositions and our research framework were developed from findings of a qualitative study in West African countries. We sampled four different stakeholders of a higher education service:1. high school students (potential users of the higher education service);2. employers who will higher future graduates;3. parents of high school students (whose children will soon be searching for higher education services); and4. educators (i.e. potential faculty of the higher education establishment).In these four stakeholders, we initially examine situational personal characteristics (i.e. motivation and ability) and individual characteristics (i.e. ethnocentrism and cultural orientation) that may influence the use of COO attributes in service evaluation.The context of the study is the higher education market in West Africa. This market is a growing market because existing education models have failed to meet growing demand. Moreover, the US model, characterized by private, fee-paying tuition system, classroom democracy, and technologically-intensive teaching materials, is viewed by some stakeholders as holding the key to the increasing need for quality education in the sub-region. However, some stakeholders are likely to be suspicious that a US university system might be driven by purely pecuniary motives, mainly targeting students who can afford the high fees, and might not meet the prevailing collective values for equal access to education in the region.To gain insight, we conducted 24 interviews in five West African nations including Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Nigeria. The interviews were conducted by a team of US researchers with local faculty collaborators serving as the facilitators. The focus interviews were held in each capital city of the five African nations over a three-month period. There were approximately 12 participants per interview, with each interview representing a stakeholder group. In all, there were 300 subjects covering all five cities. Subjects were compensated a token fee ranging from $20-$40, except for the employer group, which was treated to lunch after the meeting.The script was pre-tested on two separate student samples in the US composed of students from all five African nations. All interviews were recorded on tape and digital camera, in addition to being recorded by a stenographer in attendance.\nResearch framework: We propose two models of COO effects. First, situational personal characteristics may affect the use of COO cues in service evaluation. The two situational personal characteristics are motivation to evaluate the service and ability to process information in order to evaluate the service. This model is presented in the top half of Figure 1. The second model proposed is in the bottom half of Figure 1. Individual characteristics may affect the preference of country-of-origin for a service. In particular, ethnocentrism and cultural orientation (collectivism) may influence COO preference. Findings from the qualitative study, including excerpts from transcripts, are presented next. Each model is discussed and propositions are given below.Situational personal characteristics and use of COO\nThe conjoint study: Methodology\nDiscussion: The association between COO attributes and evaluation has been addressed considerably, but still remains relatively unclear with respect to how far firms can position their service on the basis of their home country attributes. In this study we contributed to the marketing literature by examining the link between situational personal characteristics - use of COO and individual characteristics - and COO preference for a market that is fast emerging in West African nations. Our findings provide insight into conditions for use of COO attributes and COO preference in service evaluation across different stakeholders in African context. These insights can guide the design and formulation of viable strategies for introducing new services in emerging markets.Evidence of COO effects in an emerging market service context\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore country-of-origin (COO) effects on service evaluation in an emerging market.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To gain insight, 24 in-depth interviews were conducted with stakeholders in five West African countries. A conjoint analysis was also conducted to further explore COO effects.\nFindings: - Propositions were developed based on findings from the qualitative study and conjoint analysis. Situational personal characteristics, such as motivation and ability to process information, may influence use of COO attributes in evaluating a service. Individual characteristics, such as ethnocentrism and culture orientation, may influence COO preference in service evaluation.\nPractical implications: - Propositions and findings will assist firms considering entering a market in terms of service offerings and positioning strategies.\nOriginality/value: - While COO and consumer products have been widely studied in the literature, mostly within the contexts of industrialized nations, the paper examines COO effects with a service within the context of an emerging market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Waters gets the measure of creating value from service: Engineers given customer accounts to manage as their own	[ "Customer service", "Training", "Customer relationships", "Engineers", "Organizational change", "Customer service management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: What's the best way to train a field service team? The most obvious answer is to ensure they are experts in the products or technologies they are servicing.\nHighly qualified personnel: It is little wonder that Waters' service tended to be very technology-centric. For 50 years the company has pushed the boundaries of science to support customer discoveries, operations, performance and regulatory compliance with its analytical instruments and technologies. Its field service engineers are highly qualified, often hold PhDs, and consequently are both academic and scientific in their thinking. In this way, they mirror the type of customer they visit, who in the main is either engaged in research and development or in testing at clinical laboratories for health-care services.However, as Tim Jones, Waters' northern Europe service manager, explained: \"As with many technology companies these days, we talk about solutions rather than individual products and our sales are more complex and consultative than ever.\"It's not that we expected our service team to suddenly go out and sell these solutions. We felt that, if we raised the level of our service to create more value for customers, it would help these customers to be more successful themselves, which would ultimately have a positive impact on our sales.\"Previously, service jobs had been allocated according to specialist skills. However, last year, Waters carried out a major reorganization. Each engineer was given a number of customer accounts to \"own\". The engineers were to bring in different expertise as needed, but should manage the service project, get to know and understand the customer and identify ways that Waters could further help customers in their business.It was around this time that Tim Jones attended a seminar on Sales Through Service, presented by Claire Cologne, of Huthwaite International. At a time when many companies are less receptive to sales calls, service teams are in an excellent position to identify areas where their solutions could bring benefits and so support the sales team with intelligence, leads or even by closing and initiating a sale themselves.\nResearch-based approach: Tim Jones could see that Huthwaite International's approach reflected that of his own company. \"I really liked Huthwaite International's research-based approach. However, it was when Claire suggested how we could maximize the return on any service-training investment that I realized that working with Huthwaite International would match our strategy in more ways than one,\" he commented.Huthwaite International works with partner Cognisco to assess competency levels before and after training. Baseline testing enables training programs to be designed around areas where the need is the greatest, to avoid wasting investment and time teaching teams skills they already possess. This is followed up after training to assess the effectiveness of the program.\"I could have made all kinds of assumptions as to what training was needed,\" explained Tim Jones. \"However, it would never be more than that. This way, I knew I would get the most from the investment by providing targeted training to fill the identified knowledge gaps.\"Samantha Blackburn, Waters' regional HR manager, Europe north, was among the senior team that helped to add the Waters touch to Huthwaite International's Outstanding Service training. Using the intelligence gathered by Cognisco, Huthwaite International and Waters created tailored materials using typical real-life scenarios.\nBattle of academic wits: \"The most common reason that our service engineers visit a customer is because there is a problem. Often they are greeted by a customer who is already worried about downtime or that time-dependent test results cannot be delivered. It's not always a good basis for a relationship and the tendency is to get on with the engineering job in hand,\" commented Samantha Blackburn. \"So one of the areas we focused on was turning round this situation. Naturally customers are hoping that our service personnel can get the equipment up and running right away, but sometimes diagnostics can take a day or so. Build into this situation that both the customer and engineer are most likely to be real experts in the same field and the result can be a battle of academic wits if the situation is not handled with sensitivity.\"Initial assessments showed that, as expected, the service engineers were already good at investigating technical problems. However, going beyond this and looking at broader needs required more attention. The training sessions focused on improving skills related to key behaviors identified by Huthwaite International's research as having significant impact on service outcomes. These were delivered to around 30 of Waters long-serving field engineers.Tim Jones explained: \"We focused on questioning skills and on how to get explicit answers that could give a real insight into a customer's business. We also covered how to handle objections in a positive way and the key issue of when and how to hand over to another specialist but still manage the customer relationship.\"At the heart of the training was the concept of creating value. Claire Cologne explained: \"The training was designed to show that the more a service engineer knew about a customer and his or her operations, the more value the engineer could offer, by pre-empting problems and suggesting solutions to existing challenges. In turn Waters would gain value through having a loyal customer base that would impact on future sales.\"The service managers then attended coaching training to help them to support their engineers through coaching on and off the job and to sustain the behaviors learned on the program.\"\nInvestment pays off: It seems that already Waters' investment in training its service personnel is paying off, with a noticeable rise in customer satisfaction from data gathered. Samantha Blackburn also reported: \"I have noticed a subtle shift in the type of language used by the service team. It is far more customer-focused.\"The Cognisco follow-up assessments provide a measure of the improvements in the engineers' understanding. These highlight improvements in key topic areas including saying no persuasively, handling objections, continuous improvement and the final summary. The team showed marked improvements in all these skills, with post-training scores for handling objections and continuous improvement around three times the pre-training figures.A recent Huthwaite International study, Behavioral Trends: a Benchmark Study of Complaint-Resolution Behaviors, shows how important these skills are in dealing with difficult situations. The more an agent disagrees and fails to explain the process, the less favorable the outcome of the call becomes.\"The program has been highly successful,\" enthused Samantha Blackburn. \"From an HR point of view, the assessments dovetail with the very structured approach we take to defining specific competencies for job descriptions. From a business standpoint, it shows real value for money.\"\nLong-lasting customer relationships: Tim Jones agreed. \"My mission as service manager is to ensure the success of our customers and in doing so build strong, long-lasting customer relationships and create value for all concerned. It is clear that the service team is now well placed to do this.\"Claire Cologne is also delighted by the results: \"Our work with Waters demonstrates how a partnership approach, combined with structured evaluation, can help to maximize the value of training.\"Huthwaite International talks about a service-to-sales continuum, which describes how service teams can be led in phases from just offering the technical fix needed, to providing outstanding service, identifying opportunities and supplying the sales team with intelligence, to eventually carrying out their own sales. Our work with Waters showed how this can be taken to any level, according to demands of the particular business.\"But perhaps the last word should go to Carla Brouwer, Waters' HR manager, Europe north. \"These are brilliant,\" she said in response to the results of the Cognisco assessment. \"The figures are a real eye-opener - and you can quote me on that.\"\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to explain how Waters Corporation - a worldwide provider of analytical-science solutions to health-care, environmental, food-safety, water-quality and other laboratories - worked with training provider Huthwaite International to improve the knowledge and customer-service skills of the field service team.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper charts the reasons for the training, the form it took and the results it has achieved.\nFindings: - The paper details how each engineer was given a number of customer accounts to \"own\". The engineers were to bring in different expertise as needed, but should manage the service project, get to know and understand the customer and identify ways that Waters could further help them in their business.\nPractical implications: - The paper describes how the training focused on questioning skills and on how to get explicit answers that could give a real insight into a customer's business. It also covered how to handle objections in a positive way and when and how to hand over to another specialist but still manage the customer relationship. The training was designed to show that the more a service engineer knew about a customer and his or her operations, the more value the engineer could offer, by pre-empting problems and suggesting solutions to existing challenges. In turn Waters would gain value through having a loyal customer base that would affect future sales.\nSocial implications: - The paper shows how service teams can be led in phases from just offering the technical fix needed, to providing outstanding service, identifying opportunities and supplying the sales team with intelligence, to eventually carrying out their own sales.\nOriginality/value: - The paper highlights how a properly trained service team can build sustainable and profitable long-term relationships.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Prediction of restoration factor for various maintenance types of railway systems using analytical hierarchy process	[ "Preventive maintenance", "Imperfect maintenance", "Corrective maintenance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Most of the industrial systems (such as trains, nuclear power plants, planes, etc.) are maintained in operating condition through maintenance activities carried out to restore or retain the health of their deteriorating or failed components. This can be achieved by performing corrective maintenance (CM) or preventive maintenance (PM) or predictive maintenance. In PM, a system can be restored to or retained in its good healthy condition by performing a periodical inspection, detection and prevention of budding failures before the occurrence of failure. In the case of CM, repair activities are carried out after the occurrence of failure (Meykar, 1967).\n2. MLE approach to obtain parameters: Consider an RS, observed from the initial time t=0. t1, t2, t3, ..., tn represent the successive time to failure (TTF) or time to maintenance of the system, and X1, X2, X3, X4, ..., Xn denote the corresponding time between failures or maintenance events xi=ti-ti-1,i=1, 2, 3, ..., n.\n3. Analytical hierarchical process (AHP): The analytical hierarchical process is a multi-criteria decision-making tool that enables the decision makers to model an intricate problem in a hierarchical structure, which comprises of the goal (objective), criteria, sub-criteria and alternatives (Saaty, 1980). On the basis of pairwise comparison judgments, AHP combines both criteria importance and alternative preference measures into a single inclusive score for the ranking of decision alternatives. AHP provides an overarching view of the complex relationships inherent in the problem and helps the decision maker assess whether the evaluation criteria are of the same order of magnitude; thus, the decision maker can compare such homogeneous alternatives accurately.\n4. Proposed model: MLE for the RF is in use, but there are many problems in calculating RF by MLE, as the MLE equations become very complex. RF from MLE assumes all types of PM as same and does not consider the maintenance activities. Different types of maintenance activities performed in different types of maintenance should give different restoration levels.\n5. Case study: The RS considered in this case study is traction motor used in electric locomotive. First, the failure data of traction motor have been collected, as given in Table VII. Then, assuming virtual age model, likelihood function of the RS has been obtained. While obtaining likelihood function, failure data (CM) are considered as complete data and PM as right censored data. Therefore, in the likelihood function for failure, PDF is substituted, and for PM, reliability function is substituted.\n6. Conclusion: In this paper, we apply AHP to calculate the weightage of each component on system restoration. RF is calculated for different types of PM and different CM by the proposed model, taking the weightage of the component and maintenance action performed on the components. Using the RF for different maintenance types, virtual age of the system is determined. Virtual age at the time of failure is taken as TTF and fitted into Weibull distribution to obtain shape and scale parameters.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: For repairable systems (RSs), reliability estimation is generally performed using virtual age models. Virtual age models consider the effect of maintenance actions by reducing system age using restoration factor (RF). RF is generally estimated from system failure data using various statistical methods. However, RSs such as railway systems experience various types of maintenance actions at different times during their life cycle. To consider all these different types of actions, we need multiple RFs in the virtual age model. As failure data are limited, the estimation of so many parameters becomes a complex problem and it can lead to erroneous inferences. These RFs are representative of effects of maintenance activities on the system. Therefore, these can be predicted from the information about the maintenance actions performed on the system. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper considers different types of maintenance actions to predict RF of the system. These maintenance actions involve the replacement of components at some level of assembly. Each component in an assembly has its own impact on assembly restoration. RF for assembly/systems can be obtained by aggregating effects of multiple component replacement using analytical hierarchy process . The RF values obtained for different types of maintenance actions are then used to calculate the virtual age of the system at different failure points. Using these virtual age failure points, suitable distribution is fitted and parameters are estimated. The distribution and parameters provide information about reliability of the system at any point of time.\nFindings: This paper provides an easier approach that gives different RFs for different types of PM and CM. To calculate RFs, it considers the impact of maintenance actions performed as well as the impact of the component on which they are performed. It is simpler and gives more consistent results than other approaches, which estimate RF using different statistical methods.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides an alternative approach to predict RF parameters instead of estimating these parameters using statistical methods. Estimation of parameters using different statistical methods is complex in nature and gives erroneous and inconsistent results. The approach given in this paper is simpler and gives more reliable results. This approach can be useful in estimating parameters for RSs when failure data are limited.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Students' experiences of ability-based streaming in vocational education	[ "Drop-out", "Organization of school", "Streaming", "Vocational education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since 1993, Danish governments have pursued an ambitious goal of ensuring that 95 per cent of a youth cohort completes upper secondary education. Consequently, educational institutions are under a great deal of pressure to increase students' completion rates.\nTheoretical framework: The separation of students into groups, classes and types of schools has a long history in Denmark dating back before the introduction of the current streaming measures in the vocational programmes. Streaming[2] in compulsory school was abolished in 1975, because it was believed to sustain social inequalities and prevent the educational progress of children from less privileged families (Wiborg, 2013). But strong tracking is maintained at higher secondary levels where students are separated into an academic track (Gymnasium) and a vocational track, each having different aims, cultures and forms of governance. In addition to this basic division of higher secondary education into two tracks, a division of students into separate streams in vocational education was introduced in 2007.\nMethodology: This paper is based on an analysis of two cases at two vocational schools. The two case studies are part of a larger research project studying drop-out and involving eight schools. The selection of the eight schools was based on an initial benchmark analysis of the schools' retention of students, which included all Danish vocational schools. The dropout rates of the schools were corrected for differences in the students' socio-economic status (SES). Four schools that did well in retaining students and four schools that did less well in the benchmark analysis were selected for qualitative study. The benchmark study demonstrated that there was a difference of 24 per cent in the retention rates between the best and the worst performing schools (Jensen and Larsen, 2011).\nEmpirical results: In the following we will present an analysis of two cases and describe the potential advantages and disadvantages of using streaming in vocational education. We explore students' diverse experiences of the extended basic courses to shed light on the contextual conditions that can either increase retention or promote disengagement.\nStreaming resulting in low engagement of students: The first case in our study is from a business school that has a long tradition of offering differentiated basic courses aimed at students with different abilities, aspiring to a variety of job types, e.g., retail, clerking or banking, and with skills requirements that are quite different in level and content.\nStreaming resulting in high engagement of students: In the other vocational school in our case study, the basic course in business programmes was designed with an extended course for students who were assessed to be potential drop-outs (Tanggaard, 2011). The students in this class were selected through initial admission interviews with teachers, parents, students, student advisors, and/or social workers if necessary, and in order to ensure they fitted into and were committed to participating in the two-year basic business course. The teacher managing the class explained that the drop-out rate in this class was close to zero, while the drop-out rates in the regular classes were around 25 per cent. When entering the school for the first time, we were advised by the school principal to pay special attention to the extended business course because of its success in keeping students from dropping out. This made it possible to study the participants' experience of streaming as a measure to reduce drop-out rates, but also its effect on their perceived engagement and learning.\nDiscussion: Our findings from the two case studies of the basic courses in Danish vocational education show that streaming is handled in very different ways by the two vocational schools studied in the present context. The courses vary with regard to the degree of separation between the streamed classes, the amount of resources allocated, the academic level, the length of courses, and a range of special measures offered (mentoring, free breakfast, more physical exercise, psychological counselling, etc.). The interviews showed that students' experiences of the extended basic courses are quite diverse.\nConclusion: The particular research aim of the present paper was to understand how streaming is experienced by students and teachers, taking two different cases of students in low-ability, extended basic courses as a point of departure. The aim was, furthermore, to shed light on how the effects of streaming depend on the organization, resources, teachers and classroom interactions involved at each school. Our study shows that schools can make a difference in the way they organize streaming, as demonstrated by our two cases. How vocational schools organize streaming depends on what they consider to be the purpose of streaming. In the Danish policy context, we find two competing purposes: one is to provide \"weak learners\" with more time and extra support to attain the same qualifications as other students, and the other is to divide students into high and low achievers and sort them into programmes with different values on the labour market. In this last case, the harmful consequences of streaming are more likely to occur, including a higher risk of dropping out. Schools, as well as policymakers, thus have a great responsibility for the formulation of clear aims for education.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Since 2007, it has been mandatory for all vocational schools in Denmark to assess the prior qualifications of all students when they begin at the school and to use this assessment to divide students into different ability-based courses (streaming) with the aim of increasing the retention of students. The purpose of this paper is to explore students' experiences of being placed on a low-ability course by using case studies of two classes from separate vocational schools in Denmark with different practices regarding the streaming of students.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study draws on theories of student drop-out and engagement (Rumberger, 1993; Finn, 1989) and on the differentiation-polarization theory (Gamoran, 2010) concerning the effects of streaming students into ability-based classes. Two cases are described, representing on the one hand predominately positive experiences of streaming (better relations to teachers and peers) and on the other hand predominately negative experiences of streaming (low teacher expectations and negative peer-learning).\nFindings: The study shows that the two schools have organized streaming differently and that the students have very diverse experiences of being placed in a low-ability class depending on the way the schools organize streaming.\nOriginality/value: The paper discusses the basic dilemma that schools face when they have to teach students with very diverse backgrounds and levels of engagement. The study shows that the division of students into separate streams involves a risk of reducing the level of engagement among students in the low-ability courses, but it also suggests how streaming can be organized to increase the engagement of students and possibly reduce their risk of dropping out of vocational education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Accounting legislation, corporate governance codes and disclosure in Jordan: a review	[ "Jordan", "Corporate Governance", "Accounting legislation", "Disclosure practice" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: It has been argued that the amount of information disclosed by companies varies across countries depending on the level of economic development, reporting legislation forces, professional accounting practices and the existence of sophisticated financial markets. The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the factors affecting financial reporting and disclosure provided in the annual reports for companies in Jordan, including economic changes, agreement with international organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), new regulations and financial market reforms. Further, we also address specific disclosure rules under Corporate Governance (CG) Codes which exist for listed shareholding companies, banks and insurance companies in Jordan. The paper also provides evidence on the improvement of different types of disclosure practices in Jordan. This objective is achieved through a review of prior disclosure studies conducted in Jordan. In particular, it can be said that the economic changes in Jordan required financial market reforms and the revising/issuing of new regulations that aimed to open the country to trade and business and to improve its competitiveness, disclosure and transparency. The issuance of Temporary Securities Law and its Directives of Disclosure in 1997, which came into effect in 1998, is considered as the turning point in the improvement of financial reporting and disclosure practice in Jordan. Furthermore, the accounting profession has been obliged to adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Standards on Auditing (ISA) in 1998. Before the economic changes and the financial reform and regulations of 1998, it can be said that the legal requirements for financial reporting and disclosure practices were limited and restricted to shareholders, and the legislation failed to give details and specifications of the financial accounting and disclosure required. We also revealed that all disclosure research conducted in Jordan showed that firm size as a factor, has always affected the level of disclosure and is followed by external auditing. However, liquidity was found to have the least effect on such level.\n2. Country profile: Jordan is situated off the south-eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea and is located at the junction of Asia and Africa. Jordan is a hilly and arid country with an area of 35,637 square miles. The population of Jordan has grown rapidly from 1.5 million in 1970 to about 9.5 million in 2015, 35 per cent of which are under 14 years of age [Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), 2015]. This rapid increase in population is a result of a high birth rate and low mortality rate. In addition, many people emigrated from their countries to Jordan as a consequence of political and religious conflicts in countries such as Palestine, Iraq and Syria. Foreign aid from the USA and the Gulf countries, and the remittance received from Jordanian expatriates working abroad, are important sources of national income in Jordan.\n3. The economy of the country: During the 1970s and early 1980s, Jordan's economy was dependent on the input of external capital, including foreign assistance and remittances received from Jordanian expatriates working abroad, mainly in the Arab Gulf States. Between 1980 and 1990, Jordan was supposed to have received US$1.2bn in Arab financial aid, but the actual receipts were much lower, as some of the Arab states' promises of assistance to Jordan failed to materialize (Suwaidan, 1997). In response to this, the Jordanian Government reduced its capital expenditures and increased borrowing [Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), 1995]. By 1989, the external public debt rose to JOD 5,409.4m (JOD 1 = US$1.401), a sum equivalent to 232.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) (CBJ, 1992). In summary, the economic situation in Jordan in early 1990 - before the Gulf War - was so bad that Jordanians were faced with rising unemployment, high inflation and frozen salaries (EIU, 1990). Another problem faced by Jordan was the Gulf War Crisis in 1990 that further depressed the Jordanian economy. The consequences of the War resulted in Jordan being deprived of its main export markets in the Gulf States, mainly Kuwait. The trickle of Arab aid was cut off, and about 320,000 expatriates returned to Jordan from Gulf countries. Moreover, UN economic sanctions against Iraq deeply affected Jordan's interests and economy, as Iraq had been the largest Jordanian trade partner for the previous 10 years.\n4. Jordanian accounting regulations: The legal system of Jordan is based on a combination of Civil Law traditions and Islamic legal principles. When Jordan was part of the Ottoman Empire, some aspects of European law, especially French commercial law and civil procedures, were adopted. The Court Establishment Law of 1951 and the Constitution of Jordan, promulgated in January 1952 and amended in 1974, 1976 and 1984, provide for an independent judiciary. In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, laws are proposed by the Council of Ministers for the approval of Parliament, which also has the right to propose the promulgation of laws. The Jordanian court system is structured into three broad categories of courts: religious, special courts and civil. The religious courts are further subdivided into Shari'ah courts and ecclesiastic courts for the Christian minorities. A special court appointed by the Court of Cassation adjudicates disputes. Special courts include a military court, a tax court, a customs court and a land settlement court. The civil courts exercise their jurisdiction with respect to civil and criminal matters, including commercial cases and cases brought against the government. It can be said that the Jordanian laws are important in running various affairs of people. The law, according to the Constitution and National Charter, provides the fundamental backing for the protection of the rights, responsibilities and interests of various sections in Jordanian society (Suwaidan, 1997; AMIR, 2000).\n5. Disclosure in Jordan: It can be argued that disclosure of information requirements in developing countries may differ from that of developed countries and, thus, what is relevant in one country may not be relevant for another. There are many different routes by which company information is communicated (e.g. newspapers, magazines, interviews, letters to shareholders and debt holders, personal visits to the company, telephone conversations). Disclosure literature has considered annual reports to be the most important mechanism for companies to disseminate information to the public (Arnold et al., 1984; Todd and Sherman, 1991). However, it would be difficult to establish a way of measuring all these different types of information (Marston and Robson, 1997). Abu-Nassar and Rutherford (1996) examined the perception of different Jordanian user groups as to the importance given to eight sources of information using a questionnaire survey. They found that the majority of users ranked the annual reports as their primary source of information for decision-making. Al-Issa (1991) also revealed that 88 per cent of the investors considered published annual reports in making their decision. Furthermore, the annual report is a more reliable and timely source compared to other sources of information (Foster, 1986)[11].\n6. Corporate Governance Codes in Jordan: CG is the system of rules, practices and processes by which firms are supervised and controlled, as well as the way in which directors are accountable to stakeholders (Ng, 1998). The objective of CG is to ensure that the board and management act in the best interests of all stakeholders to achieve the objectives of the company. CG encompasses every action taken by management, from planning and internal controls to performance measurement and corporate disclosure. Previous studies have showed that good CG will help to improve stock returns, and make it easier to obtain capital (McGee, 2010). In Jordan, Hamdan et al. (2013) find that CG is associated with stock performance.\n7. Educational factors: Prior studies suggest that the quality of education of a country has a significant impact on accounting practice. Previous studies show that the development of professional accounting depends on the existence of accounting education, training programs and research (Carmona and Trombetta, 2008). The quality of education in Jordan is thought to be high (The National Report on Adult Education in Jordan, 2008). Currently, Jordan has 32 universities[16], with most of them offering accounting programs. Most of these universities have adopted the US curriculum based on the credit hour system. The teaching medium for most universities in the field of business is English (e.g. University of Jordan, Yarmouk University and Hashemite University), but some courses are taught in Arabic (e.g. Taxation). Universities' accounting textbooks are mostly adopted American textbooks that focus heavily on USGAAP (GAAS) rather than IAS/IFRS (ISA). However, Jordanian universities have recently started offering accounting courses that are focused more on IFRS and ISA. Very few universities provide practical internship courses in accounting. Finally, most of the faculty that teach accounting earned their doctoral degrees either in the USA, the UK or Australia.\n8. Conclusion: The economic changes in Jordan have necessitated financial market reforms and consequently new regulations were promulgated in 1998 that considerably improved disclosure practice. This study considers financial reporting regulations and CG practices that affect disclosure practice in Jordan. The objective of the study was to identify whether there is an improvement in disclosure practice in Jordan. A literature review of disclosure studies in Jordan shows an improvement in mandatory, voluntary, CSR and internet disclosure practice over time. This improvement is attributed to the development of accounting regulations and the dynamic role of the accounting related professions in Jordan.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The main aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the most influential economic changes and accounting legislation affecting financial reporting and disclosure practices in Jordan. It also provides an overview of disclosure studies conducted in Jordan covering the year(s) between 1986 and 2014 to investigate whether there is an improvement in disclosure practice in Jordan. This paper also investigates the most influential firm characteristics affecting disclosure practices in Jordan found in prior disclosure studies that were conducted in Jordan between 1986 and 2014. The paper also addresses the disclosure items required in Corporate Governance Codes that exist for listed shareholding companies, banks and insurance companies. Finally, the paper discusses the quality of accounting education in Jordan, as prior studies noted its impact on accounting practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a review of prior disclosure studies conducted in Jordan between 1986 and 2014, this study compared the results of disclosure studies before and after 1998. In 1997, Jordan, as a result of economic changes, issued the Temporary Securities Law and its Directives of Disclosure, which came into effect in 1998. The law is considered as the turning point in the improvement of disclosure practice in Jordan. A trend line of disclosure practice is also used to investigate whether disclosure practice is improved after the issuance of this law. A descriptive analysis is also used to examine the factors affecting disclosure practice in Jordan.\nFindings: Based on a review of prior disclosure studies, it was concluded that disclosure practices have improved overtime. It was also observed that that firm size as a factor has always affected the level of disclosure in Jordan and is followed by external auditing, while liquidity is found to have the least effect. It was concluded that economic changes, agreement with international organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), new regulations and financial market reforms have improved disclosure practice in Jordan. It was also found that there is a need for further studies in disclosure practice that are not sufficiently covered in Jordan.\nOriginality/value: The study is based on a review of disclosure studies conducted in Jordan between 1986 and 2014. We investigate whether mandatory, voluntary, corporate social and internet disclosure practice improved over the last three decades in Jordan. This study is the first to provide evidence on the improvement of disclosure practices based on a review of disclosure studies in Jordan. The paper is expected to be a reference for disclosure studies in developing countries, Jordan in particular, as it summarized and criticized the weaknesses on disclosure practice and accounting legislations in Jordan.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Learning agility: the "X" factor in identifying and developing future leaders	[ "Learning agility", "Leadership development", "Succession planning", "Learning", "Learning methods", "Leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Leaders of the future need to be better than the leaders they replace because the challenges are greater, the speed faster, the competition tougher, and the marketplace increasingly global. In short, the leaders of today and tomorrow must be agile leaders. They must be resourceful in the face of change, and above all, able to learn from experience. People with this ability perform well under first-time, challenging conditions.\nLearning agility key to future leader success: When you think of a leader's potential to perform in these new, ambiguous situations, what they have accomplished in the past is not as important as how effectively they will be able to handle, adapt and perform when confronted with unforeseen circumstances, dilemmas, crises, and complex problems.That is where the concept of learning agility can make a difference. Heavily steeped in research and used by companies for nearly 20 years, learning agility has quickly emerged as the most valid and reliable predictor of high potential leaders and executive success today (more important, even, than IQ, emotional intelligence, or education level). Why? People who are learning agile more readily learn new skills and behaviors and carry forward that learning to perform successfully in a diverse mix of situations.It is estimated that just 15 percent of the global workforce are highly agile learners, so securing this kind of talent for leadership roles is becoming an important strategic differentiator for businesses. In fact, close to 25 percent of the Fortune 100 and 50 of the Fortune 500 use learning agility as a means to identify leadership potential for internal and external candidates. Because it is a predictor of future executive success, top universities in the US and beyond have also started using learning agility in their curriculum.Grounded in research from the think tank Center for Creative Leadership and extended by 20 years of global research and practice by Korn/Ferry International, learning agility's value is clear. People high in learning agility are recognized as having the most potential for advancement, get promoted faster and more often than their peers, advance closest to the top, and achieve greater success after promotion.The good news here is that learning agility is much more than an abstract concept. It is a set of behaviors or competencies that can be observed and assessed. And, importantly, because it is a behavior-based, learning agility can be developed. Unlike a measure such as IQ, learning agility is not static and a motivated person can increase his or her learning agility.\nLearning agility in action: So what do agile learners do differently that helps them succeed as leaders? They seek out challenges and usually will figure out a way, through resourcefulness, and pulling the right people together, to get even the toughest assignments done successfully.Highly curious, the learning agile leader is skilled at managing conflict, and actively seeks feedback. Then they do something about it. When you are around these people, you know it. They are the ones in meetings or problem-solving huddles who will say things like: \"another way to look at this is [...]\", \"Why can't it be done?\", \"What resources do we need to make this happen?\" Interpersonally, they can be heard to say, \"I wonder how I might have handled that situation differently?\" or possibly, \"Let me see if I understand your position.\"A great example of learning agility in action is Richard Branson of Virgin Group. Spotlighted in the book Becoming an Agile Leader, Branson's success story emerges as a quest - a quest to continuously learn new things. His curiosity and zeal to take on the unfamiliar are reflected in his global business enterprise which spans from music to finance to transportation (even \"intergalactic transportation\"). While not every single of his ventures has been a success, Branson is constantly learning from both his successes and failures. This is also core to his management philosophy. He does not punish employees who take risks and fail, as long as they learn from their mistakes.A learning agile leader's path to success is no accident. A common theme in the research on why some executives succeed and some derail is the extent to which these individuals seek out diverse experiences and amass multiple lessons from them. These lessons manifest as varied and expansive ways of looking at problems and coming up with creative solutions.The executives that derailed in many cases became so dependent upon their past, favorite solutions to problems that they stopped trying to gain new skills and explore new ways to solve problems. They eventually ended up trying to apply that \"tried-and-true solution\" to a situation that did not fit ... and they failed.To note, there are many professionals who are extremely good at their selected functions and areas of expertise. Many of them are most comfortable in those specific roles or functions, and they add significant value to their companies and industries. When it comes to leading the organization of the future, depth of expertise will certainly remain important. But to effectively navigate the uncertainties, growing complexity, and manage dilemmas effectively, it is more likely that you will need people who can tackle the new, the first-time, the unknown - and with positive results. These are the people that can take on more broad roles and responsibilities and help employees quickly adapt in an increasingly changing and fast-moving global economy.Having high learning agility especially comes into play with transitions - from the known to the unknown. When faced with a novel, unfamiliar situation, defaulting to existing behaviors or favorite problem-solving tactics may be inadequate. Those high in learning agility learn new ways of coping with those unforeseen problems and opportunities.\nWhat jobs require high learning agility?: Not every setting is tailor-made for agile leaders. In fact, there are some jobs that research shows are both highly developmental and are best led by someone high in learning agility. Common job characteristics that are well-suited for high learning agility include:* requires fresh ideas, new ways of thinking;* is in a quick-changing field, area of business where future is undefined or emerging;* needs major fixing;* requires strategic thinking, strategy development;* is supported by strong technical help;* requires political savvy; and* is change-driven.As you think about your leadership development and overall talent development programs, this list can serve as a guideline for where to focus.\nIdentifying and developing agile leaders: So how do you determine if you are placing your bets on the right leadership to deliver on expected performance so your organization can win in the marketplace? Start to recognize learning agility behaviors in those around you. You can assess learning agility formally or informally. Informally, as you think about how best to develop someone and deploy them into stretch assignments, consider these questions:* How does this person deal with difficult concepts?* How multi-faceted is this person's perspective?* How does this person deal with difficult people?* How does this person handle change?* How quickly does this person learn and adapt?* And how easily could this person move to a new function.With learning agility, you can better differentiate your talent and develop them in a way that will fit their career aspirations and benefit the organization as a whole. And, ultimately, ensure you have the right leadership who can adapt to change, address the unexpected and motivate and inspire those around them.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Leaders of the future need to be better than the leaders they replace because the challenges are greater, the speed faster, the competition tougher, and the marketplace increasingly global. In short, the leaders of today and tomorrow must be agile leaders. They must be resourceful in the face of change, and above all, able to learn from experience. People with this ability perform well under first-time, challenging conditions. This paper seeks to address these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In a climate of challenging external forces, market conditions, and internal challenges - the question has to be asked: Who will lead? Who will shepherd the organization into the future, navigate the external pressures, effectively manage the increasing complexity, and ultimately guide the organization to win in the market? When thinking about leading the organization into the future, depth of expertise will certainly remain important. But to effectively navigate the uncertainties and growing complexity, and manage dilemmas effectively, people are needed who can tackle the new, the first-time, the unknown - and with positive results. These are the people that can take on more broad roles and responsibilities.\nFindings: - Two major streams of research have studied what behaviors lead to executive success and, conversely, what causes an executive's career to derail. A common theme in the research was the extent to which the executives sought out diverse experiences and amassed multiple, repeatable lessons from them. Those lessons manifested as varied and expansive ways of looking at problems, and coming up with creative solutions.\nOriginality/value: - Learning agility is much more than an abstract concept. It is a set of behaviors or competencies that can be observed and assessed. And, importantly, because it is behavior-based, learning agility can be developed. Unlike a measure such as IQ, learning agility is not static and a motivated person can increase his or her learning agility. With learning agility, a person can better differentiate talent and develop it in a way that will fit personal career aspirations and benefit the organization as a whole. And, ultimately, ensure there is the right leadership that can adapt to change, address the unexpected and motivate and inspire those around them.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Multicultural marketplaces: New territory for international marketing and consumer research	[ "International marketing", "Cultural diversity", "Multicultural marketplaces", "Intergroup relations", "Multicultural competence", "Transnational networks" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: History is laden with examples of cities, regions, countries in which people from different cultures have lived together. Often this was confined to geographically proximate cultures or defined by trade routes. However, radical changes in technology, the transportation infrastructure, economic development and consumer mobility have dramatically increased the number of places which are multicultural. As a distinct mechanism for exchanges of goods, services and ideas, multicultural marketplaces represent discrete spatial units, whether physical or virtual, which individuals perceive as meaningful (Canter, 1997; Groat, 1995; Massey, 1994) and in which consumers, marketers, brands and generally ideas of multiple cultures interact continuously. As such, they represent a new type of marketplace with new challenges and opportunities for both marketers and researchers.\nWhy local, multicultural marketplaces are an important international marketing territory: A primary consequence of globalisation has been the emergence of, on the market side, lived multiculturalism (Neal et al., 2013) on a variety of scales - local (e.g. city: Singapore, New York City, Sydney), national (e.g. Malaysia, Canada) or regional (e.g. Europe), increasing work and leisure mobility (Sassen, 2000); and, on the firm side, an increasing scale of operations, hence an intensifying level of international competition in any locality (Akaka et al., 2013; Cavusgil et al., 2005; Douglas and Craig, 2011; Sassen, 2000). Concomitantly, the international marketing field has moved its focal lens from a cross-national scale to a global one, such as, for example, with considerations of \"born global\" firms (Knight and Cavusgil, 2004), global account management (Yip and Madsen, 1996), global brands (Holt et al., 2004; Steenkamp et al., 2003), the global consumer culture (Alden et al., 1999) or global supply networks (Overby and Min, 2001).\nFrom a conception of cultural differences to a conception of continuous, dynamic, and localised interactions: multicultural marketplaces are new conceptual ground: Extending Kipnis et al.'s (2014) conceptualisation, we define a multicultural marketplace as a place-centred environment (whether physical or virtual), where the marketers, consumers, brands, ideologies and institutions of multiple cultures converge at one point of concurrent interaction, while also being potentially connected to multiple cultures in other localities. Figure 1 illustrates visually this conceptualisation.\nMulticultural marketplaces: new perspectives and questions: Multicultural marketplaces, by being sites of contact, interaction, exchange, conflict and identity negotiations, need to be considered in a holistic and dynamic fashion: it is necessary for the interaction of multiple stakeholders using multiple cultural references to be considered together. Such a perspective brings to the fore a number of key research questions, for international marketing and consumer research to consider. This section outlines five core areas requiring research development, explaining the necessary perspective shifts and suggesting a number of theories which can guide further research. These different considerations are summarised in Table II.\nConclusion: To sum up, this paper has shown the need, in a globalised world, to add a \"situated, multicultural\" focal lens to the international marketing arsenal, which would enable new perspectives and make new phenomena visible. The paper then proposed five core areas for research development, explaining the necessary perspective shifts, pointing to a number of theories and frameworks able to guide further research, and suggesting pressing research questions. The five focal areas are: increasing complexity of cultural identities, differentiation of national political contexts, intergroup conviviality and conflict, interconnectedness of transnational networks, and cultural dynamics requiring multicultural adaptiveness.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to bring international marketing and consumer research attention to multicultural marketplaces as a new focal research lens. It develops a conceptualisation of multicultural marketplaces, demonstrating why they constitute new conceptual territory, before specifying five key areas for research development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper draws from seminal international marketing literature and other fields to propose perspective shifts, and suggest theories and frameworks of potential usefulness to the five research areas.\nFindings: The paper conceptualises multicultural marketplaces as place-centred environments (physical or virtual) where the marketers, consumers, brands, ideologies and institutions of multiple cultures converge at one point of concurrent interaction, while also being potentially connected to multiple cultures in other localities. Five key areas for research development are specified, each with a different conceptual focus: increasing complexity of cultural identities (identity), differentiation of national political contexts (national integration policies), intergroup conviviality practices and conflictual relationships (intergroup relations), interconnectedness of transnational networks (networks), and cultural dynamics requiring multicultural adaptiveness (competences).\nResearch limitations/implications: For each research area, a number of research avenues and theories and frameworks of potential interest are proposed.\nOriginality/value: The paper demonstrates why multicultural marketplaces constitute new conceptual territory for international marketing and consumer research; it provides a conceptualisation of these marketplaces and a comprehensive research agenda.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Improving change management: how communication nature influences resistance to change	[ "Change management", "Communication", "Company performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: It is already a common sense that changes are no longer happening sparsely, but are the pattern for nowadays. As well as widely announced scenarios of broader, faster changes (Eisenhardt, 1989a, b; Burnes and James, 1995) organizations are immersed in and the high levels of uncertainty these contemporary challenges promote. Such is especially true when change impacts many units in an organization, thus amplifying the number of people and perspectives involved, and leading to higher business complexity, as Buono and Keeneth (2008) have identified. One could argue that changes have always had been the pattern, and we, as observers, are the ones that are more aware and conscious about it than before. Anyway, this perception of organizational environment is requiring constant development of management science to deal with change processes.\nCommunication: Communication has been recognized as a relevant dimension to the success of organizational change, and it is considered important in building change readiness, reducing uncertainty, and as a key factor in gaining commitment (Armenakis et al., 1993; Klein, 1994). The design and conduct of strategy communication in change processes require decisions that integrate different perspectives of analysis and a relative effort, but that may be important to minimize the resistance to change (Argyris, 1994).\nResistance to change: Resistance to change has usually been recognized as a significant factor that can influence the outcomes of an organizational change effort (Chiung-Hui and Ing-Chung, 2009). Organizational change literature offers several definitions for resistance to change. In fact, the common point among most of these definitions is that resistance to change is seen as an important reason for change process failures (Armenakis et al., 1993), and consequently, as a problem to be minimized or overcome (Nadler, 1993). One can find an example of this perspective in Coetsee's statement, as resistance to change can be understood as \"opposed or blocking energies and power directed at impeding, redirecting, rejecting or stopping change\" (Coetsee, 1999, p. 209).\nMethodology: Several studies of communication and resistance to change - RTC adopted an instrumental approach that focusses mainly on the informational nature of communication. Communication nature have been studied with different emphasis, for example, on structure for participation, levels of hierarchy of the audiences involved, or the opportunity to voice opinions during different stages of change implementation. Taking into consideration that different natures of communication (monologic and dialogic) co-exist during change processes, \"different forms of communication and change may simultaneously exist within organizations\" (Waterhouse and Lewis, 2004, p. 355), the objectives for the case study were:\nOperational descriptions: In this research there are two main propositions and two main operational descriptions to be clarified.\nFindings and discussion - pilot case study - organization X: Organization description\nConclusions: By overlapping the data about communication characterization and resistance to change characterization in Organization X, respecting the limits of these analysis to respondent views, during these two first years after acquisition, it can be noticed a direct opposite movement. While communication was becoming highly dialogic the resistance to change was descending. As it is not derived from statistical analysis, from a generalizable sample, it cannot be concluded that it is a cause-effect relationship. But, from a qualitative angle, of expressing how both constructs are related it is quite valuable.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Little has been studied yet in terms of how communication nature influences change process. The purpose of this paper is to explore a case study that takes part in a broader research project, aimed to contribute in this direction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Mix methodology has been applied to the findings, to characterize resistance to change and communication nature within one organization under a radical change process.\nFindings: One main theoretical contribution is an instrumental grid to characterize dialogic communication nature.\nOriginality/value: Findings of the case study originally indicate that resistance to change reduces under dialogic communication and by revealing how communication dimensions perform in time, practitioners may enhance guidelines to effective change communication management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Improving integration of human resources into quality management system standards	[ "ISO 9001", "People", "Human resources", "Business management standards", "ISO 9004", "Quality management system standards" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Considerable attention in the quality movement has been dedicated to measuring and improving the technical aspects of quality management. While there is no doubt that this focus on product and process attributes is essential, it may not be the only significant contributor to the overall quality of a product or service. Much case study research suggests that human resource (HR) considerations such as employee empowerment, training, work design, and incentive structures are essential to the efficient and successful functioning of quality management systems (QMSs) (Ahire et al., 1996; Gunasekaran, 1999; MacDuffie, 1995; Mathews et al., 2001; Quazi and Padibjo, 1998; Sharma and Gadenne, 2001). Furthermore, it has been noted that human factors, as demonstrated through an organization's culture, contribute to the successful implementation of total quality management (TQM) programs (Rad, 2006).\n2. Introduction to the ISO 9000 series of standards: The ISO 9000 family of standards offers a voluntary approach to quality management. Companies that adopt this standard have \"established a systematic approach to quality management\" and are managing their operations in a manner that ensures customer needs are clearly understood, agreed upon, and fulfilled (ISO, 2011). Companies that become ISO 9001 registered must develop and document an extensive list of internal operational procedures and are encouraged to make data-based decisions. Through this process, organizations become more efficient and are more capable of responding to the needs of their customers. As registration requires that companies be regularly reviewed by third party auditors, ISO 9001 offers registered organizations and their supply chain partners the opportunity for a common business language, reduced inter-firm information asymmetries, and reduced operational costs by mitigating the need for businesses to individually audit their suppliers. It is not surprising then, that many firms demand registration to ISO 9001 as a minimum requirement of organizations with whom they do business.\n3. Consideration of the human factors in ISO 9001 and ISO 9004: Much practitioner and academic literature has been focussed on measuring and improving the technical aspects of quality. This \"hard\" TQM is focussed on the tools and techniques of quality management. It includes data-driven factors such as process management, quality data and reporting, design quality management, statistical process control, benchmarking, and a zero defect philosophy. While certainly necessary, it is widely accepted that these mechanistic components are not sufficient to ensure successful TQM.\n4. The missing \"Human Components\" of the ISO 9000 series of standards: While it is clear that the ISO 9000 family of standards and the organizations that adopt it would benefit from additional human factor requirements, it is far less obvious what specific modifications should be made to improve the standard. The inventory of HR topics that have been linked to quality management is extensive. While a comprehensive review of this literature is beyond the scope of this paper, this discussion identifies topics which would help to remedy deficiencies in this standard's treatment of HR issues. This is accomplished through two approaches. First, it is recognized that the criteria of quality awards programs more comprehensively assess a firm's management strategy than the ISO 9000 QMS (e.g. Tummala and Tang, 1996). It stands to reason than that if ISO 9001 is to serve as a comprehensive foundation for business management it should, at least in a minimal way, address the HR-related matters included in award requirements. To this end, the criteria of several major awards programs were reviewed, aspects related to HR were identified, and these criteria were compared against the expectations of the ISO 9000 standards. Second, practitioner and academic literature examining the intersection between quality management and HR was reviewed, and considerations deemed important to the success of QMSs were identified. In integrating findings from these approaches, it is anticipated that the HR elements which would help ISO 9001 better fulfill its intent would be revealed.\n5. Why are human factors of quality not further emphasized in QMSs?: The vital impact of employee contributions to quality makes it obvious that \"human factors\" should be fully integrated into any QMS - and yet they are not. Firms are sometimes challenged in adopting even existing HR-related aspects of QMS standards (Karipidis et al., 2009; Sousa-Poza et al., 2009), and as such may be reluctant to enhance their program beyond the standard's requirements. The reasons for this are complex. Through a review of the literature and extensive familiarity with firms who have adopted these standards, appear to be largely attributable to the challenges firms experience in integrating hard and soft aspects of QMSs, the cost of procuring and maintaining quality HR, and the difficulty of assessing \"soft\" aspects of quality.\n6. Integrating people and processes in the ISO 9000 family of standards: In a Gallup poll which asked executives to rank the most effective approaches to improving quality, HR issues ranked as the top three tools: employee motivation, change in corporate culture, and employee education (Bowen and Lawler, 1992). If HR are truly so important to quality, their treatment should be augmented in baseline quality programs. The level of management at which this would best be addressed, and the process through which this can best be accomplished, however, remains an open question. With the ISO 9000 HR deficiencies now identified, individual firms can themselves develop remedies to close these gaps. Alternatively, these deficiencies could be addressed through efforts of the standards or awards communities.\n7. Conclusions: Successful management of the quality of an organization's processes and outputs is inextricably linked to its HR (Fotopoulos and Psomas, 2009). This paper reviews and conceptually assesses the current treatment of human factors in business management standards. Review of these standards reveals that, while they do consider some HR issues, requirements are limited in both the breadth of topics and the depth of integration of people with other product and process requirements. Overall, the current treatment of human aspects of quality in the ISO 9000 standards is deemed insufficient to meet the demands of today's business environment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Little attention has been paid to how quality management systems (QMSs) are optimized by supportive employee behavior. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of the literature on the inclusion of human factors in the ISO 9000 family of standards, identify deficiencies in the standard's current treatment of these issues, and offer recommendations on how human resources (HRs) can be better integrated into these business management standards.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This concept paper presents a survey of both academic and practitioner literature on the topic of HR and its treatment in quality standards. The focus is restricted to consideration of human factors that are specifically identified in the ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9004:2009 standards.\nFindings: ISO 9001 and 9004 include some HR topics, but their treatment is insufficient to meet the demands of today's business environment. The recent addition to the ISO 9000 family, ISO 10018 - Quality Management - Guidelines on People Involvement and Competence (ISO, 2012b) will help to address the deficiency if adopted by the marketplace. To improve the usefulness of ISO 9000 standards, the breadth of human factors should be enhanced both extensively to include components of workplace culture and work design and intensively to require more rigorous treatment of the HR considerations already included in the standards.\nPractical implications: There is a need for more comprehensive consideration of human contributions to quality if organizations are to optimize the value they receive from their HR and their investment on the ISO 9001 QMS.\nOriginality/value: The limited references linking HR and the ISO 9000 series of standards have focussed upon how human factors contribute (or not) to the successful use of the ISO 9000 standards. In contrast, this paper offers a comprehensive and integrative examination of how the ISO 9000 QMS standards could more comprehensively and effectively incorporate HR into a firm's practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Micro determinants of the extent of credit rationing amongst SMEs in Ghana	[ "Ghana", "SMEs", "Credit rationing", "Micro determinants" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are important agents of economic growth across the world (Kongolo, 2010; Ayyagari et al., 2011). These enterprises promote innovation and entrepreneurship. They are found to be labor intensive and have no huge capital requirements and can therefore be established easily. For this reason, they are a great source of employment in several economies (Beck et al., 2008; Wehinger, 2013) and strategic poverty alleviators. Available evidence indicates that SMEs account for over 60 percent of GDP and 70 percent of total employment in low-income countries, and in middle-income countries, they account for over 95 percent of total employment and 70 percent of GDP (Ayyagari et al., 2003).\n2. Literature review: Credit rationing - market imperfections, transaction cost and the discouragement arguments\n3. Methodology: Following the approach of Love and Sanchez (2009), the study adopted the survey-based (direct) approach to study the determinants of the extent of credit rationing amongst SMEs. The indirect approach involves the test for possible violations of the assumptions of the permanent income hypothesis that consumption expenditure should not be affected by temporary shocks in income if there are no credit constraints (Diagne et al., 2000). The difficulty in obtaining data for the indirect approach necessitated the adoption of the direct approach often used in the literature. The structured questionnaire used in the survey was designed based on an extensive review of literature on credit rationing and its determinants. The questionnaire was designed to capture data on the entrepreneur and firm-specific characteristics identified in the literature as the main micro determinants of credit rationing as well as the credit market experiences of participants in 2015. The sample of SMEs was selected from Kumasi - the capital of the Ashanti Region (the second largest commercial center in the country with several active financial institutions and SMEs). The Ashanti Region is also the most populated region in the country according to the 2010 census (Ghana Statistical Services, 2012). The researchers' knowledge of the region and the fact that this kind of study has not been conducted in the region before partly influenced its selection. Since the SMEs are scattered across different sectors in the economy, there was the need to ensure fair representation of all sectors in the chosen sample. As a result, the study adopted the stratified sampling technique to sample 200 respondents each across the six main SME subsectors, namely, agriculture, transport, hospitality, retail, manufacturing and construction. Thus, a total of 1,200 SMEs were sampled. Each of the six SME subsectors was considered as a stratum in the sampling process. Saunders et al. (2007) assert that dividing the population into various strata leads to selection of samples that are more likely to be representative of the population. Participants in the agriculture sector were mainly crop and animal farmers. Owners of commercial vehicles constituted the transport sector. In the hospitality sector, however, hotel owners, owners of guest houses and restaurants were sampled. Players in the retail sector were mostly retail businesses and petty traders. Participants in the manufacturing sector comprised steel benders, carpenters and artisans as well as mechanics engaged in the production of various vehicular spare parts. Finally, building contractors, dealers in stone quarrying as well as architectural firms constituted the construction sector. Four research assistants were trained to assist in the data collection process. The research assistants who were allocated to areas across the municipality approached various SMEs and after explaining to them owners the purpose of the study and assuring them of confidentiality, those who were available and willing to participate were conveniently chosen and given the questionnaire to complete. For most of these participants, the questionnaires were administered immediately either with or without the assistance of the research assistants. In a few instances, however, questionnaires had to be left with the participants to complete at their own convenience whilst an arrangement was made for the research assistants to return on a later date for the completed questionnaire.\n4. Results and discussion: Demographic characteristics\n5. Conclusion and policy implications: Credit rationing has been one of the fundamental reasons explaining the inability of SMEs to meaningfully contribute to the economic development process in the developing world. This study has revealed evidence to support not just the existence of rationing among loan applicants seeking formal credit but more importantly, evidence which indicate variations in the level of rationing experienced by loan applicants and the factors that determine these variations. Various SME owner characteristics as well as business-specific characteristics have been found to significantly determine the degree to which an SME may be credit rationed. Gender of SME owner, sector of the business, collateral requirements, age of the business and size of the business significantly explained the various degree of rationing. However, age of the SME owner, educational level, marital status, number of dependents, formal sector employment, capital requirements, ownership and length of relationship the SME owner has had with the bank did not significantly explain the various degrees of rationing. Majority of loan applicants experiencing rationing were found to be fully rationed and therefore had their applications completely rejected. This indeed has serious consequences for SME growth in Ghana given the fact that raising funds internally to support business growth is made almost impossible by the high levels of poverty prevalent in the country. Hence, external funding becomes critical if any significant amount of investment is to take place in the sector. If majority of rationed applicants are fully rationed then it calls for urgent policy interventions to reduce the extent of the rationing and/or reduce the number of people and business that are being highly rationed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the micro determinants of the extent of credit rationing experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopted the direct approach to investigating the presence of credit rationing. This involves the use of surveys permitting loan applicants to report on their credit market experiences. The multinomial logistic regression model was then applied to the survey data to arrive at the findings reported.\nFindings: The study amongst other things confirms the existence of credit rationing in the SME sector. It also revealed that the extent to which SMEs are rationed varies and these variations are determined by the characteristic of the SME owner and the characteristics of the business.\nResearch limitations/implications: The use of the survey method in investigating credit rationing could introduce some biases in the responses obtained. However, the lack of publicly available data did not permit the use of the indirect method which is based on the testing for possible violation of the permanent income hypothesis. Despite its weakness, the survey method remains the more realistic approach to investigating credit constraints especially in the data-constrained developing countries. The design and piloting of the questionnaire as well as the use a large sample size all went a long way to reduce any possible biases in the responses.\nOriginality/value: Despite the fact that a number of studies exist on SME financing problem in Ghana, available studies present the problem as if it were the same for all SMEs. Even though there is evidence to suggest that SMEs may be rationed in the credit market to different extents, currently, there are no known studies that have empirically investigated the various degrees of rationing and factors that determine the extent to which SMEs may be credit rationed. This paper thus attempts to contribute to the literature by unearthing these factors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Application of fault tree analysis to the service process: service tree analysis approach	[ "Services", "Customers", "Boolean functions", "Data analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Owing to the rapid changes throughout the service industry, complexity of the service process has significantly increased. Consequently, in-depth analysis of the service process becomes imperative for those who are in charge of service operations (Morris and Johnston, 1987; Congram and Epelman, 1995; Mayer et al., 2003).Although several attempts to analyze the service process have been made, however, it has been widely recognized that a powerful analytical tool is missing in the service sector (Silvestro et al., 1992; Tinnila and Vepsalainen, 1995). Since the study of service management is not simply transferring an accumulated body of theories, tools, and techniques from the manufacturing arena to the arena of service production (Wemmerlov, 1990), service process analysis should mirror the following distinctive features of services, vis-a-vis the manufacturing (Schmenner, 1986). First and foremost, as a co-producer (Edvardsson et al., 1994; Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, 1994) or a partial employee (Bateson, 1985; Kelley et al., 1992), the customer may take an active part in the service operation (Fliessa and Kleinaltenkamp, 2004). As services cannot be separated from customers (Chase, 1978; Lovelock and Young, 1979; Kellogg and Nie, 1995; Zeithaml and Bitner, 2000; Fliessa and Kleinaltenkamp, 2004), customer participation perspectives should be captured in the service process. Second, service firms have faced with limited analytical and quantitative tools to systematically describe the service processes (Tinnila and Vepsalainen, 1995; Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, 1994). Thus, quantitative analysis as well as qualitative analysis should be made to provide operational and strategic implications.The primary objective of this paper is to propose a tree structure that can be a resolution of the above mentioned limitations. The tenet of this study is based on a Boolean logic tree. The tree structure has been recognized as an effective representation method to visualize the complex process. Most importantly, the Boolean logic of the tree can mirror customers' perspective; elements with an AND gate can be interpreted as \"always selected by customers\" whereas elements with an OR gate as \"optionally selected by customers\". In addition, as the Boolean logic tree is also capable of identifying critical events, analytical power of the Boolean logic tree can be applied in the service process to quantitatively measure the characteristics and impacts of the service elements. This is exactly how fault tree analysis (FTA) works in the manufacturing area. FTA is a method which translates a physical system into a structured logic diagram, identifying the faults in a system and their influences (Barlow and Lambert, 1975; Lee et al., 1985). However, FTA cannot be directly applied to the service process, since it aims to identify the faults and their influences in a particular system, not to analyze the system itself. It means in a fault tree, the system failure is located at the top event, with the potential causes of the failure at each node. But what is at the core of our interest is to visualize and analyze the complex service process; service system itself should be located at the top event, with the service element at each node. Thus, this paper proposes the adapted version of FTA to the service process analysis: service tree analysis (STA).However, since the basic concept of this paper that the tree is constructed according to the customer perspective on the process is not applied to every service operation, the scope of this paper should be mentioned in advance. Morris and Johnston (1987) proposed three types of operation, characterized by the inputs which are processed: customer processing operations (CPO), information processing operation (IPO), and material processing operations (MPO). The CPO acts upon the customer who enters the system, receives some kind of treatment in the process or participates in the process. The MPO acts upon input materials and transforms them into goods. The IPO deals with information and converts it into a form which is usable either by the system itself, or some other system (Morris and Johnston, 1987). Similarly, Sampson (2001), Sampson and Froehle (2006) defined a model considering customer input as the main difference between manufacturing and service. The underlying concept of customer input model is that the customer provides significant inputs which include customer-self inputs, tangible belongings, and customer-provided information into the production process.Basic concept of this paper that the tree is constructed according to the customer perspective on the process, mainly deals with the case of CPO of Morris and Johnston (1987) and customer-self inputs of Sampson and Froehle (2001). This is because customers exist, enter the process, evaluate each sub-process, and select the appropriate sub-process in CPO or customer-self input case in the customer input model. Therefore, it should be noted that the proposed approach of this paper mainly focuses on CPO.The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: Background, Proposed approach, Case example, and Conclusion. Background deals with service process and FTA which is an underlying methodology of this paper. Proposed approach represents construction method of the service tree and its qualitative and quantitative analysis. A case of hospital services is presented to illustrate the proposed approach in Case example. Summary and limitations of this study are given in Conclusion.\nBackground: Previous studies on the service process\nProposed approach: Overview of proposed approach\nCase example: The working of the proposed approach is provided with the help of a case example of a hospital service. In this case example, service tree construction for the hospital service was conducted by three experts in the field of hospital services. To find out the weight of each service element, a survey of Kano analysis was conducted on graduate students between the ages of 22 and 30. Total 53 respondents replied, showing 54 percent of response rate.Composition of the service tree\nDiscussion: Scope of this approach\nConclusions: Summary and contribution\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study aims to propose a tree-based analytic tool that may be used in analyzing a large-scale and complex service process. The tenet of this tool is based on the Boolean logic and named service tree analysis (STA). The proposed STA aims to reflect the customer participation perspective and to propose how to analyze the service process and deduce useful information.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Fault tree analysis is used as an underlying methodology since it has a Boolean logic to describe the customer's selection of each element and identifies critical events. Taking these advantages of the fault tree, the proposed STA consists of three main parts; service tree construction, qualitative analysis, and quantitative analysis. First, a service tree is constructed depending on how the service elements are selected by the customer; If the subordinate events are always selected by customers, they are linked with an AND gate, otherwise, with an OR gate. Next, in the qualitative analysis, service elements are characterized as core services, supporting services, and optional services by deducing a minimal service cut set. Last, qualitative analysis deals with deriving the impact of each service element based on the Kano model.\nFindings: - The suggested STA has advantages which help strategic operation and management of the service process.\nOriginality/value: - This study is unique and even exploratory in that it first adopts the notion of tree analysis in structuring a large-scale, complex service system. Further, the proposed service tree provides a systematic approach from customer participation perspective, which makes the service process to be managed efficiently.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The revenue and logistics costs of convenience store chains in Taiwan	[ "Location", "High-density expansion", "Agglomeration", "Store clustering", "Spatial analysis", "Logistics costs" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One of the most notable changes in the global retail market over the past thirty-five years has been the rise of convenience store (c-store) chains (Marshall, 2016, 2018; Rybaczewska and Sparks, 2020). Boasting more than 10,000 c-stores serving an area of 35,980 square kilometers and a population of 23 million, Taiwan has the Asia Pacific region's--and perhaps the world's--highest density of c-stores per person (Yun, 2017). 7-Eleven, the leading name and most prevalent chain in the convenience retailing industry, franchises 5,000 c-stores in Taiwan, and each store provides approximately 3,000 different products and services. 7-Eleven issues 13 million receipts per day, which means that more than half of the Taiwanese population shops there every day. The success of retail chains is due to the economies of scale through market power in bulk buying, their easy recognition by customers, and lower distribution costs. Logistics services in supply chain management also influence brand perceptions of customers (Oflac et al., 2012). As organizations become increasingly specialized, the ability to engage the supply network in innovation efforts is becoming critical to their success (Narasimhan and Narayanan, 2013). For convenience goods, in general, more replenishing frequency are presumed to enhance sales (Coughlan et al., 2006). Effective logistics needs balancing trade-offs among several costs constrained to meeting customer service levels. Extensive use of expensive logistics information system such as point-of-sale (POS) system tracking customer demands helps stores decrease the costs associated with inventory replenishment (Morimura and Sakagawa, 2018). Basker (2007) conducted a study on Wal-Mart, verifying that business expansion generates economies of scale that reduce logistics cost because intensive distribution is accompanied by a dispersion.The main strategy that chain retailers use to deal with varying market trends is to open new stores, close existing stores, or both. Store openings and closings comprise the majority of retail expansion and contraction activities (Roig-Tierno et al., 2013). Company-owned firms may restrict additional units to those locations where profits will compensate losses at their nearby units (Kalnins, 2004). Dobson and Waterson (2005) observed numerous chain stores in the retail sector operating within an oligopolistic market. The Taiwanese c-store industry possesses oligopolistic characteristics since there are only a few brand chains operating within a highly competitive market. Figure 1 shows the number of 7-Eleven c-stores in Taiwan and their annual revenues between 1980 and 2015. The growth in the number of new c-stores appeared to peak in 2008, leading people to question whether there is still headroom for growth in store numbers.A key factor in a retailer's location decision is whether to join them in a cluster or to avoid direct competitors (Krider and Putler, 2013; Hood et al., 2016). Acknowledging the spatial dependency between different and similar kinds of retailing activities, Oner and Larsson (2014) clarified to what extent co-location is present in a retail market and what kind of retailing activities are co-located. It is common in urban areas of Taiwan for two 7-Eleven c-stores to face each other across a large intersection, or for two c-stores subordinated to different franchise systems to sit next to each other. Retail agglomeration has been studied, and investigations have shown that retailers with similar concerns in proximity are aware of the benefits that clustering brings (Brown, 1987). For consumers, retail agglomerations are attractive because shorter and fewer trips reduce the cost and time of travel. Economic geography theories suggest that firms in the same industry are drawn to the same locations because nearness creates positive externalities or agglomeration effects (Head et al., 1995). However, if new stores belonging to the chain are set up close to existing stores, they will compete for the same set of consumers. The resulting cannibalization can hurt the profitability of existing stores. On average, 86.7% of sales at an individual store constitute incremental purchases, while the rest derived from neighbouring stores belonging to the chain. Cannibalization significantly decreases with distance (Pancras et al., 2012). Franchisees may compete against each other, resulting in lower profits for each franchisee but a greater market share for their brand in total (Baye et al., 1996). Franchisees within large branded chains complain of a form of channel conflict known as encroachment. Clash is created when new franchisees infiltrate present markets with new outlets that increase system-wide sales, but negatively affect the sales and profits of existing franchisees (Nair et al., 2009). Existing franchisees claim that their revenues substantially decrease because of encroaching same-brand entrants (Kalnins, 2004). Such entrants fail to generate many additional sales and end up cannibalizing from nearby stores (Kiviat, 2008). Stores located closer to the new stores are likely to be more adversely affected by their opening compared to stores located farther away (Huff, 1964). The location of stores influences on the degree of local competition. Competition is strong between nearby stores but weak between remote stores. Such location-related competition has been dealt with in the relevant literature using spatial competition models in an oligopolistic market (Peng and Tabuchi, 2007). Although formal location analysis techniques have been available for over half a century, most retailers are still guided by experience and common sense (Hernandez and Bennison, 2000). Reynolds and Wood (2010) used the results of a questionnaire survey of retailers to assess the employment of location assessment techniques. Ghadge et al. (2016) established a hybrid approach combining the centre of gravity and mixed integer programming for the un-capacitated multiple allocation-location problem of the distribution centre. Alexander et al. (2018) identified the factors influencing pop-up store location choice. Little research has examined the impact of the spatial configuration of the store networks, and more specifically, how the presence of multiple stores of the same retail chain in a customer's choice set can influence store results in that area.The aim of this study is mainly to demonstrate that the high-density 7-Eleven c-stores in Tainan benefit from economies of scale in distribution and decide the proper locations for the future inauguration of c-stores. The study (1) demonstrated that the high-density 7-Eleven c-stores in Tainan can leverage the logistics costs; (2) applied spatial models to empirically study the agglomeration forces between c-store chains and analysed the influence of the distance between c-stores on c-stores' revenues; and (3) helped to decide the proper locations for c-store expansion. The remainder of this paper is arranged as follows. Section 2 reviews the literature and describes the logistics cost model and the spatial data required. Section 3 validates the revenue model using the data derived from the spatial econometrics model. Spatial analysis methods in section 4 were subsequently applied to identify and define c-stores' spatial cluster patterns using GIS software. The final section concludes the findings and their implications for the further expansion plans of c-stores.\n2. Literature review: This section provides an overview of the spatial competition and spatial interaction models in terms of formulation, theoretical grounds and development. 2.1 Spatial interaction and competition models\n3. Methodology: The section used a spatial econometric model based on the conventional gravity model to estimate individual c-store's revenue. 3.1 The revenue model\n4. C-store locations' and revenues' spatial cluster patterns: Although 7-Eleven in Taiwan slows down the speed of cultivating denser store networks through aggressive store openings and acquisitions, the average spending per customer rose from TWD$65 in 2009 to TWD$72 in 2015, showing that people in Taiwan have grown more dependent on the stores in their daily lives and are making more purchases there (CNA, 2016). C-stores' spatial cluster patterns were then identified to determine whether higher-density and higher-revenue c-stores were clustered. 4.1 Spatial statistics analysis\n5. Conclusion: Based on Cachon (2014) and the extension of the gravity model, this study built models to quantify the logistics costs and revenue that 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Hi-Life c-store chains encountered by adopting a high-density expansion strategy in an urban area of Taiwan. The parameters regarding revenue models' parameters were calibrated utilizing data collected from financial statements in the focal c-store chains' 2015 corporate annual reports and used to quantify the influence on revenue of agglomeration forces and distance variation between c-stores. The study focused on the use of analytical revenue models for urban forecasting and examining the influence of distance variation between c-stores on their daily revenue and c-store chains' company-wide sales. The larger number and relatively higher density of 7-Eleven c-stores led to their encroachment on the customers of FamilyMart and Hi-Life c-stores. As the agglomeration forces increased, FamilyMart and Hi-Life c-stores' revenues decreased. Large agglomeration forces not only increased 7-Eleven's company-wide sales but also increase the average daily revenue of its individual stores. However, the homogeneity of c-stores may lead to their demise if they cannot earn sufficient revenue to cover operational costs. To overcome this possibility, given that 7-Eleven c-stores face a problem not of insufficient revenue but of unequal revenue distribution, it would seem reasonable for the 7-Eleven c-store chain to return some raised revenue to marginally performing c-store. Such a revenue-sharing mechanism should not weaken lower revenue-earning c-stores' incentives to generate their own revenues as long as positive agglomeration forces are obtained by the clustering of c-stores. Figure 10 demonstrates the math of gross profit split based on 7-Eleven's business model (Our Business Model, 2017). The advertising fee is based on the gross profit of the c-store for the immediately preceding 12 months. 7-Eleven, Inc. (the franchisor) charges a variable percentage of gross profit. Franchisees receive 43-52% of gross profits, while 57-48% of gross profit flows to head office. The franchisor takes 48-57% of c-store's profits, and depending on c-store's sales and profits, around 2% of c-store's profits will go towards advertising.If the distance separating competitive c-stores increased, the total daily revenue of the 7-Eleven c-store chain was monotonic and increased as the agglomeration forces increased. With the presence of a positive agglomeration force, the distance separating c-stores increased, thereby reducing the clustering effect of 7-Eleven c-stores and decreasing their total daily revenue. The larger number and thus relatively higher density of 7-Eleven c-stores suffered from the alleviation of agglomeration effect as the distance separating c-stores increased. Therefore, the 7-Eleven c-store brand should setup many c-stores within a closer range to take advantage of positive agglomeration forces. On the other hand, with the presence of the competition effect, the larger number, and thus, relatively higher density of 7-Eleven c-stores benefitted from the alleviation of competition effect as the distance separating c-stores increases. Under these circumstances, 7-Eleven c-stores should be set up at a distance that alleviates the competition effect.The present study developed revenue models, identified c-stores' spatial cluster patterns of density and revenue, and demonstrated that the time series of total logistics cost for 7-11 c-stores in Tainan adopting a high-density expansion strategy is non-increasing. The practical contributions of this study are achieved by applying the gravity model theory on retailers' location decisions and examining the impact of the spatial configuration of the store networks. The theoretical contribution of the study is to explain the complex relationship of encroachment impact on retail expansion and demonstrate the CDM's ability to provide a broad picture of encroachment impact. The study demonstrated that when new franchisees infiltrate present markets with new outlets that increase system-wide sales, but negatively affect the sales and profits of existing franchisees. Future studies should extend the revenue models to identify the number of c-stores sufficient to meet the competition effect and to evaluate the potential impact of new c-stores on existing c-stores. They might also examine how an adequate number of locations can be developed to meet the competition effect in light of constraints, such as when available capital and real estate is limited.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The objectives of this study were to demonstrate that the high-density 7-Eleven c-stores in Taiwan benefit from economies of scale in distribution and can, therefore, leverage the logistics costs; and to decide the proper locations for the future inauguration of c-stores.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study spatially analysed the c-stores located in Tainan, Taiwan and examines the influence of spatial configuration on c-store revenue. This study developed models to quantify the revenue and logistics costs that the 7-Eleven convenience store (c-store) chain encountered when adopting a high-density expansion strategy. The revenue models' parameters were calibrated utilizing data collected from financial statements in 7-Eleven chains' 2015 corporate annual reports and modelling was used to quantify the influence of agglomeration forces and the distance separating c-stores on revenue.\nFindings: Positive agglomeration forces increased 7-Eleven's company-wide sales and the average daily revenue of its individual c-stores, and decreased those of competitors. The study findings demonstrate the high-density 7-Eleven c-stores in Tainan benefit from economies of scale in distribution and can, therefore, leverage their logistics costs. The spatial analysis concluded that higher-density and higher-revenue c-stores were spatially clustered.\nOriginality/value: The study extends the use of analytical revenue and spatial models to decide the proper locations for the future inauguration of c-stores.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of incentive framing format and language congruency on readers' post-reading responses to email advertisements	[ "Incentives", "Framing theory", "Email marketing", "Discount", "Language congruency" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Defined as the approach of using electronic mail to deliver promotional or commercial messages to targeted people (Laudon and Traver, 2018), email marketing is known as essential for tourism and hospitality businesses in engaging with prospects and current customers (The World Tourism Organization, 2014). Though email marketing is considered less pivotal in the modern era because emerging technologies such as social media and mobile are more efficacious in reaching modern customers, numerous academic and industry reports have proven that marketers in the tourism and hospitality fields are still actively using email marketing to attract new customers and to achieve other business purposes (eMarketer, 2017; Piccoli et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2018).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Email marketing in tourism and hospitality\n3. Methodology: To unveil how incentive framing format and language congruency interactively affect readers' post-reading responses toward hotel-related email advertisements, a 2 (incentive framing format: amount-off versus percentage-off) x 2 (language congruency: use of readers' native language versus use of readers' foreign language) between-subject experiment was conducted. In this study, emails describing a price promotion available in a hotel restaurant were chosen as the study setting because this is the most popular type of email advertisements sent by hotels (Abrahams et al., 2010). Consumers from mainland China were recruited to participate in the current experiment because many International hotel companies have personalized their marketing programs for this group of travelers (Wang et al., 2015a). Besides, consumers from mainland China were chosen as the study sample because China is the country with the highest number of internet users (Statista, 2018) and checking emails is one of the most popular online activities of Chinese internet users (China Internet Network Information Center, 2018).\n4. Research findings: 4.1 Manipulation check and realism check\n5. Discussions and conclusions: 5.1 Discussions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine how incentive framing format and language congruency interactively influence readers' post-reading responses to hotel-related email advertisements.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A 2 (incentive framing format: amount-off versus percentage-off) x 2 (language congruency: use of readers' native language versus use of readers' foreign language) between-subject experiment was conducted with 233 bilingual speakers from China.\nFindings: The findings unveil that readers are more likely to be enticed to search for more information about the promoted hotel restaurant, click the call-to-action button and share the promotional message with friends and families if an email advertisement presents the incentive of a price promotion in the form of amount-off (versus percentage-off). The indirect impact of language congruency is also verified. Specifically, the impact of incentive framing format on readers' post-reading response is more salient when information is communicated using readers' native (versus non-native) language.\nPractical implications: The findings provide actionable clues for hoteliers to optimize their email marketing campaigns. If hotels want to publicize a price promotion for their high-priced service (e.g. hotel restaurant dining) via email advertisements, marketers should present the incentive in the form of amount-off. Hotels should also personalize the language used in the email advertisements according to readers' native language.\nOriginality/value: This study enriches the literature on email marketing by explicating how hoteliers can improve the efficacy of email marketing via personalizing the incentive framing format and language used in the email advertisement according to the readers' preferences.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing organizational change: paradoxical problems, solutions, and consequences	[ "United States of America", "Organizational change", "Communication management", "Stakeholder analysis", "Information management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Planned organizational change efforts are central features of an organization's operational strategies (Lewis, L.K., 2000). A common managerial approach to these purposeful interventions is the transformation of technological systems. Upper management, in a quest for improving client services, may, for example, decide it is useful to share budgeting data across departments and will default quickly to online technology for what they understand is its fast, cost effective methods for meeting their business needs. Yet, technological and managerial decisions associated with projects like the establishment of shared discretionary databases, information repositories, and other communal informational public goods (Fulk et al., 1996) are not straightforward. Implementations are often fraught with contradiction and paradox as the complex task of weighing the risks, costs, rewards, and benefits of change, including but not limited to sharing information, are calculated by a diverse set of organizational stakeholders (Andriopoulos and Lewis, 2010; Bledow et al., 2009).Based on interviews with the USA Government leaders whose departments are pursuing initiatives to improve and dramatically transform inter-agency information sharing, this study addresses the challenges decision-makers experience in the process of planning organizational change. Drawing upon theories of institutional contradiction (Seo and Creed, 2002), the strategic management of organizational dualities (Seo et al., 2004) and related communication tactics (Barge et al., 2008), we explore the ways in which decision-makers communicatively construct and manage paradox. We examine how particular strategic responses to institutional contradictions embody dualities that lead to unintended consequences, ironically constraining, and maintaining paradox. Our work extends previous work on stakeholder paradox (Goodpastor, 1991; Lange, 2003) and is consistent with several calls for more research on the dynamics that underlie paradoxical responses to organizational change (Smith and Lewis, 2011) and the conditions under which institutional change produces inadvertent procedural consequences (Cortell and Peterson, 2001). Whereas institutional contradictions have been examined in reference to emerging paradox, and while paradoxical solutions have been studied widely, little research has investigated how institutional contradictions become simultaneously embedded in the process and the outcome of organizational change.Since the late 1980s, paradoxical thinking has been central to a great deal of organizational theorizing. Indeed, the vitality of paradox as a construct for understanding organizational processes continues to grow. Extensive reviews of the voluminous literature on organizing and paradox are soon to appear in The Academy of Management Review (Smith and Lewis, 2011) and Human Relations (Fairhurst and Putnam, 2012). Across the literature, three fundamental organizing propositions are posited:P1. Paradox is inevitable.P2. Paradox arises and is experienced at multiple levels - individual (Leonardi, 2009; Lewis and Seibold, 1996), dyadic (Argyris, 1988), group or project team (Smith and Berg, 1987; Stohl and Cheney, 2001), organizational (Cameron and Quinn, 1988; Barge et al., 2008; Harter and Krone, 2001), interorganizational (van Reine, 1996), and institutional (Kraatz and Block, 2008).P3. Engagement rather than avoidance with paradox is associated with organizational effectiveness (Cameron and Quinn, 1988; Poole and Van de Ven, 1989).This case study focuses on the prospective development of an interorganizational information-sharing system. Within the context of establishing communal databases, potentially incompatible tensions associated with multiple stakeholders have been identified, including: trust, reciprocity, social network dynamics, and reward/incentive systems (Kalman et al., 2002; Monge et al., 1998). As change agents plan and interact with each other and with those affected by the change, a delicate balance is required between competing and often incompatible institutional demands and situational requirements. To explore the dynamic emergence of paradoxes and the unintended consequences that stem from implementers' struggles among agency, stakeholder representation, and institutional pressures for conformity, we utilize Seo and Creed's (p. 223) duality framework to chronicle the \"ways in which institutional formation and change.\" These dualities result from struggles among social actors seeking a foothold of stability and power during organizational change. Seo and Creed identify \"institutional contradictions\" related to legitimacy, adaptability, intrainstitutional conformity, and interinstitutional convergence. Their recognition that organizations \"are increasingly exposed to multiple and contradictory, yet interconnected institutional arrangements and prescriptions\" (p. 228) is salient for understanding paradox, dualities, and contradiction in response to the processes of organizational change.We suggest that an extension of Seo and Creed's (2002) typology of institutional contradictions to organizational stakeholders is especially useful for understanding change efforts associated with the development of communal informational goods. In these endeavors change is framed as beneficial to diverse stakeholders, that is, to those who are affected by or can affect organizational practices (Freeman, 1984). Stakeholder acceptance of and willingness to participate in the new information-sharing system are necessary conditions for the communal good (Fulk et al., 1996). Kim and Mauborgne (1997, p. 17) note that institutional success is often dependent on diverse stakeholders (individuals, departments, and organizations) sharing knowledge with one another, but they observe that this organizational change is quite different from others: \"unlike the traditional factors of production - land, labor, and capital - knowledge is a resource [...] that [cannot be] be forced out of people.\" For organizational participants uncovering, managing, and integrating multiple stakeholder needs and perspectives into the array of communicative activities and decisions that constitute this type of change are fraught with tensions and challenges. In this study, we interrogate how paradox is contained in the communicative processes of decision makers as they contemplate the extent of their participation. In the case analysis we report, we show how institutional contradictions led to dualities which created a paradoxical situation that was managed through the establishment of new paradoxes.Dualities, contradiction, and paradox\n2 Communication, institutional contradiction, change, and paradox: The centrality of paradox in organizational change processes has resulted in a plethora of studies that address institutional contexts (Hargrave and Van de Ven, 2006; Luscher and Lewis, 2008). As suggested above, the work of Seo and Creed (2002) has been particularly useful in this line of research. They describe how institutional arrangements create tensions and inconsistencies within and between social systems, delineate how those contradictions mold organizational members into agents of those institutional arrangements, and how the contradictions further affect the change process. Specifically, Seo and Creed (2002) identify four sources of contradiction that result from over-time processes of institutionalization:1. Legitimacy that undermines functional inefficiency.2. Adaptation that undermines adaptability.3. Intrainstitutional conformity that creates interinstitutional incompatibilities.4. Isomorphism that conflicts with divergent interests.Next, we discuss in detail one institutional contradiction that is most salient for change grounded in the need for diverse participation and which was strikingly evident in the analysis we report, isomorphism that conflicts with divergent interests.Isomorphism that conflicts with divergent interests recognizes the production and reproduction of institutional arrangements as influenced by political prowess and power (Benson, 1977). When common practices become perceived as normal and legitimate, any disruption becomes perceived as intentional and threatening. Efforts to change shared expectations often are resisted because \"they threaten individuals' sense of security, increase the cost of information processing, and disrupt routines\" (Moen et al., 2008, p. 399). This is particularly so in changes that require information sharing. As Kalman et al. (2002, p. 2) observe, \"Special difficulties arise when users must themselves stock the database with discretionary information.\" Information is discretionary if it is \"initially under the control of one organizational member, who can choose whether or not to make it available to others\" (Connolly and Thorn, 1990, p. 219). Under these institutional conditions it becomes likely that a contradictory interactive system emerges that shapes organizational paradox.Seo and Creed's (2002) work is especially important to this study because they explicate how institutionalism and agency can exist simultaneously when viewed as opposing poles of duality. Their conceptualization is critical to uncovering contradictions that can be hidden in the sub-context of change (Hatch and Ehrlich, 1993). There is, however, an opportunity to extend and thereby deepen the Seo and Creed model by examining a paradox associated with these institutional contradictions and exploring how paradox emerges in response to the dualities. We propose two related research questions:RQ1. How do underlying institutional contradictions give rise to paradoxes associated with planned organizational change?RQ2. What is the relationship between institutional contradictions, strategies used for managing organizational change paradoxes, and the outcome of those strategies?\n3 Communication and management of paradox in planned change: Recognition of paradox is a powerful framework for examining plurality and for \"capturing its enlightening potential\" (Cameron and Quinn, 1988, p. 763). Decision-makers' articulations of paradox can be tapped for their potential to illuminate and even to improve change efforts, but more work is needed to understand how the communicative management of paradox during the change initiative may give rise to new paradox. Studies of the management of dualities constituted in change have often emphasized the use of dialogue (Medved et al., 2001; Smith and Berg, 1987) the role of language (Robichaud et al., 2004; Taylor and Giroux, 2005) and discourse (Fairhurst and Putnam, 2004). Here, we are exploring the unintended consequences of stakeholder solutions that are embedded in the contradictions and dualities that gave rise to the initial paradox of change.According to Seo et al. (2004), four strategies are used to manage dualities associated with planned change: selection, separation, integration, and transcendence. For example, a prominent duality among participants in planned change efforts intended to foster interorganizational collaboration is the tension between being connected yet remaining autonomous. The simplest mitigation of this tension is selection of one pole while ignoring the other, which disregards the inter-relatedness in the dichotomy (Poole and Van de Ven, 1989). Separation entails dividing attention paid to poles of the duality or segmenting activities when attending to each pole. The third strategy is integration, in which the poles in a duality are combined by creating \"balance in that both ends of the continuum are legitimate\" (p. 76). The full extent of either characteristic is never fully realized because each pole's intensity is diluted (Seo et al., 2004). Lastly, transcendence requires a perspective adjustment in order to see the deeper, shared connections between tensions that inhere in the duality.The communicative enactment of the strategic management of paradox, specifically by implementers of change, has been studied by Barge et al. (2008). In their analysis of the pursuit of technological innovation in a tribal community network, Barge et al. found that a number of paradoxes evident in the planned change initiative were managed communicatively by demonstrating \"connection.\" Dialogue and other communication practices enabled change agents to set the context in and across phases of the change process through three tactics reflective of the connection strategy: \"commonplacing\", \"bounded mutuality,\" and \"reflexive positioning.\" Illuminating the ways in which communication enables and constrains strategies for managing dualities that emerge during planned change, as Barge et al. do so well, is an important step in understanding change and paradox.We build upon this approach, and explore how the links among:* institutional contradictions;* associated paradoxes;* strategies for managing them;* communicative manifestations of these strategies;are tied to:* change outcomes.Concerning the last element in our analytic framework, planned change initiatives rarely are characterized by a single sign of finality but by waves of stability and flux as well diverse outcomes. Tracy (2004, p. 120) finds that organizational members \"can react to contradiction in various ways, and the framing of workplace tensions can have various personal and organizational effects.\" Furthermore, there is always the possibility that change efforts will have consequences that are unintended. Finally, as Lewis, M.K. (2000, p. 774) observes, paradox \"may fuel reinforcing cycles.\"\n4 Method: We adopt a case-study approach, which is useful for investigating process-oriented phenomena in real-life organizational events and helpful for analyzing actual managerial processes (Yin, 2003).The case\n5 Results: As noted previously, Seo and Creed (2002) identify four sources of institutional contradiction that are fundamental forces creating and driving institutional change - change that is often associated with four forms of strategic management of one or both poles of dualities emanating from those four institutional contradictions (Seo et al., 2004). In turn, as Barge et al. (2008) show, strategies for dealing with dualities associated with planned organizational change are accomplished communicatively and have a variety of effects (including unintended consequences). Our analyses of C-JRIS tracked these institutional contradictions and associated dualities, particularly those involving stakeholder paradoxes revealing the improbability of maximizing the interests of all constituents (Goodpastor, 1991). When the data revealed them, we also analyzed program leaders' choices for managing those dualities (especially when their discourse revealed that they were aware of the dualities), the communicative tactics utilized to enact those strategies, and their outcomes. In many instances, we simply note how institutional contradictions permeated their change efforts and created paradoxes that they appeared neither to fully comprehend nor responded to in a reflective, strategic manner. Not surprisingly, the latter instances also were associated with unsuccessful management of the dualities embedded within the planned change efforts. However, even when awareness of the dualities was explicitly acknowledged, the solutions tended to embody the paradox. Below, we provide discursive examples of two contradictions noted by Seo and Creed (2002). We have selected them for their clear representation of the paradoxes, strategies, and interactive consequences.Isomorphism conflicting with divergent interests\n6 Conclusion: Summary of specific findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine how paradox emerges during a planned change initiative to improve and dramatically transform inter-agency information sharing. Based on interviews with key decision makers, the authors interrogate the relationships among institutional contradictions, emergent dualities, the communicative management of related organizational stakeholder paradoxes, and the consequences of enacted solutions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Interviews with government leaders serve as the data source. These decision makers are from justice agencies participating in planning an information-sharing program to better protect citizens and their agencies' workforce.\nFindings: - The data suggests that Seo and Creed's institutional contradiction \"isomorphism conflicting with divergent interests\" gave rise to three interdependent dualities: stakeholder self-interest/collective good, stakeholder inclusion/exclusion, and emergent stakeholder consensus/leader driven decision making. These dualities were implicated in the enactment of paradox and its management. No matter what strategy the managers used, the consequences themselves were paradoxical, rooted in the same dualities that were originally present.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The authors sought to trace the outcomes of how leaders managed the poles of dualities, and found evidence of unintended consequences that were intriguing in their own right and were linked to stakeholder considerations. The paper underscores the importance of communication in the representation of paradoxes and how they were managed, and the unintended consequences of the solutions.\nPractical implications: - Leaders' articulations of paradox can be tapped for improving change efforts.\nOriginality/value: - Whereas, institutional contradictions have been examined in reference to emerging paradox, and while paradoxical solutions have been studied widely, little research has investigated how institutional contradictions become simultaneously embedded in the process and the outcomes of organizational change.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How salespersons induce trust between consumers and retailers: The case of French well-being stores	[ "Salesperson", "Customer-retailer trust relationships", "Sales environment", "Structural model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the field of retailing, a great amount of research has focussed on the analysis of shopping behavior in relation to the shopping value (Wang et al., 2012), shopping benefits (Babin et al., 1994; Park, 2003), retail store attributes' evaluations (Seock and Lin, 2011), purchase motives (Arnold and Reynolds, 2003), price image (Hamilton and Chernev, 2013), search experience (Bagdare and Jain, 2013) and atmospheric tools (Borges et al., 2013; Babin and Attaway, 2000; Lunardo and Mbengue, 2013). Though trust has been examined extensively, which has led to numerous conceptualizations (Nguyen and Liem, 2013; Connelly et al., 2012; Lusch et al., 2003; Morgan and Hunt, 1994), and widely surveyed in relational marketing, services and e-services (Garbarino and Johnson, 1999; Hess and Story, 2005; Johnson et al., 2008; Nevins and Money, 2008; Pi et al., 2012), trust has been relatively disregarded in a retailing context. More precisely, in retail marketing, we notice that research has investigated only limited aspects of consumer trust, primarily considering food retailing (Rampl et al., 2012) and interpersonal trust in customer-salesperson interactions (Twing-Kwong et al., 2013; Orth et al., 2013). Over the last decade, there has been an increase in the research of retail websites (Winch and Joyce, 2006). As an example of this, Toufaily et al. (2013) focussed on trust when comparing pure click and click-and-brick retailers. However, as e-commerce tends to turn traditional shops into simple showrooms, it is worth understanding that the main role of salespersons is not only to build interpersonal trust with the customer but also to induce trust between the customer and the retail store. Thus, even if there are numerous existing measures of trust that can be used in retail (Sun and Lin, 2010; Wood et al., 2008), very few of them have been designed specifically within a retail context.\n2. Literature review: Trust is often defined as the willingness to rely on another party (Doney et al., 1998; McKnight et al., 2002) and is considered a way to reduce uncertainty and risk (Ring and van de Ven, 1994). Trust is also considered a means of reinforcing the satisfaction of a network's members with their suppliers while reducing mutual conflicts in the process (Anderson and Weitz, 1992; Anderson and Narus, 1990; Ring and Van de Ven, 1994). Trust is widely considered to be the basis of business-to-business relationships (Roberts et al., 2010). Research by Sezen and Yilmaz (2007) emphasized the concept of trust as one of the two key determinants of relational behaviors (with regard to distribution channels). According to the literature, trust is highly important in customer-service provider relationships, whether it in advisement (Zaltman and Moorman, 1988) or in the development of a durable relationship between customer-oriented personnel (front desk or sales) and customers (Gronroos, 1991; Perrien and Ricard, 1995; Garbarino and Johnson, 1999).\n3. Methodology: 3.1. Sample and data gathering\n4. Results and analysis: 4.1. EFA\n5. Implications, limitations and avenues for research: On the theoretical level, this is the first study that attempts to apply the concept of trust to the consumer-retailer (store) relationships. Although some research has focussed on the study of the trust relationship in the field of consumer behavior (Hess and Story, 2005; Fournier, 1998; Sirieix, 2001), it has consistently investigated the consumer-brand relationship. The characteristics of the dyad and their interaction thus provide a distinct conceptual framework. This research proposes and tests a new framework of the dimensions of trust in this specific dyad: trust in benevolence and integrity, trust in the credibility of the offerings and trust in the relationships with the sales environment and the salespersons. In this conceptualization, advice to the customer gains considerable weight. Consumer trust in the offering is a primarily synonymous with trust in the product offering but also trust in the services offered and, more precisely, the personalized advice provided by customer-oriented staff. This research contributes to better understanding the specific role of sales environment and that of salespersons, not only in the building process of interpersonal trust with customers but also in inducing trust between the customers and the store itself. This framework was validated, and the connections between the antecedents of trust and its dimensions were tested and confirmed. Moreover, the construction and/or adoption of new scale measures in France (initially developed in English-speaking countries) in a French culture context and in the field of perfume and cosmetics retailing in France distinguishes it as original research. Translating a number of the trust variables' scales into French and adapting the items to be relevant to the French culture constitutes both a theoretical and methodological contribution. The use of pointed methodologies such as the blind parallel translation method and the double back translation gives legitimacy to this aspect of the contribution and makes it more valid for future use in the French context. However, we admit that these scales (translated, adapted or newly constructed) cannot be systematically used outside a French culture context. They need to be validated for English-speakers and across cultures. On the managerial level, this research helps further an advanced relational approach in the area of consumer product distribution by paying particular attention to building and developing a trust-based relationship. This research may serve as a \"handbook\" for any retailer looking to establish and sustain a durable relationship with their customers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Although there is existing research investigating trust itself, there is a need for research on the concept of trust, specifically in retail environments. The purpose of this paper is to identify specific the dimensions of the concept of trust with retailing and to note impactful antecedents as activators for managers to secure long-term business.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors propose a multi-dimensional measurement scale of trust that is examined through a structural equation modeling the connections between the determinants of the concept and its various features.\nFindings: This research has identified two new key dimensions for trust, specific to the well-being retailing context: customer/salesperson relationship and customer/sales environment relationship. Hence, this research primarily highlights the role of the salesperson and advice in establishing and sustaining the customer-retailer trust relationship.\nPractical implications: On the managerial level, this research helps further an advanced relational approach in the area of consumer product distribution by paying particular attention to building and developing a trust-based relationship. This research may serve as a \"handbook\" for any retailer looking to establish and sustain a durable relationship with their customers.\nOriginality/value: The paper adapts the concept of trust in the specific context of brick-and-mortar retailing and tests it thanks to a quantitative study in the field of well-being retailing. The paper uses empirical data to establish original indications regarding: new relevant dimensions for trust in a retailing context that could be used by shop managers to develop a better comprehension of trust and impactful antecedents of trust in a retailing context that could be activated by shop managers to enhance trust regarding their shops.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leadership coaching in health care	[ "Coaching", "Emotional intelligence", "Competences", "Medical personnel", "Leadership", "Leadership development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Physicians have been trained to be independent thinkers, sceptical scientists, and self-reliant professionals who can call on their inner strengths in times of emergency. In the business realm, physicians in the US have continued to follow the course of recent history and are small practice entrepreneurs who have not been trained in the techniques of management (Hepner, 1997).As a result, the delivery of health care is very fragmented in this country. Patients are left to negotiate a maze of different physician offices, and hospitals. A patient with a new diagnosis of breast cancer, for example, will likely be seen by a primary care physician, radiologist, breast surgeon, medical oncologist, and radiation oncologist. Communication among the physicians managing this patient's care will likely be incomplete and somewhat fragmentary. As stated in the landmark Institute of Medicine (2000) report, To Err Is Human, a standardized computerized medical record, which would facilitate communication, decrease the incidence of medical errors, and improve the overall standard of care, is frequently lacking. Uncoordinated care, aside from being error prone, is financially inefficient. Health care costs have been rising consistently at a rate greater than inflation. Total costs have approached 15 percent of the gross domestic product (Pear, 2004).Market and social forces will likely push medicine into providing more coordinated, and hopefully, improved care. This care will increasingly be delivered through large organizations. Physician leaders are essential to this process of coordinated, improved care. Their direction is needed in order to unify the diverse elements of the health care environment. They must do so by leading and managing a group of headstrong individualists. As the saying goes, they must have the uncanny ability to successfully \"herd cats.\" These physician leaders can be found in academia, the pharmaceutical industry, managed care, hospitals, medical and academic societies, and government.How are these leaders being trained to assume their important roles? How much of a role has executive coaching played in this training process?Health care executives who are not health professionals are in the unenviable position of managing physicians and nurses who have their own definite ideas about how things should be run. These executives must also frequently work hard to garner the respect of the health professionals, who may view them as outsiders without a clear idea of how medicine functions. How can and has coaching addressed the needs of these executives?Health care leaders have also been called upon to be coaches to their peers. This has become a very important element of their leadership roles. How has this process of coaching come along in practice?Research on the role of leadership in health care is incomplete. As elucidated by Vance and Larson (2002), it is mostly anecdotal and descriptive. According to these authors, only 4.4 percent of all articles written on health care and business leadership were data based. Forty-one percent of the 6,628 articles reviewed were purely descriptive. As the role of coaching in health care leadership is examined, one must take into account this relative paucity of good data. As the authors state, \"In this era of evidence-based practice, such research, although difficult to conduct, is urgently needed\" (Vance and Larson, 2002, p. 165).What defines good leadership in health care? How does one develop a good health care leader? An effective leader can be defined as a person who has mastered certain essential core competencies. McKenna et al. (2004) explored this question by conducting a survey of physician leaders and teaching program directors. Survey participants were asked to complete a \"physician leader competence\" questionnaire. Interpersonal and communication skills, professional ethics and social responsibility were defined by these survey participants as the most important leadership core competencies. Of note, the participants related \"coaching or mentoring from an experienced leader\" as one of the most effective methods for developing core competencies (McKenna et al., 2004, p. 2). Indeed, consulting and executive coaching firms such as Manya Arond-Thomas and Company as well as progressive hospital networks such as the Baptist Health organization have recognized coaching as a key competence for health care leadership (Arond, 2004; Baptist Leadership Institute, 2004).What leadership styles are best correlated with positive outcomes in health care? While Vance and Larson (2002), in their review, did not find any such studies relating to outcomes of health care organizations, they did elucidate important research findings with organizations in other fields. Howell and Avolio (1993), for example, showed that transactional leadership on the part of managers at a Canadian financial institution was negatively correlated to business-unit performance. Beatty and Lee (1992) showed that transformational leadership at aerospace companies was more effective than transactional leadership in overcoming barriers to change. Keller (1995) demonstrated that transformational leadership was associated with higher project quality in industrial groups.The presence of physician leadership at a health care institution can have a positive impact on patient outcomes. Lomas (1991) demonstrated that having a physician opinion leader increased the numbers of vaginal deliveries, with no adverse outcomes, in women with previous caesarean sections. Pepe (1993) showed that having an emergency medical facility with a specialized physician supervisor was associated with higher survivals, and thus discharge rates, in patients noted to have ventricular fibrillation. As Vance and Larson (2002) point out, however, the above two studies were the only ones published between 1970 and 1999 that showed an association with leadership behaviors and patient outcomes. This only represented 1.3 percent of health care leadership studies for that period of time (Vance and Larson, 2002).Given this backdrop of incomplete data, let me begin by analyzing physician leadership; what is involved, what needs to be done to improve their quality, and how can and has coaching help in that process.\nLiterature review: Physician leadership\nNon-medical health care leadership: Large corporate structures such as health maintenance organizations and hospitals are frequently run by non-medical executives, the proverbial \"blue blazers\" who manage the medical professionals in white. These leaders have the unenviable task of coordinating the activities of headstrong, ego driven medical professionals, who have an almost innate distrust of them. The non-medical professional must frequently work to earn the respect of nurses and physicians, and establish their medical bona fides.Conflict management is a key skill for corporate leaders to have. Brooks (1994) describes the Canadian hospital system and the need of the hospital CEO to work with the governing board and with physicians. While the CEO may have the technical skills that are needed for conflict management, human and conceptual skills are needed as well. Brooks (1994) maintains that, while conceptual skills are innate, they can also be learned through coaching.Transforming hospital cultures can be accomplished through leadership development, a process that is helped by coaching. Barriere et al. (2002) describe a hospital reorganization led by the CEO and vice president of human resources that revolved around a cultural change that stressed innovation at all levels. Leadership practices that encompassed providing constructive feedback and coaching was encouraged. Coaching was also provided as part of a leadership program focusing on leadership competencies (Barriere et al., 2002).\nDiscussion: Medicine is undergoing a fundamental transformation that will change the nature and the scope of the health care working environment. With the advent of patient centered care, improved access to by the consumer to basic medical information, the electronic medical record, and digitized personal health information cards, medicine will need to accommodate to new realities. Health care structures, from the private physician's office, to the managed care organization, and the hospital, will need to change culturally. Closer coordination between medical organizations, and indeed, merging of a great number of these organizations will take place. It is clear that health care leadership on the part of physicians and non-medical management will need to take a large role in making this change happen. What types of leadership styles will be most effective in the successful management of medical organizations? And, most importantly, which leadership approaches will be associated with the best patient care outcomes? There is a dearth of good data to answer these questions, as is clear from the review of Vance and Larson (2002). Newer and more comprehensive use of health care information technology should facilitate the expansion of this important area of research.It is clear that health care leaders must exhibit certain core competencies and display a fairly high degree of emotional intelligence to accomplish change goals. Coaching is an effective and underutilized instrument in guiding the health care leader towards mastering competencies and improving emotional intelligences. Coaching can be utilized at all stages of the medical career, from medical school onward to the executive boardroom.One very important leadership competency that has been identified is the ability to coach others. Health care executives need to be trained in the discipline of coaching in order to more effectively manage others. Coaching techniques may be used with employees, trainees, and patients.Medicine, in order to make that transition into effective twenty-first century care, must, in addition to integrating technological advances into therapeutics, focus on the human dimension of interpersonal and organization structures. Coaching is an essential tool in making that transition a reality.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Medicine is undergoing dramatic changes that will alter its basic organizational structure. The integration of evidence-based medicine, patient centered care, and the electronic medical record into medical practice will necessitate innovative approaches to management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A review of the literature was undertaken to assess the current state of leadership coaching for physicians and non-medical health care leaders. Different models of leadership coaching are described and examined.\nFindings: - Leadership coaching has been an underutilized resource in health care executive training. The use of coaching methods has been of great utility for physician and non-medical managerial leadership. Health care leaders will need to develop interpersonal and emotional intelligence competencies in order to successfully run increasingly complex organizations.\nOriginality/value: - To encourage further quantitative studies of coaching in the health care field. Such studies would be significantly helpful in elucidating those approaches to coaching that yield the best results. Encouraging the greater use of leadership coaching by medical executives can be of potentially important benefit to the successful operation of their institutions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of innovation capability on the performance of manufacturing companies: The Greek case	[ "Innovation", "Manufacturing industries", "Product quality", "Financial performance", "Operational performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Innovation is a broad and multi-dimensional concept that refers to all scientific, technological, organizational, financial and commercial activities which lead to, or are intended to lead to, the implementation of technologically new or improved products or services (OECD, 1997). Innovation has become a key issue at various levels for firms, institutions and governments and its importance has motivated researchers to identify its various driving forces (Becheikh et al., 2006). The link between innovation and firm performance is well established in the previous research. Indeed, there is a wealth of evidence in the academic literature indicating a positive relationship between innovation and firm performance in the manufacturing industry (Loof et al., 2002; Cheng et al., 2010). However, some researches indicate a negative link or no link at all (Capon et al., 1990; Chandler and Hanks, 1994; Subramanian and Nilakanta, 1996). There are limited analytical and empirical studies which examine the direct relationship between the innovation dimensions and various aspects of a firm's performance (Jin et al., 2004; Gunday et al., 2011; Hashi and Stojcic, 2010). It is apparent that much more conceptual and empirical work will be needed to examine the impact of overall innovation capability on firm performance dimensions (Loof et al., 2002; Sadikoglu and Zehir, 2010). Therefore, many authors (Evangelista and Vezzani, 2010; Gunday et al., 2011; Li et al., 2012) suggest future research in order to validate previous research findings.\n2. Theoretical background and conceptual foundation: 2.1. Innovation capability\n3. Research methodology: To test the above hypotheses, a questionnaire consisting of 40 questions was developed by the authors through a multi - step process. All measured variables of the questionnaire were adopted following a comprehensive literature review. The questionnaire was judged through structured interviews with eight professionals of manufacturing companies and finally it was pilot tested on 43 manufacturing companies in Greece, proving its appropriateness and achieving the content validity of the constructs. The results of the pilot survey show the same trends as the results of the final sample. All questions (37 items) of the seven factors/dimensions were measured on a seven point modified Likert scale (1=very low to 7=very high). The measurement items used in the survey are listed in the Appendix.\n4. Data analysis and results: 4.1. Construct validity of innovation dimensions\n5. Discussion: The majority of the companies participating in the present study are small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs), given that 77 per cent employ <100 employees, and 9 per cent employ more than 100 and <250 employees. In fact, Greek manufacturing companies in general are SMEs (Panigyrakis et al., 2009). It is worth noting that in Greece, many companies, irrespective of sector, are family-owned companies (Psomas et al., 2011). So, their small-medium size, based on the number of employees, is partly justified.\n6. Conclusion: In this study, a theoretical model has been developed that focuses on the Greek manufacturing sector. All the scales have been tested through rigorous statistical methodologies including the pilot test method, EFA, CFA, construct reliability and validation of the second-order factor model. Four distinct innovation dimensions have been identified on the basis of overall innovation of manufacturing firms. Two of these innovation dimensions are characterized by pure process and product oriented innovation activities; a third is based on the introduction of organizational innovations and a fourth one is characterized by marketing changes. This approach to the variety of innovation dimensions is sufficient to depict the different firms' innovation strategies within the manufacturing sector.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide additional evidence of the impact of innovation on three dimensions of a firm's performance, namely product quality, operational performance and financial performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis includes an initial exploratory factor analysis, followed by confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling, in order to investigate the relations between the constructs of the proposed model. A sample of 233 Greek manufacturing firms is used for this purpose.\nFindings: According to the study findings, \"innovation capability\" directly contributes to product quality and operational performance. Although it has no direct impact on manufacturing firms' financial performance, it has an indirect impact through the moderator of operational performance. Thus, innovation is an opportunity for a manufacturing firm to improve its performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample of the responding manufacturing companies is limited to small and medium-sized enterprises from one country (Greece). In addition, manufacturing firms from different sectors have different resources, capabilities and performance.\nPractical implications: The study offers clear implications for managers who should put additional emphasis on innovation as it is an important element for achieving improved overall firm performance and sustainable competitive power.\nOriginality/value: Based on the multi-dimensional structure of innovation, this empirical study determines the contribution of \"innovation capability\" to specific performance dimensions of manufacturing companies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Terrorism and female teacher leadership in girls' secondary school	[ "Educational policy", "Female teacher leadership", "Girls education", "Terrorism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Global progress on female education are indicators of human development for the most are monitored by UN agencies as the United Nations Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) and other UN affiliates. Indeed, current \"Out-of-school\" data of adolescents in lower secondary school age in Sub-Sahara Africa revealed 12 million girls from West and Central Africa as the only regions in the world where the numbers increased from 11 million to nearly 13 million since 2000 (UNESCO, 2015, p. 6). When compared to global northern nations, the progress of developing nations of Sub-Sahara Africa' is significantly low, thereby questioning why and how are Sub-Saharan countries \"left behind\" in female/girls' education, despite UN Ouagadougou Declaration on girls' education, financial support from global agencies as World Bank among others (UNESCO, 2015). Hypothetical facts have been generated on the setbacks of girls' education in developing countries, particularly with the rise of Islamic terrorism. Nations as Pakistan, and Afghanistan in South Asia are most hit by the rise of the Taliban (Quraishi and Doran, 2014), and in West African nations of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, the Jama'atul ahl al-sunnah li da'awati wal jihad (JAS) or Boko Haram, currently designated as Islamic State of West Africa Province (Withnall, 2015; Muir, 2015). Boko Haram is considered the deadliest organisation in the world, considering the statistics and frequency of people killed by the group, which surpasses that of ISIS in Syria (Delman, 2015). Global terrorism analysts conclude that Boko Haram is more violent against women and girls than ISIS or any terrorist organisation in the world by using girls of all ages as suicide bombers (Faul and Umar, 2016; Delman, 2015; Osborne, 2016; Searcey, 2016), making their lives worthless. Boko Haram's opposition on female/girls' education is a violation of the girls' fundamental human rights on education (Ogoloma and Sampson, 2015).\n2. Rationale of kidnapping school girls by Boko Haram: There is a gap in the literature on why Boko Haram kidnapped the Chibok school girls in north eastern Nigeria, partly due to the timing, and limited published research reports on the phenomenon.\n3. TLL and the kidnapping of the Chibok School Girls: Teachers and principals are often held accountable in performing their duties and responsibilities as service providers and civil servants. As part of teaching duties and obligations, teachers are required to implement the hidden curriculum of caring for students within the school compound (Parkay et al., 2012). These expectations of teachers in the performance of their duties can best be associated with part of moral leadership in schools (Sergiovanni, 2005).\n4. Research procedures: Prior to this report, a qualitative research orientation was undertaken. Denzin and Lincoln (2005) stated, \"Qualitative researcher's study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of or to interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them\" (p. 3). In addition, an ethnographic-narrative design was adopted, with the aim of examining what is happening in a particular setting, together with the participants' perspectives of these events (LeCompte and Preissle, 1993). Furthermore, Creswell (2015) added on the vantages of using the design, \"Ethnography allows the participants to narrate their stories or lived experiences\" (p. 521). The applications of ethnographic design in educational settings are inclusive of classrooms, informal and formal educational settings (Church, n.d). A narrative deign was also adopted for the qualitative study, narrative research \"are produced and performed in accordance with socially shared conventions, they are embedded in social encounters- they are part and parcel of everyday work of participants; they examine ways in which social organizations and institutions are constituted; and they express authority and expertise of the researched and the researcher\" (Atkinson and Delamont, 2006, p. 21). To enable an understanding of how teachers \"express their authority and expertise\" in time of crisis, the design was adopted so as to listen to participants' \"personal narratives\" of their experiences. On the advantages of narrative designs in education, Creswell (2015) added, \"[...] it allows the researcher(s) a theoretical lens or structure for advocating for groups or individuals [...], the narrative researcher provides a voice for seldom heard individuals in educational research\" (p. 515). The justification of using the aforementioned research designs was not only due to the advantages on the participants to express themselves and tell their stories (Bogdan and Biklen, 2003), but due to the designs' reachability, time flexibility and, above all, the ability to bring the researcher and the researched closer (Woolcot, 2009).\n5. Findings and discussion: Major findings illustrate how participants' understanding of teacher leadership roles and practices were informed by both professional expectation and personal traditional values of their roles and duties, which guided their leadership practices. Major themes include a symbiotic relationship between female teacher's moral leadership and the application of law of tort in schools; teachers' use of spiritual leadership in dealing with girls' emotions and trauma; teachers' application of moral decision making for girls' safety and learning motivation; and effective community school collaboration for school safety and security of the girls.\n6. Educational policy options: Girls' educational policies across countries experiencing terrorism can only be effective if \"girl friendly\" implementation initiatives are undertaken. The former Prime Minister of Britain, and UN Special Envoy on Global Education, Mr Gordon Brown, reiterated that girls' education in the face of terror requires and educational emergency on girls' safety, access, participation and completion of their education in south countries (Tickle, 2015). The interpretation of educational emergencies means a focus on policy innovations that will work ahead of terrorists as Boko Haram. The paper suggests innovative educational policy practices for girls' schools and stake holders in the mist of terrorism attack by Boko Haram, and other terrorist groups around the world.\n7. Conclusion: The paper explored female teacher leadership in the context of terrorism in a girls' school in north eastern Nigeria. A synopsis of Boko Haram's philosophy of education on female schooling was explored. The paper briefly elucidated the implication of educational laws of TLL of negligence of teachers and school administrators on the kidnapping of Chibok school girls, by relying on documented opinion of the kidnapped girls' parents and community members in media interviews. Research preambles on qualitative research methods, and ethnographic-narrative designs were presented. The data collection process derived from structured interview, FG interviews and participant observation were explained, while process of data analysis through the HAD technique, and computer assisted analysis of Nvivo for coding and theme generation were explained. Major findings and discussions were highlighted and substantiated with select literature, as well as excerpts of the participant's interview and observational data to provide them a voice in the paper. The paper summated with educational policy options or initiatives which particularly addressed the school safety of the girls and their teachers in areas of school structures, teachers and girls training on safety in times of emergency attack, facilitate community/parent-schools collaboration initiative by state security provision of regular school inspection of school plant, and teachers job appraisal for motivation amongst others.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore female teachers and vice principal's leadership on girls attendance and learning, safety and security issues in rural girls' schools experiencing Boko Haram insurgencies. The secondary purpose is to recommend innovative educational policy initiatives at the school, community and state levels, so as to ameliorate girls and teachers' challenges, and to sustain girls in schools.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Qualitative educational research orientation and an ethnographic-narrative research design were used for the study. Purposeful sampling procedure was adopted through the selection of female teachers and a vice principal. Soft qualitative oral data (SQOD) were collected from structured interviews and focus groups and participant observation data. Data analysis engaged hand data analysis (HAD) for transcription, while the coding and theming process involved qualitative computer software data analysis (CSDA) of NVivo 8.0. The measures of validity involved the qualitative process of member checking, while ethical issues of anonymity with participants were addressed in the process of data collection, and reporting.\nFindings: Major findings revealed a symbiotic relationship between female teacher's moral leadership and the application of law of tort in the girls' school; teachers' adopted spiritual leadership and moral decision making process on girls' safety, and learning motivation; and improved school community collaboration for security and safety of the girls and effective communication.\nPractical implications: Educational policy options are prescribed. They include the training of teachers and girls on fire safety and conflict crisis; recruitment of female school counsellors; housing incentives for female teachers; support grassroot initiatives on school security; and sustaining school-community/parents involvement.\nOriginality/value: Boko Haram's impact on teacher and school leadership in girls' school(s) has not been studied so far. The paper is the first, thereby filling the gap of the literature on girls' rural education and terrorism.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implementation of alternative transport networks in university campuses: The case of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece	[ "Alternative transport", "University campus", "Commuting", "Modal split", "Good practice", "Transportation", "Universities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Since the late 19th century a strong interaction has been established between urban development and the evolution of mechanized transport. In the pre-industrialization cities of high population density and mixed land uses, daily commuting depended on walking. During the industrialization era, the rapid increase of urban population was followed by a corresponding increase in transport demand while urban development was led by the development of the public transport network (Newman and Kenworthy, 1999). After Second World War, the intensification of urban activity favored the development of a car-dependent urban transport system (Rodrigue et al., 2006). During the first period of the automobile dominance, the effectiveness and flexibility of the private car increased trip distances, affected travel choices (Dieleman et al., 2002) and boosted urban sprawl (Salas-Olmedo, 2008). However, as traffic volumes constantly increased, the main problem of the car-dependent urban transport network emerged: the congestion of the road network and its negative impacts on mobility conditions, quality of life and the environment.The transport problem of European cities was highlighted in the first White Paper on transport (Commission of the European Communities, 1992). In the following decade, the concept of sustainable urban transport became a principle of the European Union's transport policy (Commission of the European Communities, 2001). In this context, the Green Paper on urban mobility (Commission of the European Communities, 2007) suggests that, despite the differentiations among European cities, the problems of the urban transport system are similar and can be faced through a common approach. A main priority of this approach is the promotion of transport modes that were supplanted over the years by the rapid expansion of private car use, such as walking and cycling (Commission of the European Communities, 2011). In order to achieve this goal, an ongoing effort is required in the fields of the urban transport policy, planning and implementation, the design and management of infrastructure and services, the promotion of research initiatives and innovation and also the shifting of the urban culture towards the use of alternative transport modes (European Conference of Ministers of Transport, 2004).At the international level, a great differentiation is presented among cities concerning the introduction of alternative modes in the urban transport system due to various factors, such as the historical development of specific urban characteristics and socio-economic attributes (including travel culture) and the integration of the strategic priorities of urban planning with the sustainable policy framework (Gaffron, 2005). During the last two decades the implementation of appropriate policies and measures in central European countries, such as The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, led to cycling levels almost ten times higher than these of the UK and the USA (Pucher and Buehler, 2008). However, significant initiatives for the promotion of alternative urban transport systems have recently been launched in several cities of the UK, Northern America and other countries of the world (Gaffron, 2005). Among the implemented policies towards the promotion of alternative transportation, the following policies can be recognized as the most successful (Pucher and Dijkstra, 2000; Pucher and Buehler, 2008):* improvement of transport facilities;* integration with public transport;* traffic calming of residential areas;* urban design oriented towards people and not cars;* restriction of motorised vehicle use;* traffic regulation and enforcement; and* traffic education and travel culture in general.Furthermore, according to Dickinson et al. (2003), the promotion of walking and cycling is recommended especially for medium sized urban areas of mixed land use. More specific, journeys of 1.5 kilometers are considered appropriate for pedestrian commuting while there is cycling potential for commuting trips up to 8 kilometers. Trips of less than 5 kilometers are within cycling distance for most people.As part of the wider urban structure, Universities have a key role in the shaping of urban travel patterns and the promotion of alternative transport solutions because:* Development of university activities is related to the increase of mobility needs within the campus and the generation of traffic flows in the urban transport network. Thus, the conditions of accessibility and mobility in a university campus affect not only the function of the university but also the operability of the urban transport network.* An academic institution is considered a landmark of the city that encompasses it. The benefits from a sustainable and environmentally friendly transport network in a university campus are reflected upon the image of the whole city.* In many cases the academic institutions have the necessary scientific resources and administrative support to promote research and planning activities towards a sustainable transport system (Millard-Ball et al., 2004).* University campuses have clearly defined geographic boundaries, separated zones of activity (e.g. faculties, laboratories, restaurants, gymnasium, etc.) and specific points of access to the urban transport network. Thus, planning for cycling and pedestrian campus networks can be facilitated.* Research shows the age group of university students is characterized by relatively low car ownership and use and more flexible attitude towards adapting alternative travel habits (Dargay et al., 2003; Pitsiava et al., 2011; Prskawetz et al., 2002).The current paper examines the good practices for implementing cycling and walking networks in European University campuses in an attempt to identify an integrated activity framework compatible to the European approach. Furthermore, it presents the results of a study based on a questionnaire survey for the assessment of modal split for trips towards and from the campus and the current mobility and accessibility conditions for pedestrians and cyclists in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) campus. Taking into account the above, the paper presents a plan for the implementation of an alternative transport network in the AUTh campus. This work is based on the research initiatives of the University's Sustainable Mobility Committee, which was founded in order to promote sustainable solutions for the campus's transport system.\n2 Development of an integrated framework for the implementation of alternative transport networks in university campuses: The ongoing effort of promoting alternative transport modes as a sustainable solution to the urban transport problem finds a prosperous terrain in the university campuses worldwide. In Europe, it is a common practice for Universities to conduct regular travel plans in order to evaluate the campus transport system and set future objectives. Another interesting initiative that provides information about alternative transport interventions in campuses comprises the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN), an international forum with the participation of some of the largest academic institutions in Europe and the world for the exchange of experience in sustainable campus operations.2.1 Overview of good practices in academic institutions of Europe\n3 The case of the AUTh campus: The above proposed framework can function as guidance for the planning and implementation of an alternative transport network in the campus of the AUTh. The AUTh is one of the largest academic institutions in Greece. The university was founded in 1926 and nowadays comprises one of the largest academic institutions in Greece with 15 faculties and over 35 departments (AUTh web site: www.auth.gr (accessed 22 September 2011). The majority of these departments and other facilities (such as administrative authorities and libraries) are located within the campus.Over the years, the ongoing growth of activity concentrated in the AUTh campus combined with the increase of traffic in the Thessaloniki city resulted at the gradual undermining of the level of service of the campus's transport network. Recently, a cooperative initiative has been launched by the university in order to cope with the problem and promote sustainable solutions for the campus. Towards this purpose, in the current paper it is proposed the development of a complementary network of alternative modes (i.e. pedestrian and bicycle) based on the campus's transport features and the overview of European experience. Furthermore, it is discussed the appropriate interventions and measures for the promotion of walking and cycling for campus-related trips in order to contribute to the alleviation of traffic congestion in the Thessaloniki city centre and upgrade the overall quality of life in the campus.3.1 Mobility characteristics of the AUTh campus\n4 Conclusive remarks: The review of mobility plans in European Universities can provide a wide inventory of good practices for the promotion of energy-saving and cost-effective transport solutions, such as walking and cycling, in order to service commuting towards and inside the university campuses. These practices are aligned with the European policies for the reduction of private car dependency and the alleviation of environmental pressures, while they contribute to the upgrade of the quality of life within the campus with overall positive effects on the urban environment. The most common practices refer to the enhancement of infrastructure and services, the participation in research initiatives, the organization of promotion activities and the long-term efforts to change the urban travel behavior. Thus, the European experience can be the basis for the implementation a sustainable alternative transport network in a university campus. Moreover, it is considered essential to enhance networking between European academic institutions for the exchange of their experience and the set of common goals for their transport systems.However, the successful implementation of alternative transport solutions presupposes the careful consideration of the specific features of the examined campus and the corresponding urban transport network. The monitoring of the changes in mobility and related impacts at a regular basis can be used to identify the specific features and support decision making for potential interventions. Furthermore, the priorities of the wider urban transport system must be taken into account through cooperation and networking with the local transport authorities. Finally, a crucial point is the convergence of European transport policies with the university mobility objectives and the objectives of the local transport system. Towards this direction, the development of an integrated sustainable policy framework comprises a major priority for every academic institution.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - In order to alleviate the impacts of traffic congestion that undermine the mobility and accessibility conditions of the Aristotle University campus, the paper aims at the presentation and description of a complementary network of alternative modes (i.e. pedestrian and bicycle) and the discussion of the appropriate measures for its successful implementation in the campus.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodological approach of the paper is twofold: the overview of good practices for implementing cycling and pedestrian networks in European university campuses in an attempt to identify an integrated activity framework compatible to the European approach; and a questionnaire survey for the assessment of the modal split for trips towards and from the campus and the current mobility and accessibility conditions for pedestrians and cyclists in the Aristotle University campus.\nFindings: - The successful implementation of alternative transport networks in university campuses depends on the specific features of each campus in relation to the urban transport network and the commuting characteristics of staff and students. In the case of the Aristotle University campus, the modal split shows that 2/3 of campus-related trips are conducted by motorised transport while the share of bicycle use is very low. In order to promote cycling and walking in the campus, a combined approach must be adopted based on five fields of activity: policy; research; design; support and promotion; and monitoring.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper derives from the research initiatives of the Aristotle University's Sustainable Mobility Committee, which was founded in order to promote sustainable solutions for the campus's transport system.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides a common and integrated activity framework for the implementation of an alternative transport network in a university campus based on the extensive overview of European experience. Furthermore, it develops for the first time a full proposal for the implementation of a pedestrian and bicycle network in the Aristotle University campus, which is one of the oldest and largest campuses in Greece.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The beauty and the beast of consumption: a review of the consequences of consumption	[ "Environment", "Sustainable marketing", "Alternative consumption", "Impact of consumption", "Review of consumption" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumption is an integral part of our life. Human beings seem to work hard to earn money and then spend it on consuming goods. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics 2016 report, average expenditures per consumer in 2015 were US$55,978; this average has increased steadily from 2011 to 2015. Interestingly, consumption levels continue to increase despite rising calls for mindful/sustainable consumer behaviors (Willis and Schor, 2012). Given its prevalence and importance, consumption has been the center of extensive research within a field of research - consumer research - devoted to studying consumption-related behavior. Although many researchers in the field have studied various stimulants for consumers to purchase and the process of consumption (Wilk, 2002), fewer researchers have examined the consequences of consumption.\nWhat is consumption?: Consumption involves the search for, choice, acquisition, possession and disposal of goods and services (Hogg and Michell, 1996, p. 629). In relation to its impact, consumption is defined as \"the process in which the substance of a thing is completely destroyed, used up or incorporated or transformed into something else\" (businessdictionary.com). In this definition, \"destruction\" and \"using up\" imply a negative connotation to consumption, whereas \"incorporation\" and \"transformation\" reflect a more optimistic perspective. Csikszentmihalyi (2000, p. 267) states that \"consuming consists of energy expended to improve the quality of life by means of increasing entropy.\" This latter definition also includes positive (improve the quality) and negative (increasing entropy) connotations. It is worth noting that, with the advance of the internet, consumers have expanded the boundaries of their consumption to include digital products that offer almost cost-free duplication rather than the destruction of the product.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to answer the following question: What can researchers learn from consumer research that can inform them about the consequences of consumption?\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper follows guidelines for a summarization conceptual model. First, the paper offers a review of consumption theories and research studies on a variety of consumption-related constructs. Then, a bird's-eye view is taken to critically synthesize the findings.\nFindings: The consequences of consumption can be summarized along a framework reflecting the positive and negative effects of consumption on oneself, one's relationships, one's society and the Earth. Knowledge gaps in previous research are identified, and a set of propositions is provided to enrich the understanding of the consequences of consumption.\nResearch limitations/implications: The bird's-eye view of the studies addressing the impacts of consumption identified gaps of knowledge in this area; these gaps constitute valuable topics for future researchers to study. The findings of the paper stress the need for studying the boundaries of different consumption effects. The review emphasizes the complex intermingling between consumer motives (antecedents) to behave in certain ways and the impacts (consequences) of such behaviors. The major limitation to this research stems from the immensity of the task involved.\nPractical implications: This paper informs public policymakers on how to create realistic regulations that take into consideration the complexity of consumption. It calls on governments to provide an infrastructure that facilitates experiential consumption and to educate consumers, through the media and the public schools, to consume responsibly.\nOriginality/value: Whereas previous researchers have focused on a particular consumption practice while studying the consequences of consumption, this paper provides a comprehensive review that includes an array of practices. This paper synthesizes previous research findings through presenting a framework delineating the effects of consumption and identifying knowledge gaps in this research domain. The paper also provides a set of propositions that can guide future research on the topic.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
ERP innovation implementation model incorporating change management	[ "Change management", "Manufacturing resource planning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Many large organisations have made significant investments of both time and capital to implement ERP systems, however not all implementations go as well as intended (Bingi et al., 1999; Kumar and van Hillegersberg, 2000). Owing to the complex nature of ERP systems, many implementations have been difficult, lengthy and over budget, terminated before completion, and/or failed to achieve their business objectives even a year after implementation (Volkoff, 1999). ERP systems are organisation-wide systems and their implementation involves multiple stakeholders, often in geographically disperse locations. Therefore, an ERP system requires data standardisation, integration of the system with other information systems and management of consultants and vendors (Soh et al., 2000). Traditional project management challenges are magnified in such environments, making the implementation more difficult, expensive and failure-prone (Holland and Light, 1999). This complexity suggests that results obtained in other simpler technology implementation environments do not automatically apply to ERP environments (Markus et al., 2000). The significance of a new ERP system and the inherent risks in implementing such a system make it essential that organisations focus on ways to improve ERP implementations.Al-Mudimigh et al. (2001) suggest that, the five key critical success factors are top management support, business case, change management, project management and training. Change management is a particularly important factor in the adoption, adaptation and acceptance phases of ERP systems implementation (Somers and Nelson, 2004). Somers and Nelson (2004) reinforces the key role change management has in an ERP implementation by observing that many ERP implementations fail to achieve the expected benefits possibly because companies underestimate the effort involved in change management.This paper proposes an extended innovation implementation model that explicitly incorporates the impact of change management. As a first step in the longer-term empirical validation of the modified innovation implementation model, we examine the applicability of the model to describe how change management during an ERP implementation affects the implementation climate and implementation effectiveness in a major Australian Organisation.\nLiterature review: ERP systems are an example of an innovation - a \"idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption\" (Rogers, 1995). Implementation of an innovation is described as \"the process of gaining targeted employees' appropriate and committed use of an innovation\" (Klein and Sorra, 1996). When introducing an innovation such as an ERP system to an organisation, the implementation process needs to be managed so that the expected benefits are achieved. Users require ongoing support from the organisation such as training, maintenance and equipment upgrades in order to achieve implementation effectiveness. It has been suggested that many new systems fail due to implementation failure, rather than innovation failure (Klein et al., 2001). The factors leading to implementation effectiveness can be described using the model proposed by Klein et al. (2001), Figure 1. Change management is not explicitly included in this model, although its effect would be expected to influence implementation climate.For an ERP system, change management is required to prepare users for the introduction of the new system, reduce resistance towards the system and influence user attitudes towards that system. Approaches to managing change can be drawn from marketing research, and from studying the implementation life cycle (Aladwani, 2001). The ERP adoption model (Aladwani, 2001) suggests that change management and management support should positively influence system awareness, feelings towards the system and the intention to adopt that system for users to actually adopt the system.Change management initiatives for a new information system should focus on changes specifically in the areas of technology, business process and organisation, and culture (Benjamin and Levinson, 1993). There is a strong focus in the literature on culture and politics as significant impediments to change (El Sawy, 1985). Therefore, change management should focus on creating an environment where the change can be implemented (Motwani et al., 2002). Suggested activities include:* project championship (Beath, 1991; Martinsons, 1993);* training (Igbaria et al., 1997);* communication of system features and benefits (Debrabander and Thiers, 1984; Markus, 1983);* communication of new business processes and organisational structure (Grover et al., 1995; Joshi, 1991); and* rewards and incentives (Allen and Kilmann, 2001; Joshi, 1991).\nResearch model: The Klein et al. (2001) innovation implementation model, Figure 1, does not explicitly consider the impact that change management has on implementation climate. A climate favourable to the implementation of a new system represents favourable user experiences and attitudes towards the implementation. Therefore, by managing the change that occurs during the implementation at an individual or departmental level, user attitudes towards the system are more likely to be positive and the overall implementation climate is more likely to be favourable. The construct of \"change management\" has been added to the innovation implementation model to represent the effect that change management can have on implementation climate. The modified model is shown in Figure 2.The implementation climate for an innovation can be described as the sum of employees' observations and experiences regarding the innovation. The Aladwani ERP adoption model describes the situation where users' awareness, feelings and intention to adopt an ERP system are affected by change management and management support. User awareness, feelings and intention to adopt an ERP system are equivalent to the experiences and observations of users during an ERP implementation (ie. implementation climate), therefore the Aladwani ERP adoption model can be considered as providing a greater level of detail regarding change management and implementation climate. Hence, it is possible to describe the \"dotted portion\" of the modified innovation implementation model shown in Figure 2 in greater detail to reflect the definitions of change management activities and climate in the ERP adoption model. The list of change management activities (from the ERP adoption model) has been updated to also include the additional information systems change management activities discussed previously.Through using this model, Figure 3, the impact of change management on implementation climate and innovation effectiveness can be investigated. Specifically, the research questions are:RQ1. Do the identified change management activities affect the implementation climate?RQ2. Does implementation climate (feelings awareness response, favourable feelings response and favourable adoption intention) impact the effectiveness of the ERP implementation?\nResearch methodology: As a first step in the longer-term empirical validation of the revised innovation implementation model, we examine the applicability of the revised model to describe how the change management activities during an ERP implementation affect the implementation climate and implementation effectiveness in a major Australian organisation using a structured-case based approach (Carroll and Swatman, 2000).Case study selection\nChange management: The change management team performed a number of tasks to diagnose, plan, deliver and evaluate the change management activities required for the ABC implementation.Implementation climate assessment\nDiscussion: Some change management activities suggested in the revised ERP innovation implementation model (Figure 3) were not considered by the change management team during the ABC implementation. These were quality of ERP interface, level of adoption cost, and rewards and incentives. In this case, a standard application was purchased with minimal customization thus largely removing the ability to customize the interface.The effectiveness of the implementation is discussed, from the perspective of the users of the ERP system. Analysis of effects of the change management on the implementation climate was completed through interviews with organisation staffs from two departments. The operations department was identified as an area that required little change management before the introduction of the ABC system, while the HR department required intensive change management to prepare for the release of the system.Effect of change management on implementation climate\nConclusions: This study identified the major activities used in an ERP implementation through a case study of the ABC program in the case study organisation. It has shown that change management is an important factor in an ERP implementation. The implementation of the ABC system followed the research model shown in Figure 3. The change management activities affected the implementation climate. In turn, the implementation climate affected the effectiveness of the implementation.The change management activities had the required effect on the climate for implementation. The activities implemented assisted in informing users about the system, and enabling the provision of skills required when the system was implemented. There were noticeable differences between users who had participated in change management activities either through optional involvement or the provision of extra change management activities in some departments and those who did not participate.Some aspects of the change management program could have been better managed. Managers tended to publicly support the implementation of the ABC system, but privately believed that the system would not be of much benefit. A theme often discussed in interviews was the fact that often users did not understand why the organisation had undertaken the ABC implementation and did not believe that it was necessary. Many wondered why a system that cost so much was being implemented when it was not providing any greater functionality, and at times was less efficient than legacy systems. This suggests that managers should be informed of the motivation for implementing the ERP system, rather than just being informed of benefits and be expected to advocate the system within their departments. It also suggests that the change management activity, \"level of adoption cost\" should be specifically addressed as part of the change management process.There are indications that the users' expectations for the system were different to the actual features of the implemented system. Some users gave a very low score for the survey question relating to whether the features of the system were as expected. This indicates that although users were aware of the system and its benefits, the actual system did not have the features expected by users. This could be a result of the change management team overstating the benefits, or not explaining them clearly, or the users misunderstanding what they were being told.This suggests that communications about the system must be very clear and match with what the system actually offers. The users were disappointed and resistance towards the system increased when it was different to what they expected. It would have been beneficial for more users to see the system for themselves prior to its release in order to accurately gauge the functionality offered. However, the ABC system may be different to other ERP implementations in that the change management team must also provide details on modules to be released in future phases. Users may expect to see a module in the next phase, when in reality it may not be implemented for a number of years. If the implementation is a phased implementation, care should be taken to accurately inform users of when each feature will be released.The implemented change management activities also affected different areas of the organisation in different ways. Each department within the organisation received a very different range of change management activities based on the identified needs, and it is evident that the range and types of change management received impact upon the effectiveness of the ERP implementation. When assessing the need for change management in each department, the change management team implemented activities that they believed would provide the best implementation climate for the most realistic amount of work. At the end of the change management process, the change management team expected that the implementation climate across the organisation would be similar. In reality, the implementation climate differed throughout the organisation. The general attitude to the system by those in the department that received less change management was less positive than for those who were the recipients of more targeted activities. This indicates that change management is required throughout an organisation implementing an ERP system, even if the changes in one particular area of the organisation are not particularly great.Despite the problems identified by users after the release of the system, the change management activities have been successful. Users who were sceptical when hearing about the project are now generally well equipped to use the system. This indicates that ERP implementations similar to the ABC system would benefit from similar types of change management activities.The effect of change management and management support on implementation climate are supported by the case study. In addition there is support for the impact of implementation climate on implementation effectiveness. However, there may be other factors that determine implementation effectiveness. Although users may be able to use the system as intended, they are not always able to use it well. Interviews with HR staff showed that some aspects of the system such as speed of the system and quality of interface design prevent the staff from using the system to its full potential. This suggests that more implementation climate is not the only factor in determining implementation effectiveness, and that features of the system itself do play a part in the success of an ERP implementation.Further research\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research is to develop and provide a preliminary validation of a model for how change management during an ERP implementation affects the effectiveness of that ERP implementation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper proposes a revised Klein et al. innovation implementation model that explicitly considers change management. The applicability of the revised model to describe the effect of change management on the implementation climate and implementation effectiveness of an ERP implementation is assessed using a case study at a large Australian multinational organisation.\nFindings: - Specific change management activities are identified and described. Qualitative verification of a proposed ERP innovation implementation model that incorporates the effect of change management is provided.\nOriginality/value: - Change management was seen as being an important factor in influencing the effectiveness of the ERP project. This study is the first step in the longer-term empirical validation of the modified innovation implementation model.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Interactive effects of external knowledge sources and internal resources on the innovation capability of Chinese manufacturers	[ "China", "Innovation capability", "Absorptive capacity", "Moderation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Innovation capability is the ability to create new ideas, new product development, or improvements in processes and it is essential to firms' survival nowadays, especially in emerging markets such as China, which is now faced with a more dynamic and intensively competitive global environment than ever before. Chinese firms were operating within a closed economic environment before the \"opening up\" in the late 1970s, but it has only been in the late 1990s that Chinese firms have started to recognize the importance of innovation capability. The Chinese government has been emphasizing the development of innovation capability since its ninth five-year plan (from 1996 to 2000), and the 12th five-year plan (from 2010 to 2015) relies on the development of innovation capability to upgrade the economy from an export-driven to a domestic demand-driven economy. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China's spending on research and development (R&D) has risen from 1.25 percent of GDP in 2004 to 1.75 percent in 2010 and to 2.09 percent in 2014, more impressive if considering the fact that GDP itself increased dramatically during that period. The manufacturing firms, research institutes, and other research resources, including scientists and engineers, are all encouraged to increase R&D expenditure on internal resources and form R&D collaborations with external parties. Motivated by the national plans, Chinese large- and medium-sized enterprises are increasing their R&D expenditure, which accounts for around 60 percent of the overall R&D expenditure in China (Orr, 2011). The Chinese government also provides funding and policy support to Chinese firms developing innovation capabilities through R&D collaborations and using external experts. Although there are strong motivations and obvious achievements, there remain questions on the effectiveness and efficiency of resource allocation, given the large amount of R&D expenditure, and on how Chinese firms could quickly build up innovation capability based on both internal resources and external knowledge sources.\n2. Theory and hypotheses: 2.1 Theoretical background and research model\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample and data source\n4. Results: 4.1 Descriptive statistics and correlations\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Theoretical contributions\n6. Conclusions: This study investigates the mechanism by which Chinese manufacturers build up innovation capability by absorbing absorbing external resources and knowledge to catalyze internal resources. Absorptive capacity - the ability to value, assimilate, and utilize external knowledge - positively moderates the effects of firms' internal resources on their innovation capability.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Chinese firms were operating within a closed economic environment before the \"opening up\" in the late 1970s, but it has only been in the late 1990s that China has recognized the importance of innovation. The Chinese government has attempted to rectify this liability by providing funding to assist Chinese firms in developing innovation capability by increasing R&D collaborations and employing external experts. The purpose of this paper is to study the innovation of Chinese firms by examining how internal and external resources interactively impact the innovation capability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Panel data collected from Chinese manufacturers are used to test the hypothesized relationships.\nFindings: The results have shown that the interplay between internal and external resources exhibits differential patterns of impact on innovation capability. The authors discover different moderating patterns of the two types of external resources: visiting experts are helpful in enhancing the effects of internal human resources, while R&D collaborations are useful in exploiting internal financial and physical resources, even when the main effect of financial resources on innovation capability is not significant.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidences on the roles of absorbed external resources and knowledge to catalyze internal resources in building up innovation capability in an emerging economy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An innovative citation recommendation model for draft papers with varying degrees of information completeness	[ "Incompleteness", "Text mining", "Citation", "Recommendation system", "Draft paper", "WordNet" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Human culture has emerged through the accumulation and inheritance of knowledge. Academic works have been based on the vast amount of knowledge that has been built over many millennia. Since humans first began to research, numerous academic articles have been written. In the information boom era, the number of such articles has grown even more rapidly, and researchers are faced with an unprecedented increase in human knowledge. This large volume of articles has made it difficult for researchers to write research papers, particularly because of the difficulty in finding the most relevant articles. That is to say, this issue is often confronted especially in the writing of draft papers. As writing a draft paper (defined it as the content consisting of structure, paragraph, and sentence is incomplete), researchers have to handle arduous tasks about which references (papers) should be cited for one sentence or paragraph of this draft paper. Recommending suitable papers for citation in a right place can not only support researchers in saving their investigating time but show their professional in their own field. Unfortunately, the Big Data source presents the characteristics of high volume and complicated variety so that researchers cannot easily find the most relevant papers for their drafts.\n2. Literature review: Recommender system is an information filtering mechanism that can reduce the additional costs expended by users when searching for information. Traditionally, there are three major methodological approaches for recommendation, namely, content-based, collaborative-based (Huang et al., 2012) and hybrid-based (Lu et al., 2011) approaches. According to user preferences, interests, behavior or needs, such systems recommend information, services or products that potentially satisfy user needs. In the past, recommendation techniques have been used in a wide variety of applications to improve searching effectiveness. Examples include books (Wu et al., 2017), personized item (Lai and Zeng, 2013), keywords (Su et al., 2010), annotation (Chen and Tsay, 2017), and so on. Among so many, citation recommendation is also a typical application of recommender systems.\n3. The proposed draft-to-article recommendation algorithm: In the study, target draft (TG) is comprised the following two types of information:\n4. The experiment: 4.1 Data collection\n5. Conclusion and implications: The contributions of this study are twofold. In practical terms, the proposed citation recommendation algorithms enable researchers to cite relevant references for all available sentences or paragraphs in drafts. In academic terms, the proposed algorithms demonstrate how various factors can be considered to calculate the similarity between articles and drafts in their contexts. The research limitation of this study is that the same data set as the training and testing data to set better weights is employed. Therefore, the proposed methods can only be used for the future data set after readjusting weights using part of the future data set. The findings of this study are summarized as follows:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: As researchers are writing a draft paper with incomplete structure or text, one of burdensome tasks is to deliberate about which references should be cited for one sentence or paragraph of this draft. In view of the rapid increase in the number of research papers, researchers desire to figure out a better way to do citation recommendations in developing their draft papers. The purpose of this paper is to propose citation recommendation algorithms that enable the acquisition of relevant citations for research papers that are still at the drafting stage. This study attempts to help researchers to select appropriate references among the vast amount of available papers and make draft papers complete in reference citation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study adopts a model for recommending citations for incomplete drafts. Four algorithms are proposed in this study. The first and second algorithms are unsupervised models, applying term frequency-inverse document frequency and WordNet technologies, respectively. The third and fourth algorithms are based on the second algorithm to integrate different weight adjustment strategies to improve performance.\nFindings: The proposed recommendation method adopts three techniques, including using WordNet to transform vector and setting adjustment weights according to structural factors and the information completeness degree, to generate citation recommendation for incomplete drafts. The experiments show that all these three techniques can significantly improve the recommendation accuracy.\nOriginality/value: None of the methods employed in previous studies can recommend articles as references for incomplete drafts. This paper addresses the situation that a draft paper can be incomplete either in structure or text or both. Recommended references, however, can be still generated and inserted into any desired sentence of the draft paper.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Living with the New Nordic Diet	[ "Qualitative methods", "Dietary appropriation", "Dietary compliance", "Eating practices", "New Nordic Diet" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Within Europe, interest in the idea that a regional cuisine can promote healthy, sustainable and local food consumption has mainly focused upon the benefits of the \"Mediterranean diet\" (Bere and Brug, 2009; Serra-Majem et al., 2011). However, within the Nordic region, New Nordic Cuisine is now conceived as having similar benefits, drawing its culinary qualities from the terroir of this region (Meyer, 2012; Nordic Council of Ministers, 2012). Inspired by this gastronomic innovation, a template for the design of a healthy, regional and sustainable \"New Nordic Diet\" (NND) - envisaged as a diet that could become popular and widespread - was presented (Bere and Brug, 2009). The Danish Research Centre OPUS[1] has developed this NND with the objective of improving public health (OPUS, 2012a). The NND is designed in accordance with the gastronomic principles of New Nordic Cuisine (Meyer et al., 2010) and with Nordic dietary recommendations (Becker et al., 2004). It also appears to support food consumption that is sustainable and climate friendly (Mithril et al., 2012; Saxe et al., 2012).\n2. Methods and materials: Three methods of data collection were employed. Focus groups and observation studies, including informal interviews, were conducted among intervention participants, and semi-structured interviews were undertaken among dropouts. Data were collected by the first-author (A.M.), who conducted two focus groups among NDD and two focus groups among ADD participants (n=28). Only persons who had participated in this intervention for at least 30 days were recruited to focus groups, and their anonymity was assured. Those in food-related occupations were excluded. Quota sampling was employed in order to maximize variation within each focus group in regard to gender, age, house-hold composition, level of education and place of residence. To ensure that these criteria were met, recruitment was undertaken by telephone interview using a semi-structured questionnaire.\n3. Results: Appropriating new shopping practices\n4. Discussion: Participants in this dietary intervention tended to be enthusiastic about the quality of these products and the taste of the NND. Although some had reservations about the sustainability of the diet, they generally viewed it as being healthy, satisfying and very tasty. Some had acquired a preference for the NND while others missed using common ingredients or longed for the flavour and smell of another favoured cuisine. More generally, it seems clear that particular dishes had been received with an enthusiasm that suggests they will remain a part of the household's repertoire after the intervention has ended. On this basis it would seem likely that new adherents would be attracted to the NND by its taste, if given an opportunity to try a dish or a recipe.\n5. Conclusion: Participants in this dietary intervention appropriated the NND by adopting new food practices regarding the procurement and preparation of Nordic foods, becoming co-producers of the NND in this process. Given the objective of making this diet widely available to Danish consumers, the results of this study suggest that while the taste of the NND is likely to appeal to wider groups, the tasks of appropriating new practices in the areas of food procurement and preparation are among the factors likely to constitute barriers to its more widespread adoption. The longer term objective of improving public health by this means is dependent upon whether future consumption of Nordic foods would in practice comply with Nordic dietary recommendations. Participants in this intervention learned compliance in a setting in which their food procurement was closely monitored. In order to assess the impact of the NND on public health, further studies are needed regarding whether more widespread consumption of the NND would in practice comply with dietary recommendations, and whether such consumption would reflect a socio-economic bias that favours households with relatively greater resources of income or education.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Based on New Nordic Cuisine and Nordic dietary recommendations, the research centre OPUS has developed a healthy, sustainable and tasty New Nordic Diet (NND) with the goal of improving public health in Denmark. In order to determine the health potential of the NND, a six-month, controlled dietary intervention trial was conducted, in which participants procured NND foods at a specially designed intervention supermarket and prepared and consumed NND meals in their homes. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative sociological study was conducted among intervention participants in order to explore whether and how they appropriated this diet into their everyday food practices.\nFindings: Participants appropriated the NND by becoming co-producers of this diet, tailoring it to accord with individual preferences and the demands of everyday life. Findings indicate that while the taste of the NND is likely to appeal to wider groups of consumers, the tasks of food procurement and preparation are likely to constitute barriers to its adoption. The strictly controlled intervention setting enabled participants to learn how to comply with dietary composition despite their deviations from given menu-plans and recipes. The extent to which such compliance would be achieved outside this context by other consumers is questioned. Further studies are needed to determine whether more widespread consumption of the NND would in practice comply with Nordic dietary recommendations.\nOriginality/value: The study provides insights relevant to health agencies, public health researchers and food companies regarding consumer appropriation of a dietary system, the health benefits of which are dependent upon dietary compliance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Seasonal employee leadership in the hospitality industry: a scale development	[ "Scale development", "Industry-specific leadership", "Needs and satisfaction", "Seasonal employee leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: An effective leadership style is needed to retain promising, engaged and able employees in the hotel industry (Chon and Zoltan, 2019; Ponting, 2020). Hence, the performance of seasonal staff, like that of their permanent colleagues in accomplishing guest satisfaction and loyalty, is a critical asset for the hospitality organization's success (Arasli and Arici, 2019; Lundberg et al., 2009). Because of this requirement, there is now growing interest in leadership studies in the hospitality context and its contribution to hotel performance by leading an efficient service delivery process (Bayighomog and Arasli, 2019; Karatepe et al., 2019; Rastogi et al., 2019). Concerning the seasonality and labor-intensity effects regarding the human skills-set, knowledge, abilities and experiences distinguish one hospitality organization from another with the single most important and powerful factor - competent human resources.\nTheoretical background: In the hospitality industry, one of the most important challenges is coping with its seasonal nature in gathering success and competitive advantage (Lundberg et al., 2009). Tourism organizations encounter a variety of difficulties pertaining to the seasonal employees' supervision in regard to the distinct needs and expectations they have in comparison with full-time staff members, and the need to establish details and an initial leadership framework for seasonal workers (Ainsworth and Purss, 2009).\nMethodology: The aim of the present research is to generate a new leadership scale - the SEL model - to evaluate seasonal employees' needs and expectations. To achieve this, a multi-stage procedure was applied. In the first step, SEL literature was examined. Second, construct validity of the scale was measured through a focus group including hotel general managers and academicians. Third, with the assistance of the literary works and via a focus group study, a scale determining SEL was created. In the fourth step, the scale was pre-examined upon a sample comprising students. Fifth, the scale was reviewed with the pre-test findings. In the sixth step, the final form of the scale was used within two rounds to get data from seasonal employees of five-star hotels in Antalya, Turkey. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was executed in the seventh step of the suggested procedures to clear up the standard measurements of the SEL scale. Last, these measurements were confirmed via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the second round of data.\nDiscussion: Motivating and keeping seasonal employees have become important challenges for leaders in the hospitality industry. With this realization, the present work develops and tests a novel valid scale, which measures the SEL model. Drawing on the data collected from seasonal hotel employees in Antalya, Turkey, the findings suggest that this measurement scale underlies four major dimensions - seasonal leader's qualities, core influence, operational influence and terminal influence - each of which is gauged by four items. The findings verified the use of a multi-stage procedure involving several steps, such as literature review, focus group observation, pre-test, EFA and CFA for quantitative scale development.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the model of seasonal employee leadership (SEL) in a service management process and to create a multi-dimensional scale to gauge this construct. This is because very recent qualitative research by Arasli and Arici (2019), which is the first stage of this scale, recommended a multi-dimensional SEL model for the hospitality industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Making use of data gathered from 1,343 seasonal hotel employees, the authors established a new scale to examine the SEL model. Two separate data sets were collected; the first set was used to perform an exploratory factor analysis, while the second set was processed to confirm the initial factor results using a confirmatory factor analysis.\nFindings: The results show that the measurement scale developed in this research provides considerable reliability, as well as convergent and discriminant validities. In particular, the findings confirmed a four-dimensional measurement scale of the SEL: seasonal leader's qualities, core influence, operational influence and terminal influence.\nOriginality/value: The paper is the first attempt to develop a new scale which measures the SEL approach in the hospitality literature. Therefore, this study contributes to the current literature through developing and testing the four-dimensional SEL scale and shedding light on the importance of an industry-specific leadership in managing seasonal hotel employees effectively.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Communities of practice as an initiative for knowledge sharing in business organisations: a literature review	[ "Information technology", "Knowledge sharing", "Communities of practice (CoPs)", "Knowledge management (KM)", "Knowledge management system (KMS)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The rapid growth of scientific and practical knowledge in all aspects of life and at all levels - individual, organisational and national - requires the promotion of existing knowledge to produce new knowledge and to bring that knowledge into action (Alavi and Leidner, 2001). Francis Bacon's words \"Knowledge itself is power\", later shortened to \"Knowledge is power\" (Brown, 1989, p. 3) has opened the door for researchers and businesses alike to investigate the role of knowledge in improving business performance and gaining a sustainable competitive advantage. There are two types of knowledge. One is explicit knowledge, which refers to articulated knowledge that can be expressed in words and numbers and can be transferred easily among humans. The other is tacit knowledge, which refers to skills, wisdom and personal experiences that are embodied in someone. This knowledge is hard to visualise, requires interaction and can be shared effectively only through informal learning processes (Nonaka and Krogh, 2009). In some ways, knowledge management (KM) is a means for the survival of a company in a new competitive business world (Awad and Ghaziri, 2007). Hence, managing knowledge assists organisations to consider their knowledge assets and learn how to leverage them usefully (Goh, 2002).\nLiterature review approach: Writing a literature review can be done in several ways. This paper follows the suggestions by Webster and Watson (2002), adopting the following steps to achieve a constructed approach to research of the sources for this review. First, leading journals are recommended as the first step in writing a literature review, as the major contributions in the field are likely to appear in the leading journals. Conference proceedings were also considered during the review. \"Google Scholar\" was the main search engine used. Keywords including \"knowledge sharing\", \"communities of practice\", \"knowledge management\" and \"organisational learning\" were used to identify relevant articles with respect to their titles, author supplied keywords and author supplied abstracts. Second, the citations in the articles identified in the first step were used to locate further sources relevant to the subject. Third, Web of Science was used to search the database of Social Sciences Citation Index for articles that cite the key articles identified in the previous steps. Following this, it was determined whether the articles were relevant enough for inclusion.\nKnowledge sharing: Knowledge sharing refers to the process that occurs at various levels including interpersonal, between individuals to groups, between groups or with entities across and beyond organisational boundaries (Alavi and Leidner, 2001).\nThe impact of information technology on knowledge sharing: Many companies have been investing heavily in KM technology as a tool for sharing explicit knowledge and coding this knowledge to store it in KMS documents (Hansen and von Oetinger, 2001). Walsham (2001) claims that KM should not abandon the use of computing systems (e.g. KMS). It is important to transfer explicit knowledge between individuals across the organisation and make knowledge available for everyone, including new employees who can go back to KMS to obtain information needed from experts. However, observations from recent studies about the feasibility of relying on technology to share tacit knowledge are notable. For example, Arling and Chun (2011) examined a KMS called AskMe. This is a social system that enables employees to share and create knowledge through interaction. The researchers examined the use of AskMe in increasing networking between scientists and engineers at PrattwhitneyRocketdyne. AskMe also aims to help engineers to find and contact knowledge experts, knowledge communities and share frequently asked questions. However, the researchers found that \"text-based technology\", though sophisticated, did not support the direct discussion of tacit-to-tacit knowledge. People prefer to get feedback and assistance through person-to-person sharing, rather than codification-based KMS. It is likely that, while technology is appropriate for sharing explicit knowledge, direct personal contact is more effective for sharing implicit knowledge and increasing the chance of creativity and innovation.\nCommunities of practice: historical background: The concept of CoPs has grown in influence within the social sciences and has become an area for empirical research and investigation since the early 1990s. The notion of CoPs was first adopted in educational settings as a social theory of learning (Lave and Wenger, 1991), and later by businesses as a KM approach (Wenger, 1998; Wenger et al., 2002; Wenger, 2004; Hughes et al., 2007). Orr (1990), in his ethnographic study at Xerox, explains how informal networks can improve the workplace and \"get the job done\". Brown and Duguid (1991) examined Orr's findings and investigated how people can improve learning and innovation, not only in conventional forms but also through informal CoPs. Moreover, Brown and Duguid's (1991) work was developed for business communities based on Lave and Wenger's (1991) practice based theory of learning. Brown and Duguid (1991) noticed that the work of researchers such as Orr, Leave and Wenger could not be separated from each other, in theory and in practice.\nThe role of knowledge sharing in communities of practice: Due to rapid developments and changes in the business world, knowledge and learning have become essential for organisations to understand the creation and transfer of knowledge through practice (Roberts, 2006). Notably, the existing literature in management studies, particularly that which discusses the improvement of knowledge sharing within organisations, suggests implementing CoPs as a tool for fostering the learning process (Ardichvili et al., 2003; Jeon et al., 2011; Zboralski, 2009). As mentioned earlier, KMS most often does not achieve KM strategy objectives. Murillo (2011) claims that KM initiatives have to consider intra-organisational informal networks, such as CoPs. Therefore, CoPs have become an influential tool to facilitate knowledge sharing in a wide range of organisational settings. The view is supported by Wenger (2004) who convincingly argues that CoPs are the cornerstone of KM and the place where people can interact and share knowledge effectively.\nCommunities of practice in business environments: There are many studies which discuss CoPs in different disciplines, such as higher education (Hodgkinson-Williams et al., 2008), health care (Li et al., 2009) and business research (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Roberts, 2006; Wenger, 2011). Businesses implement CoPs to link the employees between different organisations and across independent business units (Wenger et al., 2002). There is the suggestion that CoPs are for KM practices within organisations (Wenger et al., 2002; Ardichvili et al., 2003; Wenger 2004; Annabi et al., 2012, Jeon et al., 2011). However, CoPs should not be a part of the KM organisational structure but instead used as a context for a special type of organisational learning. A case study within a professional bureaucracy by Harvey et al. (2013) observed that CoPs may not always serve all types of organisations. They argue that CoPs should be seen as a social phenomenon rather than as an organisational learning tool. Consequently, there is a need for more case studies on CoPs within organisations to contribute to the development of more appropriate KM practices (Harvey et al., 2013).\nCommunities of practice and their deliberate establishment: The prevailing framework of establishing CoPs in business organisations draws on the perception of Wenger et al. (2002), who assert that CoPs are self-organised configurations that succeed only when created informally. However, it has recently been argued that even intentionally formed CoPs (sometimes clarified as organisational CoPs) can be successful (Agrawal and Joshi, 2011; Annabi et al., 2012; Dube et al., 2005; Kirkman et al., 2011, 2013).\nThe role of organisational factors influencing communities of practice within business companies: Research has increasingly shown the need to change the perceptions of organisations and their employees regarding the influence of the three organisational factors - top management, culture and structure - on CoPs' roles (Annabi et al., 2012). Retna and Ng (2011) argue that CoPs' activities positively support organisational goals when organisational culture and top management support CoPs. Dube et al. (2005) indicate that the style, culture and structure of organisations seem to most determine success or failure of CoPs at the launching stage. Recent studies indicate a growing trend among organisations to encourage intentionally established CoPs, while there is a trend among researchers to explore the influence of organisational factors on CoPs' activities (Annabi et al., 2012; Idris, 2007; Kirkman et al., 2013; Li et al., 2009; Siau et al., 2010; Walter et al., 2013; Wolf et al., 2011). The prominent organisational factors that impact on CoPs' activities will now be discussed.\nTop management and communities of practice: Top management plays a vital role in the success or failure of CoPs' activities. It is argued that top management may find it a challenge to decide whether it is worth feeding CoPs with resources. Lave and Wenger (1991) argue that management can establish a team for a specific project, but cannot form a CoP. However, members who are involved in a project acquire the ability over time to establish their own CoPs. Additionally, with CoPs becoming an approach for KM initiatives, many organisations have begun to facilitate the emergence of CoPs and support them to achieve the aims of the project (Roberts, 2006).\nThe impact of organisational structure on communities of practice's activities: The old structure of organisations is no longer appropriate in the age of knowledge economy. Recent research claims that companies need to think about having a less centralised organisational configuration (Lippert, 2013) by working in more open environment structures (Baker and Sonnenburg, 2013) and encouraging communications between departments through informal meetings (Wang and Noe, 2010). Probst and Borzillo (2008, p. 342) found that when CoP members are free of hierarchy-related pressure (such freedom being seen in the \"zero sanction\" or \"risk free\" assessments by direct managers if employees make mistakes or ask naive questions), they will have the freedom to criticise the practices that they encounter in their departments or across organisational units. They will, therefore, openly suggest solutions to overcome challenges and improve practices. However, Probst and Borzillo (2008) emphasise the role of CoP leaders in encouraging suggestions that leverage organisational performance positively. Likewise, Retna and Ng (2011) conducted a qualitative case study in a multinational company in Singapore, to explore the dynamics and key success factors in the development of CoPs. They found that free communication, good interactions and collaboration across all levels of the organisation helped the activities of CoPs, which can have a significant impact on the organisation's people-performance and achievement.\nThe role of organisational culture on communities of practice's activities: While KM initiatives endeavour to foster knowledge sharing within organisations, culture can be a major barrier that inhibits knowledge sharing effectively (McDermott and O'Dell, 2001). Dube et al. (2005), in examining the intentional formation of CoPs within organisations, found that organisational and cultural contexts seem to be the defining characteristics that assist or obstruct success at the launching phase. It is therefore argued that change in culture at all levels of the organisation is required (Annabi et al., 2012).\nCommunities of practice in Western and non-Western contexts: The majority of studies that have investigated non-Western cultural influences on knowledge sharing have been conducted in Chinese cultures. Wang and Noe (2010) state that more studies are needed about the impact of cultural differences on knowledge sharing in emerging economies, in countries in Africa, the Middle East and South America.\nConclusion and future research: This paper has presented a discussion of knowledge sharing and CoPs based on review, interpretation and synthesis of a broad range of relevant literature. Based on this literature review, enhancing knowledge sharing within companies is gaining importance and becoming one of the strategic objectives of every business in the knowledge-based economy. This study has provided a critical review of the existing literature on CoPs, leading to a detailed overview of relevant studies from which research gaps have been identified, to gain a holistic theoretical framework for the issue of establishing intentional CoPs within businesses. It was found that CoPs are an important tool for KM initiatives in businesses. However, CoPs have been given different names, either in the research milieu or in businesses. This therefore renders the concept ambiguous. There is a need for studies that can examine the development of CoP definitions in the research and provide a definition that can help researchers be consistent with the characteristics of CoPs within organisations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the research and to summarise the evidence on communities of practice (CoPs) as a tool for sharing knowledge. It will highlight the related literature from the past two decades by looking at potential barriers, solutions and influential factors regarding CoPs within business organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study consists of a constructed approach to determine the sources for the review that covers relevant literature on the topic of CoPs.\nFindings: This paper provides insights about the important role of CoPs in fostering knowledge-sharing within business organisations. It suggests that the impact of globalisation has encouraged many business firms to intentionally establish CoPs as a vital tool for knowledge management (KM) initiatives. It also appears that the importance of the three organisational factors - top management, structure and culture - lies in their ability to have a direct effect on intentionally established CoPs within business organisations.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper suggests a number of ways in which intentionally established CoPs can be developed within business companies. This paper limited its review to three organisational factors. Investigation of other organisational factors is needed.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides a detailed insight into the management literature on CoPs as an initiative for knowledge sharing within business organisations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Consequences of cruise line involvement: a comparison of first-time and repeat passengers	[ "Involvement", "Perceived price", "Customer loyalty", "Affective satisfaction", "Cruise line", "Previous experience" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the cruise line industry, an understanding of cruise customers' decision-making process is significantly needed (Hwang and Han, 2015). Cruise is a travel experience in which people travel on a cruise ship to various destinations. It allows cruisers to not only experience different destinations but also enjoy foods and beverages, onboard facilities and entertainment programs on a cruise ship while traveling to the next destination (Hwang and Han, 2015; Hyun and Han, 2015). Over the years, the US cruise line industry has been committed to enhancing cruise vacation experience, as evidenced by the expanded travel itineraries and the growth of innovative onboard amenities and facilities that easily rival land-based vacations (CLIA, 2013). The cruise lines' focus on vacation experience has enabled it to gain new customers along with retaining current customers.\nLiterature review: Involvement in cruise vacation\nMethodology: Measurement\nResults: Demographic characteristics and cruise travel information\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to test the relationships among involvement, perceived price, perceived quality, affective satisfaction, perceived value, attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty in the cruise line industry. In addition, this study attempted to identify whether the differences in these variables exist across first-time and repeat cruise customers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The web-based survey was used. A total of 403 complete responses were used for data analysis. Anderson and Gerbing's (1988) two-step approach was used to achieve study objectives.\nFindings: The t-test analyses demonstrated that repeat cruise customers expressed significantly lower perceived price and higher affective satisfaction, perceived value and behavioral loyalty than first-time cruise travelers. The structural equation modeling results revealed that involvement has an important role in loyalty generation process. However, the structural model did not significantly differ across first-time and repeat customers.\nPractical implications: Overall, the results indicated the critical needs to develop individuals' interest in cruise vacation with a particular cruise line. Cruise line operators who undertake promotion efforts that enhance people involvement with their cruise line should result in greater likelihood of choosing the same cruise line in the future.\nOriginality/value: With a lack of research about cruise line involvement and loyalty, this research contributes to theoretical understanding of intricate attitudinal and behavioral loyalty generation process across first-time and repeat cruise passengers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
QUIS 9 symposium - service excellence in management	[ "Service industries", "Quality awareness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: This issue of International Journal of Service Industry Management is dedicated to include selected best papers presented at QUIS 9 (Quality in Services) held at Karlstad university, Sweden in 15-18 June 2004. The symposium was co-hosted by the Center for Service Leadership at Arizona State University, USA. The Warwick Business School at University of Warwick, UK and the Service Research Center at Karlstad University, Sweden. It was a well attended conference with 200 participants from 28 different countries. The participants were both academic and practitioners, and we would like to thank all for their active participation and thus fulfilling one of the more important purposes of QUIS - to be a meeting place and a growth place for new initiatives.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To introduce the special issue focusing on the QUIS 9 symposium.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A brief perspective of the best papers presented at the Quality in Services (QUIS9) symposium held at Karlstad university, Sweden in June 2004.\nFindings: - Outlines some of the highlights surrounding the conference.\nOriginality/value: - Provides a brief report of the context of the conference.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The management of consultancy knowledge: an internationally comparative analysis	[ "Knowledge management", "Management consultancy", "United Kingdom" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: With the greater commodification of intellectual capital, knowledge management has increasingly become a crucial function for many organisations. This paper conducts an internationally comparative analysis of the management of consultancy knowledge in a firm renowned for its success in this area as a member of the Global MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises) Hall of Fame.The comparative analysis of the knowledge management practices deployed by a multinational consultancy in distinct national contexts - the UK and The Netherlands - was chosen for a number of reasons. First, consultancy firms are perceived to represent archetypal knowledge-intensive firms (Fincham, 1999) and their success is considered to heavily depend upon the effective management of intellectual capital (Apostolou and Mentzas, 1999). Yet despite the fundamental importance of knowledge management for consultancy firms, there are still significant gaps in our understanding of the ways in which employee/organisational knowledge is managed by these key organisations (Engwall and Kipping, 2002).Secondly, numerous contributors have raised questions over the management of knowledge in multinational firms (Cooke, 2005; Engwall and Kipping, 2002; Gupta and Govindarajan, 2000; Ordonez de Pablos, 2004; Strach and Everett, 2006). However, very little internationally comparative research has been conducted on the management of knowledge and as a result there continues to be uncertainty over whether knowledge management systems conform to global or universal norms or whether such systems are shaped by environmental context.In order to go some way towards addressing the paucity of empirical research into this area, this paper examines whether the knowledge management practices deployed by a multinational consultancy firm differ or not according to the national context in which they are implemented and whether the practices that are adopted are effective in diffusing employee/organisational knowledge. The paper achieves this by exploring the similarities/differences that exist with regard to the management of knowledge in the UK and Dutch organisational units of a large international consultancy firm.\nThe rise of the knowledge economy and the role of knowledge as a factor of production: Many claim that knowledge has become one of the most highly valued commodities in modern economic activity and that as a corollary we may be witnessing the emergence of a knowledge-based economy (Bell, 1974; Castells, 1996; Drucker, 1969; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1998; Stewart, 1997; Storey and Quintas, 2001).In this new economy, knowledge-intensive firms play a key role. Consultancy firms are typically defined as being knowledge-intensive because knowledge is considered to assume greater importance than other forms of input such as capital (Alvesson, 2001; Robertson and Swan, 1998). Their main assets are said to stem from the knowledge (Robertson and Hammersley, 2000) and competence of their personnel (Engwall and Kipping, 2002), and like other knowledge-intensive firms, they tend to produce results based on the capacity and expertise of their employees (Alvesson, 1993; Swart et al., 2003).For such organisations, the ability to develop and exploit knowledge faster than their competitors is a key component of their competitive success (Drucker, 1993; Leonard-Barton, 1995; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Singh et al., 2006). The management of this crucial resource therefore forms a core function for consultancies, because such employee/organisational knowledge must be continuously managed and enhanced in order to retain existing advantages and create new knowledge (Herriot, 1998; Singh et al., 2006). However, substantial gaps remain in our understanding of the ways in which consultancies manage their intellectual capital (Engwall and Kipping, 2002).\nThe management and characteristics of consultancy knowledge: In endeavouring to examine the management of consultancy knowledge, it is important to first identify the characteristics of such knowledge. The nature of consultancy knowledge arguably reflects the dichotomy between \"explicit\" and \"tacit\" knowledge (Arvidsson, 2000; Boisot, 1998; Hussi, 2004; Nonaka, 1994; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995, 1998; Polanyi, 1958).Tacit knowledge can be subconscious and difficult to articulate to others. Using Polanyi's (1967) aphorism: \"we know more than we can say\". Explicit knowledge on the other hand can be shared more easily as it can be \"packaged\", is relatively straightforward to describe and codify and can \"easily be 'processed' by a computer, transmitted electronically or stored in databases\" (Arvidsson, 2000; Boisot, 1998; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1998, p. 216).Yet although supposedly distinct forms of knowledge, some commentators argue that tacit and explicit knowledge are not necessarily mutually exclusive and that each form of knowledge can be converted from one to the other through effective knowledge management (Coombs and Hull, 1997; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1998).Mechanisms commonly used to transfer and/or convert tacit knowledge include: team-working arrangements which are said to encourage the transfer of employee knowledge (Bhardwaj and Monin, 2006; Swart and Kinnie, 2003; Zarraga and Bonache, 2003); electronic databases which are thought to speed-up productive activity (Arvidsson, 2000; Boisot, 1998; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1998); coach-apprentice training arrangements which are perceived to facilitate the communication of experiential knowledge (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995); and network relationships which are believed to assist in the exchange of potentially valuable knowledge (Kalling, 2003).However, the extent to which such mechanisms are \"fit for purpose\" remains unclear. For example, knowledge management tools/technologies could potentially hinder rather than facilitate knowledge transfer (Larsen, 2001), and managerial attempts to codify and diffuse employee/organisational knowledge could ultimately prove to be unsuccessful (Leonard-Barton, 1992; Levinthal and March, 1993; McKinlay, 2002).In terms of managing knowledge in a global context, it could be that certain information may not be applicable to other offices in a multinational firm due to heterogeneous learning needs and inputs to the learning process (Cooke, 2005). Moreover, there may also be difficulties in transferring knowledge management practices across borders (Cooke, 2005; Foss and Pedersen, 2003; Yamin and Otto, 2003; Zander and Sorvell, 2000) due to a lack of locational proximity (Lam, 2000). Such obstacles may mean that multinationals experience limited success in managing knowledge effectively. Therefore, it is important to gain a greater understanding of the dynamics of knowledge management in these organisations.\nThe management of consultancy knowledge: an internationally comparative perspective: A comparative study of the knowledge management practices deployed by a multinational consultancy firm can be considered particularly interesting as the consulting industry is perhaps different to more traditional industries/sectors in that it constitutes a global force exerting a \"universalist\" pressure on both the nature of consultancy and the industries that it serves through client service provision. As many of the largest multinational consultancies in the world originated in the US/UK and have expanded internationally in order to meet the needs of their multinational clients, many researchers claim that they are likely to have transferred management practices across their operations (Djelic, 1998; McKenna et al., 2003; Sparrow et al., 2004). Furthermore, indigenous consultancies are often thought to replicate their practices in order to emulate their success (Engwall and Kipping, 2002) and to avoid uncertainty or the risk of being out of step with their US/UK competitors (Paauwe and Boselie, 2003).However, very little is known about the way in which such organisations manage knowledge (Desouza and Evaristo, 2003; Sparrow et al., 2004) or the strategies and processes used by multinational consultancies to co-ordinate and manage the knowledge held by their subsidiaries (Cooke, 2005). This lack of information presents a particular problem for our understanding of the dynamics of knowledge management in international consultancy firms, as exemplified by the following quote:A significant problem in consultancies is constituted by the extent to which the organization facilitates the sharing of information ... A related and equally important issue concerns the national origin of the past practices, codified and transferred through internal knowledge management systems. In many of the large consultancies, these are likely to come from countries other than the ones in which they are applied (in many instances they probably originate in the United States). The question here is to what extent, if at all, they are adapted to the different national contexts in which these consultancies operate and, if this is indeed the case, how this is done (Engwall and Kipping, 2002, p. 7).Moreover, it is of considerable importance to investigate how multinational firms co-ordinate and manage their capabilities on a national and international basis, as such capabilities are an important factor in their competitiveness (Cooke, 2005). Consequently, this paper seeks to contribute to this research agenda and to our understanding of the ways in which knowledge is managed by multinational consultancies.\nThe research methodology: The method chosen to explore these research questions was a case study of a large international consultancy firm, involving an intensive study of one part of the business operating in two national contexts. This strategy was adopted because the main purpose of the research was to explore the management of knowledge in different national settings and the effectiveness of the knowledge management practices in operation. The method was also chosen because a number of academics and researchers have demonstrated the value of case studies in researching consultancy (Alvesson, 2001; Starbuck, 1992), as the strategy has enabled them to provide valuable insights into the knowledge-intensive nature of the profession. Furthermore, the analysis of comparable business units within a multinational consultancy undoubtedly offered an interesting arena in which to shed empirical light on debates over the universal nature of knowledge management, particularly as such an analysis could be expected to provide a valuable insight into whether knowledge management practices are universally adopted in divergent national contexts.The Netherlands was chosen for comparison with the UK for a number of reasons:* the researcher was able to negotiate access to the firm in this country;* the firm was well established in The Netherlands and the Dutch side of the firm shared common characteristics with the UK practice; and* the vast majority of the firm's employees in The Netherlands dealt with US/UK-based colleagues and clients and so were able to speak fluent English, meaning that any language barriers that were encountered were relatively easy to overcome.In comparing the UK and The Netherlands, low inter-country differences might be expected because the two countries share similar national cultures and ways of managing organisations in part due to their long history of trade and joint business ventures. Whereas if, for example, the UK-side of a consultancy firm was to be compared to an Asian counterpart, greater inter-country differences could be anticipated, as consultancies in Asia might be more likely to demonstrate different cultural characteristics and ways of managing organisations. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the affect that different national contexts can potentially have when performing comparative analyses.(1) The case study firm\nResults and discussion: The aim of the study was to examine the management of consultancy knowledge in a multinational firm. In investigating the knowledge management mechanisms deployed by the firm in each national context, the study found strong similarities over the ways in which the organisation managed its intellectual capital (see Table III).In both the UK and The Netherlands, the firm diffused employee/organisational knowledge using four principal mechanisms:1. Team-based interaction.2. Electronic libraries/databases and intranet-based knowledge forums.3. A coach/apprentice training model.4. Network relationships.Each of these mechanisms and their effectiveness will be examined below.(1) Team-based interaction\nDiscussion and conclusions: This study set out to make a significant contribution to the knowledge gaps that currently exist with regard to the management of consultancy knowledge (Engwall and Kipping, 2002) and to shed empirical light on debates over whether the knowledge management systems used by multinational organisations follow a common or universal pattern of organisation or are subject to international variation (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2000; Ordonez de Pablos, 2004; Strach and Everett, 2006), through exploring the knowledge management practices used by a global consultancy firm in varying national contexts - in this case the UK and The Netherlands.The data collected from the case study revealed that a variety of mechanisms were deployed by the firm and that these practices were not modified by national context, because exactly the same practices were used in both the UK and The Netherlands. This convergence in practices can perhaps be explained by the fact that the dimensions of tacit/explicit knowledge discussed earlier in the paper are universal and not subject to international variation, and the fact that the firm had chosen to implement these practices on an organisation-wide basis.This paper's in-depth empirical analysis of these practices provides an important contribution to our understanding of the management of consultancy knowledge, because at a broader level such mechanisms may eventually be adopted on a global basis, not just by the case study firm, but by the wider consulting industry - the firm has won numerous knowledge management awards and has been inducted into the MAKE Hall of Fame - and consultancies often replicate \"successful\" practices (Engwall and Kipping, 2002) in order to avoid uncertainty and the risk of being out of step with their competitors/counterparts (Paauwe and Boselie, 2003).These mechanisms, as in many other knowledge-intensive firms, were designed to capture consultancy knowledge so that it could be stored and/or diffused in order to improve/speed-up service delivery - the benefits of which are what most of the knowledge management discourse is mainly concerned with. However, the evidence obtained from the case study firm would suggest that such endeavours are likely to be frustrated by the problems associated with managing consultancy knowledge, and that these difficulties transgress national boundaries, because of the diverse set of interests that exist amongst consultants, their employers, and their colleagues - which remain distinct irrespective of the location in which such practices are deployed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to examine whether the knowledge management practices deployed by a multinational consultancy differ according to the national context in which they are implemented and whether the practices that are deployed are effective in diffusing consultancy knowledge.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The method chosen to explore the questions was a case study of one of the \"Big Four\" consultancy firms, involving an intensive study of one part of the business operating in the UK and The Netherlands.\nFindings: - The findings revealed strong similarities over the ways in which the case study firm managed its intellectual capital in both the UK and The Netherlands. This convergence in practices supports the notion that consultancies often copy practices that have proved successful in order to avoid uncertainty and the risk of being out of step with their competitors/counterparts. In addition, the results revealed a number of problems with the practices deployed by the firm that arose as a result of the diverse set of interests that exist between consultants, their employers, and their colleagues.\nResearch limitations/implications: - It is important to be aware of the potential affect of different national contexts because greater inter-country differences could perhaps be observed if, for example, the UK-side of the firm was to be compared to an Asian counterpart.\nOriginality/value: - This paper makes a significant contribution to the understanding of knowledge management within global firms and sheds empirical light on debates over whether the knowledge management systems deployed by multinationals follow a universal pattern of organisation or are subject to international variation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Interventions to support and develop clinician-researcher leadership in one health district	[ "Innovation", "Leadership", "Change management", "Continuous quality improvement", "Continuing professional development", "Clinical governance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Nurses and midwives deal with extensive, ongoing and frequent change and are responsible and accountable for ensuring high-quality care be delivered (Gocsik and Barton, 2014; Vestal, 2013; Honour, 2013). Nurses and midwives are often the first to respond to service demands, but in order to do so, they need to have the skills to develop, implement, translate evidence and evaluate practice effectively (Linette and Sherman, 2014; Gocsik and Barton, 2014; Honour, 2013; Malloch, 2010; Cummings et al., 2010). As a result, clinical teams are highly dependent on quality leadership skills and attributes to support and manage change processes and service delivery (Scully, 2015; Pearson, 2014; Gocsik and Barton, 2014; Rolfe, 2011).\nData and methods: This case study describes a multi-modal three-year program that aimed to support nursing and midwifery research and leadership skill development to bring about practice change. Support provided through the Centre would enable researchers to conduct quality research projects that would lead to service improvement, greater understanding of practice and enhance the delivery of patient care. The framework used for the establishment of this program was the Knowledge to Action Cycle (Canadian Institute of Health Research, 2014). The Knowledge to Action Cycle focuses on two elements: knowledge creation and the action cycle. Knowledge creation is concerned with using evidence to drive clinical practice, resolve service gaps and generate policies or guidelines. The phases of the action cycle include: problem identification and relevant evidence, modifying research evidence for the local context, assessment of translation barriers, intervention selection and implementation, knowledge use monitoring, evaluation of outcomes and sustainability of knowledge use (Curtis et al., 2016). The program commenced in 2012 and this case study describes the impact.\nGap analysis audit: To begin the researcher-leadership gap analysis process, nursing and midwifery research and practice development activities and stakeholders across the LHD were identified and explored to inform program interventions. To identify researcher-leadership gaps a mapping exercise was undertaken to examine research and practice development strengths and weaknesses. The mapping exercise was conducted by meeting with key health district stakeholder groups (nursing, midwifery, medicine and allied health), which were identified through clinical forums, multidisciplinary meetings, face to face interviews and surveys. From the mapping exercise areas to strengthen were identified and interventions developed that addressed key barriers to better support research and leadership skill development across the workforce (Grimshaw et al., 2012).\nResearcher education program: The first intervention involved the development of a researcher education program, as poor research knowledge and skills were identified as a barrier in the audit. The aim of this strategy was to target nursing and midwifery capacity to better understand, translate, utilize and conduct research. However, the program was also made available to all healthcare staff to build opportunities to develop innovative research teams, networks, strengthen multidisciplinary engagement and provide forums for disruptive discourse to challenge clinical practice.\nResources and infrastructure: Clinicians identified that research resources and infrastructure were needed to support clinician-researcher development. Additional financial investment was also made within the district to secure library resources (journals and reference text books), research space, software programs (e.g. IBM SPPSTM, Endnote and NVIVOTM) and computers to ensure appropriate resources were available to support nurses and midwives to undertake research and/or practice development activities.\nNursing and midwifery leadership program: The audit identified that professional networking was uncommon and so the next intervention involved the development of a nursing and midwifery leadership program, which involved providing professional seminar days and forums (two per year) for nursing and midwifery clinical leaders. The professional development days targeted leadership activities and speakers to strengthen change management practices, self-management and to specifically make visible the research and leadership contribution of nurses and midwives throughout the district. These professional forums were conducted twice a year. In addition, two nursing and midwifery research conferences (bi-annual) were conducted, which provided an opportunity to showcase the quality and range of research activity.\nResearcher mentor program: The audit identified the need by clinical staff to be exposed to researcher role models. Thus, the next intervention developed was the researcher mentor program. To enable engagement at the management level program participants were nominated by the six Directors of Nursing and Midwifery. Once nominated, each participant would work with the district nursing professor one day per week for five months (February to June) in the nominated year. The researcher mentor program aimed to support nurses and midwives to build capacity in a broad range of skills through exposure to a professorial research program. Each nurse or midwife had exposure to a clinically relevant program and the routine steps when undertaking research. The program exposed clinicians to qualitative and quantitative research design frameworks, qualitative and quantitative research collection and analysis, database development and data management, data collection techniques, project management skills, ethics applications and writing proposals, preparation and submission of publications, and understanding the characteristics of and for rigorous research.\nOrganizational integration of professorial role: The visibility of the professorial role was established and enhanced by inclusion of a professorial chair in organizational leadership committees and forums. The membership resulted in high visibility and engagement in day-to-day operations and senior nursing and midwifery management issues. This provided opportunity to have an academic involved in developing a culture of inquiry.\nCommunication plan: The sixth intervention aimed to address the lack of a researcher communication network. A communication plan was developed that would comprise online resources and notifications to better support, mentor and assist in clinical inquiry. One dimension of the communication plan was to establish a nursing and midwifery communication network. The network mapping targeted clinical leadership roles, which comprised senior nursing and midwifery clinician. In addition, staff interested in research and/or active researchers were invited to be included. Research resources were then distributed fortnightly, including: recent government reports, useful research websites, research tips and research software applications. An electronic newsletter was also distributed every four to six weeks and highlighted research achievements; news; seminars opportunities; grant information, evidence-based research sites; scholarships; staff publications; government research links; research resources; and research leadership opportunities. In addition, part of the communication plan involved the development of a research and practice development intranet site to showcase, promote and profile nursing and midwifery research and practice development activities.\nData management and analysis: Electronic data were stored in a security password protected ExcelTM database accessible only by the chief investigators. Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentages) were used to present summary data. For comparing different groups non-parametric data analysis (Pearson's kh2) was performed using IBM SPSS program (IBM SPSS v.21, Chicago, IL, USA). For the study, statistical significance was set at p<0.05.\nEthics: The evaluation of the program adhered to the National Health and Medical Research Council definition of quality assurance and evaluation. The primary purpose of this program was to improve the evidence-based practice and service delivered by clinicians. All data collected were de-identified on analysis. The program evaluation involved minimal risk, burden or inconvenience to participants and ethical review was not deemed necessary for the quality assurance evaluation.\nResults: Over three years, the researcher education program (study days six per year) had been delivered to over 500 multidisciplinary staff. In addition, to build and strengthen university partnership engagement, higher degree research students were offered the opportunity to attend (n=75).\nDiscussion: This program provides evidence of how clinician-researchers can be supported to strengthen leadership capacity and skills, knowledge generation, confidence, build networks and make visible nursing and midwifery research. The education dimensions of the program provided opportunities for critical thinking and reflection, which is important for interpretation, analysis and evaluation of practice. These characteristics are critical to the nursing process and delivery of optimal care (Schifalacqua et al., 2009; Romvari et al., 2008). This program aligns with the Institute of Medicine's (2010) recommendation, which is that nurses and midwives should practice to the full extent of their education and training and be instrumental in redesigning healthcare.\nStudy limitations: There were a number of limitations that need to be acknowledged. First, data can promote the views of only the most vocal participants. This could result in silencing quieter participants. Consequently, the education strategies and mentor program may bring to the surface particular view points and may not be representative of all staff. Second, despite large numbers participating in the education program not all staff are able to participate given workload demands. Therefore, it is possible that the perspectives of some participants were heard over others and so the findings may not be generalizable. This evaluation was conducted in only one health district and so the findings may not have relevance to other geographical areas. Finally, the small numbers involved in the research mentor program need to be considered when interpreting the outcomes.\nConclusion: The finding of this project evaluation has relevance to, and is transferrable to, other healthcare settings and staff. Through organizational investment in staff programs, it is possible to build workforce capacity that can bring about change, confidence and support research leadership. Developing and supporting future and/or current leaders in nursing and midwifery will optimize evidence-based care, consistency, safety and quality, and better outcomes for patients.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Clinical leadership, researcher capacity and a culture of clinical inquiry are needed in the clinical workforce. The purpose of this paper is to report on a program which was used to develop and support clinicians to explore practice, implement innovation, translate evidence and build researcher capacity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This pragmatic paper presents a case study of a nursing and midwifery clinician-researcher development program. The multi-site, multi-modal program focused on education, mentoring and support, communication networks, and clinician-university partnerships strategies to build workforce capacity and leadership.\nFindings: Over 2,000 staff have been involved in the program representing a range of health disciplines. The study day program has been delivered to 500 participants with master classes having over 1,500 attendees. The research mentor program has demonstrated that participants increased their confidence for research leadership roles and are pursuing research and quality assurance projects. Communication strategies improved the visibility of nursing and midwifery.\nResearch limitations/implications: This case study was conducted in one health district, which may not have relevance to other geographical areas. The small numbers involved in the research mentor program need to be considered when reviewing the findings.\nPractical implications: The program has been a catalyst for developing a research culture, clinical leadership and research networks that strengthen workforce capacity. Building researcher skills in the workforce will better support quality healthcare and the examination of everyday practice.\nSocial implications: Building a culture of healthcare that is based on inquiry and evidence-based practice will lead to more appropriate and consistent healthcare delivery. Consumers have the right to expect health clinicians will challenge everyday practice and have the skills and capability to translate or generate best evidence to underpin professional and service delivery.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides strategies for building workforce researcher capacity and capability. The program provides opportunity for building research networks and role modeling the value and importance of research to practice and quality improvement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Globalization of area studies: an analysis of collection development resources	[ "Collection management", "Academic libraries", "Collection development", "Area studies", "Associations", "Interdisciplinary studies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The universities and colleges across the USA, along with various organizations, are experiencing an expansion of academic interest in the area studies subjects. On college campuses, traditional college departments, such as sociology, psychology and literature, are either redesigning area studies-related courses or are partnering with other departments in exploring interdisciplinary topics and how best to administer them. These changes along with changing interests in majors among college students are identified by The College Board Book of Majors (2017). This source includes only US colleges accredited by an association approved by the USA Department of Education and it describes itself as an \"all-in-one source for what students exploring majors need to know: what the majors are about, and where they can be studied.\" It covers the field of area studies majors in great detail with over 20 pages of college majors listed under the category of \"area, ethnic, and gender studies,\" including African-American studies, American studies, Asian studies, Chicano studies, European studies, Latin American studies, Native American studies, Near and Middle Eastern studies and Women's studies. The book includes a section on \"multi/interdisciplinary\" studies, which covers global studies, medieval and renaissance studies and peace and conflict studies. In addition, over 40 more area studies subjects, including such familiar subjects as Holocaust studies, Judaic studies, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender studies, media studies and Slavic studies, are dispersed throughout the volume, and detailed information about them is accessible via the book's index.\nArea studies collections: Current trends\nBibliographic tools: Though many of the US and foreign universities - including those mentioned herein - as well as well-known centers such as Center for Research Libraries own extensive area studies resources and can in fact act as additional bibliographic resources for academic librarians, the focus here is on the analysis of the traditional library collection building resources. Among the standard bibliographic tools familiar to academic librarians are American Reference Books Annual, Books in Print (BIP), Choice Reviews and Resources for College Libraries. These four tools are analyzed below for their treatment of area studies subjects.\nSubject specific databases: Among the vast number of commercially produced databases, the following subject-specific databases with current coverage were selected for the analysis of their treatment of the specific area studies: ATLA Religion Database, Diversity Studies Collection, Gender Studies Collection, Ethnic Newswatch, HAPI Online, Education Source, LGBT Life with Full Text and RAMBI. The bibliographers interested in examining African American studies databases should consult Pillow's (2005) detailed coverage of this subject.\nMultidisciplinary databases: In general, the multidisciplinary databases are not of significant importance to collection development bibliographers but as such databases are widely used by college students, the subject bibliographers should review these for the coverage of specific area studies subjects.\nSerials: journals, magazines and newspapers: The databases discussed herein lead users to periodical literature but bibliographers specializing in area studies must also be able to identify appropriate periodicals for their collections. Some of the serial sources which can assist librarians with building and evaluating area studies periodical collections are analyzed below.\nAudiovisual sources: The library support of academic curricular needs necessitates access to audiovisual sources. Two databases offering online access to audiovisual materials were reviewed for area studies coverage: Academic Video Online and Kanopy.\nAssociations: Library Groups and Chapters\nAcademic associations: Academic associations use variety of activities including conferences, grants and awards to promote their areas of interest. Identifying and tracking activities of area specific associations offers an opportunity to subject librarians to learn about research trends, forthcoming publications, and changes in academic interests. An analysis of the Associations Unlimited database and a list of academic organizations provided below will assist area studies librarians with identifying relevant associations.\nAdditional associations: A few relevant associations were omitted from the Associations Unlimited and for the purpose of providing a comprehensive coverage herein, they are listed below.\nBook awards: The bibliographers new to the collection development responsibilities can benefit from familiarizing themselves with a vast variety of book awards within the specific area studies. Since the process of identifying the sources of such awards can be cumbersome, the following represent good starting points: websites of the academic associations with specific area studies focus as identified in previous section, ALA's list of awards, and the Library and Book Trade Almanac's Distinguished Books list.\nConclusion: Historically, geographically based representation of area studies subjects, e.g. Latin American, German or Russian area studies, has been a standard practice among academic institutions, but based on the current social and political trends which have been responsible for globalization of area studies, the policy of assigning such programs to specific regions is no longer viable. Similar view is expressed by Westbrook's (2009) study on area and interdisciplinary studies. She defines area studies as \"a subset of interdisciplinary studies\" and further notes that area studies \"concentrate holistically on the culture, nature, concerns and problems of a particular geopolitical or cultural region thereby generating that essential integration of disciplines\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to report on the findings of a detailed analysis of the collection development tools of use to subject bibliographers in meeting the challenges of the ongoing changes within the broad discipline of area studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Select online and print resources are examined for their treatment of specific area studies subjects.\nFindings: This study identifies the benefits of subject resources, points out inconsistencies with the use of the controlled vocabulary and notes subject access limitations.\nPractical implications: The analyzed resources will assist library professionals in identifying and selecting relevant sources.\nOriginality/value: The detailed analysis of how this subject is treated by numerous resources is unique to the field of library science.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determining maintenance system requirements by viewpoint of reliability and lean thinking: a MODM approach	[ "Decision daking", "Maintenance", "Reliability management", "Lean production", "Strategic objectives" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Today maintenance has become a management issue, with its task as a contributor towards profit. This indicates the need for the maintenance operation to align with the business objectives and increase profit for the enterprise. As a contributor to current management techniques, lean thinking approaches are now more commonly used (Davies and Greenough, n.d.). Kister and Hawkins (2006) developed principles and concepts of lean maintenance and Smith and Hawkins (2004a) developed a pre-planning for lean maintenance.The key question here is that is lean maintenance merely a subset of lean manufacturing? Is it a natural fall-in-behind spin off result of adopting lean manufacturing practices? Much to the chagrin of many manufacturing companies, whose attempts at implementing lean practices have failed ignominiously, lean maintenance is neither a subset nor a spin off of lean manufacturing. It is instead a prerequisite for success as a lean manufacturer (Smith, n.d.). Lean maintenance, coined in the last decade of the twentieth century, seeks to eliminate all forms of waste such as extra inventory in the maintenance process (Smith and Hawkins, 2004b; McCarthy and Rich, 2004).Lack of synchronization in the production system, along with inherent uncertainty in material supply and demand, makes holding inventory a necessity, yet keeping a high level of inventory is a costly exercise. It is thus no surprise to find that many managers generally regard inventories as necessary evils. Representing a significant portion of a company's assets, inventories are used to serve a variety of functions, chief among which are:* coordinating operations;* smoothing production;* achieving economies of scale; and* improving customer service.Since appearance of lean concept many researchers have studied decreasing or even eliminating inventories. Although these studies have not taken into account seriously expected reliability (Lifsey, 1965; Bovaird, 1960; Matorell, 2004; Lapa et al., 2006; Zhao, 2007; Ballard, 1999; Smart, 2003), and they have been in a limited field (in other words the aim of this studies is maximum level of reliability and minimum level of one item for example labor or spare parts). Ignacio Castillo proposed an alternative multidimensional paradigm, where labor minimization and service level maximization are considered simultaneously, together with other, complementary criteria (Castillo et al., 2009), except of this study Verma and Ramesh proposed a MODM model for preventive maintenance scheduling in large plants (Verma and Ramesh, 2007) So in this paper, we developed a MODM model for determining optimum level of maintenance requirements (such as labor, spare part, inspection, service and etc.). This model not only eliminates wastes in maintenance system but also satisfies maintenance reliability.In this model, we have two conflicting objectives; these objectives are to minimize wastes and increase maintenance system reliability in such a way that optimum level of maintenance requirements (e.g. labor, spare parts, reserve system and productive maintenance activities) and expected maintenance reliability are satisfied. In order to solve this MODM model we used goal programming approach. Goal programming, proposed by Charnes et al. (1955) is a widely used approach within the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). It attempts to combine the logic of optimization in mathematical programming with the decision maker's desire to satisfy several goals.The organization of this paper is as follows. In section 2, the MODM model is formulated to determine minimum level of maintenance requirements. The use of this model is illustrated through a problem of SIPA Company as a case study in section 3. In section 4, we discuss some aspects of sensitivity analysis of the optimal solution based on the GP approach. Our conclusions are given in the final section.\n2. Model formulation: In this section, a MODM model is formulated to determine minimum level of maintenance requirements and also satisfy maintenance reliability level. The developed model in this section is constructed by two conflicting objectives minimizing maintenance requirements (i.e. labor, spare parts, reserve system, productive maintenance activities) and maximizing reliability.2.1. Notations\n3. Implementing the model: In this section, flexibility of the proposed MODM model in determining maintenance system requirements is illustrated through a data set provided by the Rio robot part of SAIPA Corporation in Iran. A one-year planning horizon (from 21 March 2006 to 20 March 2007) is supposed. Because of little importance of reserve systems in the applied example (i.e Rio robot part of SAIPA) the decision variable Re is not included in the case study model. The goal constraints and model constraints have was described in sections 2.3.1 and 2.3.2.The cost data were approximated by consulting with company's management and experts since there were no exact data. In order to solve the optimization problem LINGO (version 8, license usage of commercial) software was used by a Dell computer with CPU 2 GHz and 1 GB of ram.3.1. Identifying characteristics of SAIPA Corporation\n4. Model sensitivity analysis: Sensitivity analysis for sensitive parameters (i.e. coefficient of deviation variables in objective function and right hand side of expressions (10) and (12)) is shown in Tables VII and VIII.In addition to sensitivity analyses which are given in Tables VII and VIII, Figure 6 shows deviation variable change versus reliability goal.According to Figure 6 in a point between interval (0.65, 0.7), value of deviations variable are zero; this indicates that reliability goal was not deviated in this point.\n5. Conclusion: In this paper, a MODM model was proposed to deal with the determination of maintenance requirements problem in SIPA Company in Iran. This model had three objectives. They were reliability, productive maintenance cost and reserve system cost. One of the objectives was to minimize wastes and the other one was to maximize or satisfy expected reliability which is in conflict with the former objective. Hence, we proposed goal programming model for decision-making aid, a real case in an existing Iranian automobile manufacturing company was studied and some useful findings were observed. Output of the proposed model was optimum level of maintenance requirements which satisfies expected reliability.Lean maintenance seeks to eliminate all forms of waste such as extra inventory in the maintenance process without taking into account seriously reliability. Thus a MODM model proposed to consider this two subjects simultaneously (i.e. eliminating or decreasing wastes and considering reliability). This model is useful for managers for two reasons:1. they could use that in any maintenance systems; and2. this model would ensure them in achieving minimum level of maintenance requirements and expected reliability level.Nearly three examples were run and the achieved results illustrate effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed model. However, there is still much room for improvement and investigation for this model with regard to its application to real-world situations. Real data from other manufacturing companies should be used to validate the model.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to formulate a model which not only determines minimum level of maintenance requirements but also satisfies expected reliability level.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A multi-objective decision making (MODM) model has been developed by viewpoint of decreasing wastes and increasing system reliability. Wastes that have been minimized are maintenance requirements (i.e. labor, spare parts, reserve system and productive maintenance activities) and maintenance system reliability that has been maximized is a function of maintenance requirements. This paper proposed goal programming model for decision-making aid and a real case in an existing Iranian automobile manufacturing company was studied.\nFindings: - Output of the proposed model was optimum level of maintenance requirements which satisfies the expected reliability level. For example, outputs of model for man hour approximately are the same as available maximum level and inspection, service and test and adjustment activities are not necessary 12 times a year for all the machineries.\nPractical implications: - This model is useful for managers because they could use that in any maintenance systems and it would ensure them in achieving minimum level of maintenance requirements and the expected reliability level.\nOriginality/value: - Since lean concept has appeared, many works have been done on decreasing or even eliminating of waste such as extra inventory. Although these studies have not taken into account expected reliability seriously, this paper considers these two issues together.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Younger and older trust in a crisis situation	[ "Satisfaction", "Trust", "Brand image", "Customer loyalty", "Switching costs", "Older consumer", "M310", "G210" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: All developed societies are affected by the trend toward population aging. In 2009, the median population age in EU-27 was 40.7 years and is projected to reach 47.9 years by 2060. One of the main demographic trends in EU-27 is that life expectancy continues to rise, especially from gains at older ages. But not only are people living longer lives, they may also be living longer healthy lives. Populations that are currently the oldest, such as in Germany and Italy, will age rapidly for the next twenty years, then stabilize. Of the 499,703,311 inhabitants of EU-27 in 2010, 17.4 percent were over 64, whereas in 1990, the percentage was 13.4 percent (Eurostat, 2011).\n2. Customer loyalty model: Figure 1 depicts the customer loyalty model to be tested in this study. This model is based on Dick and Basu (1994), who proposed an integrated conceptual framework of customer loyalty with the conceptualization of loyalty as the key to the relationship between relative attitude toward an entity and patronage behavior. Relative attitude refers to the fact that it is not sufficient for a consumer to have a favorable attitude to a brand; it must also be more intense in relation to other competing brands. Therefore, the model differentiates between attitude and behavioral loyalty.\n3. The life-course paradigm: The life-course model is based on the assumption that human life is characterized by passing through a certain sequence of stages, and suggests that relationships exist between life stage, demographic and behavioral characteristics of individuals (Bauer and Auer-Srnka, 2012). In business contexts, the life-course provides a theoretical basis for understanding changes in consumer needs, consumption patterns and family decision making. Traditionally, life-course research has focused on households, but recently scholars have called for an individual life-course perspective in consumer research (Bailey et al., 2010; Bauer and Auer-Srnka, 2012). Early life-course models in marketing are categorical models describing the different life stages, but later, conceptualizations, in contrast, represent flow models explaining transitions between successive stages.\n4. Consequences of the life-course paradigm for the consumer loyalty model: The life-course paradigm adds a new dimension to the consumer loyalty model because it improves the understanding of the evolution of consumer loyalty over time. The life-course paradigm includes the effect of the variable time, which, together with life events and social norm, serves as a turning point and affects a person's life. This perspective represents flow models explaining transitions between successive stages (Bauer and Auer-Srnka, 2012). Negative news from the financial crisis influences attitude-behavior loyalty consistency because it modifies the social norm. Human capital theory postulates that individuals acquire qualifications, resources, knowledge and skills (Mathur et al., 2003; Benmoyal-Bouzaglo and Moschis, 2010), influenced by macro-level (e.g. culture) and micro-level (e.g. family) environmental factors (Moschis, 2007).\n5. Method: This study focuses on the Spanish banking industry customers. The 2008 financial crisis hit the southern part of the European Union especially hard, and particularly the banks in Spain which, in October 2011, received a bailout from the European Union for up to one billion euros. The enormous volume of negative news on this sector has severely eroded citizens' trust in banks since 2008.\n6. Analysis and results: 6.1 Measure reliability and validity\n7. Discussion: 7.1 Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze consumer trust during a financial crisis, studying its antecedents and consequences. The perceptions of older and younger consumers are also compared.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The theoretical model of trust formation is tested on a random sample of 634 individuals from the three largest Spanish cities, Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, in a period of economic crisis. Structural equation models were used to verify the global hypothesized relationships. Additionally, the total sample was divided into two groups (younger and older consumers) in order to test the moderating effect of age in the proposed relationships.\nFindings: In a period of financial crisis, older consumers' trust is protected by an emotional and experiential shield from the effects of negative news in the surrounding environment. In contrast, trust, although important, is not the core variable for the younger segment, whose preferences are the consequence of a broad range of cognitive and emotional variables.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research was carried out on financial services. Emotional, relational and experience-linked variables acquire greater importance as the individual gets older, in contrast to more cognitive evaluations. The difference between the younger and the older segments is that the cornerstone of older consumers' attitudinal loyalty is trust, whereas for younger people, it is positive switching costs or rewards. Further research on the proposed conceptual model across different industries and countries is needed to determine the generalizability and consistency of the findings from this study.\nPractical implications: This paper has significant managerial implications. The authors believe that the best strategy for a bank during a period of crisis is to follow a customer-friendly orientation, as in the case of banks that took a long-term vision to look after their brand image. The study draws banking companies' attention to the importance of using age as a segmentation criterion.\nOriginality/value: Based on the life-course paradigm, a theoretical model of trust formation is performed. In a period of economic crisis, trust becomes the key variable in determining older consumers' preferences.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Quantifying gender distances in education, occupation and employment	[ "Gender", "Education", "Unemployment", "Occupation", "European Social Survey", "Southern European countries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In 2015, the European Commission adopted the strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019, based on a continuous and ad hoc evaluation of the 2010-2015 strategy. In the current work programme, the Commission has reaffirmed its commitment to continue its work to promote equality between men and women. This means maintaining the focus of gender-equality policy on five thematic priority areas: increasing female labour-market participation and the equal economic independence of women and men; reducing the gender pay, earnings and pension gaps and thus fighting poverty among women; promoting equality between women and men in decision making; combating gender-based violence and protecting and supporting victims; and promoting gender equality and women's rights across the world (EU-Eurostat's Statistics Explained, 2017). Clearly, gender gaps in education, occupation and employment have been receiving research and policy attention through the previous years, in terms of both horizontal and vertical segregation. The main objective of this research is to determine whether gender gaps in education, occupation and employment have subsided in Southern Europe, for the years 2002-2012. The present paper offers ways to quantify gender gaps and provides solid evidence that equalizing the length of education between men and women during these years did not result in decreasing the occupational distances between them, probably because the areas of education remained quite gender specific. The current paper adds to the literature in two ways. First, is the use of the European Social Survey (ESS) which, to our knowledge, has never been used before for examining gender gaps in education, occupation and unemployment. Similar studies using the ESS include the following: Van de Velde et al. (2010), where gender gaps in depression are studied; Senik (2015), where gender gaps in subjective well-being are provided; Giger (2009), where differences in voting behaviour in 12 European countries are examined; and Voas et al. (2013), where gender gaps in religiosity are presented. Moreover, McDaniel (2013) illustrates, using the ESS, the growing advantage for females in university completion across European countries and proves that in most European countries parental education has similar effects on university completion for males and females. The second way by which the paper contributes to the literature is the use of a number of different distance measures, which are commonly used in applied mathematics studies for measuring distances in distributions, in order to identify gender gaps. Generally speaking, the choice of distance measures is a critical step since it defines how the similarity or dissimilarity of two distributions will be estimated. The objective here is to estimate a number of different distance measures, each of which provides different kinds of information or puts emphases on different aspects of the differences of the distributions.\nData and methodology: The present study utilises the available raw micro data behind the ESS, for all available rounds for four Southern European countries. The European countries under study cover the southern region of Europe, which historically presents uniformity regarding the socio-economic background, the demographic trends, political regimes, the institutional characteristics and the welfare state organisation. Table I compares indicators of gender segregation in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain (EU-Initiative EQUALITY PAYS OFF, 2013a, b, c, d).\nResults: The present section provides the reader with the group statistics of the examined variables and the values of all distance measures earlier mentioned, in concern with education, occupation and employment.\nConclusions, discussion and future work: In the present paper, the role of gender in education, occupation and employment in Southern Europe is explored. A keystone in this investigation is the estimation of distance measures between male and female distributions in education, occupation and employment, and their evolution over time. The study aims at increasing knowledge and basic understanding of gender gaps in education, occupation and unemployment in four Southern European countries. The analysis follows the evolution of specific distance and dissimilarity measures over time using four variables with data drawn from the ESS. The study can also be seen as an evaluation tool that allows researchers to understand whether and how well the strategic engagement for gender equality has been delivered in these four European countries. The analysis provides evidence that during the decade studied (2002-2012), equalizing the length of education between men and women did not result in decreasing the occupational distances between them in the countries under study. The distance measures provided can also serve as indicators of gender gaps in education, occupation and unemployment that can be used to inform policy makers about their evolution over time, to identify areas of concern (the persisting gender gaps in occupation) as well as positive outcomes (the closing gap in education). These distance measures can also be used to track gender gaps through the years of the economic crisis in four Southern European countries with similar welfare regime, i.e. a subprotective welfare regime (Gallie and Paugam, 2000), defined either by rudimentary welfare structures compensated by strong family networks or austerity policies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of gender in education, occupation and employment in Southern Europe and more specifically in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The goal is to provide measures that can trace gender differences with respect to their educational and employment features in these countries, explore whether these differences converge over time and compare the patterns observed in each country given their socio-economic similarities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper uses raw data drawn from the European Social Survey (ESS) for the decade 2002-2012. It provides a method for quantifying gender differences in education, occupation and employment and their evolution over time based on distance measures.\nFindings: The results reveal that gender distances in education have gradually subsided in these countries. However, occupational choices differ steadily over the years for all countries. The paper provides, therefore, solid evidence that equalizing the level of education between men and women during those years did not result in a decrease in the occupational distances between them. Moreover, based on the latest round the findings suggest that men and women are equally likely to having experienced unemployment within the last five years.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further research could be done to include results based on raw data from the seventh round of the ESS. This may provide valuable information for Spain and Portugal who did participate in this round.\nSocial implications: This research implies that more needs to be done to accelerate progress in order to achieve gender occupational equality in Southern Europe.\nOriginality/value: This paper draws attention to issues concerning gender differences in education, horizontal and vertical segregation and employment for which it provides distance measures and evidence of how they have evolved over time, based on raw data analysis from the ESS.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Evaluating the investment feasibility and industrial implementation of changeable and reconfigurable manufacturing concepts	[ "Investment analysis", "Case studies", "Manufacturing flexibility", "Production systems", "Flexible manufacturing systems", "Modular production" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Changeable and reconfigurable manufacturing concepts that respond rapidly and efficiently to changes are key enablers of competitiveness in today's global manufacturing environment (ElMaraghy and Wiendahl, 2009; ElMaraghy et al., 2013; Wiendahl et al., 2007). As product variety and the frequency of new product introductions increase, manufacturers are faced with challenges of producing a wide product range that fits different customer needs and continuously includes new product technologies (Koren, 2010). For these reasons, the concept of reconfigurable manufacturing was introduced in the 1990s, combining the high throughput of traditional dedicated manufacturing lines and the flexibility of the flexible manufacturing systems (Koren et al., 1999). The reconfigurable manufacturing system is designed for rapid change in structure in order to repeatedly change capacity and functionality in a cost-efficient way, in order to respond to changes in production mix and production capacity, as well as introduce new products (ElMaraghy and Wiendahl, 2009; ElMaraghy, 2005). However, there appears to be only limited research on the transition of companies from having traditional manufacturing systems to developing changeable and reconfigurable systems, including lack of systematic design methodologies and supportive tools for selecting the right type and extent of changeability to implement (Bi et al., 2008; Rosio and Safsten, 2013; Andersen et al., 2017; Farid, 2017). In this respect, a major issue is to determine the initial degree and type of changeability and reconfigurability to build into the system (Bi et al., 2008; Terkaj et al., 2009a). Moreover, in order for companies to become changeable and reconfigurable, an essential first step is to determine the investment feasibility of selecting this type of system compared to the less expensive dedicated manufacturing systems (Andersen et al., 2015a, 2017). In regard to this, essential trade-offs that must be evaluated are between the objectives of flexibility and productivity, between postponement of risks and investments of scaled capacity and the associated increases in reconfiguration costs, and between lower costs of functionality changes and new product introductions vs increased initial system investments (ElMaraghy, 2005).\n2. Related research: Changeability is an umbrella-term covering various levels, types, and extents of change in a manufacturing company (ElMaraghy and Wiendahl, 2016). Different classes of changeability exist, e.g. agility and transformability which cover the manufacturing site and network, and reconfigurability or flexibility covering the manufacturing system, cell, and workstations (Wiendahl et al., 2007; Mikusz et al., 2016; ElMaraghy, 2005). Generally, changeability is defined as the ability to accomplish early and foresighted adjustments on all structures in an economically feasible way, which means that it is a non-functional design requirement. Moreover, changeability enables co-evolution of product and production, where the production system portfolio can be continuously matched with the product portfolio (Bruch and Bellgran, 2014). Thus, when designing changeable manufacturing systems, changeability in the form of reconfigurability or flexibility is a life cycle property, which is usually designed at the outset, but manifested after the system has been put into use, in order to respond to changes in its operating lifetime (Benkamoun et al., 2015; Farid and Suh, 2016). Therefore, when designing systems for changeability at the outset, it is essential to determine and understand the main drivers of change, the changes needed to be accomplished, as well as the appropriate type and extent of changeability (ElMaraghy, 2005).\n3. Research method: In order to develop a readily applicable approach to evaluating the investment feasibility of changeable manufacturing system design concepts, a systematic research approach is applied, which is depicted in Figure 1. The research model in Figure 1 was initially introduced in the seminal works by Mitroff et al. (1974) as an early contribution to the operations management methodology research. Later the model has been used for identifying valid methodological paths in quantitative and model-based research (Bertrand and Fransoo, 2002). The research presented in this paper is empirically driven and follows all phases devised by the model: conceptualization, modeling, model solving, and implementation. By applying this model, the research is empirically driven, in order to produce research results that are applicable and useful in practice to actually aid the design process of changeability.\n4. Proposed model: The proposed model evaluates the feasibility of different investment alternatives by applying a total changeability cost perspective. Relevant investment costs covered are initial capacity costs including costs for development and installation, investments related to capacity expansions, and investments related to functionality expansions. Relevant operating costs were specified in Section 3.3: labor cost, maintenance cost, and additional fixed cost, e.g. electricity usage and shop floor utilization costs.\n5. Implementation of the developed model for evaluating investment feasibility of changeable system design concepts in industrial cases: 5.1 Case A\n6. Discussion: The proposed investment feasibility evaluation model has, in both industrial cases, acted as a valuable decision support tool in initial stages of production design projects, characterized by high uncertainty about specification and future demand. Particularly, the model created valuable inputs to system design projects in both companies, where critical decisions related to system design concepts and their extent of changeability previously were made without data foundation in a largely trial-and-error based approach.\n7. Conclusion: In this paper, a model for evaluating investment feasibility of changeable and reconfigurable system design concepts has been proposed as a decision support tool for initial and conceptual manufacturing design phases. Economic evaluation of changeable concepts constitutes a critical and essential part of design, development, and implementation of changeable manufacturing systems in practise. However, unstructured and unsystematic methods widely applied in practise for system evaluation during design are inadequate for capturing all relevant aspects of changeability, such as assessing the impact of various types of uncertainties, comparing systems' abilities to respond to product evolution over time, as well as addressing the right extent of changeability. Moreover, previous research on changeability offers limited practical methods to be applied in industry for actually aiding a transition toward changeability, including investment evaluation methods.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a decisions support tool that can be applied in initial stages of design, for evaluating the investment feasibility of changeable and reconfigurable manufacturing design concepts, based on future demand predictions and their uncertainties. A quantitative model is proposed, which evaluates the discounted value of capital and operating costs of changeable manufacturing design concepts, based on essential characteristics regarding their type and extent of changeability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Quantitative empirical modeling is applied, where model conceptualization, validation, and implementation are central elements, using two Danish manufacturing companies as cases.\nFindings: The applicability of the model is demonstrated in the two case companies, highlighting differences in type, extent, and level of feasible changeability, as a result of differences in product and production characteristics.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further studies of changeability implementation should be conducted across industrial fields in order to generalize findings.\nPractical implications: There is currently limited support for the conceptual design phase of changeable and reconfigurable manufacturing, where critical decisions regarding type, extent, and level of changeability must be made, regardless of high degrees of uncertainty about future demand scenarios.\nOriginality/value: This paper expands previous research on design for changeability and reconfigurability, by explicitly considering changeability as a capability that can be enabled in various ways for various purposes in different industrial contexts. The proposed model and the case implementations provide important knowledge on the transition toward changeability in industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Social media usage and employee's job performance: The moderating role of social media rules	[ "Information sharing", "Social media", "Obtaining information", "Social media rules", "Employee’s performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Social media (SM) is a tool that provides a facility for social and commercial communication (Parveen et al., 2015) that was built on the technological foundations of Web 2.0 (Habibi et al., 2016). Recently, SM sites such as WeChat, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube have become popular around the globe for sharing and obtaining information (Berthon et al., 2012). Individuals and organizations are using SM for their social and commercial purposes by creating, sharing and exchanging information with their friends, family, colleagues and customers (Shi et al., 2013). Organizations can take the advantage of the potential of SM to effectively engage with their employees, customers and other patrons for business value creation and collaboration (Naude et al., 2014). Therefore, the effective use of SM can enhance employees' capabilities associated with employees' job performance and organizations (Nisar and Prabhakar, 2018). SM platforms are becoming more collaborative and interactive for users because of the increasing trends of use. Therefore, these applications can be accessed on the web and through mobile technology (Siamagka et al., 2015).\n2. Theoretical background: In Sections 2 and 3, we comprehensively review the past studies and describe the theoretical foundations of this study. For the development of our research model, we used a widely acknowledged social exchange theory.\n3. Research model and hypotheses: After analyzing the literature, we proposed a conceptual model of the study. In the research model, we divided employee's SM use into two components, i.e., \"personal use of SM\" and \"work-related use of SM.\" Similarly, knowledge exchange has been categorized into \"information sharing\" and \"obtaining information\" that are subsequently associated with employee's job performance. Additionally, SM rules are used as a moderator among SM use and knowledge exchange. According to Pi et al. (2013), multiple factors are attached to the use of SM that can promote employees' knowledge exchange and job performance (Leftheriotis and Giannakos, 2014). Table I provides the formal definitions of all the constructs.\n4. Research design: 4.1 Instruments development\n5. Data analysis and results: 5.1 Techniques\n6. Discussion and implications: The findings in this study enrich the theory of social exchange. An investigation of the SM use among the employees of the public and private sectors of Pakistan was the objective of this research. Currently, SM platforms support many features for interactive communication that are easily enumerated at the individual and organizational levels (Hua and Haughton, 2012). This study aimed to obtain a complete understanding of the antecedents of information sharing and obtaining information. SM has become a popular platform for individuals to contribute knowledge and gain knowledge (Wasko and Faraj, 2000; Ma and Agarwal, 2007). Taking this information into consideration, we aimed to improve the understanding of employees' SM use relationship with their job performance through knowledge exchange. The results support our hypotheses: information sharing and obtaining information provide exclusive contributions to the explanation of an employee's job performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This era is an era of social media (SM); thus, it is an essential tool for communication among individuals and organizations. The excessive use of SM by employees has raised many questions about their job performance. Therefore, there is a dire need to investigate the effects of SM use on an employee's job performance mediated by knowledge exchange. Furthermore, the purpose of this paper is to examine how the organization's SM rules can moderate the relationship between personal and work-related use of SM with information sharing and obtaining information.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Quantitative methodology was used and randomly 1,200 questionnaires data were collected physically from the employees of the public and private sectors in Pakistan. To examine the hypothesized relationships, partial least squares (PLS), rather than covariance-based structural equation modeling, was used to analyze the data. For this reason, multivariate technique, Smart PLS-3.2.1, was used for data analysis.\nFindings: The findings of this study demonstrated that personal and work-related use of SM could enhance employees' job performance through knowledge exchange, and SM rules have adverse impacts on the relationships between SM use and knowledge exchange.\nOriginality/value: This study provides a novel model for the investigation of whether SM use affects employees' job performance. Furthermore, it will help the policy makers and researchers regarding the management of SM use at work.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Attitudes and behaviors as predictors of service quality in the telecommunications sector context	[ "Kuwait", "Service quality", "Organizational citizenship behavior", "Affective commitment", "Telecommunication" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the last two decades, the monopoly and domination of the two telecommunication companies in Kuwait namely \"Zain\" and \"Ooredo\" was challenged since the founding of a third telecom company \"Viva\" in 2008. The establishment of the third company has intensified the competition among the three companies, and the two previously mentioned companies started losing their market share to Viva. Moreover, a new government regulation was issued allowing customers to keep their mobile numbers even after transferring to another company, thus, imposing further pressure on telecom companies. As a result, in order to stay in business and compete effectively, companies need to find unique strategies through which they can satisfy their customers, thereby increasing their market share. According to Santouridis and Trivellas (2010), service quality (SQ) is considered an important factor that significantly and positively affects customer satisfaction. This importance is due to the strong impact that SQ has on customer loyalty and satisfaction, which in turn results in increased market share (Ostrowski et al., 1993; Taylor and Baker, 1994; Zeithaml, 2000; Santouridis and Trivellas, 2010). From this point, SQ is considered among the most important organizational performance indicators that service organizations should control and monitor (Van der Wal et al., 2002).\nLiterature review: SQ\nMethodology: Sample\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion: The current study has contributed to the existing body of knowledge by investigating the link between employees' organizational commitment and the level of citizenship behavior that employees demonstrate. Among the three well-conceptualized organizational commitment dimensions, the focus of this study was on the dimension most compatible with social exchange theory (AC), which is considered the driving theory of OCB (Organ, 1990). The resulted path model supports that employees' AC is considered a strong predictor of OCB, a result which is in line with the majority of research conducted in this vein. Thus, a further support was provided by the current study which acts to consolidate the underlying relationship between AC and OCB.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Service quality (SQ) is considered an organizational performance indicator that largely depends on employees' attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of employees' citizenship behavior (OCB) on the relationship between affective commitment (AC) and SQ.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The current study has relied on two questionnaire surveys to gather cross-sectional data from 800 employees and 400 customers of telecommunications companies in Kuwait. Structural equation modeling via AMOS22 was used to build and test the hypothesized model.\nFindings: The results show that OCB significantly and positively affects SQ dimensions except empathy which demonstrates insignificant association. Also, AC was found to be a strong predictor of OCB. More interestingly, the results show that AC does not show any effect on either responsiveness or empathy, while a partial mediation was found between AC and tangibles, reliability, and assurance.\nPractical implications: The findings of the current study provide managers and practitioners with empirically validated model of how SQ can be achieved. The model indicates that managers need to increase the level of citizenship behavior through leveraging their employees' AC, which in turn can result in a positive perception of SQ.\nOriginality/value: This study is considered among the first to investigate the causal effect of both OCB and AC on achieving high SQ. Also, the findings of this study further support the indirect relationship of AC and SQ. Moreover, this study is unique in its attempt to link both AC and OCB to the dimensions of SQ. Finally, this study is considered the first empirical investigation of SQ in the telecommunication sector in Kuwait.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determinants of innovation outputs in developing countries : Evidence from panel data negative binomial approach	[ "R\n\t\t\t\t\t&\n\t\t\t\tD", "Developing countries", "Panel data", "Innovation outputs", "Negative binomial" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Innovation has played a decisive role in many countries economic and social development and has been one of the principal tools for coping with major global challenges. It is the main source of economic growth, productivity improvement, foundation of competitiveness, welfare progress and therefore crucial for poverty alleviation. Innovation depends significantly on overall conditions in the economy, governance, education, and infrastructure. However, the economic crisis of 2008/2009 is affecting not only investments but also the climate for innovation (Archibugi et al., 2013). The effect of the crisis on innovation is complex and ambiguous, with large variations across firms, sectors, countries, and regions.\n2. Review of the literature: Understanding the drivers of innovation has fuelled an extensive literature. In the early years, research on innovation followed the work of Schumpeter (1934), in terms of the \"change in the form of the production function\", which is similar to Solow (1957) definition of technological change. Later, innovation is often linked to the theories of economic growth that draws attention to endogenous technological change to explain the growth patterns of world economies (Romer, 1990). The bottom line of this research is that innovation as roughly proxied by total factor productivity (TFP) is the major contributor to the differences in development levels across countries.\n3. Data and methodology: In the empirical estimation, the number of patent applications is a count data with the properties including being discrete, and non-negative (King, 1988). These properties have several empirical implications for using OLS: the result is inaccurate (i.e. yield negative and/or non-integer values); and the result is inefficient (i.e. fail to account for the heteroscedastic nature of event counts). Therefore, OLS can introduce bias and inconsistency in the estimation. As noted by Green (2002), conventional regression methods are inappropriate, in which the dependent variable is an indicator of a discrete choice. There are a number of ways to model counts data, but Poisson and Negative Binomial are the most popular.\n4. Empirical results: Tables IV-VI present the regression results on the determinants of patent, trademark and industrial design. The first four columns show the Negative Binomial model results, while the second four columns present the results of Negative Binomial using PCA-generated factors. Both Negative Binomial and Negative Binomial with PCA are presented in two different ways:a baseline model; and the IRR models which is derived from the baseline model.\n5. Conclusion: In this study, we employ a Negative Binomial method to analyse the main determinant affecting the innovation outputs by the number of patent, trademark and industrial design applications in a panel of selected developing countries over 1996-2010 period. Due to the fact that conventional regression methods are inappropriate, in which the dependent variable is an indicator of a discrete choice, we employ Negative Binomial approach to model counts data in the estimations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of innovation outputs proxied by number of patent applications, trademarks and industrial designs in developing countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper employs a panel data and Negative Binomial method to analyse the main determinants affecting the innovation outputs.\nFindings: The results implicitly suggest that providing a fertile ground to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) can lead to much better innovation outputs. The study also strongly supports the role of institutions and governance for increasing innovation activities in developing economies as indicated by positive impacts of governance factors in the model. However, the impact of economic freedom indicators on improving innovation outputs is mixed.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the existing literature in two ways: it examines the effect of FDI and research and development on innovation of selected developing countries; and the study uses a panel data approach to increase the accuracy of the results through exploiting the significant variations of innovation outputs across countries, while controlling for a larger number of innovation outputs and product determinants. To the authors knowledge, this is the first empirical study on the behaviour of innovation outputs for developing countries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The relationship between organizational attitude and lean practices: an organizational sense-making perspective	[ "Organizational change", "SMEs", "Organizational culture", "Organizational sense-making", "Lean management", "Socio-technical systems" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Lean management is now a key operations tenet, with applications across the manufacturing and services sectors. However, a frequently cited reason for the poor performance of some lean implementations is a lack of focus on the socio-cultural aspects of the lean philosophy. The partial implementation of lean that prioritizes the technical aspects over the \"people part\" of lean fails to get the employees' buy-in, therefore restricting the ability of lean to deliver lasting gains (Uhrin et al., 2017). Consequently, there is a growing realization that lean is a socio-technical phenomenon that puts people at the centre stage to implement lean tools and practices (Hadid et al., 2016). However, there has not been enough academic attention on the social constructions between the various organizational actors such as the management and the employees and if these social constructions impact organizational attitude (ORA) and adoption of lean practices. The emerging literature on the social constructions in lean management such as Secchi and Camuffo (2019) partially addresses this apparent shortcoming in the literature, but it still does not fully appreciate the effect of the mutually constitutive social interactions between the management and the employees on the adoption of lean practices. We aim to address this literature gap by empirically investigating the effects of social constructions between organizational actors on the adoption of lean practices.Recently, there is a renewed interest on investigating the collective response of organizational actors to lean implementations and if the organizational response can be influenced. For example, Maalouf et al. (2016) noted negative reaction to lean implementation by the employees and the middle management and put it down to the inability of the top management to construct a persuasive narrative for lean implementation. Secchi and Camuffo (2019) characterized lean implementation as a strategic change process that requires a shift in how management and employees perceive lean. Enabling strategic shifts in how organizations operate has not been the focus of the industrial management literature, particularly in the context of changing peoples' behaviours and attitudes. However, this occupies a central place in the organization studies literature. Concepts such as \"organizational sense-making\" try to explain the mutual social constructions of various organizational actors in pursuit of a desired collective behaviour (Brown et al., 2015). We draw on this literature to understand how lean practices can be implemented as an organizational change process.We respond to the literature's call (Motwani, 2003; Secchi and Camuffo, 2019) to conceptualize lean implementation as an organizational change process. This allowed us to use an adaptation of Maitlis and Lawrence (2007)'s organizational sense-making framework as a theoretical lens for this study. The sense-making processes are social constructions initiated in organizations due to the planned or unplanned external triggers that make the current state untenable. The mutual social constructions between organizational actors are contested and collective accounts are negotiated as an ORA that enables the shift to a new organizational state (Maitlis and Christianson, 2014). We posit that a successful implementation of lean would constitute effecting lean process facilitators (lean tools and practices) and a lean-enabling ORA that depends on the social constructions between the organizational actors that shape the behaviours of people (Maitlis and Lawrence, 2007). This is similar to the socio-technical conceptualization of lean but not the same. For example, Uhrin et al.'s (2017) investigation of lean as a socio-technical system categorized it as a combination of social and technical practices, whereas an organization's discursive ability encapsulates its potential to develop an ORA that shapes peoples' collective behaviours and attitudes towards an organizational change such as lean implementation. This study aims to contribute to the discourse on the social aspects of lean management by investigating the social constructions between management and the employees and if these constructions could constitute an ORA that affects the implementation of lean practices. This leads us to the following research question for this study:RQ1. How does the ORA influence the implementation of lean practices?To achieve this, we employ structural equation modelling (SEM) on survey data collected from the UAE to establish relationships between the process facilitators and the ORA for lean implementation. The theoretical constructs and research hypothesis were developed with literature support in Section 2. Section 3 describes the employed research methodology, and we report the statistical results in Section 4. Section 5 explains the statistical findings with implications for theory and practice. This paper is concluded in Section 6.\n2. Literature review and hypothesis development: We divide our literature review for the development of lean constructs and hypothesis in two parts. First, we evaluate the literature on lean \"process facilitators\" by identifying a set of tools, techniques and practices that directly target lean's objective of eliminating the waste. Second, we examine the literature to identify the social factors that affect the cognitions and behaviours of organizational actors towards a lean-enabling ORA. 2.1 Lean process facilitators\n3. Research design and methods: 3.1 Research design and operationalization of the theoretical constructs\n4. Results: 4.1 Constructs reliability and validity tests\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Theoretical implications\n6. Conclusions and limitation of the study: This study answered the research question: \"How does the ORA influence the implementation of lean practices?\" by investigating the joint effects of the shared commitment of management and employees' on lean implementation. We identified lean ORA as having a dominant effect on lean practices of EME, ITP, SUP and CUS. Our statistical results add a novel perspective to the discourse on the social dimension of lean management by highlighting the importance of the shared understanding of lean by the organizational actors. We also established boundary conditions for these relationships by identifying firm size as a moderating variable. This has allowed us to make two major contributions to the discourse on lean management. First, the extant literature does not focus on the ability of the mutual social constructions of organizational actors to influence lean adoption. We draw on the organizational sense-making literature to conceptualize and validate lean implementation as a combination of process facilitators and a supportive ORA. Second, our statistical analyses show that the lean implementations for the SMEs and LEs are fundamentally different to each other.Despite the contributions to theory and practice, we would like to acknowledge the apparent limitations of our study. First, our study investigated the effect of ORA on lean practices, and it would be interesting to examine if our organizational sense-making conceptualization also affects a firm's operational or economic performance. We suggest inclusion of a firm's performance as a dependent variable to our conceptual framework as a potential future research direction. Second, we believe that our research findings are generalizable, but we cannot fully rule out the contextual effects of the sample drawn from the UAE. Examining the effects of ORA and the moderating effect of firm size on lean practices from other cultural settings is likely to deepen the understanding of the socio-technical aspects of lean implementation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Past studies of lean have failed to sufficiently address the importance of social factors for successful lean implementations. This paper aims to broaden and deepen the understanding of lean as a socio-technical paradigm by conceptualizing lean implementation as an organizational change process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study draws on the organizational sense-making literature to conceptualize and validate lean implementation as an organizational change process that necessitates a focus on the ability of organizational actors to construct a shared meaning of lean. This study posit that this shared understanding shapes the collective behaviour and attitudes of people towards a future desired organizational state such as a successful implementation of lean. Survey data were collected from various manufacturing and services firms to test the hypothesis derived from literature using a structural equation modelling approach.\nFindings: The mutual social interactions of organizational actors contribute to an enabling lean organizational attitude that has a dominant effect on the lean practices of employee involvement, internal technical practices, supplier and customer management. This study also established boundary conditions for these relationships by identifying firm size as a moderating variable.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings establish a supportive organizational attitude as an antecedent for lean implementation, which goes beyond the current socio-technical characterization of lean management. This conceptualization draws the attention of researchers and practitioners towards the critical role of the cooperative behaviours of organizational actors in lean implementations.\nOriginality/value: The statistical results add a novel perspective to the discourse on the social dimension of lean implementation by conceptualizing and validating lean management as a combination of organizational attitude and the process facilitators comprising of employee empowerment, internal technical practices, supplier and customer management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Attaining elite leadership: career development and childhood socioeconomic status	[ "Career development", "Relational capital", "Career capital", "Socioeconomic status", "Elite leaders", "Leadership diversity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Little is known about the developmental experiences and supports critical to elite leadership attainment. A recent study suggests that most elite leaders come from middle-class and advantaged backgrounds which facilitate appropriate self-presentation for elite status (Fitzsimmons et al., 2014). Studying elites hailing from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds has the potential to broaden knowledge regarding the sources of outstanding career success.\nLifetime perspective on the development of elite leaders: Recognizing that the process leading to elite leadership may be lifelong in nature and considering the potential impact of a disadvantaged background, this section summarizes the factors in childhood and youth known to influence career development to identify research questions for the current study. Previous findings have linked early trait characteristics to later leadership attainment, for instance, Reichard et al. (2011) found that extraversion in adolescence predicted holding a workplace leadership position at age 29, while adolescent IQ predicted holding a non-work leadership position at the same age. However, most scholars examining individual development take a social psychological perspective, arguing that life outcomes result from the interaction between individual traits and the environmental context (Day and Dragoni, 2015, Lent et al., 1994).\nMethods: The context of the study is the English-speaking Caribbean, with a population of 16.6 million people. Most of these countries, like Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, are considered \"high income\" or \"upper middle income\" among developing countries, and Jamaica was included as a lower-income country to represent the region's full economic range (Ferreira et al., 2013). Culturally, Afro-Caribbeans represent 92.4 percent of Barbados and 92.1 percent of Jamaica, while Trinidad and Tobago is \"plural\" with a population that is 36.5 percent Afro-Caribbean, 37.8 percent East Indian, and 16.2 percent \"Mixed\" (Central Statistical Office, 2011).\nResults: Consistencies across the life histories of multiple elite leaders are illustrated in the models of pre- and early career development of elite leaders. Quotations illustrate the empirical foundation of the model, with gender indicated as M or F, and individuals indicated by numbers. For instance, M7 indicates quotations from a particular man, and F11 indicates quotations from a particular woman.\nBeginnings: childhood and youth: All of these elite leaders considered developmental experiences in childhood and youth to be critical to their leadership effectiveness and ultimate career success. Strikingly, only six of these 78 elite leaders emerged from elite families. Many grew up in poverty (families subsisting on US$1-2 per day, 40 percent) or in working-class families (US$2-4 per day, 13 percent), and 40 percent hailed from middle-class families. Furthermore, 22 percent grew up under the guidance of a single mother. Most of these elites expressed the importance of having a strong parental figure (mother for 28 percent, father for 9 percent, both for 45 percent) who served as a role model and source of encouragement. Despite the socioeconomic diversity of their backgrounds, these elites were highly educated, with 84 percent completing tertiary education, 66 percent holding Master's level degrees, and 8 percent earning PhDs. A number had attended globally elite universities, such as Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge. The next sections develop three key themes evidenced in the childhood and youth of multiple elite leaders, specifically: support for talent development, proactivity in the face of barriers, and values-based action.\nLaunch: early career: Early career experiences provided a foundation for developing the career capital needed to achieve elite leadership positions in maturity. Elite leaders stated the importance of mentors, sponsors, and role models during the early career. They described early job assignments that provided opportunities for impact, visibility, and leadership development.\nDiscussion: This qualitative study analyzed the life histories of 78 elite business leaders from the English-speaking Caribbean region to identify pre-career and early career sources of critical developmental experiences. The study uncovered a process through which many elite leaders connected to critical sources of development during childhood and youth. As such, these findings articulate the situational factors supporting pre- and early career development that are under-developed in current theorizing (Singh et al., 2009; Day and Dragoni, 2015, Lent et al., 1994). Virtually all of the elites in the sample remember being identified as talented early in life and consider early messages about drive to achieve as well as support received from parents, teachers, and other interested adults to be critical to their eventual success. Hence, these findings underscore the importance of relational capital (Singh et al., 2009) during childhood and youth. Elites identify relationships and interactions during primary and secondary school as essential to their ultimate success. These findings extend existing theories of career development by articulating the context and timing in which critical relational processes take place.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The existence of disadvantaged sub-populations whose talents are under-leveraged is a problem faced by developing and developed countries alike. Life history data revealed that a large proportion of elite business leaders in the Caribbean emerged from childhood poverty (families subsisting on US$1-2 a day, 40 percent). The purpose of this paper is to examine the key factors supporting the career development of elite leaders from a broad socioeconomic spectrum and both genders in order to build a model of career development for elite leadership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected via in-depth interviews from a deliberately gender-balanced sample of 39 male and 39 female elite business leaders. Thematic analysis identified consistencies across independent interviews and resulted in a model identifying factors supporting pre-career development as key to eventual attainment of elite leadership.\nFindings: Findings indicated that in childhood and youth, proactivity plus talent recognition and mentoring by adults enhanced access to early developmental opportunities. Early career mentoring guided talented youth to build personal drive, self-esteem, altruism, and integrity, which created a foundation for developing career capital through values-based action. Altogether, these findings indicate the importance of pre-career relational capital to attainment of elite career success.\nOriginality/value: Difficult-to-access elite leaders provided rich information emphasizing the importance of pre-career development in childhood and youth to eventual elite leadership attainment. Virtually all of the elites in the sample remember being identified as talented early in life and consider early messages about drive to achieve as well as support received from parents, teachers, and other interested adults to be critical to their success. Hence, a process of talent recognition and encouragement to excel appear to be crucial for connecting young people to important relational capital allowing them to eventually achieve elite status, particularly those individuals hailing from disadvantaged backgrounds.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Case study of a custom colored carpet tile prototype utilizing sustainable sampling	[ "Sustainable design", "Building materials", "Flooring" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Textiles are critical to societies. Beyond their functionality, they impart aesthetics, convey meanings, and communicate traditions (Schneider, 1987). Carpet is a textile often comprising the largest unbroken application of color in commercial (non-residential) interior spaces and is available in almost every conceivable color. The most commonly specified commercial carpet products are broadloom and modular carpet tiles.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Symbolic interactionism\n3. Methods: This study adapted the prototype design process of LaBat and Sokolowski (1999) to develop a custom-colored carpet tile sample. They had examined the design processes used in various fields and had identified three stages common to all disciplines: problem definition and research, creative exploration, and implementation. LaBat and Solowski also determined that these stages were the most applicable to the design processes for textile products.\n4. Findings and discussion: The purpose of this study was to examine the design process, specifically a case study of a custom colored carpet tile prototype for a university client utilizing innovative and sustainable sampling techniques. First, the custom color application and evaluation was discussed and then sustainable sampling was described and deliberated based on the five major performance categories of NSF/ANSI 140-2007.\n5. Conclusion: Although creating a custom-colored commercial carpet tile product was a laborious and time-consuming activity, consumers in today's society have begun to expect tailored products that meet their needs. Custom colorization provides for personalization and the support of established color palettes without the anticipated higher associated expenses incurred with a completely custom product. Caivano and Lopez (2007) described that product colors can be utilized as codes, helping consumers identify appropriate choices for purchase and/or consumption. At universities, where the home team's colors are omnipresent and extremely meaningful to stakeholders, developing custom colored carpet tile is appropriate. This study developed custom colored carpet tile to align with the spirit of an institution.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the process of a custom colored carpet prototype that utilized innovative and sustainable sampling techniques.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study adapted the prototype design process of problem definition and research; creative exploration; and implementation by LaBat and Solowski. The stages of problem definition and research and creative exploration were conducted for this study. Since only a sample of the carpet tile was developed, the implementation stage was not applicable and was replaced with an deliberation stage. The deliberation process for sustainable sampling was based on the five major performance categories of the sustainable carpet assessment standard, NSF/ASNI 140-2007: Public Health and Environment; Energy and Energy Efficiency; Bio-based Content, Recycled Content, and Environmentally Preferable Materials; Manufacturing; and Reclamation and End of Life Management.\nFindings: A third party's proprietary sustainable sampling system was employed to support experimentation with multiple colorway applications, while minimizing sample waste. A custom colored commercial carpet tile that reflects one university's unique color palette was developed in collaboration with a large carpet manufacturer.\nResearch limitations/implications: The deliberation stage was not intended to measure or award the points for the five performance categories. Moreover, the researchers are not eligible to certify carpet products. The certifiers are reputable auditors such as Scientific Certification Systems, UL Environment and NSF International. Rather, the five major performance categories of NSF/ASNI 140-2007 were employed as the framework for discussion.\nPractical implications: Although creating a custom-colored commercial carpet tile product was a laborious and time-consuming activity, consumers in today's society have begun to expect tailored products that meet their needs. Custom colorization provides for personalization and the support of established color palettes without the anticipated higher associated expenses incurred with a completely custom product. At universities, where the home team's colors are omnipresent and extremely meaningful to stakeholders, developing custom colored carpet tile is appropriate.\nOriginality/value: Sustainable sampling was effectively utilized to facilitate a custom colored carpet tile prototype. This study fills a gap in the current literature since it incorporates a case study of the design of a sustainable interior product. Previously, few studies have tracked the inception and development of a carpet product through its design phases.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The art of unifying high-performance work practices, employee attitudes, and service quality: Harnessing trust on Greece's banking frontline	[ "Greece", "Banking", "Trust", "High-performance work systems" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Driving people performance within the workplace has many moving parts, meaning that managers can often lose the human connection with their teams by becoming too deeply attached to following background processes. A research paper by Kloutsiniotis and Mihail (2018) analyzes the impact of employee attitudes toward HR-led high-performance work systems (HPWS) in relation to the trust they feel in their managers. How this trust dynamic affects the quality of the service employees deliver is also explored. The interplay between HPWS, job satisfaction and commitment, trust, and employee service levels is therefore the core focus of the study. Data were gathered from 350 customer-facing Greek banking employees.\nThe concept of trust in a workplace context: HPWS provide a stream of knowledge that employees can tap into to raise the quality of service they provide to customers, which also has the potential for boosting well-being levels and further improving organizational performance as a result. Trust in an employer manifests as a source of competitive advantage for the organization because the generated trust translates to increased employee retention, motivation, commitment, and efficiency, as well as lower absence rates. Trust in the work context can be defined as employees having a reliable sense of faith that their employer will listen to and act upon their views. This perceived trust applies both at the personal micro level with a line manager and at a wider macro level with the employing organization as a whole.\nPerformance trends from the survey results: Based on asking survey questions to frontline employees from four of Greece's banks, such as \"To what extent do you trust management at this bank?\", the study's hypotheses were tested to produce the following results:\nImplementing actionable insights: HR can enhance the trust felt in an organization by implementing HPWS measures such as training opportunities and plans for in-company career paths, as these positively radiate trust signals to employees about the employer's mindset toward them. Employees naturally encourage themselves to reciprocate such feelings with positive attitudes to their work and their managers, boosting their productivity because of increased job satisfaction that reduces their stress levels at work. It is therefore difficult for HR to positively benefit the organization by implementing HPWS where trust is not present between employees and management. Based on the findings, the study's authors make the following five recommendations to managers:\nCommentary: The review is based on \"The link between perceived high-performance work practices, employee attitudes and service quality: The mediating and moderating role of trust\" by Kloutsiniotis and Mihail (2018), published in Employee Relations. This research paper concentrates on the impact that trust levels between employees and their managers have on their performance and the service-quality level they become focused on delivering. Implementing trust-signaling HR policies, such as a consistently applied and transparent learning and development offering, supports managers in the active work of building trust with their people. Trusted employees reciprocate the feeling and ultimately become higher performers by being more satisfied at work.\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 his/her own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: This research paper concentrates on the impact that trust levels between employees and their managers have on their performance and the service-quality level they become focused on delivering. Implementing trust-signaling HR policies, such as a consistently applied and transparent learning and development offering, supports managers in the active work of building trust with their people. Trusted employees reciprocate the feeling and ultimately become higher performers by being more satisfied at work.\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" } ]
How servant leadership creates and accumulates social capital personally owned in hotel firms	[ "Social interaction", "Bonding", "Servant leadership", "Bridging", "Personal social capital" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Social capital is a topic that has recently gained relevance in hospitality and tourism research (Kim et al., 2013). Unfortunately, existing research in the field has mostly focused on the study of social capital as a collective asset. The idea of social capital being personally owned by employees is practically missing from the current hospitality literature, and studies indicate that there is a need to investigate the antecedents of this individual asset (King and Lee, 2016). In addition, although a prolific number of studies have investigated elements clearly connected with the development of social interactions, such as interpersonal citizenship behavior (Han et al., 2016; Jung and Yoon, 2015) or leader-member exchange (LMX, Zou et al., 2015), social interaction has not been studied in relation to its clear connection with the creation and development of personal social capital (De Clercq et al., 2014).\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Servant leadership and personal social capital\nMethod: Procedure and sample characteristics\nResults: The results in Table III show that inter-correlations are in the expected directions. To test the hypotheses, a first step was to consider a SEM model where servant leadership was entered along with the control variables and the criterion variables, namely, bonding and bridging (Figure 2). Then, another SEM model was considered, which, in addition to the aforementioned variables, includes social interaction with peers inside and outside the group as mediators (Figure 3). The various fit indices used reveal a low but tolerable fit of the model that includes main effects from servant leadership to personal bonding and bridging (Hair et al., 2006) (kh2 = 705.951; df = 247; p < 0.001; CFI = 0.938; SRMR = 0.059; RMSEA = 0.067; Figure 2). The significant main paths from servant leadership to bonding (b = 0.306; p < 0.001) and bridging (b = 0.149; p < 0.01) support both H1a and H1b, respectively.\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to test whether servant leaders lead followers to socially interact more frequently, closely and personally with peers, and if this social interaction links servant leaders with employees' personal social capital, both in terms of bonding (networks linking employees of a similar kind) and bridging (networks linking agents of different kinds).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 403 employees from 59 large Spanish hotels. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: The results reveal that servant leadership has a positive effect on bonding and bridging, which is mediated by employees' social interactions with peers inside and outside their groups, respectively.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings suggest that hotel managers should adopt servant leadership to facilitate social interactions at work, thus allowing employees to individually gain personal assets that improve the hotel's social capital resources.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to analyze whether servant leadership shapes personal social capital in business settings. Moreover, it is the first to show the mechanisms (social interactions with peers inside and outside their groups) through which managerial servant leadership encourages this valuable personal asset in hotels.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Brexit: measuring the impact upon skilled labour in the UK construction industry	[ "Brexit", "Skilled labour", "Skills shortages", "UK construction industry" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The construction industry represents a major contributor to the UK economy (Fien and Winfree, 2014; Levack, 2012; Hilling, 2015). It generates approximately PS90 billion annually, which is equivalent to 6.5 per cent of the UK's GDP (Rhodes, 2015). In addition, The Department for Business Innovation and Skills states that the construction industry: \"employs in excess of 2.93 million people, the equivalent of about 10% of UK employment\" (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 2013, p. 7). To maintain this status, the industry is heavily reliant upon skilled labour to complete and deliver infrastructure projects (Forde and MacKenzie, 2004; Rolfe and Hudson-Sharp, 2016). However, a recent report published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), indicates that sector economic growth is being restricted by significant skills shortages (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 2015). These skills shortages invariably affect the client's requirements in terms of time, cost and quality as the sector is heavily reliant upon its workforce (Mackenzie et al., 2000; Chan and Dainty, 2007; Abdul-Hamid et al., 2011).\nReasons for Brexit and demand for skilled labour: The key driving forces behind the UK's decision to leave the EU has been cited as: significant hostility towards immigration and its potentially detrimental impact upon the economy due to \"benefit tourism\"; and/or the desire to retain national self-determination given widespread perceptions of a \"lack of control\"(cf. Tilford, 2016; Minford and Lyons, 2016; Springford, 2013). Other arguments centred upon a perceived preference for EU migrant workers over native British counterparts due to lower (cheap) labour costs (Ruhs and Anderson, 2012). Somerville (2016) claims that an important socio-economic consideration is the UK public's concern regarding the ability of the government to manage and cope with migration competently. This has led to widespread disillusionment with the EU due to uncontrolled immigration (Tilford, 2016). Yet public perception has been contrary to industrial demand and the widespread view of UK practitioners that EU skilled labour has a superior work ethic and provides a reliable short-term solution to the sector's skills shortage (Rolfe and Hudson-Sharp, 2016). Indeed, EU skilled labour was intentionally incentivised to work in the UK construction industry (Migration Advisory Committee, 2014). Reasons for this are myriad, but Dixon (2013) reports skills disparity amongst tradesmen to be a prominent issue whilst O'Donnell et al. (2008) suggest that retiring baby-boomers further increased demand for skilled labour. The majority of UK construction companies recognise that migration from Eastern Europe plays a major role in filling the construction industry's skills shortage (Branson, 2016). Furthermore, Ruiz (2004) adds that whilst EU migration may \"fill a gap\" in the UK's labour shortages, it does not have a detrimental impact upon the economy. However, while contemplating the labour supply shortfall, McKay et al. (2012) comment that EU skilled labour has become dominant in the construction industry thus increasing demand for migrant workers (Belman, 2013; Vargas-Silva, 2016). This ongoing academic discourse highlights the importance of the issue of non-UK skilled labour (UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), 2014; Pisani-Ferry et al., 2016).\nThe type of Brexit and its consequences: There is currently a high degree of uncertainty about the \"type\" of Brexit (i.e. \"soft\" or \"hard\") that the UK is likely to enforce (Fichtner et al., 2016) (refer to Table II). The UK Prime Minister (Theresa May), reflecting a broad base and the \"leave\" constituency, has stated that: \"Brexit means Brexit\" and that she will make a success of it - albeit the process could take up to two years to complete (Dominiczak and Wilkinson, 2016). However, there is considerable uncertainty as to whether the construction industry will continue to have access to the free movement of EU workers (Oliver, 2016). Lack of access could be problematic for a sector that is already at a labour-skills crisis point (Branson, 2016). Migrant restrictions could divert EU labour to alternative EU countries with lesser restrictions on migrant labour (Wilson, 2016). Despite this risk, some form of restriction upon EU immigration may be implemented as this issue remains an omnipresent political \"football\" that has driven the UK Government's agenda and possibly the type of Brexit ultimately adopted (Wasniowski, 2016; Koch, 2016; Swales and Baker, 2016). An antithesis to negative consequences reported is propagated by Marley (2016) who suggests that Brexit will reduce bureaucratic red tape thus facilitating greater trade with countries outside the EU. Wood (2016) comments that withdrawing from the EU could also benefit UK construction workers as access to a broader portfolio of job opportunities could become available and wage rises may ensue. One of the UK's primary aspirations is to remain a member of the single market (Emmerson et al., 2016). However, European Commission spokespeople (particularly Jean Claude Juncker, European Commission President) have numerously stated that if the UK wishes to retain this membership, it must accept the free movement of people (Swales and Baker, 2016).\nResearch approach: An inductive methodology was adopted using a mixed methods approach (as adopted by Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003). It should be noted that where a mixed methods approach is used, it resembles the third methodological movement or the third paradigm (Adolphus, 2005). This approach combines quantitative and qualitative methods and techniques sequentially into a single study (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004; Creswell, 2003; Yin, 2006). Palpable benefits to be derived include that it: provides a better understanding of research problems (Creswell, 2003; Woolley, 2009); yields more complete evidence and strengthen findings (Adolphus, 2005); captures in-depth views and experiences from participants about the subject matter under investigation (Jogulu and Pansiri, 2011; Farrell, 2011); and is inherently flexible, capturing pertinent data and enabling comprehensive analysis (King, 1994).\nData collection and analysis: To ensure that strict ethical considerations were adhered to, participants were not asked to provide their name, specific age or employer details. Participants were also reassured that: they could withdraw from the study at any stage in the process; all data collected would be securely disposed of once analysed and published; and any personal details disclosed voluntarily would be kept strictly confidential (Oliver, 2010). A total of 63 questionnaires were distributed to construction personnel, with 51 respondents completing the questionnaire. Data were collected over a period of 45 days and a high 80.95 per cent response rate was recorded. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this high response rate is associated with the interest, uncertainties and current relevance of Brexit from personnel within the construction industry. Additionally, it is partly associated with the extensive networking links available to the researchers (within the Building Birmingham Scholarship) and the snowballing sampling method employed.\nSurvey findings and discussion: All respondents claimed to have experience of working within the construction industry (5 years) and were confident to report upon the potential impact of Brexit and the supply of skilled labour (refer to Table III). The largest age-range group of respondents was those aged between 25 and 35 years (refer to Table IV). The high response rate from this age-group could be due to an elevated level of interest from younger to middle-aged professionals. Table V illustrates that quantity surveyors (with 22 no. responses) represented the largest group of participating respondents, followed by: managers (13 no. responses); labour personnel (5 no. responses); clerk of works and designers (2 no. responses each); engineers (3 no. responses); and consultants (4 responses). Surveyors and managers had a higher response rate because the topic under investigation impacted upon their professional occupation. Anecdotal evidence suggests that quantity surveyors were interested to determine whether a labour shortage would increase labour (and consequently, project) costs. Similarly, managers sought to determine whether the influx of European skilled labour would cease or be limited in the future - such resource limitations have major ramifications upon delivering a programme of works on time and to a desired level of quality.\nConclusions: The extant literature and questionnaire results confirm that widespread industry opposition against Brexit prevails; many perceive that Brexit will reduce the supply of skilled labour from the EU rather than increase or enhance it. Viewpoints of practitioners and the extant literature further substantiate and underscore the industry's dire need for skilled labour. Cumulatively, this discourse with practitioners demonstrates the industry's reliance upon EU skilled labour and that the negative connotations of Brexit (and the unattractive image it portrays) may repel EU skilled labour from entering the industry. To overcome the detrimental impact that Brexit could have by further exacerbating an omnipresent skills shortage, it is recommended that the free movement of people is retained, which can be achieved if the UK joins the European Free Trade Association and remains part of the European Economic Area. This option would ensure the free movement of goods, services, persons and capital whilst placating calls for stronger national sovereignty. Existing indigenous skilled labour should also be retained through the implementation of incentives such as increased wages, guaranteed overtime opportunities or reducing physical exertion via the implementation of technology and automation. To attract future generations of indigenous and/or foreign skilled labour, the image of a career in construction requires all-embracing reform. Advanced technological innovations (such as automation to reduce manual labour) should be marketed more effectively to young people to demonstrate the opportunities available to them. However, it is also apparent that the recurrent \"boom-and-bust\" nature of the sector presents a systemic problem that grossly aggravates the skills shortage conundrum. Perhaps long-term government infrastructure planning reform could lessen the impact of such wild economic perturbations, but in today's global economy, such may, merely, act as a buffer vis-a-vis a panacea to economic fortunes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an understanding of the potential impact of Brexit upon the UK construction industry. Specifically, the work analyses the construction industry's reliance upon European Union (EU) skilled labour and seeks to determine the potential impact that Brexit poses upon EU skilled labour entering the sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A perceptual questionnaire survey was used to elicit responses from construction professionals using the two techniques of opportunity and snowballing non-probability sampling. Summary statistical analysis of Boolean and Likert item scale data accrued was employed to elucidate upon respondents' perceptions.\nFindings: The majority of survey participants either \"strongly agreed\" or \"agreed\" that the UK construction industry relies upon EU skilled labour and that a career in the sector would not be attractive for foreign skilled labour post-Brexit. Future research proposed includes: predicting future trends in labour supply and demand and deriving new policies to address skills shortage imbalances that may be created by Brexit.\nOriginality/value: Original insight into an historic and unprecedented moment for the UK construction industry is presented. The work also provides pragmatic recommendations to policy makers and Higher Education Institutes to prevent the risk of Brexit further exacerbating skilled labour shortages within the industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Important factors for success in hospital BPR project phases	[ "Hospital", "BPR", "Project phases" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Technological innovation in the healthcare industry generally and hospitals particularly has been widely recognized in the literature (Gospodarevskaya and Churilov, 2011; Leu and Huang, 2011; Ramanigopal et al., 2011; Leidner et al., 2010; Salge and Vera, 2009; Wu and Hsieh, 2011). Historically, promises and expectations from dramatic innovations underlying BPR have been impressive (Hug and Martin, 2006; Teresko, 2004; Hise, 2007), but in many cases numerous and sometimes crippling problems emerged. From the early beginnings, few managers reaped the benefits they expected (Kumar and Harms, 2004; Launonen and Kess, 2002). In the past, succumbing to pressure to produce quick results, managers implementing BPR ignored the changes in organizational structure, misused and alienated subordinates, sold-off solid businesses, neglected important research and development that hindered modernizing their facilities (Cascio, 1993). With so many mistakes and problems, why are managers still trying to implement BPR projects? They may have no choice, since the need for dramatic improvements to business processes are related to organization survival and prosperity. Hospital staff have attempted to improve their performance in many ways (Seddon and Buchanan, 2004; Westphal et al., 1997); i.e. 63 percent of hospitals in one national study were engaged in reengineering projects (Pierson and Williams, 1994).\nTheoretical framework: Major constructs\nMethodology: Sampling and data collection\nConclusions, implications and managerial recommendations: While we expected that all success factors proposed in the literature would be important to every BPR project phase, our results indicate that some success factors are more or less important to a particular phase. Table V indicates that, except for the insignificant relationship between project inception and the process change/redesign phase, the relationships between the other phases are all significant and in some cases seem to represent a major determinant of success in the subsequent phase. Table V also shows the most important factors necessary for success in a specific phase. Based on the specific order in which the independent variables entered the regression equation, Table VI indicates the success factors that account for the largest variance in the ratings for success in each phase. For example, leadership/motivation accounts for 21 percent of the variance in the project inception ratings. Combined with process expertise available and team cohesiveness, these three variables explain 39 percent of the variance for the project inception phase ratings. Table VII summarizes and integrates the results presented in Tables V and VI.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Business process reengineering (BPR) is touted in the literature as the dramatic improvements necessary for competitiveness, but in practice there are many unsuccessful cases. A more systematic and rigorous factor-assessment deemed important to each BPR phase and overall project success is needed. This paper aims to assess the extent to which proposed success factors in a hospital contribute to each BPR phase's success.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on the relevant literature, desirable results from each project phase were defined. Overall project success was defined as the benefits hospital managers derive from BPR according to manager opinions. A total of 192 hospital administrators shared their last BPR experience, where changes were operational for at least one year.\nFindings: Recommendations are made for hospital managers to focus attention and resources on factors important to BPR success. Hospital managers are not emphasizing the most important activities and tasks recommended in the BPR literature, such as changes to customer/market related business processes, every business activity's value-added element and applying the right innovative technology. Based on the whole findings, top managers should not engage BPR before ensuring that important success factors are present.\nOriginality/value: While many researchers identified and/or tested factors important to BPR success, this is the first study to explore BPR success factors' importance to each project phase, from inception to overall project success assessment phase.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The functions, attributes and challenges of academic leadership in New Zealand polytechnics	[ "Higher education", "New Zealand", "Academic leadership", "Polytechnics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As accountability stakes continue to be raised in higher education, so do the demands on leadership which is increasingly viewed as a factor that impacts on educational conditions and consequently on the quality of student learning. New Zealand is no exception to this trend and the polytechnic sector is experiencing a heightened demand for transparency related to measurable outcomes for student achievement. Hence, it is not surprising to note a renewed interest in leadership actions that occur closest to the primary work of teaching and research in higher educational organisations. There is currently a small international literature that examines the concept of academic leadership per se as a particular conceptualisation of leadership in educational settings with a focus on teaching and learning (Gardiner, 2002; Marshall et al., 2011; Ramsden, 1998). Because there is a miniscule amount of work that refers to New Zealand settings (Marshall, 2012; Yielder and Codling, 2004), this research is both timely and important in the polytechnic sector.\nFunctions of academic leadership: The literature conveys the functions that constitute the work of academic leadership in a variety of ways. One approach to determining these functions is that taken by Scott et al. (2008) who refer to what academic leaders actually do. In their research these authors identified five areas of major work focus comprising:\nAttributes and behaviours of effective academic leaders: In one of the most comprehensive reviews of contemporary literature undertaken to isolate features of effective department-level leadership, Bryman (2007, p. 697) identified 13 leadership behaviours associated with leadership effectiveness at departmental level. These features can be classified in terms of a leader's behavioural interactions at organisational level and interpersonal behavioural interactions with academics as shown in Table I.\nChallenges of academic leadership: The role of an academic leader is complex, large and often imbued with ambiguity. One of the fundamental challenges that academic leaders encounter is a lack of clarity about the nature of this context-specific form of leadership that embraces both management and leadership functions and is generally poorly described in official documents and statements of performance expectations (Marshall et al., 2011; Scott et al., 2008; Yielder and Codling, 2004). Furthermore, most of the literature on academic leadership, as opposed to leadership in general, in higher education settings stresses that this role is performed largely by mid-level managers such as department heads. For these leaders \"being in the middle\" it one of the major challenges of the role because as Scott et al. (2008, p. 56) state:\nResearch design: The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the way in which academic leaders in New Zealand polytechnics conceptualised the nature and scope of their role and perceived its challenges. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with twelve mid-level academic leaders and three senior academic directors in four New Zealand metro polytechnics. I am extremely grateful to the Chief Executives of these large urban institutions for giving me permission to conduct this research. In each location I was assigned a liaison person who invited a range of academic leaders to participate (creating a purposive sample) and assisted a colleague and myself (the interviewers) with arrangements to conduct hour-long interviews which were digitally recorded and then transcribed. The participants who were in the roles of Academic Director (n=3), Head of Department/School (n=5) and Programme Leader/Director (n=7) were each sent their interview transcript for checking and verification.\nFindings and discussion: Findings are presented and discussed under three categories: organisational demands, interpersonal demands and intrapersonal demands. Interwoven in each of these categories are the themes of functions, attributes and challenges of academic leadership.\nConclusions: A great deal is expected of academic leaders in New Zealand polytechnics. This study has investigated the scope of the role as it is documented and practiced by mid-level academic leaders with the titles of Head of School, Head of Department, Academic Manager, Programme Leader and Academic Director. Ostensibly their role does not differ vastly from the research that documents the roles of department heads and department chairs in higher education settings in Australia, the UK and the USA. It can be encapsulated in relation to four common functions: organisational leadership, curriculum leadership, academic management and academic currency. A conclusion of this study is that putting the documented role into practice creates major challenges for practitioners. Overall, these role challenges can be summarised as a lack of understanding of the complexity and tensions within the role leading to a lack of role clarity which consequently leads to difficulty in setting priorities that focus directly on influencing the quality of teaching and learning. The institution should take responsibility for communicating a conceptual understanding of the role that reduces ambiguity and identifies priorities. Furthermore, providing adequate and relevant support (related to clerical and process administration tasks) for mid-level academic should be an institutional-level decision-making priority.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Leadership in educational settings has been established as a key factor that impacts student learning outcomes, consequently it is important to understand how academic leadership is conceptualised and enacted. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative study investigated the nature and demands of academic leadership in the New Zealand polytechnic sector by analysing documentary evidence and investigating the perceptions held of the role by 15 academic leaders in four institutions who were interviewed.\nFindings: Findings of the study highlight the four roles of organisational leadership, curriculum leadership, academic management and academic currency. Participants confirmed that they struggle with ambiguity and tensions. The importance of teams, collaboration and communication are established and the study concludes that an understanding of role complexity to reduce ambiguity and provision of support to perform the role should be key institutional concerns.\nOriginality/value: This is one of very few research studies into conceptualising and researching the enactment of academic leadership in a polytechnic setting. The findings could impact the design of future leadership development.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing in a time of crisis: marketing, HRM and innovation	[ "Market orientation", "Human resource management", "Innovation", "Performance", "Economic crisis", "Slovenia", "Business cycles", "Organizational performance", "Market share" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: \"It is difficult for firms to recognize and adapt to change when it is drastic, sudden, and externally forced\" (Lee et al., 2009). However, there is a thin line between sudden events of change and crises, which, despite their low probability of occurrence, may have serious consequences for a company (Vassilikopoulou et al., 2009). This paper follows Beebe's (2004) advice that the literature and academic research should place greater emphasis on exploring and documenting unpredictable events (e.g. economic crises); hence, we explored selected dimensions of market orientation, HRM, and innovation among top Slovenian employers that mainly operate in organizational (B2B) markets, both before and during the current economic crisis in Slovenia.Because the current crisis is an event that requires extra resources, organizations often rely on social relational networks made up of many interconnected relationships in order to acquire resources for their survival (Lin, 2002). A study by Lee et al. (2009) shows that sudden change can offer benefits to companies that have invested in and developed flexible (relational) capabilities and resources. In this context, and in the context of the resource-based view of the company (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990; Karami et al., 2004) good internal organizational relationships (with employees) and external organizational relationships (with customers, suppliers, etc) may be seen as a key company resource and source of competitive capabilities (e.g. Prahalad and Hamel, 1990; Karami et al., 2004; Li et al., 2006). Ullmann (2003) argues that high-quality relationships between employers, employees, customers, and suppliers lead to long-term commitment and long-term contracting, and may be seen as a way out of critical situations and crises. Thus, some companies may even view a crisis as an opportunity to change and build a competitive advantage (Lee et al., 2009). The motives for building and engaging in new inter- and intra-company relationships, while redesigning existing ones, may be the result of external challenges and/or internal needs (Knudsen, 2007).When linking internal contexts (HRM, internal marketing, and innovations) and external contexts (market orientation and customer expectations) that are characterized by a turbulent economic environment, various organizational processes face different pressures to change and adapt to new circumstances. In this context, with their focus on creating value-adding, trusting, and long-term relationships with all types of \"customers\" (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) marketing processes are under even greater pressure because they are focused on both \"internal customers\" (employees) and external customers (e.g. buyers, suppliers, etc; Lynch, 1995).This paper explores the link between selected market orientation dimensions, HRM, and innovation and their impact on organizational performance, both before and during the current economic crisis, among top employers in Slovenia. The data for the analysis are drawn from a two-year study of the 101 best Slovenian employers between 2008 and 2009. Altogether, over 15,000 respondents and more than 170 companies took part in the study, making it the largest of its kind in Slovenia and southeast Europe. The research method consists of simple paired comparisons of univariate and bivariate statistics, as well as factor analysis, regression, and correlation analysis. The paper first outlines the link between market orientation, HRM, innovation, and performance, and particularly addresses the role of trust in these relational contexts. The second part, the Golden Thread Study, explains the sample characteristics and applied methodology in greater detail. This is followed by a discussion of the results and a presentation of managerial implications. As such, the paper addresses the research gap addressed by Beebe (2004), contributes to the understanding of how companies weather long-term economic storms, and provides an extensive array of empirical results that go beyond a mere pair-wise marketing-HRM or HRM-innovation functional interaction. In this context, Slovenia may be of particular research interest because it is one of the most developed new EU member states, as well as a member of the Eurozone and OECD. Its small market of two million people and the fact that our samples represent approximately 2 percent of the total labor force make Slovenia an ideal research case for examining various organizational process changes in an economic crisis.\n2. Literature review and development of hypotheses: Marketing orientation is a central philosophy of marketing (Morgan and Strong, 1998) and, although both terms have been very frequently used in the literature, there is still inconsistency in their definitions and applications (Deng and Dart, 1994). On the one hand, marketing as a business philosophy strives to achieve long-term profitability by focusing organizational activities toward satisfying the needs of distinctive market segments, while on the other hand market orientation deals with the generation of market intelligence about current and future customer needs and capability to satisfy those needs, integrating and disseminating such intelligence across departments, and the organization's response to market opportunities (Deng and Dart, 1994; Morgan and Strong, 1998). Furthermore, Kohli and Jaworski (1990) explain that market orientation reflects the extent to which a firm's actions are consistent with marketing philosophy, and therefore the operationalization of marketing is closely connected to market orientation. In sum, according to Narver and Slater (1990), market orientation is a firm's response to consumer needs and tastes, reflected in a distinct organizational culture, which puts the customer at the center of the firm's strategy and operations (Mavondo and Farrell, 2003). However, the terms consumers and customers should be understood here in their broadest possible sense.The marketing literature (e.g. Han et al., 1998; Jiminez et al., 2008; Mavondo et al., 2005) reports that two theoretical frameworks can be distinguished (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990) that conceptualize market orientation. On the one hand, Kohli and Jaworski (1990) propose an information process-based model (Jiminez et al., 2008; Mavondo et al., 2005) in which market orientation is described by three key activities:1. market intelligence generation pertaining to current and future customer needs;2. intelligence dissemination across departments; and3. organization responsiveness to market intelligence.On the other hand, Narver and Slater (1990) emphasize the cultural perspective of the concept (Jiminez et al., 2008) and view a firm's market orientation as a result of its customer orientation (sufficient understanding of buyers to be able to create superior value for them), competitor orientation (understanding of short-term strengths and weaknesses, and long-term capabilities and strategies of key current and potential competitors), and inter-functional coordination (coordinated utilization of company resources in order to create superior value for customers). Although the two concepts differ in their perspective and emphasis (Mavondo et al., 2005), they share some similarities, including the same key components, such as the need for and interest in knowledge of customers and competitors, and their needs and wants, as well as the need for coordination between functions and departments, and the ability to respond to market opportunities (Jiminez et al., 2008; Mavondo et al., 2005).Our research draws a parallel with the seminal work of Kohli and Jaworski (1990), whereby we link market intelligence generation activity as the first market orientation activity to our conceptualization of customer expectations perceived by managers. We posit that the dissemination of intelligence among departments has an impact on HRM activities within a firm, whereas responsiveness as the third element of the original market orientation framework is posited to have an impact on innovation. There is extensive previous research on market orientation, as well as its antecedents and consequences. This includes the confirmed market orientation-performance link (e.g. Jaworski and Kohli, 1993; Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990), the market orientation and innovation relationship (e.g. Atuahene-Gima, 1996; Deshpande et al., 1993; Jiminez et al., 2008), the market orientation-innovation-performance link (e.g. Han et al., 1998; Mavondo and Farrell, 2003), the strategic human resource management, market orientation, and organizational performance relationship (e.g. Harris and Ogbonna, 2001; Wei and Lau, 2008), and, finally, market orientation, HRM, innovation, and performance association (Mavondo et al., 2005).Research by Mavondo et al. (2005) suggests that HRM and innovation are important mediators between market orientation and performance. However, unlike previous research, we investigate the relationship between market orientation, HRM, and innovation using customer expectations perceived by managers as predictors and indicators of the market orientation construct. Customer expectations perceived and evaluated by managers included perceived quality (in products, services, and processes), price and payment terms, additional product- and/or service-related services, and trust and a long-term relationship with the company. Day (1994) defines pricing and customer service delivery as spanning capabilities of the firm that integrate inside-out capabilities (deployed inside and activated by market requirements, competitive challenges, and external opportunities), such as innovation and HRM in our case, and outside-in capabilities (connecting organizational capabilities to the external environment and anticipating market requirements ahead of the competition), such as customer linking (e.g. trust and long-term relationships) and technology and quality monitoring.Trust, long-term relationships, and HRM\n3. Empirical study: Research design\n4. Discussion and implications: Before discussing the findings, the limitations of the research should be discussed. In terms of sampling, it must be noted that the yearly samples are not representative of the Slovenian business population; they are based on the strong self-selection of respondent companies and include above-average Slovenian companies. Thus, the results should only be viewed as insights into selected best practices of top Slovenian employers. Second, being a media-research project, the survey instruments were intended to provide a general overview of key HRM, marketing, and business innovation performance information. This is also reflected to a certain extent in the methodology applied in this paper. In measuring specific aspects of marketing and business innovation performance, it must be noted that the data are based on respondents' perceptions. A further limitation is a methodological one because single-item constructs were used to measure market orientation in our study. As Zeithaml (1988) report, using uni-dimensional measures to capture the concepts may lead to shared meanings among research respondents. In addition, several specifics of Slovenian culture (e.g. strong collectivism, high uncertainty avoidance, and predominance of feminine values) within the Hofstede (2001) cultural typology may have had an impact, whereby respondents may have avoided extreme values in particular Likert statements.Having pointed out some limitations of our research, the research findings were surprising in two ways. First, with regard to innovation, we found some conflicting results when comparing existing literature. There is no doubt that higher levels of entrepreneurial and innovation activities are not only a result of better internal relations and HRM (e.g. Magnusson, 2003; Achterbergh et al., 2003; and Hellstrom et al., 2002), but also lead to higher market shares, profitability, and growth (Tidd et al., 2006). However, our research showed a negative relationship between innovation and organizational performance during the crisis. This may lead us to the conclusion that companies responded to the economic downturn by cutting their R&D budgets and activities, which may produce far-reaching business implications. There were also no significant relationships between perceived quality, price, and innovation in our regression. Han et al. (1998) provide a possible explanation because they claim that companies innovate throughout the entire business system, as opposed to solely in products or services. Second, our research found a negative impact of innovations on performance. Jiminez et al. (2008) claim that market orientation is more commonly linked to more reactive innovations, which in a time of crisis innovations are insufficient for achieving higher performance, but merely represent the base for survival. On the other hand, Mavondo et al. (2005) found that HRM has a more important impact on performance than innovation, and therefore the strong impact of HRM in our model may diminish the impact of innovation on performance. Nevertheless, there might also be differences in terms of the industries covered by this study because our sample was not a representative one (with regard to industries). As explained by Han et al. (1998), in a service industry context, the time between the implementation of innovations and their impact on performance is shorter than compared to a manufacturing industry. Therefore, we propose that further research investigate antecedents and consequences of innovation at its different stages, as well as between manufacturing and service industries.Because the study includes respondents that were motivated to express their perceptions about their companies' developments and their positions within them, these results are still meaningful. The fact that the respondents \"positioned\" marketing and HRM the highest in process development (change) within the last three years points to a change in the marketing understanding of Slovenian companies, both in terms of external marketing and internal marketing (connected to HRM). Adding the managerial perceptions about the customers' understanding of product and price, quality, trust, and a long-term relationship with the company and additional service development, which were all ranked above price, the general impression is that understanding of marketing has good grounds and a proper managerial approach in 101 of Slovenia's best employer companies, which mainly operate in B2B markets.Taking a broader perspective, the reason for the negative relationship between innovation and organizational performance during the crisis might also lie in the fact that new investments were heavily reduced due to the short-term orientation toward retaining customers and reducing costs. Especially in B2B business, the pressure on maintaining business was intense, and certain industries were facing high reductions in demand (e.g. the car industry, electrical industry, optical industry, textiles, etc). Most such representatives were included in this research as well.In addition, the continuing crisis and now the recession has led to changes in the values of employees and customers and raised the issue of who we can still trust (or not). This therefore indicates a confirmation of the high importance of relationship marketing values and marketing orientation of the company, both internally (employees) and externally (customers). Moreover, as Lee et al. (2009) have shown, a sudden change can yield benefits for companies that have invested in and developed flexible (relational) capabilities and resources, of which trust is a crucial prerequisite. If the 101 best employers were not flexible in terms of their resources and capabilities, their employees would not express such a high process orientation and its development (marketing, HRM) of important element rankings (trust, relationships, quality before price). These perceptions, on the other hand, show why these firms were still the best Slovenian employers even during the crisis.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the link between selected market orientation dimensions, HRM, and innovation, and their impact on organizational performance before and during the current economic crisis in Slovenia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The data for the analysis are drawn from a longitudinal cross-sectional study of the 101 best Slovenian employers between 2008 and 2009. Altogether, over 15,000 respondents and more than 170 companies took part in the study, making it the largest of its kind in Slovenia and southeast Europe. The research method applied in the paper is exploratory and consists of simple paired comparisons of univariate and bivariate statistics, as well as factor analysis, regression analysis, and correlation analysis.\nFindings: - The results show that customer expectations regarding trust and long-term performance have a positive impact on HRM practices within a firm, that HRM positively impacts organizational performance, and that innovation unexpectedly impacts it negatively (at least in the short-term). No significant relationships between customer expectations of services, quality, and price, and their impact on HRM and innovation, respectively, were found. However, the research partially confirms that the crisis is affecting organizational performance because companies are deploying more HRM practices and, unexpectedly, fewer innovation activities.\nOriginality/value: - This paper explores market orientation, HRM, innovation, and performance-related dimensions in a B2B relationship marketing context based on the results of an extensive longitudinal cross-sectional company-employee study conducted in Slovenia before and during the current economic downturn. The findings offer a unique glimpse into the impact of the current economic crisis on the observed links and relational dimensions, and also have important managerial implications.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managerial overconfidence, government intervention and corporate financing decision	[ "Government ownership", "Corporate financing decision", "Malaysian public listed companies", "Managerial overconfidence" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For at least the last two decades, applied researchers have become increasingly interested in exploring the primary antecedents of corporate financing decision. Although the topic is not unique in the Malaysian context, companies in Malaysia suffered from over-leveraging. However, companies that are similar in terms of firm fundamentals often choose very different level of corporate leverage. Generally, prior studies support such financial theories as Trade-off Theory (Miller, 1977), Pecking Order Theory (Myers and Majluf, 1984; Myers, 1984) and Agency Theory (Jensen and Meckling, 1976) in discussing determinants of capital structure and most of them focus on firm fundamental characteristics in explaining corporate financing decision. Little work has been done to empirically study other potential determinants, particularly behavioral finance. Note that the possible roles of human, specifically individual managers in influencing capital structure choice is undeniable (Barros and da Silveira, 2009). In view of that, we thus aim to explore the effects of human, particularly CEO characteristics on corporate financing decision.\n2. Theories discussion and literature review: 2.1. Theories discussion\n3. Data and methodology: 3.1. Source of data\n4. Empirical results and analysis: 4.1. Descriptive statistics\n5. Conclusion: This study differs from the hypothesis of traditional theories in determining corporate financing decision. We conduct a different study by examining the relationship between managerial overconfidence and corporate financing decision for the period from 2002 to 2011 in Malaysia. We also evaluate the moderating effect of government ownership on the association between managerial overconfidence and corporate financing decision. Empirical findings can be summarized as follows: first, CEO overconfidence is significantly and negatively related to corporate financing decision (pooled OLS, FEM and Tobit regression) and it is consistent with prior studies (Wei et al., 2011; Fairchild, 2009; Lin et al., 2005); second, a higher degree of managerial overconfidence would result in lower leverage in GLCs, whereas the effect does not significantly exist in NGLCs; third, a larger ownership of government in a firm will reduce the negative effect of managerial overconfidence on corporate financing decision; fourth, moderating effect of government ownership on the association between managerial overconfidence and corporate financing decision in GLCs is more effective than NGLCs; and fifth, government intervention plays its role as moderating effect on the relationship between managerial overconfidence and corporate financing decision in firms with lower ownership concentration but not in firms with high ownership concentration (more or equal than 50 percent).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of managerial overconfidence on corporate financing decision and the moderating effect of government ownership on the relationship between managerial overconfidence and corporate financing decision.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Pooled OLS, fixed effect models (FEM), and Tobit regressions are employed to examine the relationship between managerial overconfidence, government ownership and corporate financing decision of publicly listed companies in Malaysia for the period of 2002-2011.\nFindings: The authors conclude that: first, CEO overconfidence is significantly and negatively related to corporate financing decision; second, a higher degree of managerial overconfidence would result in lower leverage in GLCs, whereas the effect does not significantly exist in NGLCs; third, a larger ownership of government in a firm will reduce the negative effect of managerial overconfidence on corporate financing decision; fourth, the moderating effect of government ownership on the association between managerial overconfidence and corporate financing decision in GLCs is more effective than NGLCs; and fifth, government intervention plays its role as moderating effect on the relationship between managerial overconfidence and corporate financing decision in firms with lower ownership concentration but not in firms with high ownership concentration (more or equal than 50 percent).\nPractical implications: The finding implies that the moderating effect of government ownership on the association between managerial overconfidence and corporate financing decision in GLCs is more effective than NGLCs.\nOriginality/value: The authors make the first attempt to test the moderating effect of government ownership on the relationship between ownership concentration and corporate financing decision.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Personality traits and theory of planned behavior comparison of entrepreneurial intentions between an emerging economy and a developing country	[ "Theory of planned behaviour", "Entrepreneurial intention", "Psychology", "Structural equation modelling" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Literature widely recognizes that both entrepreneurship and venture creation are significant forces for economic and social growth (Galindo and Mendez, 2014), the creation of jobs and innovation (Hathaway and Litan, 2014) and technological advancement in society (Schumpeter, 1934). It is extremely important for generating economic growth both in developing and developed countries (Kuratko, 2005), as well as in emerging economies (Manolova et al., 2010). Researchers and policymakers have focused on entrepreneurship due to its numerous practical implications (Paul et al., 2017). However, further study of international entrepreneurship across cultures is necessary to provide a strong theoretical basis and make such research more inclusive (Paul and Shrivatava, 2016).\nLiterature review: The new-venture-creation process is very complex (Krueger et al., 2000) and involves multiple interference factors (Fayolle et al., 2014). Literature has made useful theoretical contributions to understanding the initiation of the entrepreneurial process (e.g. Schlaegel and Koenig, 2014). The creation of an individual's own business requires careful planning; entrepreneurship is an intentional and planned behavior (Bird, 1988). Behavioral intentions have been considered as the direct predictor of actual behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Kautonen et al. (2015) found EIs to be a significant predictor of entrepreneurial action. Several intention-based models have been proposed to understand individuals' planned behavior (e.g. Schlaegel and Koenig, 2014). Ajzen's (1991, 2002) TPB is a widely accepted framework to predict individuals' behavioral intentions (Engle et al., 2010; Schlaegel and Koenig, 2014). Many studies have confirmed the validity and applicability of this theory in diverse cultural contexts (Linan and Fayolle, 2015) and different research contexts (Hallam et al., 2016; Linan and Fayolle, 2015; Schlaegel and Koenig, 2014; Zhao et al., 2005). This theory clearly explains the entrepreneurial process and is widely used in literature (Schlaegel and Koenig, 2014). According to TPB, EIs can be defined as a person's effort to perform entrepreneurial activity and are based on three attitudinal factors/antecedents/dimensions that predict the behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Linan and Chen, 2009; Luthje and Franke, 2003):\nMethods: Data for this study were collected from two countries: China and Pakistan. Data were collected from different universities in different cities from both countries: seven universities from two cities in China; and nine universities from three cities in Pakistan from September 2017 to December 2017. To confirm the validity of the measures used, the authors selected previously used and confirmed measures; however, to ensure the clarity and reliability of questions in the current study, a pre-investigation test was performed with a sample of 30 respondents and, as a result, some questions were removed or changed to simplify the survey (Wang et al., 2015).\nResults: Measurement model\nDiscussion: This paper's aim was to develop an integrative model using personality traits and TPB to predict EIs and to understand how personality traits influence individuals' intentions toward self-employment. The present study examined how personality traits (RTP, LoC and PP) influenced EIs directly and through the mediation of three attitudinal dimensions of TPB (ATE, SN and PBC). The results are strongly generalizable.\nConclusion and implications: Overall, this study has contributed to the literature on EIs by developing an extended framework of TPB integrating the role of personality traits and has tested this model in two countries (China and Pakistan). The results suggested the support for this integrated model approach; until now this has received little attention/focus in literature. Students from both countries are intended to start their own business. However, the comparatively stronger intentions are shown by Chinese students. In the context of the personality traits, this study has contributed toward theoretical underpinning for suggesting a new understanding of three personality traits (i.e. RTP, LoC and PP) along with the meditational role of three attitudinal dimensions of TPB while comparing two economies (i.e. developing and emerging). The results found the stronger role of personality traits and its effect on attitudinal dimensional among students from emerging economy, these variables explain the influence of specific country context. However, this study only compares one emerging (China) and one developing (Pakistan) economy; inevitably results are generalizable only to these countries.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend the existing literature on entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) by employing the integrated model of personality traits and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). It further examines the mediating role of TPB's dimensions between personality traits and EIs of final-year university students in two diverse economies: China and Pakistan.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses a survey method for data collection, administered both in electronic and paper form. The authors use structural equation modeling and the partial least square (PLS) method on a sample of 1,016 students and present PLS path modeling, mediation analysis and multigroup analysis.\nFindings: Results reveal several differences regarding personality traits and TPB on EIs across the two countries. The impact of TPB was positive and significant in both countries; however, TPB demonstrated more explaining power in China's student sample. Using three personality traits (risk-taking propensity, proactive personality and internal locus of control) as antecedents to TPB, the results reveal a stronger influence of personality traits among Chinese students. The mediation of three dimensions of TPB also revealed differences between country samples.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study of its kind to compare and contrast the differences between EIs in terms of personality and the determinants of planned behavior among university students in two diverse economies. The integrated model is original, supports both TPB and personality factors and provides a valuable perspective through its findings on two culturally diverse Asian countries. By applying the model in two different cultures, this study distinguishes the results for the two economies from those conducted in other economies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Striking a balance: Investigating male and female work-life balance satisfaction	[ "Gender", "Work-life balance", "Satisfaction", "Women", "Hedonic wage theory", "Flexibility" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nFinding a work-life balance: A person holds many varied roles throughout their lifetime and these roles can often come into conflict with each other. Finding a balance between the work role and life roles is essential for well-being. Employees with a satisfactory work-life balance (WLB) are more productive and have less absenteeism. It is important for human resource professionals to ensure there are adequate policies in place to support a satisfactory work-life balance.\nThe gender gap in work-life balance: The traditional roles of male breadwinner female housemaker are in decline, with a rise in gender equality in education and professional roles. However, the responsibility of childcare and homemaking still falls largely on women. Women often have a dual responsibility of a work role and the homemaker role. Added to this, there remains an overrepresentation of men in the top roles in certain occupations. Women are thus more susceptible to conflict in balancing their roles, and there is a gender gap in WLB satisfaction.\nHedonic wage theory: Hedonic wage theory suggests a compensation of differentials - a trade-off between flexibility of the job, and the wage earned. A company may offer high wages but in return there is little flexibility. Alternatively, a worker may need more flexibility (in order to achieve satisfactory WLB) and consequently they take on a role with a lower wage instead. Traditionally a father chooses a role with higher pay but lower flexibility while mothers look for family-friendly policies and take on lower-paid roles.\nInvestigating the gender gap in work-life balance: A study by Dilmaghani and Tabvuma (2019) looked at the gender gap in WLB satisfaction across 10 occupations in Canada. They also looked at whether any gender gaps found were driven by a specific gender. Data for the study came from the Canadian General Social Survey (GSS). There were 37,335 observations used for the study.\nConclusion: Across all occupations, there was a modest WLB disadvantage for women. Females in management and education/legal services were less satisfied than males, but the converse was true for trades/transport. The largest gap in favor of males (13.3 per cent) was found amongst highly educated males working in education/legal Services. The converse was the gap of 10.8 per cent in favor of females in trades/transport. Both of these were driven by the relatively higher/lower WLB of males respectively. Only the lower female WLB satisfaction in management was driven by female-specific patterns.\nComment: The review is based on \"The gender gap in work-life balance satisfaction across occupations\" by Dilmaghani, M. and Tabvuma, V. published in Gender in Management: An International Journal.\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: Despite increasing gender equality at home and in the workplace, there remains a satisfaction gap in terms of work-life balance, with women continuing to perform the greater share of childcare and home responsibilities as well as taking on paid employment. Government family-friendly policies aim to aid employees to achieve a satisfactory balance. Despite self-selecting roles to suit pay and flexibility needs (especially in careers in which the opposite gender is traditionally dominant), this article demonstrates that a gender gap persists, and can be dependent on the specific occupation.\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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