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Measuring the service quality of internet banking: scale development and validation	[ "Electronic commerce", "Customer services quality", "Internet", "Banking", "Taiwan", "Measurement", "Testing and instruments" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Information technology is a tool to achieve competitive advantage and has been developing rapidly in recent years. Banking is a demand-driven industry. In order to provide customers efficient banking services, information technology, and the internet become more and more important for banks to delivery financial services. Banks have begun to setup their own web portal to provide internet service and gain the advantages of unlimited time, area, fewer cost, and more customers from internet banking. The service quality is an important tool for banks to compete. Therefore, it is important to utilize good service quality in order to differentiate itself from other service providers.Although the form of internet services is different from that of traditional services, service quality is still the core competitiveness of internet banking. In view of these developments, service quality is a crucial issue in internet banking. Service quality is one of most heavily researched constructs in the field of service marketing. There are various studies that have developed measures for assessing the service quality of brick and mortar banks; however, there are very few studies that have developed measures for assessing the service quality of internet banking services (Jun and Cai, 2001). Moreover, there is scarce literature that has investigated the service quality attributes of internet banking services and the perceptions of internet banking users with regard to any particular bank. Service quality measurement in internet banking services is an area of growing interest to researchers and managers. This study aims to explore the underlying dimensions of internet banking service quality and develop a multiple item scale for measuring internet banking service quality. In addition, this study also adapted an electronic service quality (e-service quality) model as the research basis. This method is more suitable than that of the previous studies that were based on the traditional service quality model.The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: the next section presents the literature review on the topic; the following section presents the method and results of an empirical study; and the last section presents our discussion, conclusion, and research limitations.\nLiterature review: Service quality\nStudy: Step 1: item scale development\nDiscussion: The refined measure scale of service quality in internet banking comprises five dimensions; three of them are the same as the dimensions of the PeSQ model (customer service, web design, and assurance). The other two dimensions were extracted from the original scale and named \"preferential treatment\" and \"information provision.\"Web design is related to the design of the web site (e.g. contents updating and usability levels) and coincides with the dimensions of previous studies (Aladwania and Palvia, 2002; Yang and Fang, 2004; Yang et al., 2004). In internet banking, web design facilitates consumers to access and use internet banking. Customer service is related to service reliability, customer sensitivity, personalized service, and fast response to complaints. Customers expect to be able to complete transactions correctly, receive personalized attention, have the product delivered on time, and have their e-mails answered quickly. Internet banking is more favorable if competitive financial services are offered. The assurance attribute is the term given in the field of services to describe the impression that a customer services supplier transmits in terms of security and credibility (Parasuraman et al., 1988). A strong feeling of security can be conveyed through guaranteeing higher reliability during electronic money transactions (e.g. payment, transfers, and debits).Preferential treatment is related to the added value of using internet banking. An internet banking portal's attractiveness depends on whether preferential treatment (e.g. preferential rate and lower fees) apart from traditional banking and other competitors is provided. Provision of information is related to the possibility of obtaining information on products or services at the time of transaction. Availability of information facilitates consumers to access and use internet banking as an important motivation tool to utilize internet banking services. Thus, in internet banking, offering sufficient information for conducting smooth transactions and providing efficient services is very important.\nConclusion and limitations: The purpose of this paper is to develop a multiple item scale for measuring internet banking service quality. Also, this research uses Taiwan's internet banking users as survey targets for its empirical studies. Through the process of factor analysis, the refined scale was identified. There are five dimensions and 17 items in the measurement scale for measuring the service quality of internet banking. The five dimensions were named customer service, web design, assurance, preferential treatment, and information provision.In contrast to previous studies, there are some new contributions in this study:* This study collected data from specified internet banking users. The validity of the measure scale can be improved in this paper.* In online environment, service quality factors are different from the physical environment; thus, this study adapted an e-service quality model as the research basis. This method is more suitable than that of the previous studies that were based on the traditional service quality model.* This study developed a reliable instrument for measuring the service quality of internet banking. Internet banking managers can assess the service quality based on the customers' perception, and thereby improve the quality efficiently by focusing on the key factors.Like all academic studies, this thesis also has its limitation. The limitation is that this study only administered questionnaires via e-mail to 500 applicants of internet banking services provided by E.Sun bank. The respondent sample size was small when compared to the total number of E.Sun bank's customers; therefore, in order to obtain a more exact outcome of the analysis, future research should seek a larger sample size for increasing credibility.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop a multiple item scale for measuring internet banking service quality.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This research adopts the dimensions of electronic service quality (e-service quality) and customer-perceived service quality to develop a framework that can be used to measure internet banking service. Also, this research uses Taiwan's internet banking users as survey targets for its empirical studies.\nFindings: - Through the process of factor analysis, the refined scale is identified. There are five dimensions and 17 items in the measurement scale for measuring the service quality of internet banking. The five dimensions are named customer service, web design, assurance, preferential treatment, and information provision.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Based on the understanding of the key service quality dimensions and the perception of customers toward e-service quality, managers may discover methods to improve customer satisfaction, build customer trust, and create loyal customers.\nOriginality/value: - This paper adapts an e-service quality model as the basis to measure internet banking service. This method is more suitable than that of the previous studies that are based on the traditional service quality model.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Tracing Teutonic footprints in VET around the world? The skills development strategies of German companies in the USA, China and India	[ "China", "USA", "India", "Comparative vocational education and training", "Subsidiaries of German companies abroad", "Training styles" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In today's globalised economy, companies operating internationally must be represented across global markets if they are to compete successfully. Finding skilled labour for their foreign subsidiaries is a particular challenge for multinationals, especially those based in countries with extensive cross-border business activities, like Germany. Indeed, according to the \"German Business Confidence\" survey conducted by Germany's Chamber of Commerce in China, finding and retaining well-trained workers is the greatest challenge faced by German companies in China (AHK, 2013). Companies also frequently complain that workers in countries like India and China lack practical skills (Agrawal, 2012; Venter, 2003).\n2. Theoretical framework: In this paper, we shall focus from both a company needs and a training perspective on the training practices of German companies operating abroad. Our research design is informed by the current \"convergence\" (standardisation) versus \"divergence\" (localisation) debate in international management. The \"convergence\" approach defines management strategies that can be applied across all subsidiaries regardless of country-specific framework or institutional context. The \"divergence\" approach, by contrast, describes a situation in which subsidiaries adapt host-country management strategies to fit in with the local cultural and institutional framework (Pudelko and Harzing, 2007).\n3. Empirical approach: The semi-structured exploratory interview methodology was used to inform the research design and to tackle these questions. This kind of expert interview is particularly well-suited to a study of this kind in a new area of knowledge where outcomes are difficult to predict.\n4. Description and interpretation of the findings: Below, we present the findings for each country in their national context. As it is impossible to portray the country-specific characteristics of the VET system, labour market and society in each country comprehensively, but as the qualitative findings for each country can also be seen as genuinely episodic, we shall concentrate on the key aspects as determined by the research questions and typology.\n5. Analysis and implications: Any assessment of the findings of a qualitative study cannot claim either to be generally representative or to offer a comprehensive explanation of the context across the three countries, which show marked differences in practice. However, our findings point to some trends in regard to the main kinds of skills development practice and their impact on in-company training and training policy more generally.\n6. Outlook: Our findings have also, however, revealed limitations in the research design and demonstrate the additional research approaches are needed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to focus on the vocational and training behaviours of German corporations at their subsidiaries in the USA, China and India. Although all three countries are important markets for Germany, they are characterised by very different cultures, vocational education and training (VET) systems and employment systems. The transfer of the German VET system to other countries has been the topic of discussion and controversy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this study, the authors rely on interviews with local training experts of German subsidiaries to analyse VET activities. Their analysis is based on convergence (standardisation) versus divergence (localisation) theory borrowed from approaches in international management studies.\nFindings: The findings indicate a \"localisation\" effect in all three nations. The similarities can be explained partially by the stronger focus on off-the-job trainings and greater preferences for academic careers.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study is a pilot study.\nPractical implications: The transfer of the German VET system to other countries seems to be very difficult.\nOriginality/value: Beyond this general debate, the specialist literature pays virtually no attention to the training practices of German companies abroad. The authors have tried to fill this research gap.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The key factors of total quality management in the service sector: a cross-cultural study	[ "Total quality management", "Greece", "Mexico", "Service operations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Intense domestic and international competition, heightened consciousness towards quality and the need to decrease operational costs have led many organisations to adopt total quality management (TQM) practices. TQM is seen as a holistic management philosophy that is based on principles and practices which lead to business excellence (Dahlgaard-Park, 2011). The extant literature on TQM implementation practices has primarily focused on manufacturing companies (Mahmood et al., 2014; Singh and Ahuja, 2014). However, in recent years, the concept of TQM has also been applied to the service sector (Arasli, 2012; Talib et al., 2013; Psomas and Jaca, 2016), taking into consideration the essential characteristics of services (intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and perishability) (Jyoti et al., 2017). Kumar et al. (2011, p. 37) pointed that \"TQM is a way of managing the industries to improve product as well as service quality and the overall efficiency of production and other operations\". Thus, service organisations that implement TQM focus on the provision of superior value to their customer in an effort to increase revenues (Miguel et al., 2016; Jyoti et al., 2017). The successful implementation of TQM in a service setting presupposes the identification and prioritisation of its key factors (Bouranta et al., 2017). Jyoti et al. (2017, p. 898) argued that the service sector still lags behind the manufacturing sector in relevant research efforts to understand and measure TQM practices. Considering the growing predominance of the service sector in many countries and the lack of sufficient research in this field (Miguel et al., 2016), this study seeks to identify and test the key TQM factors in an effort to ensure the successful implementation of TQM in the service industry.\n2. Literature review and research questions: 2.1 TQM in the service industry\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Establishing the constructs\n4. Results: 4.1 Testing factor structure\n5. Discussion and practical implications: First and foremost, this study focuses on the identification of TQM factors employed in the service sector. The implementation of the TQM philosophy in the service sector calls for specificity in terms of its key elements. Thus, an extensive literature review of the critical factors of TQM necessary to ensure its successful implementation is conducted, and thus 40 latent constructs representing quality practices are presented in Table I. The comprehensive review and comparison of previous studies in the service sector that empirically validated the critical factors of TQM in various countries revealed different TQM factors in terms of both their number and their nature. This variety of TQM factors brings into question the universal applicability of TQM practices under the umbrella of certain factors. Some researchers have attempted to overcome these disparities in the set of TQM factors by using self-assessment models or awards to test the link between TQM practices and quality outcomes within the service industry (Sila and Ebrahimpour, 2004; Ooi et al., 2011; Lam et al., 2012; Karimi et al., 2014; Sadeh and Garkaz, 2015; Valmohammadi and Roshanzamir, 2015).\n6. Limitations and suggestions for future research: There are some limitations to this study that must be taken into account when interpreting the results. First and foremost, the measurement instruments used to gauge the TQM elements were based on previously developed scales. The adoption of these scales on other samples worldwide is worthwhile for future inquiry. Another possible limitation is the fact that the data do not constitute objective, but rather subjective business evidence collected from quality managers. Managers are involved with the organisation and may therefore lack the rigour required to obtain accurate measurements. Thus, the findings were consistent with research in perceptual distortion and self-rating bias. Additionally, the small sample size of the participating countries limits the possibility of applying more advanced statistical techniques. Finally, an interesting perspective for future research would take into consideration certain factors (such as country culture) that may have a moderating role in the relationships examined in the present study. Moreover, external variables like firm size or absorptive capacity could be used as control variables to the proposed model, in an attempt to increase the richness of the findings. In addition, future research should consider extending the current conceptual model by linking TQM to business performance, such as financial results. Thus, more valuable information regarding the implications of TQM will be revealed, which may benefit practitioners as well as academicians. Finally, significant differences among countries in terms of the effect of the TQM factors on performance must be extensively studied and analysed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Literature refers to the key factors of total quality management (TQM) based on studies carried out in individual countries. However, few studies focus on studying the TQM factors in service companies based on multinational data. The purpose of this paper is to empirically identify the key TQM factors and their impact on internal and external customer performance measures across different countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research questions regarding the TQM factors and their effects were examined using a sample of service organisations from three countries (131 from Greece, 70 from Mexico and 151 from Spain). TQM factors and their impact on employee and customer satisfaction were analysed separately for each country. Exploratory factor analyses, coupled with multiple linear regression analyses, were conducted.\nFindings: The key TQM factors identified are common among the three participating countries and can be summarised as follows: quality practices of top management, process management, employee quality management, customer focus, and employee knowledge and education. The adoption level of these five key factors of TQM varies across service organisations in different countries. The results also confirmed that some of the TQM elements are antecedents of customer- and employee-focused performance.\nPractical implications: Multinational service organisations may use such an instrument to evaluate TQM implementation among worldwide operations and then benchmark their performance. In addition, an understanding of similarities and differences among countries would help managers around the world to address difficulties of TQM implementation related to the country culture.\nOriginality/value: Previous studies have compared key TQM factors across different countries in manufacturing, but overall, there has been a little attempt in the literature to analyse the adoption of TQM factors among service firms, as well the relationships between quality improvement and performance across different geographical regions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The non-profit turn and its challenges for business schools: Foundations for a new vision in third sector management training	[ "Business schools", "Non‐profit organizations", "Corporate social responsibility" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. The \"non profit turn\" in business schools: 1.1 The rise of the third sector in the business schools' curriculum\n2. The two prevailing models of integration of third sector management in the curriculum: Until now, two schools of thought have essentially prevailed regarding the curriculum to be offered to students with a non-profit orientation: they can be termed the \"double standard model\" and the \"business-driven model\".2.1 The double standard model\n3. The limits of the prevailing models: We will explain in this section why the models presented above pose problems, both theoretical and practical. We will start from the most obvious shortcomings and will progressively go back to the underlying philosophy and the roots of the dominant models, to show why a profound overhaul of the curricula may be necessary.3.1 The lack of correlation between social and financial performance, and why it matters for the curriculum\n4. Rising up to the challenge: refounding the curriculum on an ethical basis: The emergence of the third sector in MBA curricula should be a cause for optimism: in theory, it should get students to learn ethics in the programs. However, the picture is not so simple and there is room for caution.4.1 The current trend: market logic not values drive the non profit turn of business schools\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Over the past years, the teaching of third sector management and corporate social responsibility in business schools has been characterized by two main features: it has become widespread, and the assumption that a company's moral behavior has a financial correlate was abandoned. It follows from the second element that these classes are no longer meant to train managers to make a more effective economic contribution. The courses can now find a different, higher purpose, namely to emphasize the impact of the companies' and non-profit organizations' social activities. This paper aims to address this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper looks at two prevailing models of integration of third sector management in the curriculum and their limits.\nFindings: - The paper finds that emphasizing companies' and non-profit organizations' social activities can be achieved if managers are trained in a way that better apprehends the stakes of these social activities. However, for business schools to make a significant contribution to this field and avoid missing the opportunities of this \"non profit turn\", they must establish a vision of what these courses mean to them.\nOriginality/value: - This paper provides useful information on the challenges of teaching a curricula taking into account the companies' and non-profit organization' social activities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Globalization does lead to change in consumer behavior: An empirical evidence of impact of globalization on changing materialistic values in Indian consumers and its aftereffects	[ "Globalization", "Consumer behaviour", "Materialistic values", "Buyer behaviour traits", "Indian consumers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The booming Indian economy (Lenartowicz and Balasubramanian, 2009) and the huge Indian consumer market (Enderwick, 2009) is encouraging many researchers to study the various socio-cultural dimensions influencing the Indian consumers' behavior (Kopalle et al., 2010). Another stream of study that is luring leading researchers (Craig et al., 2009; Yaprak, 2008) is the influence of forces of globalization on the changing consumer culture of a society. Such influence, according to Ger and Belk (1996), would be more intensive on the consumers in the developing economies of the world, India being one of them. In fact, Durvasula and Lysonski (2008) and Mathur et al. (2008) have empirically shown how forces of globalization are bringing in changes in the culture of Indian consumers. One such culture based dimension of consumer behavior is materialism, which is the focus of this paper.The current work studies materialism, a construct defined by Belk (1984) and Richins (1987) as \"giving importance/being attached to worldly possessions\", and its influence on consumer culture, which encompasses the prevalent cultural influence among consumers, in the Indian context. Extant research suggests that globalization is rapidly influencing consumer culture in India with people showing increasing \"predisposition towards foreign brands\" (PTFB), a construct defined by Bandyopadhyay (2001), Batra et al. (2000) and Kinra (2006) as admiration of foreign brands and intention to purchase them vis-a-vis home country's brands. Such cultural influences are also likely to impact Indian consumers' purchase behavior, e.g. credit card usage (Chibber, 2010), impulse purchases (Datamonitor Report, 2010) and consideration of shopping as an enjoyable behavior (Ghosh et al., 2010). Although marketing scholars (Cleveland et al., 2009; Richins and Dawson, 1992) have already established the impact of materialism on these important consumption traits, studying the same in the Indian context would provide interesting insights for both scholars and practitioners alike. The paper thus makes an effort to study extent of materialistic values (MV) amongst Indian consumers; differences in such values based on demographics; whether such values impact various buying behavior traits of Indian consumers and are itself being impacted by the onslaught of forces of globalization.Materialism among Indian consumers has been studied by Chaudhuri and Haldar (2005) and Cleveland et al. (2009). These studies brought forth the relationship that materialism has with cultural adherence and regional differences with-in India (Chaudhuri and Haldar, 2005) and materialism's impact on various purchase behavior like purchasing frequency of luxury products, etc. (Cleveland et al., 2009)[1]. Though Cleveland et al. (2009) also attempted to study the relationship between materialism and various demographic variables like age, income, gender and educational qualification for the Indian sample; they could not get significant results on any of the relationships. Both Cleveland et al. (2009) and Chaudhuri and Haldar (2005) used student samples in their study, which could limit the generalization of their findings. Further, neither of these studies attempted to operationalize globalization as an antecedent impacting the MV of Indian consumers. These studies also did not empirically study the impact of other demographic factors (besides age) like income, educational qualification and gender on the MV of Indian consumers. The present study addresses these existing gaps in the extant literature.The following sections of the paper cover literature review in the area of materialism, Indian consumer's attitude towards materialism and influence of global flows. Subsequent sections address gaps in the literature, development of hypotheses, research methodology, results, discussion and conclusion.\nLiterature review: Materialism\nGaps in the literature and development of hypotheses: There is a lack of consensus on the prevalence of MV across segments based on various demographic characteristics like income, age, educational qualification, gender and place of residence (metropolitan vs non-metropolitan). While Richins' (1987) showed that level of income was highly correlated with material satisfaction, Cleveland et al. (2009) quote the works of few researchers (Ger and Belk, 1996; Richins and Dawson, 1992), who could not find any relationship between materialism and affluence. Goldberg et al. (2003), who studied materialism among youth (nine-14 years) in USA, found boys to be highly materialistic than girls. But, for the Indian sample, Cleveland et al. (2009) did not get any significant relationship between materialism and any of demographic variables under study[2]. Although an AC Nielson Report (2007) states that economic growth has made Asians (including Indians), especially the youth and the upper income groups in larger cities materialistic in their values, an empirical assessment for the Indian consumer is warranted to test the prevalence of MV across segments based on these demographic variables. In order to address this, the first set of hypotheses has been formulated as follows:H1a. The young Indian consumers would possess significantly higher MV than older Indian consumers.H1b. Indian consumers belonging to higher income groups would possess significantly higher MV than those falling in the lower income groups.H1c. Indian consumers residing in metropolitan cities in India would possess significantly higher MV than those consumers staying in non-metropolitan cities.H1d. Segments created on the basis of educational qualification would also show significant variation in their MV.H1e. Segments created on the basis of gender would also show significant variation in their MV.According to Chaudhuri and Haldar (2005), there will be a negative correlation between the degree of materialism and the intensity of local cultural adherence. This is because materialism is considered as a western consumer's cultural trait (Ger and Belk, 1996). Interestingly, according to Ruth and Commuri (1998), Indian consumers are being influenced by Westernization leading to their strong urge to emulate the Western lifestyles. Durvasula and Lysonski (2008), supporting this proposition, observe that the access to global media exposes consumers in India to Western culture/practices and that they are likely to develop desires similar to those in consumer-oriented western cultures. This phenomenon, added with Indian consumer's PTFB gives credence to the observation made by Eckhardt and Mahi (2004) that foreign brands are bringing in foreign cultural influence in India. Hence, it is expected that consumers who are predisposed towards foreign brands are expected to show significantly higher MV. These results might differ for various demographic segments. Since studies on materialism done on Indian consumers have not yet addressed such propositions, the second set of hypotheses, formulated to bridge this gap, are:H2a. Indian consumers would show significantly strong positive correlations between their MV and their PTFB.H2b. The correlation results would differ across different demographic segments.The literature indicates that the consumer culture in India is being impacted by the forces of globalization. Many researchers like Eckhardt and Mahi (2004) and Cayla and Arnould (2008) consider foreign brand as a component of the globalization force. Cayla and Arnould (2008) propose that (foreign) brands should be seen as cultural forms and research should analyze the impact of these brands on local cultures more carefully. Hence, it would be interesting to test the impact of Indian consumer's PTFB on their MV, which Burroughs and Rindfleisch (2002) consider as a culturally driven phenomenon. No study has so far empirically shown if predisposition of Indian consumers towards foreign brands impact their MV or not. Also, to what extent do various demographic characteristics like age, income, education and gender impact this whole phenomenon is not clear. To bridge this gap, the third set of hypotheses has been formulated as:H3a. The predisposition of the Indian consumers towards foreign brands would significantly impact their MV.H3b. The demographic variables (age, income, etc.) would significantly affect this phenomenon.Roth (1995) and Steenkamp (2001) observe that a country's culture has long been identified as an environmental characteristic that influences consumer behavior. Venkatesh (1995) too supports this view and states that consumer behavior is primarily socio-cultural phenomena and that it must be discussed in socio-cultural terms. According to Douglas and Craig (1997), consumer culture would influence consumer tastes, preferences and purchase behavior. It would be interesting to observe if MV prevalent among the Indian consumers would also relate to their purchase behavioral traits. Lately, various behavioral traits that have been associated with the Indian consumers are the increase in their credit card usage (Chibber, 2010), rise in their impulse purchases (Datamonitor Report, 2010) and consideration of shopping as an enjoyable activity by them (Ghosh et al., 2010). This leads to the formulation of the fourth and fifth sets of hypotheses:H4a. MV prevalent among the Indian consumers would be significantly correlated to their purchase behavior, which includes buyer behavioral traits like credit card usage.H4b. MV prevalent among the Indian consumers would be significantly correlated to their purchase behavior, which includes buyer behavioral traits like impulse purchase.H4c. MV prevalent among the Indian consumers would be significantly correlated to their purchase behavior, which includes buyer behavioral traits like consideration of shopping as an enjoyable activity.H5a. MV prevalent among the Indian consumers would act as a mediator variable, in presence of their PTFB, on buyer behavioral traits like credit card usage.H5b. MV prevalent among the Indian consumers would act as a mediator variable, in presence of their PTFB, on buyer behavioral traits like impulse purchase.H5c. MV prevalent among the Indian consumers would act as a mediator variable, in presence of their PTFB, on buyer behavioral traits like consideration of shopping as an enjoyable activity.\nResearch method: Sample data\nResults: The Cronbach's alpha was calculated for each instrument for the total sample as well as for each demographic segment based on city, income, age, educational qualification and gender (Table III). All the calculated Cronbach's alpha values were above 0.70, which is taken as a cut-off point by many researchers like Smith and Gerald (2005), while measuring reliability of an instrument. Hence, the instruments that have been used for measuring various variables in this study are reliable and internally consistent.Testing for hypothesis H1\nDiscussion and conclusion: Materialistic values observed among various demographical segments\nManagerial implications: The study showed that MV among the Indian consumers was positively correlated with each of the buyer behavior trait studied - the use of credit card[9], impulsive buying behavior and enjoyment related with the shopping activity. Also, it was the younger segment of the population that was showing considerably higher materialistic tendencies as compared to the older segments. Added to this, the predisposition of Indian consumers towards foreign brands was further enhancing their MV. All these observations would sound music to the ears of the managers who consider India as a prominent market for their products. This is because in a country where more than 70 per cent of the population is below 36 years of age (Bharadwaj et al., 2005), such bits of information bring with them a sense of positive forecasts for the future with a promise of huge bounty if the marketers play their cards right. The need of the hour, for the managers, is to concentrate on the younger consumers (between age group 16 and 35 years) as they are the ones who are showing definitive change in their buying behavior and increasing MV. Alternatively, if the marketers plan to lure older population also, the products would have to be modified to suit their requirements.\nLimitations and future research prospects: The study was limited to only five cities in India. A more widespread study that covers smaller cities and country sides in India would provide the researchers a more comprehensive view of the progression of Indian consumers towards MV. The sample was restricted to the educated population only. In a country like India, wherein the literacy rate is around 66 per cent[10], the findings of this study are limited to the educated, urban population of India only.The buyer behavior traits are measured using only single item instruments, which inturn might have compromised the robustness of the results. Future researchers are suggested to use multi-item measures for various buyer behavior traits in order to get robust results. Robust explanation regarding certain findings in the study, e.g. sample from Kolkata showing insignificant correlation between MV and PTFB, has not been provided. Future researchers might be able to bridge this gap. Longitudinal study, which would study the prevalence of materialism on a selected sample over a period of time, is desirable as it would give indications as to in which direction is materialism progressing in a developing country like India. The study of influence of PTFB on materialism or any other cultural construct can be done for other countries wherein consumers show similar tendencies. For Indian consumers, influence of PTFB on various other cultural dimensions, besides materialism, can be studied.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to empirically substantiate if the forces of globalization are impacting consumer culture and behavioral traits in a developing country (India).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Five hypotheses had been constructed to address the gaps in the literature with respect to the influence of globalization on prevalent consumer culture of a developing nation. Predisposition towards foreign brand among Indian consumers was taken as a proxy for global flows and its influence was studied on the existing materialistic values among the Indian consumers. The study covered a sample size of 557 respondents from five major cities in India. The raw data were collected with the help of structured questionnaire and analysis was done by using various relevant statistical techniques.\nFindings: - The results showed that predisposition towards foreign brands had a significant impact on materialistic values among the Indian consumers. The younger Indian consumers had significantly higher materialistic values than the older age groups. Lower income groups have showed significantly greater materialistic values than the higher income groups. Significant positive relationships were shown between materialistic values and the buyer behavior traits studied.\nPractical implications: - The managers should concentrate on the younger consumers, as they are the ones who are showing a definitive change in their buying behavior and increasing materialistic values. Alternatively, managers could modify their products to suit the requirements of older consumers.\nOriginality/value: - The study empirically showed that Indian consumers' predisposition towards foreign brands and their materialistic values had significant positive correlation among them. Also, predisposition towards foreign brands along with demographical variables like age and gender significantly impact the materialistic values prevalent among Indian consumers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
British beer styles. Where are they heading?	[ "Colour", "Craft beers", "Beer styles", "Bitterness", "Cask ales", "Sour beer" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Categorizing foods is fraught with difficulties in drafting definitions, identifying characteristics and specifying boundaries.\n2. Literature review: The volume of popular press on beer styles is extensive but investigative studies are limited.\n3. Methodology: Beers for style analysis were selected from routine quality control samples processed for 22 breweries in England, Scotland and Wales as part of due diligence procedures for commercial brewing quality assurance between 2006 and 2017. All breweries had been established for at least 8 years with a mean of 17.3 years excepting one brewery originating in 1860. All were independent microbreweries and representative of the smaller brewery industry by their persistence in the trade and by producing the range of styles defined by the industry.\n4. Results and discussions: 4.1 Beer characteristics\n5. Conclusions: The contemporary beer market is dynamic and expanding both in number of breweries and in brands of beers. As a result, the range of beers in the on and off trade increases yearly partly stimulated by consumer demand for choice and novelty and by commercial initiatives identifying sales opportunities. The term \"craft beer\" has been increasingly used to cover the beers produced by small-scale breweries but it is unclear if this term is definable in terms of beer styles (Elzinga et al., 2015) or whether it has more focus on consumer orientated impressions of novelty (Cardello et al., 2016; Donadini and Porretta, 2017) and association with experience (Gomez-Corona et al., 2016).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse data from routine quality control samples of beer over a ten year period to provide comparisons with a previous study in 2006 and apply interpretations to the contemporary beer market.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data from laboratory analysis of 1,469 beers submitted for due diligence quality assurance from commercial microbreweries were analysed. Additional commercial samples were taken for analysis of sour beers and cask conditioned beers as examples of niche product areas.\nFindings: Style characteristics were summarized as a reference for industry evaluation and as a basis for comparisons. Differences were noted between the characteristics found and those of a similar study in 2006. Average alcohol by volume increased by 1.2 per cent, bitterness levels increased by 6.1 per cent while colour decreased by 22 per cent. These differences suggest that standard UK beers are undergoing change. A study of sour beers indicated specific features in this recently popular style and confirmed the use of a different microbiology. Analysis of cask ales indicated some variability in quality suggesting the need for greater quality control.\nResearch limitations/implications: The comparison with the previous study has limitations as the samples were not individually comparable but were from major established microbreweries and so representative of the industry. The work analysed UK beers only but will act as a base line for comparison to other markets. Moreover, the data may be relevant to other forms of market analysis seeking to identify factors associated to consumer preferences.\nPractical implications: The data presented have relevance to breweries looking to develop their portfolios and product descriptions, to the drinking public and to regulatory bodies in providing a benchmark for comparisons and for assisting in defining the recently promoted term \"craft beer\".\nSocial implications: The findings are relevant to beverage development and consumer education of alcoholic beverages by allowing discrimination between styles with different characteristics affecting consumer choice and when assessing styles for industrial, legislative and health research. Beers today appear to be more varied than in past decades but show lower colour and higher bitterness characteristics. As these features particularly relate to ingredients they may have implications in their contributions to diet and health.\nOriginality/value: The work has value in replicating the previous study to illustrate changes and trends. It presents novel data on recently popular sour beers and assesses traditional cask beer with implications for product quality.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding employee sabotage while serving refugees: the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey	[ "Global refugee crisis", "Transformative service research", "Refugees", "Employee sabotage", "Netnography" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: When we practice loving kindness and compassion we are the first ones to profit (Rumi).\nMethod: Context: Syrian refugees in Turkey\nFindings: The results of this ethnographic study reveal some interesting findings. First, majority of the comments indicate biased attitudes held by service employees toward refugees. In their comments, local employees refer to refugees as only \"Syrians\" in a condescending tone without even using the term refugees, underlying their national identity more than their refugee status (Yitmen and Verkuyten, 2018). When they make comments about refugees, they do not refer to specific individuals or individual cases that they experience, but rather generalize their comments about all \"Syrians.\" It is also interesting that in many cases employees in their comments refer to indirect harm that refugees may cause to others in a service system rather than to direct harm that those refugees cause to those individuals. Moreover, findings further reveal that those employees in many cases are somehow aware of their biases and biased attitude, and seem to use different factors and themes to emphasize the injustices created by refugees so they can attribute the blame to those refugees, and thus justify their sabotage behaviors. In the analysis, five such themes emerged in this study.\nDiscussion: Following the TSR framework, this study overall suggests that services and service provision could be useful in helping the global refugee crisis. However, in recent years many incidents have been reported where some service employees behave in negative and inappropriate ways and engage in sabotage behavior that adversely affect the services provided to refugees. Such behavior does not only result in those refugees having limited or no access to vital services, but also increases their vulnerability. While earlier studies have looked at the employee sabotage and various employee, organizational and customer related factors as antecedents of employees' service sabotage in service employee-customer interactions (Harris and Ogbonna, 2006; Skarlicki et al., 2008), no other study has so far examined it in refugee context. This paper is a response to call to action for more service research on refugees by focusing on service encounters that involves service employees and refugees, and aims to understand why those employees engage in sabotage behavior when serving refugees. Such understanding might help efforts to reduce suffering and increase their well-being and inclusion of refugees in service systems.\nImplications: The findings of this study have some implications for service organizations, communities and governments to manage, change and even remove some of those perceptions that lead to employee sabotage behavior when serving refugees, creating further vulnerability and increased suffering for refugees. Please see Table I for a summary of implications.\nLimitations and future research: Although this is the first study to examine service employees' sabotage behavior in a context shaped by refugees, it still has some limitations and presents opportunities for future research. First, future studies may want to explicitly examine employees' ethnic biases and how those biases affect the way they serve refugees. Such study would contribute to the existing literature on employee sabotage by identifying another important factor that affects such behavior. Another interesting future research direction would be to examine refugees' responses to service employees' sabotage behavior. The alternative ways those refugees can be organized to overcome employees' negative behavior could be an interesting topic to investigate to reveal possible solutions to such problems elsewhere. In the context of global refugee crisis, future studies may want to include different refugee groups in different regions of the world in their work to provide generalizability to the findings of this study. Finally, various social entrepreneurs and social innovation projects already play critical roles in integration of refugees into service ecosystems. Future studies may want to study more explicitly the role of such social entrepreneurs in the case of service sabotage between service employees and refugees. More specifically, the role of social entrepreneurs in the integration of refugees to their host countries would bring important insights that would help the global refugee crisis.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Service providers can potentially play a critical role in responding to the global refugee crisis. However, recent evidence suggests that local service employees' negative and inappropriate behavior is hindering efforts to alleviate the problems faced by refugees. As a response to the call to action to engage with the global refugee crisis in service context and adopting the transformative service research perspective, this paper aims to understand service employees' motivations to engage in sabotage when they interact with refugees in service settings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper focuses on the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey as a context. Using a netnographic study, this study analyzes comments by Turkish service employees in different social media groups and newspapers' online platforms to reveal the motivations of those employees to engage in sabotage behavior.\nFindings: The findings of this study revealed employees use five emerging themes as potential motivations to justify their sabotage behavior when serving refugees: perceived scarcity of resources, perceived fairness, perceived identity mismatch, perceived role of government and perceived role of other nations.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings of this study have implications for service organizations, communities and governments to manage, change and even remove some of those perceptions that lead to employee sabotage resulting in increased suffering of refugees.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study to examine the employee sabotage behavior in the context of serving refugees.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What price a welcome? Understanding structure agency in the delivery of respectful midwifery care in Uganda	[ "Leadership", "Governance structures", "Patient perspectives", "Communication", "Midwifery", "Determinants of health" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Maternal mortality in Uganda is very high and shows remarkable resistance to change. Recent research suggests that promoting access to quality, midwifery lead care has greatest potential to improve maternal health in Low and Middle Income Settings (LMICs). Furthermore, the key to encouraging access lies in providing respectful care. But, what does respectful care mean to mothers in Uganda? This is one of two linked papers presenting the initial findings of research in Kabarole District, Uganda. The study is funded by the Wellbeing of Women[1] and operationalised through a British Charity, Knowledge for Change[2]. The first paper focusses on one dimension of respect; namely communication. Communication arguably falls at the \"agency\" end of the \"structure-agency\" continuum to the extent that, in principle at least, respectful communication is not resource-dependent. In trying to understand the reasons behind high levels of verbal abuse in public facilities the paper considers the role that governance could play in shaping health worker behaviour and improving communication.\nBehaviour change and governance: The dynamics of health worker behaviour forms a recurrent theme in research across all health systems. Indeed much of the early research on behaviour change took place in high resource settings grappling to understand why training and education failed to deliver targeted and well-resourced changes in the behaviour of health workers and patients. More recent work has applied theories of behaviour change developed in these settings to an understanding of the impact of aid interventions (and professional voluntarism in particular) in LMICs (Ackers and Ackers-Johnson, 2016). Although this work comes from very different disciplinary and theoretical positions there is a broad consensus that individual behaviour is constrained, to varying extents, by the environment within which it takes place. Put simply, individual \"agency\" or choice is structured by context. This does not imply that health workers have no choice about how they behave; quite the opposite. Whilst, some theories emphasise on local resource factors (immediate access to equipment, medicines or workload), others emphasise organisational dynamics (management of health facilities) and still others, wider socio-legal, political and cultural landscapes shaping reproductive rights and social inequalities. Governance features at all these levels be they local, organisational or societal combining to create complex webs of contingencies which together shape health worker behaviour and intervention success.\nThe importance of respectful care: According to published data, Uganda has one of the highest levels of maternal mortality in the world. The Ugandan Ministry of Health's Strategic Plan suggests that little, if any, progress has been made to reduce maternal mortality (MOH, 2010, p. 43). A United Nations report on the Millenium Development Goals describes Uganda's progress as \"stagnant\" (UNDP, 2013, p. iii). Figures on maternal mortality in Uganda vary considerably depending on the source. The World Health Organisation suggests maternal mortality ratios of 404 per 100,000 live births (WHO, 2012)[3]. However, the benchmarking exercise undertaken as part of the Sustainable Volunteering Project (McKay and Ackers, 2013) indicated levels of over 1000 (more than double reported levels)[4].\nThe study and methods: The WeCare study builds on ten years' ethnographic action-research in Uganda. This research has confirmed out belief that, in comparative research, \"context is everything\" (ref). In 2017, the authors conducted 64 in-depth interviews and three focus groups with mothers and midwives working in public health facilities in Kabarole District, Uganda. The objective has been to understand what respectful care means to mothers and midwives in Uganda and what hinders them from providing it. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the University of Salford and Mountains of the Moon University, Uganda.\nConceptualising respectful care in Ugandan public services: The interviews enabled us to gauge how women perceived respect and what priority they attached to different elements. Very many mothers spontaneously linked respect to communication and spoke openly of their experiences or the experiences of their family and friends. Verbal abuse was expected and normalised. Most mothers also immediately connected notions of respect with the quality of care they received referring to neglect (especially in the regional referral hospital), extensive delays and abandonment often connected to endemic corruption. There was a strong sense amongst mothers that patients should be treated according to their clinical needs and not the ability to pay bribes. They also referred to the lack of access to medication, basic consumables, equipment and the quality and cleanliness of facilities. Together these issues emerged as the most important elements of respectful care. This paper focusses on the issue of communication and, the following paper, on quality of care. Quality of care issues are very explicitly related to governance, fall largely outwith the control of an individual midwife and lie towards the \"structure\" end of the structure-agency continuum. But, what about communication?\nWhat price a welcome? The importance of communication: Unsurprisingly, when asked to talk about their experiences of care most mothers identified forms of abuse. Although published research continues to identify incidences of physical abuse (including slapping or pinching of mothers) our interviews[6] found little direct evidence of this behaviour. Whilst some respondents spoke of the experiences of their friends or witnessing such practices during their own training none of the respondents reported experiencing physical abuse. However, 20 of the 52 mothers interviewed referred to some experience of verbal abuse. In most cases they spoke of midwives shouting or \"barking\" at them or speaking in a \"rude\" manner. The following examples are typical:When you ask a question where you have not understood they just shout at you(M01).They said, \"you're not the only one to take care of\" in a rude way(M02).Midwives from [the public] hospital used to shout at me. I delivered my first baby at night and I would make a lot of noise so that's why nurses shouted at me but I could tell them, \"it's not me it's the pain\"(M36).The midwives from [public] hospital talk in a rude way abusing pregnant mothers in labour. Whenever I called a midwife to examine me she would say, \"I'm tired of your noise\"(M48).\nThe multiplier effects of disrespectful communication: Disrespectful communication discourages mothers from attending facilities and from disclosing important information. Asked if she felt able to ask questions of the midwife a very typical response was, \"I was not free with them because of their facial expression\" (M30) or, \"I was not free with them because of the way they treated me\" (M45).\nBad people or bad behaviour?: The section above has evidenced the co-existence of disrespect and respect within the same public health system. The interviews identified some marked differences between facilities. Kagote Health Centre which has been supported by \"Knowledge for Change\" for the past four years emerges as an example of best practice. There were no negative comments made about the quality of communication and care received from this unit and most of the positive feedback was linked to that facility. On the other hand, the Regional Referral (Buhinga) Hospital received the most widespread criticism suggesting an almost endemic culture of disrespect. However, mothers did point to examples of good practice and respect even within this environment. In several cases respondents spoke of the positive attitudes of student midwives at Buhinga. Several mothers also spoke more positively of recent experiences of giving birth in Buhinga in comparison to previous deliveries:The midwives (at Buhinga) have been talking well and I have been free to ask them questions(M20).The student midwives were so good to me. When I went to deliver my last child, I found midwives have changed their behaviours compared to my other pregnancies(M33).\nUnderstanding behaviour: The findings presented above reveal a culture of disrespect that permeates many public facilities. On the other hand, clear differences emerge both between and within different facilities and in their relationships with different patients or even the same patient at different times. Certainly there was a very clear sense amongst the midwifery respondents of what respectful care looks like, what it means to local women and why it is important. So, why do some health workers in some facilities respond differently to the same stimuli? How much of this is down to individual agency or choice and how much is a reflection of structural factors?\nWorkload and communication: One of the focus groups with midwives triggered a range of \"justifications\" for poor communication. In some ways participants grasped the opportunity to share pressing concerns about their status, pay and workload emphasising the structuring determinants of individual agency. LMICS are undoubtedly associated with far lower staff-patient ratios. However these figures mask marked differences between facilities and locations. Inability to recruit staff compounded by absenteeism means that real staffing levels are often far below published figures. Compounded by dysfunctional referral systems and self-referrals this leads to overwhelming congestion in hospitals. The situation in lower level facilities varies considerably. Facilities with a reputation for high quality care will experience times of very high workload and individual midwives will struggle to communicate as well as they would like to. Some of the midwives talked of the pressures of work and the impact on behaviour:Maybe because they are tired and it's overwhelming or maybe due to their personality [...] the way they speak to these mothers, sometimes rude, being judgemental but I think it's because the work is overwhelming(MW2).They shouldn't but some do shout. You may find the midwife has been on duty from morning to evening. The woman comes in the evening and she is very tired and the mother is uncooperative and so the midwife starts barking at the patient. She translates all her stress to this mother(MW4).\nOrganised in the pocket[7]?: Another major (and legitimate) concern of midwife respondents was the issue of pay both in terms of poor levels of pay, very limited opportunities for pay progression and poor administration of pay leaving staff often unpaid for several months. Subsistence wages create a compelling rationale for corruption. This manifests itself in disrespect as health workers conduct an intuitive \"means-test\" assessing the potential to extract fees and shun those who look poor:Some midwives have a poor attitude to mothers [...] others need money. When she sees that this mother is poor she keeps shouting at the mother which doesn't bring respect(MW6).\nUnderstanding disrespect: To the extent that communication is closely linked to culture - organisational culture to a greater extent than ethnicity - there is a possibility, as the behavioural science theorists indicate, that training incorporating behaviour change methods, could improve communication (Byrne-Davis et al., 2016). Put differently, that investing in capabilities (health worker education) could trigger change. However, we would contend that the majority of Ugandan health workers and citizens understand quite clearly what it means to show respect and to welcome people. Ugandan society and its cultures value respect greatly and routinely extend a very warm welcome. When Ugandan health workers show a lack of respect they are fully aware of that situation. And Ugandan mothers are also very aware that disrespect is associated with a kind of \"othering\" or \"under-looking\"; of viewing some mothers as less deserving or potentially less \"rewarding\" than others.\nSummary: This paper has focussed on one dimension of respect; namely communication. This is an aspect very much at the forefront of those mothers' minds who depend on public services and these are the poorest women in Uganda. We have also chosen to explore communication because we feel it sits at the agency end of the structure-agency continuum. It is the dimension of respect that Ugandan midwives have the greatest autonomy to deliver on. The results suggest that a culture of disrespect pervades public services. There are some marked but rare exceptions to this. The findings suggest to us that capabilities (individual know-how) are not the problem. It is organisational cultures, not national cultures or lack of education that shapes behaviour. Ugandan health workers know what respectful communication means and how to deliver it. The failure to translate that knowledge into action and behave respectfully is a function of wider contextual factors affecting both opportunities and motivations. At the very personal level some individuals are simply behaving badly. There is no system of accountability; of reward or discipline in most Ugandan health facilities to identify these individuals and manage them effectively. Women - and patients - in Uganda have very few rights. Or, where rights exist on paper, there is no investment in implementing those rights. Put simply, there is no genuine interest at national level in how women are treated in public health facilities. At best (and very rarely) bad behaviour may result in staff being rotated to another facility. Implementing rights and training staff in the consequences of breaching those rights is essential. This is not an issue of national culture and we must take care not to essentialise these behaviours. Customer care in private facilities in Uganda matches that in the best facilities in the UK and the same staff often work in both sectors. The culture of disrespect reflects a kind of \"othering\" associated with residualised health systems where those people managing and delivering public services cannot imagine a situation where they would be at the receiving end. They either use the private sector (in most cases) or, for less well paid cadres of staff, benefit from forms of patronage within public facilities. The WeCare project was stimulated by a UK intervention known as \"Whose Shoes?\" This intervention was focussed on encouraging health workers to put themselves in the shoes of service users. That requires us to imagine a reality in which we may indeed be in those shoes, giving birth in a public health facility. In a universal health care system such as the UK's National Health Service, the majority of us (including the authors) continue to rely on that service for our own health care. Imagining wearing those shoes is part of our lived reality; our citizenship. In important ways the behaviour of individual health workers reflects wider societal and political processes and requires action to reduce systemic inequalities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of research on mothers and midwives' understanding of the concept of respectful care in the Ugandan public health settings. It focusses on one aspect of respect; namely communication that is perhaps least resource-dependent. The research found endemic levels of disrespect and tries to understand the reasons behind these organisational cultures and the role that governance could play in improving respect.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study involved a combination of in-depth qualitative interviews with mothers and midwives together with focus groups with a cohort of midwives registered for a degree.\nFindings: The findings highlight an alarming level of verbal abuse and poor communication that both deter women from attending public health facilities and, when they have to attend, reduces their willingness to disclose information about their health status. Respect is a major factor reducing the engagement of those women unable to afford private care, with health facilities in Uganda.\nResearch limitations/implications: Access to quality care provided by skilled birth attendants (midwives) is known to be the major factor preventing improvements in maternal mortality and morbidity in low income settings. Although communication lies at the agency end of the structure-agency continuum, important aspects of governance contribute to high levels of disrespect.\nOriginality/value: Whilst there is a lot of research on the concept of respectful care in high income settings applying this to the care environment in low resource settings is highly problematic. The findings presented here generate a more contextualised analysis generating important new insights which we hope will improve the quality of care in Uganda health facilities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
So, who really is a "noted author" within the accounting literature? A reflection on Benson et al. (2015)	[ "Journal rankings", "Interdisciplinary research", "Citations", "Accounting researchers", "Noted authors", "Research contributions" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In this relatively short note I seek to make some comments on a recently published paper, this paper being Benson et al. (2015). I will particularly seek to highlight how certain cohorts within our accounting research \"community\" seemingly ignore or dismiss the work of researchers who do not fit within their own narrowly defined paradigm. Whilst dismissal of other paradigms/world views is not new, the case I would like to discuss is interesting because of the evidence produced to support a particular conclusion. The case is also interesting in that it potentially reflects a mindset that many of us thought had disappeared some time ago. The implications of the mindset are worrying in terms of how it limits imagination in terms of how \"accounting\" could actually be improved, and how it potentially restricts the flow of alternative, and potentially rich, insights that could be incorporated as part of a \"rounded\" educational process.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the propensity of some researchers within the accounting research community (and elsewhere) to ignore potentially rich insights available from other paradigms, and the implications this has for the advancement of knowledge both from an educational and a social perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis is based on a review of a paper published in the Australian Journal of Management by Benson et al. (2015) together with a synthesis of other work which cautions against dismissing conflicting \"world views\".\nFindings: The analysis suggests that the propensity of some accounting researchers to dismiss, or ignore, research undertaken by researchers outside of their paradigm is still apparently \"alive and well\" within today's accounting research community. The implications associated with ignoring or dismissing rich interdisciplinary insights are highlighted.\nResearch limitations/implications: The implications of the research are that many rich insights are apparently being ignored by a segment of the accounting research community and this has implications for the advancement of knowledge, education and society. The limitations of this commentary are that the views are based on personal opinion which by its very nature is biased and based on the political views of the author.\nPractical implications: The practical implications are that in highlighting a propensity to ignore potentially valuable research from alternative paradigms the commentary encourages researchers to consider other world views, as well as the political foundations inherent in their own work. This can have positive implications for the advancement of knowledge, and of society.\nSocial implications: By highlighting the propensity of some researchers to potentially dismiss entire areas of research as not being \"notable\" it is hoped that there will be a revision of this tendency and this will have possible implications for the advancement of knowledge.\nOriginality/value: The commentary highlights how certain elements of the accounting research community continue to appear to have a propensity to forget/ignore that potentially useful insights are available from people who undertake research beyond the confines of their research paradigm.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Matter of opinion: Exploring the socio-political nature of materiality disclosures in sustainability reporting	[ "Sustainability reporting", "Sustainable development", "Stakeholder engagement", "Materiality", "Critical dialogic accounting" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Sustainable development is a deeply contested and value-laden concept replete with questions of, \"what is to be sustained, for whom, how and who decides\" (Brown and Dillard, 2014, p. 1124). Understanding of the consequences of business operations on sustainability has evolved to cover a wide array of social, environmental and governance issues ranging from child labour to climate change, poverty, tax avoidance and so on. To recognise and to report on their unique sustainability impact, each company holds a responsibility to conduct a comprehensive materiality assessment, incorporating stakeholder engagement into the process. The concept of materiality is intended to increase transparency and accountability by making the reports more focussed on \"what matters\" and reducing the amount of unnecessary sustainability information (GRI, 2016; IIRC, 2013b; Accountability, 2013).\nThe concept of materiality in sustainability reporting: The traditional understanding of accounting materiality focusses on presenting a true and fair view of the financial information, and not including significant errors or omissions that could affect shareholders' decision making (IASB, 2010; IFAC, 2017; Hicks, 1964; see, e.g. Lai et al., 2017; Edgley, 2014; Brennan and Gray, 2005; Messier et al., 2005, for a detailed review of literature on accounting materiality). Materiality, as understood in sustainability reporting, broadens and challenges this traditional definition by including the significant environmental and social impacts of corporate performance in materiality considerations, and, instead of focussing merely on financial considerations as the interest of shareholders, it considers a larger scope of information users (Accountability, 2008; GRI, 2013c). A thorough consideration of the reporting timescale is also required, as the more straightforward operational and financial considerations often have a significantly different timescale than corporations' complex social and environmental issues (Zadek and Merme, 2003). Much of these concerns are similar to considerations of the materiality of non-financial issues with a greater amount of discretion (see, e.g. Lai et al., 2017; Eccles et al., 2012; Guthrie and Parker, 1990), but materiality assessment in sustainability reporting goes beyond these with its explicit commitment to stakeholder engagement. Although the introduction of the concept of materiality as a part of the reporting standards is relatively new, the judgements about materiality have always been implicitly present in the disclosure of sustainability information and in evaluations of what counts, to whom, what is to be reported and to what extent. As most of the reporting standards do not predefine the report content, companies need to take responsibility for conducting a comprehensive analysis of their sustainability impacts with an explicit emphasis on stakeholder engagement to be able to report on them.\nMateriality as defined in reporting standards: The concept of materiality has become a central element in distinguishing the most important sustainability information from the less significant immaterial information in corporate reporting (Unerman and Zappettini, 2014; Edgley et al., 2014; Moroney and Trotman, 2016), and the latest versions of various sustainability reporting standards consider materiality as a guiding principle in defining the contents of the disclosure. However, the standards differ in their materiality definitions, and, to illustrate this, we briefly review the definitions of materiality in the most used and well-known sustainability reporting standards (GRI, 2013c; SASB, 2014; IIRC, 2013a, b; Accountability, 2008) in comparison with materiality in financial statements as defined by IASB (2010). The definitions are analysed through three perspectives: the definition of materiality; the purpose of conducting a materiality assessment; and the guidance given about the criteria and thresholds for prioritising those issues (see Table I).\nStakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting: Any issues related to sustainable development are highly complex and thus require a thorough exploration and understanding of the related multiple, varied and often conflicting viewpoints and values. Corporate sustainability reporting is no exception to this, and obliges consideration of the multiple corporate impacts on a wide variety of stakeholders, and of the multifaceted, interactive relationship between the company and its human and non-human stakeholders (GRI, 2013a; IIRC, 2013a; UN Global Compact, 2015). Definitions of materiality in sustainability reporting emphasise the role of a broader set of stakeholders, such as investors, regulators, civil society, employees, suppliers and customers as informants in the materiality assessment, vital to determining which information and data should be included in the report (Gray et al., 2014). For instance, the GRI's G4 guidelines states that \"taking stakeholders\" views into account is central to developing a robust understanding of a company's economic, environmental, and social impacts' (GRI, 2013c).\nEmpirical material and qualitative analysis: This study now moves on to reporting the findings of the empirical analysis. We focus on analysing the meanings, implications and possibilities associated with materiality in sustainability reports and contributing to the understandings of the less explored socio-political nature of the materiality assessment. This study does not aim to evaluate whether the material topics identified are indeed material, but to explore the current materiality disclosure practices in sustainability reporting of the leading companies.\nFindings: We now move on to report the findings from the empirical analysis of materiality in contemporary sustainability reports, after which we discuss the findings in the light of the theoretical framework and propose an elaborated framework for materiality assessment and reporting from a critical dialogic perspective. The findings are summarised in Table II[1]. The findings of the empirical analysis illustrate that the current practice of disclosing the materiality assessment process provides a spectrum of approaches, choices and assumptions that provide answers to some critical questions regarding materiality: What is materiality assessment for? Who decides what is material information? How are material issues determined? What is the outcome of all this?\nDiscussion: We now move on to discuss the findings of the study and the broader understandings and implications of the assessment of materiality, with its approaches, choices and underlying assumptions. By incorporating literature on stakeholder theory, critical dialogic accounting and critiques of commensuration, we problematise the current practices of materiality disclosure in sustainability reporting. The present study argues that the understandings and implications of the concept of materiality are more ambiguous and wide-reaching than they often appear, as, through constituting the legitimised set of claims and information on corporate sustainable performance, it impacts our understanding of sustainable development at large, and affects the corporate and policy-level transition towards sustainability (Cooper and Morgan, 2013; Tregidga and Milne, 2006).\nConcluding remarks: This study adds to the growing literature problematizing the current sustainability reporting practices and their ability to fulfil the informational needs of corporate sustainability (Cho et al., 2015; Boiral, 2013; Milne et al., 2009). To conclude, we argue that despite the seemingly rigorous, objective and technical exercise of defining a set of material corporate sustainability issues, the assessment of materiality and the resulting presentation of corporate sustainability is a value-laden, political judgement of what matters in corporate sustainability, favouring the corporate financial interests and falling short of addressing the complexity of sustainable development. Building on critical dialogic accounting research with insights from stakeholder pluralism, acknowledging the complex nature of the sustainability information and being attentive to the wide variety of organisational and societal goals and values, we add to the existing literature on materiality in sustainability context by contributing to the understanding of the less explored socio-political nature of the assessment of materiality.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the socio-political role of materiality assessment in sustainability reporting literature and discuss the potential of materiality assessment to advance more inclusive accounting and reporting practices, in particular critical dialogic accounting.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on literature on the concept of materiality together with insights from stakeholder engagement, commensuration and critical dialogic accounting the paper analyses disclosure on materiality in sustainability reports. Empirically, qualitative content analysis is used to analyse 44 sustainability reports from the leading companies.\nFindings: The authors argue that, first, the technic-rational approach to materiality portrays the assessment as a neutral and value-free measurement, and second, the materiality matrix presents the multiple stakeholders as having a unified understanding of what is considered important in corporate sustainability. Thus, the technic-rational approach to the materiality assessment, reinforced with the use of the matrix is a value-laden judgement of what matters in corporate sustainability and narrows down rather than opens up the complexity of the assessment of material sustainability issues, stakeholder engagement and the societal pursuit of sustainable development.\nOriginality/value: The understandings and implications of the concept of materiality are ambiguous and wide-reaching, as, through constituting the legitimised set of claims and information on corporate sustainable performance, it impacts our understanding of sustainable development at large, and affects the corporate and policy-level transition towards sustainability. Exploring insights from critical dialogic accounting help us to elaborate on the conceptions and practical implications of materiality assessment that enhance stakeholder engagement in a democratic, rather than managerial, spirit.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Accounting as a tool of state ideology to control captive workers from a House of Correction	[ "Brazil", "Free Africans", "Accounting history", "Reproduction of labour power", "Rio de Janeiro’s House of Correction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Accounting systems have an important role in the institutionalized subordination and control of labour (Macintosh and Quattrone, 2010). Companies, for example, use management accounting and control systems as a tool for the surveillance, discipline and control of their workforce (Hopper and Macintosh, 1993). Understanding the use of management accounting in the organisational context demands more than a technical description of the accounting information systems and it is important to know how these accounting systems interact with the organisational environment (Roberts and Scapens, 1985). This study responds to the research gap identified by Tyson et al. (2005) and Tyson and Fleischman (2006) concerning the relationship between accounting and the control of prison workers. It seeks to contribute towards research into accounting for the control of workers who were either captive or repressed due to their ethnical differences, and to critical accounting research on race and racial injustice.\nEconomic, social and political context: Following its political independence from Portugal in 1822, the Federal Republic of Brazil was organised as a single State, under a constitutional monarchy. The independence of Brazil presented a serious risk of civil war and maintaining slavery was viewed as crucial to secure the union between several groups (Koerner, 2006). In response, the new Brazilian government sought to consolidate an alliance with regional political elites, public workers, land owners and tradesman, in which slavery relations were preserved (Sorj et al., 2008). However, Britain refused to recognise the new South American country unless the Brazilian authorities ended the transatlantic African slave trade (Bethell, 1970).\nLiterature review and theoretical framework: This section comprises of two subsections: the first reviews prior literature that addresses accounting for the control of labour; the second presents the theoretical framework used in this paper.\nThe role of accounting information in the monitoring of \"Free Africans\" in the construction of the RJHC, in a context of slavery ideology: This section is divided into two parts: first, we show how the \"Free Africans\" social category was located in a context of slavery ideology; and second, we show how accounting contributed to supply an information system within which every \"Free African\" could be controlled according to the rules of the dominant class.\nConclusion: The objective of this paper was not to analyse the RJHC's accounting system, but to understand the use of accounting information for the control of \"Free Africans\" and its use in a context of slavery ideology. From archival sources, we were able to verify that the accounting information for the control of \"Free Africans\" at the construction of the RJHC, worked as an intervention tool, designed to facilitate the use of mechanisms that affected and controlled the individual's organisational life. Accounting thus worked as an enabling technology for the application of a disciplinary regime upon the \"Free Africans\" that consequently aligned their treatment to that of a slavery ideology. Thus, accounting assisted in reifying the view that \"Free Africans\" should not be seen as free workers, but as belonging to a social category similar to slaves (Rodrigues and Craig, 2018).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to interpret the use of accounting information relating to the House of Correction, a public safety institution established in Rio de Janeiro for the control of workers under a tutelage system (1831-1864). The aim of the House of Correction was to develop a disciplined workforce of former slaves and other \"Free Africans\". Various control and information procedures were put in place to monitor its achievement of this goal.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is based on historical archival research, mainly conducted at the National Archive of Rio de Janeiro and at the Brazilian National Library. The study uses Althusser's ideology concept and the Marxist concept of reproduction of labour to show how accounting information enabled the administrator of the House of Correction to exercise control over the \"Free Africans\" consistent with the ideologies of the period and place.\nFindings: The authors find that the House of Correction pursued a policy of ensuring \"Free Africans\" were docile, obedient and familiar with State ideology.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research is based on a single case study and it shows the need for both comparative and interdisciplinary analysis in order to increase an understanding of the use of accounting information in ancient prison contexts, as well as in contemporary situations.\nOriginality/value: This paper extends our knowledge of the use of accounting for the control of workers, who were either captive or repressed due to their ethnical differences; and it shows how ideology can be imposed through the use of accounting information. The authors extend theory by applying the Marxist and Althusserian concept of reproduction of labour to the case of \"Free Africans\".\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Functional vs relational benefits: what matters most in affinity marketing?	[ "Satisfaction", "Consumers", "Relational benefits", "Affinity marketing", "Credit cards" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\nIntroduction: The recent global economic downturn has placed tremendous financial strain on customer spending, with the obvious result of lowered margins and revenues for companies across industries and geographic regions (Quelch and Jocz, 2009). In fact, during financial downturns, customers' reliance on the more functional or utilitarian aspects of market offerings, such as price and quality, increases (Lamey et al., 2007). As a result, consumers are prone to switching between competitors to find the best deal, even when this means that they will have to sacrifice convenience (Quelch and Jocz, 2009), which is a typical switching barrier in many product and service categories (Roos et al., 2004).\nLiterature review: Affinity marketing\nResearch hypotheses: Affinity credit cards represent a typical relationship marketing context in which customers seek both relational and functional benefits (Bernthal et al., 2005). For example, supporters of a major AC may become subscribers of an affinity credit card because, in addition to the core service benefits such as a lower APR and higher credit limit, they perceive at least two types of relational benefits:\nResearch methodology: Due to the lack of published empirical studies within the non-university-affiliated AC context, one major Greek AC with teams and individual athletes across a large number of sports, including basketball, football, volleyball, handball, water polo, tennis and boxing, and a multinational bank with full service operations in Greece, issuing an affinity credit card in collaboration with the AC, were approached in late 2009. The goal was to administer a field survey to a random sample of the AC affinity credit card holders. The bank issuing the AC affinity credit card delivered, via regular mail, the questionnaire and a prepaid return envelope to a stratified random sample of 5,000 (out of 45,000) AC affinity credit card holders. This process yielded 1,165 useable questionnaires. The respondents' demographic composition closely mirrored the complete population of the AC affinity credit card holders, with the majority being male (93.8 per cent), between 25 and 45 years of age (77.9 per cent), married with at least one child (58.4 per cent), with a college degree (71.4 per cent) and belonging in the low-to-middle (36.5 per cent) or higher (34.3 per cent) income categories.\nAnalyses and results: Prior to the examination of the hypothesised relationships, measurement scales for all constructs were assessed to determine their psychometric properties (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). Using a random half (n = 583) of the original sample, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the card benefits. After removing one item due to cross loadings, the remaining items were distributed among four factors, explaining 74.7 per cent of the variance in the dataset (Table I). These factors correspond to the three types of relational benefits captured by our questionnaire (Gwinner et al., 1998), namely, social, special treatment and confidence, in addition to the functional benefits.\nDiscussion: Within the banking context, the nature (i.e. search) and large number of competing products have turned retail banking products, such as credit cards, into commodities. Banks must compete, almost exclusively, using price-related benefits (e.g. lower APRs and no annual subscriptions). Against such backdrops, affinity credit card programmes allow the bank to target and attract members and supporters of the affinity organisation inexpensively and with a powerful product and communications marketing mix (Steffes et al., 2008).\nLimitations and suggestions for future research: Despite the potential contribution of this study towards stimulating an exchange of theoretical findings between affinity and relationship marketing, a number of limitations should be taken into consideration if one wishes to project these findings within the broader affinity credit card context. First, the study context focuses on a single AC. Despite the fact that this AC has teams and athletes across a large number of sports, including basketball, football, volleyball, handball, water polo, tennis and boxing, it is possible that historical and cultural aspects of the specific AC influence in an idiosyncratic but systematic way the strength of supporter-team identification. To minimise the systematic effect of such factors, data collection should include a random sample of affinity card holders across ACs.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to classify and compare the importance of the benefits consumers derive from affinity credit card programmes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A random sample of affinity credit card holders of a major Greek athletic club (AC) was surveyed and a multi-group structural equation model was run to assess the hypothesised relationships among the study constructs.\nFindings: Overall, the relational benefits of affinity credit cards outperform the functional ones. However, this finding depends on the number of additional credit cards held by affinity credit card holders.\nOriginality/value: The study is the first one to test formally the viability of a core services marketing theory (relational benefits) within the affinity marketing field as a means of explaining consumer behaviour within such a context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The compatibility of performance appraisal systems with TQM principles - evidence from current practice	[ "Total quality management", "Performance appraisal" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: By 1991, 93 per cent of manufacturing companies and 69 per cent of service companies had implemented some form of quality management (QM) practices (Conference Board, 1991). Despite this large and still growing interest in QM, however, a recent study of total quality management (TQM) effectiveness - conducted by Soltani et al. (2003) - found that less than a third of the respondents rated their QM initiatives as having been \"reasonably\" or \"very\" successful (with the other respondents providing a neutral or, in a minority of cases, a negative evaluation). Unfortunately, the TQM literature abounds with similar results, many of which have been quoted in the popular press (Wilkinson and Witcher, 1991; Fuchsberg, 1992; Wilkinson et al., 1993, 1998; Sitkin et al., 1994; Smith et al., 1994; to name just a few).In his attempt to overcome the barriers to effective TQM implementation, Deming (1986) - as one of the most notable gurus in this field - identified performance appraisal as the third of his \"seven deadly diseases\". In a similar vein, Nicols (2000) argued: \"Don't redesign your company's performance appraisal system, scrap it\" (Scholtes, 1993). To some extent, this theme was even echoed by some human resource management (HRM) specialists (Fletcher, 1993), who suggested that the days of standardised appraisals were numbered.Despite these gloomy assessments, the use of performance appraisal appears to be growing in practice (IRS, 1994; Freemantle, 1994; Industrial Society, 1997; Bach, 2000). For example, the 1994 IRS survey reported that up to 90 per cent of their respondents used an appraisal system, and by the time of the 1999 IRS survey this had almost reached 100 per cent (Bach, 2000, p. 246). Also, it is being applied to sections of the workforce (e.g. blue-collar) to which it had previously not been applied (Long, 1986).However, a review of the appraisal and the performance management literature indicates that few studies report positive effects. For example, Beardwell and Holden (1997) argue that appraisal schemes are met by many employees with distrust, suspicion and fear (Gabor, 1990). Along similar lines, the Wall Street Journal reports that \"in almost every major survey, most employees who get appraisal and most supervisors who give them rate the process a resounding failure\" (Schellhardt, 1996, p. 41); while a 1993 survey by development dimensions incorporated found that most employers expressed \"overwhelming\" dissatisfaction with their performance management systems (Smith et al., 1996). The Society of HRM concluded that over 90 per cent of appraisal systems are unsuccessful (Rees and Porter, 2004; Latham et al., 2005).In general, the above evidence suggests the need for a fundamental change in the traditional practices of performance appraisal. In particular, many TQM proponents (Carson et al., 1991; Ghorpade et al., 1995; Cardy et al., 1995; Cardy, 1998) argue that performance appraisal should be brought more in line with QM principles, at least in organisations that regard themselves as quality-driven. But existing research has often failed to study the current status of performance appraisal practices in relation to TQM, as attested by a large-scale investigation conducted by Sila and Ebrahimpour (2002) of TQM survey-based research published between 1989 and 2000. The research described in this paper attempts to fill this gap. It is based on a survey conducted among a sample of quality-driven organisations in the UK. More specifically, the aims of the paper are three-fold: first, to identify the characteristics of the currently-used performance appraisal (human resource performance evaluation) systems in these organisations; second, to clarify the main criteria of a quality-driven performance appraisal system; third and finally, to examine the implications of these findings for practice and research.The second section of the paper reviews in some more detail the state of existing research on performance appraisal in the context of TQM and highlights the dearth of empirical research on this topic. The third section explains the research design and procedures for the present investigation. In the fourth section, attention is focused on the analysis of the survey data. The paper concludes with a fifth section, which includes suggestions for practice and a direction for future research.\n2 Previous research: As already noted, many proponents of TQM - most notably Deming (1986), and his followers (Moen, 1989; Starcher, 1992; Scholtes, 1993, 1995; Boudreaux, 1994; Bowman, 1994; Gerst, 1995; Nicols, 2000) - have challenged the effectiveness of performance appraisal systems. Even though Deming has not explicitly listed his criticisms of traditional performance appraisal practices, the following points keep recurring: they promote worker behaviour that compromises quality; they create a band of discouraged workers who cease trying to excel; they assign an inordinate amount of responsibility for poor performance to individual employees while undervaluing the importance of the overall work process; they rob the workers of their pride in workmanship; they assume a false degree of measurement accuracy; they engender dysfunctional employee conflict and competition; they underemphasize the importance of the work group; and they are often used as a managerial \"Theory X\" control device (Deming, 1986 cited in Roberts, 2003, p. 89). A key argument against traditional performance appraisal is that it ignores systems-level causes of performance variation. In consequence, individual employees are held responsible for outcomes that are beyond their control (Waldman, 1994; Ghorpade et al., 1995; Cardy et al., 1995).Nevertheless, many organisational scholars maintain that performance appraisal is a necessary and beneficial component of management systems, even in TQM organisations (Waldman and Kenett, 1990; Carson, 1992; Caudron, 1993; Cardy et al., 1995). For Ghorpade et al. (1995, p. 32), appraising performance is inevitable in all organisations because: it is the organisation's way of assessing whether it is getting its rightful due from the individual; it is necessary to account for the differences in contributions of individuals; and it is essential to defend the organisation's negative actions against individuals, particularly those that adversely affect members of minority groups protected by law. Therefore, instead of eliminating performance appraisal to comply with Deming and his followers, attempts have been made to broaden it, in order to reconcile the emphasis of TQM on team and system variables with the needs of individual employees' for recognition and development (Dubnicki and Williams, 1992; Snape et al., 1996; Bowen and Lawler, 1992; Collinson et al., 1998). But, as Cardy (1998, p. 132) warns, the appraisal and management of human performance can be a difficult and error-ridden task. It is therefore important to both the organisational and individual perspectives that this task is done as effectively as possible.Given the recognition that performance appraisal will retain a critical role in providing a potential source of quality improvement, a number of researchers have developed (largely theory-based) models to integrate performance appraisal with TQM requirements. Carson et al. (1991), Dobbins et al. (1991), Masterson and Taylor (1996), Wilkinson et al. (1998), Cardy and Dobbins (1996), Cardy (1998) and Aldakhilallah and Parente (2002), among others, allow the two approaches to merge; resulting in systems akin to - as Petrick and Furr (1995, pp. 145-6) term it - \"total quality appraisal\". However, these theoretical arguments have not been backed up by an adequate amount of empirical research on the current status of performance appraisal practices in quality-driven organisations (Sila and Ebrahimpour, 2002) - with Haines et al. (2004) a notable exception.This comparative lack of empirical research may, as Newton and Findlay (1998) argue, relate to those areas that present the greatest difficulties for both TQM and performance appraisal advocates. However, this explanation may be insufficient. It is our contention that our knowledge of the role of contextually appropriate performance management systems is still deficient. As Newton and Findlay (1998) note, many studies exhibit an adherence to the assumptions and research methods of performance management writers of the 1950s and 1960s. One of the problems with such writers is that their work provides unitarist prescriptions that are generally insensitive to both context and outcomes. The present paper, on the other hand, addresses the question of performance evaluation and management in a specific TQM context from a solid basis of empirical research.\n3 Research design: 3.1 Survey\n4 Data analysis: 4.1 Profile of the surveyed organisations and other background information\n5 Conclusions: The survey evidence (from both the questionnaire and the subsequent interviews) clearly confirmed that few organisations are willing to eliminate performance appraisal altogether, even in a quality-oriented environment. At the same time, the evidence showed that only a minority of the respondents were satisfied with their TQM programmes. A lack of total commitment from top management, related to their concomitant lack of in-depth knowledge of TQM, was regarded as the main obstacle to TQM effectiveness. After all, top management has the ultimate responsibility to create the conditions - including job security, quality and team work training, provision of necessary resources and, last but not least, careful performance appraisal and realistic expectations - under which their employees are likely to accept and actively engage in TQM programmes. The comparative lack of success of their TQM programmes in improving employee commitment and participation led many of the respondents to consider appropriate changes to their current performance appraisal systems.The respondents tended to agree strongly that four criteria are vital to any quality-driven performance appraisal system, namely: helping employees to improve their performance, promoting customer focus, involving all employees in the modification of the system, and approaching performance evaluation as a QM improvement effort. Other criteria seen as desirable in this context are: assuming collective responsibility for quality, and requiring supervisors to have broad, cross-functional skills. However, the role of systems-level causes of performance variation still tended to be overlooked.Comparing such a quality-driven system to their current performance appraisal practices, the interview respondents expressed concerns about their over reliance on inadequately trained supervisors as the main source of appraisal and about their lack of a performance management system that effectively integrates all the key performance indicators in support of the organisation's quality-related aims and objectives.The urgent need to address all of these points constitutes a clear agenda for change. In addition to the criteria identified in the present empirical research, other studies have also proposed models (albeit largely theory-based) for developing quality-driven performance appraisal systems (Carson et al., 1991; Dobbins et al., 1991; Masterson and Taylor, 1996; Wilkinson et al., 1998; Cardy and Dobbins, 1996; Cardy, 1998; Aldakhilallah and Parente, 2002). But it is up to top management to impose this agenda and drive it to a successful conclusion. The vexed question of why top management appears, in many cases, unwilling or unable to shoulder this responsibility forms the main subject of our next research project.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to address the question whether or not quality-driven organisations have, in practice, tended to adjust their performance appraisal systems to integrate total quality management (TQM) requirements.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To do so, the findings of an initial literature survey suggested the combined use of quantitative and qualitative methods for empirical research. The quantitative element consists of a postal questionnaire survey of 64 UK-based, quality-driven organisations on the topic of performance appraisal in the context of TQM. Key informants from ten of these organisations were subsequently interviewed in order to gather detailed information on the reasons behind their initial responses.\nFindings: - The results indicated that only a minority of the respondents were satisfied with their TQM programmes. But this comparative lack of success did not lead them to eliminate performance appraisal altogether, as advocated by Deming and others because of the role of systems-level causes of performance variation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - One important question concerns the notion (expounded in much of the quality literature) that a vast proportion of the variance in individual performance is caused by systems-level features. There is, however, little hard evidence for this view.\nPractical implications: - By acquiring the relevant knowledge and understanding of contextually-appropriate performance appraisal and management, practitioners would be able to translate and mediate TQM requirements into performance appraisal criteria to maintain the integrity of organisational change initiatives aimed at long-term business excellence.\nOriginality/value: - The research provides a starting-point for both TQM scholars and managers, and it can serve as a road-map and a challenge to quality-driven organisations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Student English teachers: participatory learning and developing identities-in-practice	[ "Participation", "Identities-in-practice", "Meaning making", "Rogoff", "Sociocultural theory", "Student English teachers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This article is a localized picture of the practice of learning to teach English theorised through a framework of sociocultural and cultural psychological perspectives. My research focus is on how participation in a practice community supports learning, personal meaning making and identity development. I draw on three student teachers' scripts of practice in an English pedagogy module in a university context in the southwest of Ireland. Over a 13-week period (January to April 2008) student teachers used journal writing as an interpretative \"think book\" or \"think place\" (Moon, 2006, p. 87) following each pedagogy class to make sense of their experiences of learning. Reading back over these journal writings I became particularly aware of how students responded to the practices and discourse of the group members, including my practices and discourse as their teacher. This led me to read work on the distributed nature of human thinking, action and meaning making (Hall et al., 2014) and to focus on the effects of learning with and from each other in our everyday practices, our identities-in-practice (Holland et al., 1998).\nTheoretical perspectives: Identity: Sociocultural theory and identities-in-practice\nMethodology: This research was conducted within the interpretivist paradigm which is appropriate in this case as it allows for thick descriptions and complex nuanced findings going beyond statistics, measurements and numbers related to a stable and objective reality (Dumas and Anderson, 2014). The learning journals as a data set aligned well with my research focus in documenting the effects of learning across a 13-week time span. The learning journals also offered depth and breadth to engage the sensitizing concepts of participatory learning and identities-in-practice as a starting point for my qualitative study (Bowen, 2006). These sensitizing concepts created the frame for themes to emerge. In addition, aligning pedagogy with pedagogical research was a rich site of investigation and the learning journals facilitated this connection.\nFindings and discussion: The data are now presented under the following headings: Using cultural artefacts to generate teacher identities; Participation as learning; and Challenges of participatory learning; and are theorised in conjunction with the relevant literature.\nConcluding comments: Hall et al. (2014) explain that sociocultural theory has significant explanatory power for understanding and supporting learning. They claim that, particularly in Western societies, learning is often seen as individual, decontextualized and focused on discrete bodies of knowledge. They welcome the sociocultural perspective, which does not divorce the individual from their context and highlight how participating with others has a powerful impact cognitively and emotionally. The narrated excerpts from students' learning journals, read in the light of the theoretical perspectives, bring this into focus in this study. Localized explorations have their own implicit value and it is hoped that this study has the potential to resonate across other localized contexts and to dialogue with others about practices and theories of learning.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper looks at how participation in a community of learners can be a resource for learning and identity making (Wenger, 1998). The paper is an interpretation of the selected pedagogical scripts (learning journals) of three student teachers in an English Pedagogics module over a 13-week period in one university context in the south of Ireland. The paper highlights how participation is both a personal experience and a social process, and how the mind is a distributed force in meaning making and a socially mediated phenomenon. The paper draws attention to how sociocultural theory and the concept of participation can extend and support our understanding of learning.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis is deductive and interpreted through an existing literature frame. In contrast to \"indigenous concepts\" inducted from the data the author draws on Patton's (2002) notion of \"sensitizing concepts\" which have their origins in social research theory and the research literature: \"Sensitizing concepts give the analyst '[...] a general sense of reference' and provide 'direction along where to look' (Blumer,1996: 148). Using sensitizing concepts involves examining how the concept is manifested and given meaning in a particular setting or among a particular group of people\" (p. 456). Connecting the theoretical sensitizing concepts of \"participatory learning\" and \"identities-in-practice\" to the data set of learning journals, three emblematic themes emerge: \"Using cultural artefacts to generate teacher identities\", \"Participation as learning\" and \"Challenges of participatory learning\".\nFindings: The narrated excerpts from student English teachers' learning journals, read in the light of sociocultural theory, highlight the process of rendering an identity in participation. Student teachers have worked towards conceptual reach, emotional awareness, experiential understanding and understanding scaffolded learning practices.\nResearch limitations/implications: The reading of student teachers' written work in this paper is both particular and partial and aims to illuminate understandings of the practices and processes of participatory learning rather than make generalizable and validity claims. The student cohort is small and is not representative of larger classes.\nPractical implications: Wenger (1998) writes that it is the experience of meaning that counts in our human endeavours and in this study the author focuses on student teachers' meaning making as they develop a professional identity through participation. Dam and Blom (2006) stress that the acquisition metaphor for knowledge is not adequate in preparing student teachers and he makes the case for a balanced coexistence with the participation metaphor. In this paper, the author focuses on the practice of participation for learning.\nSocial implications: Hall et al. (2014) explain that sociocultural theory has significant explanatory power for understanding and supporting learning. They claim that, particularly in Western societies, learning is often seen as individual, decontextualized and focused on discrete bodies of knowledge. They welcome the sociocultural perspective which does not divorce the individual from their context and highlight how participating with others has a powerful impact cognitively and emotionally.\nOriginality/value: There has been a dearth of empirical studies focusing on the process of participation in rendering an identity. In this paper, the author has theorised and explicated the process of participation and participatory learning. Participation in the practices of teaching, enriched with reflection and inquiry (Cremin, 2009), has the potential to change the pointing rituals (Sumara, 1996) of teaching and deepen the learning. Furthermore, through such activity, desired behavioural gestalts can be embodied, and the perennial theory practice divide in initial teacher education has the potential for more integration.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Modernity and tradition in a global era: The re-invention of caste in India	[ "National cultures", "India", "Social policy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: India has spent the post-war era attempting to excavate the social inequalities of caste from its social landscape. The various dimensions of caste have been examined and connected with each other and to the past, whilst the consequences of caste have been widely researched (for example, Burnad, 2001; Chandra and Mittra, 2003; Gupta, 2005; Rao, 1981; Webster, 1999). As part of its modernisation programme, the Indian government has repeatedly attempted to legislate caste away. In doing this, the government has dug deep into the Indian cultural psyche to exorcise the tradition of caste. These attempts have run in parallel with the broader social and cultural effects of modern industrial Western capitalism on deeply held traditions, for example, the rapidly changing lifestyles of increasing numbers of Indians employed in the burgeoning information technology, bio-technology, and pharmaceutical sectors.The tradition of caste in India dates back 3000 years. It is a hierarchical system which divided the population initially into four (that later grew into five) mutually exclusive, exhaustive, hereditary, and occupation-specific varnas (translated into English as castes) (Deshpande, 2000), dictating all aspects of a person's existence. These are the Brahmins (priests and teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors and royalty), Vaisyas (traders), and the Sudras (menial jobs), and the Ati Sudras (performing the lowest of menial jobs) (Deshpande, 2000; Thekaekara, 2005). Whilst the caste system in India originated as a way of dividing labour, Thekarekara and van der Gaag (2002) contend that it was and is a method of exercising and maintaining social control.The economically and socially disadvantaged castes are classified as the scheduled castes (SC) accounting for approximately 160 million people (Burnad, 2001). People belonging to the SC can aspire to become teachers, government workers, or politicians, but rarely a judge, lawyer, senior company executives or journalists (Ghose, 2003). The SC were named \"Harijans\" by Gandhi, meaning children of God, a term now considered pejorative. People of the SC prefer to be known as \"Dalits\" or the oppressed, a term first used by Babasaheb Ambedkar (Gupta, 2005). The present day meaning of Dalits denotes people who are struggling for human rights, for a new identity and pride (Burnad, 2001; Webster, 1999). Representing over one-sixth of India's population Dalits suffer almost complete exclusion by a system of social order and containment.It is clear that the Indian caste system has deep historical roots. However, contemporary trends such as the development of a \"Dalit\" identity and political movement point to a transformation of the caste system and a diverging of perspectives on what the system represents and what its future should be. The next section explores these developments through the theoretical prisms of de-traditionalisation as proposed by Beck et al. (1994) and governmentality (Rose, 1999). The significance of this is that so far, the concepts of de-traditionalisation and governmentality have largely been used in the literature to examine Western societies and have yet to be widely applied to provide insights into the social, economic, political, and cultural effects of modernisation on newly industrialising nations such as India. It is argued here that such concepts are equally useful in both contexts.In examining the changes to traditional Indian society, the works of Beck et al. (1994) and Rose (1999) are deployed to provide theoretical insights and analytical structure. Whilst their ideas have so far been applied to explaining the transformation of Western industrial nations, the same processes and forces driving this transformation (e.g. globalisation) are being brought to bear on \"developing nations\" such as India. According to Giddens (1994), tradition is a way of settling clashes between different values and ways of life. Once a particular set of values is selected by a society, they form a prism through which the world is viewed by that society. Tradition thus incorporates power relations between social groups and tends to naturalise them. The world of traditional society is one in which cultural pluralism takes the form of a diversity of mores and customs, each of which exist in their own space. The modernisation of India is resulting in a decline of such traditional influences in society. This process is referred to by Beck (1998, p. 132) as \"de-traditionalisation\", which he defines as, \"the exhaustion, dissolution, and disenchantment of the collective and group-specific sources of identity and meaning [for example, caste, ethnicity, class consciousness] of industrial society\". Whilst this definition directly refers to the dissolution of Western industrial society (dubbed reflexive modernisation by Beck, 1994), it is equally applicable to the transformations taking place in Indian society. The forces of reflexive modernity are dissolving the traditional social relationships within Indian society as defined by caste causing the system to collapse. For Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (2001) this is because the sources of collective and group identity and meanings that characterised traditional social relationships (class, caste, ethnic identity) whose lifestyles and notion underpin the economy, society, and culture, lose their mystique and break-up, exhausted. However, Gupta (2005) argues that although the caste system has dissolved, caste identity has strengthened, calling into question the idea that group identity and meanings have disintegrated. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim's (2001) argument must therefore, be re-thought in the context of caste in India.Of particular relevance to India is the argument mounted by Giddens (1994) that de-traditionalisation causes the stripping of successions of generations of the central significance of the past as one of the main means for the transmission of conventional symbols and practices. In this case, one might expect that traditional social practices such as caste would become weaker in their influence. However, as Beck et al. (1994) point out, as traditions dissolve, the past takes on a new and quite different significance as emotional inertia, a kind of socio-cultural baggage. It should come as no surprise then that as India modernises, many traditions are clung to, and caste is one such tradition. As a result, caste has not and cannot simply be blanked out. It is being re-invented and justified in the present as a necessary and inevitable feature of a modern capitalist society. The notion of de-traditionalisation as detailed by Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (2001) is correct in that the lifestyles and ideologies that characterise caste in India have broken-down. However, in contrast to Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (2001), the sources of collective and group identity and meanings that characterise caste have strengthened rather than weakened as competition between and within castes for economic and political power has developed. To understand this process, de-traditionalisation is connected to Rose's (1999) concept of governmentality to provide a useful theoretical framework for analysis.\nDe-traditionalisation and governmentality: Employing de-traditionalisation and governmentality as analytical tools means that the formation and transformation of control in all its guises are brought into focus for investigation. This is important because the social, economic, and cultural transformations taking place in contemporary India are raising a number of challenges to government, especially in terms of reconciling the forces of modernisation with the immovable tradition of caste. This section is divided into two parts. Firstly, the transformations taking place to caste are discussed through employing concepts associated with de-traditionalisation and governmentality. In terms of de-traditionalisation, three central ideas are used: structural reflexivity, self-reflexivity, and institutional reflexivity (Lash, 1994a, b). Rose's (1999) notions of faculty of control (exercise of self-restraint), degree of consciousness (reflection), and force of habit (reflexivity) are then used to focus on the relationships between people, and between people and social structures in post-traditional society in the context of the de-traditionalisation of caste.The second section examines the issue of caste from a governmentality perspective to analyse that which Rose (1999) refers to as endeavours deployed to shape, guide, and direct the conduct of others. According to Rose (1999), governmentality provides a way of taking full consideration of the ways in which people are educated and encouraged to self control through various mechanisms (e.g. the market, the law), agencies (e.g. health, education, police), and techniques (e.g. self government). This brings into question the means by which consent is manufactured for the continuation of caste as an organising principle in Indian society. In doing so, this research addresses caste as, \"that dimension of ... history composed by the invention, contestation, operationalisation and transformation of more or less rationalised schemes, programmes, techniques and devices which seek to shape conduct so as to achieve certain ends\" (Rose, 1999, p. 20).From this perspective, governing caste may be seen as a multi-dimensional phenomenon that includes a variety of thoughts and actions. Rose (1999) argues that these dimensions of governing are reflected in the multitude of words used to describe and enact it (e.g. education, control, influence, regulation, administration, management, guidance) and the multitude of connected authorities and forces involved in governing caste. Governmentality is thus brought into play to provide insights into how caste has been problematised, the different perspectives, and the ultimate aims of social, political, and cultural strategies utilised to govern its de-traditionalisation.The de-traditionalisation of caste\nDiscussion: The modernisation of India has created the situation where the \"tradition\" of caste has been evacuated of its ancient connections with social and economic stability and order and has become a modern state of caste consciousness that is at best a habit and at worst and addiction. The issue that has not yet been addressed in India though is the stark difference between traditional caste structures and their modern equivalent. The work by Beck et al. (1994) and Rose (1999) draw attention to this point of difference. It is now clear is that the so-called \"higher castes\" cannot escape their connection with the \"lower castes\". Traditionally, castes were completely apart, moving in separate spheres. Now, they are bound together in a shared community of fate mapped out through engagement with global economic, social, cultural, and political institutions and structures.This is recognised by prominent Indian authority figures. Nilekani, chief executive of the software-services giant, Infosys Technologies, has a stated recruitment program that does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender or caste (Overdorf, 2004). The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, stated recently that, \"If a commitment to remain an open society is one of the pillars of India's nationhood, the other is our commitment to remain an open economy - one that guarantees freedom of enterprise, respects individual creativity, and mobilises public investment for social infrastructure\" (Singh, 2005, p. 14). Yet, in its quest towards capital growth, the move towards privatisation of public sector organisations takes precedence, resulting in a dwindling of reserved jobs and a shrinking of the public sector. Calls for private sector organisations to implement reform policies such as affirmative action become more strident. These initiatives are aimed at compelling businesses to implement poverty reduction reforms.These statements imply that affirmative action is the way to improve the lot of lower caste. Using Rose's (1999) conceptualisation, the implication is that the lower castes require assistance. They have the self-control to escape disadvantage; there is no \"culture of poverty\" associated with the plight of Dalit people. However, if the Indian government and employers are committed to social reform and economic growth, then the question arises as to the role of consciousness and habit. Overdorf (2004) and Deshpande (2000) argue that while industrialists think the government should focus on uplifting the poor regardless of caste, Dalit leaders believe such a shift in emphasis would mean only that the lion's share of the benefits Dalits now enjoy would be transferred to poor members of the higher castes. As land is the prime asset in rural areas that determines an individual's standard of living and social status, lack of access to land makes Dalits economically vulnerable. The relationship of dependency is exploited by upper and middle-caste landlords. Furthermore, social reforms and policies such as affirmative action perpetuate the benefits of a privileged minority belonging to the backward and scheduled castes and tribes. This implies that whilst there is a reflective awareness of the issue of caste there is a reflexive habit of reverting to the (evacuated) tradition of caste amongst people of higher caste status.\nConclusion: The arguments, strategies, and tactics employed in the governing of caste can be seen in terms of a privileged section of society protecting their own caste identity that brings advantages against a redefinition involving the creation of a more equal society that conflicts with their interests. In the past, the justification of caste was made valid through an appeal to tradition. In contemporary Indian society, this position is becoming less valid. A new justification has been invented appealing to the new \"tradition\" of a capitalist global economic order in which the privileged continue to enjoy economic success at the expense of the poor and marginalised.The key issues remain, that the governing of caste is a vexed issue for India evidenced in contradiction between top-down policy responses and the bottom-up entrenched logic and habits of caste perpetuated by those people who belong to higher castes. As a result, inequality remains the mainstay of India's social and economic system. Equal opportunities will remain imaginary, unless India takes adequate steps towards capacity building in disadvantaged societies. Furthermore, resource distribution and the creation of an inclusive environment remains a critical challenge.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to explore the re-interpretation and justification of caste in India in the face of modernising influences and the efforts of legislators to disassemble its structures and traditions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The concepts of de-traditionalisation and governmentality are deployed to illuminate the reconstruction of caste within the framework and imperatives of global industrial capitalism.\nFindings: - Caste now has a different source of justification in that it serves the functions and needs of the \"winners\" of globalisation at the expense of the \"losers\". In traditional caste-based society each caste moved in separate social spheres. This is simply not possible in a modern capitalist state based on a web of social, economic, and political inter-dependencies. This has the potential to cause social dislocation, threatening India's economic and social well-being and development. This paper demonstrates that whilst caste is still prevalent in Indian society it can no longer appeal to tradition for legitimacy.\nPractical implications: - Resource distribution and the creation of an inclusive environment is a critical policy issue. The challenge for social policy in India is tackling the entrenched inequality of the caste system in its emerging, contemporary form. Equal opportunities will remain imaginary, unless India takes adequate steps towards capacity building in disadvantaged social groups.\nOriginality/value: - De-traditionalisation and governmentality have so far only been applied to developed or Western nations. This paper uses these concepts to provide a critical account of an important social issue in developing nations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Multi-objective optimization for repetitive scheduling under uncertainty	[ "Optimization", "Scheduling", "Uncertainty" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Scheduling of repetitive construction operations such as those encountered in pipelines, highways and building projects are referred to here as repetitive scheduling. Optimization of repetitive scheduling is not new. The main objective of optimization is to balance the trade-off between work interruptions and resource continuity to assist in achieving the least project cost by relaxing resource continuity constraints in the time-cost optimization problem. Available methods can be categorized into four main categories according to optimization objectives (Esfahan and Razavi, 2015) as follows:\nLiterature review: This section focuses on the manner known methods and techniques which are utilized in the development of the method described in this paper. As well, it focuses on previous work dedicated to optimized scheduling of repetitive construction projects also known as linear projects and/or linear scheduling. The developed multi-objective optimization method optimizes the integration of LSM and CCPM. CCPM develops a schedule using buffers to avoid project delays using the following steps:\nDeveloped method: The proposed method expands upon earlier work presented by Bakry et al. (2016) and Salama et al. (2017). Unlike the single optimization method presented by Bakry et al. (2016), the main contribution of the developed method is providing a multi-objective optimization for the integration between LSM and the CCPM. This optimization minimizes project duration, cost and work interruptions simultaneously while considering uncertainties of productivity rates, quantities and availability of resources. The method steps to generate an optimized repetitive schedule are as shown in Figure 4. These steps start by utilizing triangular membership functions to account for the uncertainties associated with duration of activities and crew outputs. Then, all inputs are defuzzified using the center of area (COA) method and durations of activities are calculated as illustrated in the next sections. Activities are sequenced based on the \"job logic\" which respects their logical relationships. Project deadline, PC and bonus payments are specified, and the relative weights associated with cost (Wc), time (Wt) and work interruptions (Wi) are assigned as inputs. Then, a choice is made by the project planner to allow for interruption or not. In case project planner decided to allow for interruptions, then the developed algorithm to minimize interruptions is utilized, and if the project planner decided to prevent work interruptions, then an algorithm to align activities is utilized to maintain the continuity of resources for activities by postponing the start date/time of activities until continuous work is guaranteed (Salama et al., 2017). Evolver (c) software is utilized to optimize objective function using the predefined relative weights assigned to cost, time and work interruptions to generate the optimum schedule. Then, the critical sequence of the optimized project schedule is identified and project, feeding and resource buffers are assigned as described in next sections. Basic components of the developed method include six modules as shown in Figure 5 and as follows:\nFifth module: identification of critical sequence and adding buffers: The main objective of time-cost-work interruptions trade-off problem is to find non-dominated solutions that form a Pareto front as shown in Figure 7. Optimization objectives conflict with each other (i.e. improvement in one objective may reduce another). Most multi-objective optimization problems do not have one best solution with respect to all objectives. It has a set of solutions known as non-dominated solutions or Pareto front (Ghoddousi et al., 2013). The non-dominated solution has at least one objective that is better than other solutions. Decision makers select the most suitable solution with respect to project constraints from a Pareto front according to their experience. The Pareto front is identified by changing weights of the three objectives and record the outcome of these trials.\nDiscussion and conclusions: This paper introduces a newly developed method that optimizes the integration of LSM and CCPM. The method is capable of the following:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a newly developed multi-objective optimization method for the time, cost and work interruptions for repetitive scheduling while considering uncertainties associated with different input parameters.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The design of the developed method is based on integrating six modules: uncertainty and defuzzification module using fuzzy set theory, schedule calculations module using the integration of linear scheduling method (LSM) and critical chain project management (CCPM), cost calculations module that considers direct and indirect costs, delay penalty, and work interruptions cost, multi-objective optimization module using Evolver (c) 7.5.2 as a genetic algorithm (GA) software, module for identifying multiple critical sequences and schedule buffers, and reporting module.\nFindings: For duration optimization that utilizes fuzzy inputs without interruptions or adding buffers, duration and cost generated by the developed method are found to be 90 and 99 percent of those reported in the literature, respectively. For cost optimization that utilizes fuzzy inputs without interruptions, project duration generated by the developed method is found to be 93 percent of that reported in the literature after adding buffers. The developed method accelerates the generation of optimum schedules.\nOriginality/value: Unlike methods reported in the literature, the proposed method is the first multi-objective optimization method that integrates LSM and the CCPM. This method considers uncertainties of productivity rates, quantities and availability of resources while utilizing multi-objective GA function to minimize project duration, cost and work interruptions simultaneously. Schedule buffers are assigned whether optimized schedule allows for interruptions or not. This method considers delay and work interruption penalties, and bonus payments.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Comparative advertising effectiveness in Latin America: evidence from Chile	[ "Comparative advertising intensity", "Product category involvement", "Sponsor brand's market share", "Chile", "Advertising effectiveness", "Brands", "Market share" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Brand advertising in the USA frequently includes comparisons of a product or service with its competitors (Zhang et al., 2002; Polyorat and Alden, 2005; Yagci et al., 2009). In their meta-analysis of the US comparative advertising literature, Grewal et al. (1997) found that, on average, comparative ads were more effective than noncomparative ads in generating attention, message processing, brand awareness, favorable sponsor brand attitudes, and purchase intentions. However, comparative ads evoked lower-source believability and a less-favorable attitude toward the ad. The findings of Grewal et al. do not enable us to establish whether comparative ads are always more effective than noncomparative ads. The best reply to this question would be \"it depends,\" since there are many conditioning variables in analyzing advertising effectiveness. The most relevant moderating factors for analyzing comparative advertising include the comparative advertising intensity (noncomparative ads, indirect comparative ads, and direct comparative ads), the product category involvement, and the sponsor brand's relative market share (Ash and Wee, 1983; Grewal et al., 1997; Del Barrio-Garcia and Luque-Martinez, 2003).Because comparative advertising is widely used as a form of commercial advertising in the USA but not in most other countries, experimental research on executional variables in other regions is needed to better understand which advertising techniques are, in fact, effective (Taylor, 2005). Despite differences in the use of comparative advertising from country to country, little research has been done to explain or predict the differences in the cross-cultural effectiveness of comparative advertising. While findings from the USA suggest that comparative advertising can be effective in several contexts in that country (Grewal et al., 1997; Miniard et al., 2006; Pillai and Goldsmith, 2008; Yagci et al., 2009), there have been a limited number of studies addressing whether comparative advertising can be effective in other countries (Donthu, 1998; Schwaiger et al., 2007).These studies on comparative advertising that have been conducted in non-US settings (mainly in European and Asian countries) have shown interesting findings. First, comparative ads can be more effective on both attitudinal and behavior measures than noncomparative ads in Singapore (Ang and Leong, 1994), Belgium, Hong Kong (Muthukrishnan et al., 2001), Korea (Jeon and Beatty, 2002), Thailand (Polyorat and Alden, 2005), and Germany (Schwaiger et al., 2007). Second, comparative ads evoke lower-source believability in Spain (Del Barrio-Garcia and Luque-Martinez, 2003) and Korea (Lyi, 1988), and a less-favorable attitude toward the ad in the UK and India (Donthu, 1998). Third, consumers have more positive attitudes toward direct comparative ads than toward indirect comparative ads in Korea (Jeon and Beatty, 2002), Hong Kong (Chow and Luk, 2006), France, and the Netherlands (White Nye et al., 2008). Fourth, when faced with direct and indirect comparative ads, consumers in the USA had more favorable attitudes toward the ad and the sponsor brand than those of Korea (Jeon and Beatty, 2002), Hong Kong (Chow and Luk, 2006), France, and the Netherlands (White Nye et al., 2008). Finally, as is true in studies in the USA, those conducted outside the USA suggest that there are many conditioning variables in advertising effectiveness analysis (Del Barrio-Garcia and Luque-Martinez, 2003; Schwaiger et al., 2007; White Nye et al., 2008).Marketing is an understudied area in Latin America (Fastoso and Whitelock, 2011), and the field of comparative advertising is no exception. Too little is known about the potential of comparative advertising in Latin America because there is no research that analyzes its effectiveness in the region, and the technique has seldom been employed (Donthu, 1998; Tirado, 2009). Comparative advertising is permitted in most Latin American countries unless the advertised message is misleading, degradatory of the trademark, or constitutes an attempt to benefit from the notoriety of another company or trademark (Paredes, 2004; Bellingall, 2010). Nonetheless, on a number of occasions when it has been used in Latin America, it has generated a great deal of controversy and litigation (Paredes, 2004). Consequently, many Latin American advertisers are reluctant to use comparative advertising (Tirado, 2009).Latin American consumers are much less familiar with the use of comparative advertising and thus may be more sensitive to it relative to noncomparative ads (Jeon and Beatty, 2002). Consumers' knowledge of persuasion is developmentally contingent; in other words, as people learn more about persuasion agents and their tactics, the effects of certain actions by persuasion agents (e.g. advertisers using comparative advertising) on consumers' attitudes and behaviors tend to change (Friestad and Wright, 1994). This is to say that consumers who vary in their knowledge about a particular persuasion tactic (e.g. consumers who have experienced comparative advertising for a number of years, in contrast to those for whom the practice is novel and unfamiliar) may interpret the same persuasion attempt differently and therefore respond to it differently (Friestad and Wright, 1994; White Nye et al., 2008).Additionally, there may well be cultural factors that cause comparative advertising to be seen as manipulative and aggressive (as opposed to informative and persuasive), which therefore mitigates, rather than increases its effectiveness. The influence of culture is particularly important in advertising because communication patterns are closely linked to cultural norms (Hong et al., 1987). In his scale of six to 91, Hofstede (2001) reported that Latin American countries are highly collectivist cultures with low individualism scores[1] (Argentina 46, Brazil 38, Chile 23, Colombia 13, Costa Rica 15, Ecuador 8, El Salvador 19, Guatemala 6, Mexico 30, Panama 11, Peru 16, Uruguay 36, Venezuela 12). In contrast, the USA was the least collectivist of the countries studied with a score of 91. Several non-US comparative advertising studies have been conducted in highly individualistic cultures with high individualism scores (Belgium 75, France 71, Germany 67, India 48, the Netherlands 80, Spain 51, and the UK 89). In collectivist cultures, where confrontation is avoided and harmony is sought, cultural norms are incompatible with the tactics used in comparative advertising (Miracle and Choi, 1997; Taylor et al., 1997; De Mooij, 1998), and public, face-to-face brand confrontations should be discouraged (Polyorat and Alden, 2005). The individualism-collectivism dimension is also related to context. Low-context communication, which involves the use of explicit and direct messages (e.g. comparisons), is predominant in individualistic cultures, whereas high-context communication, which involves the use of implicit and indirect messages, is predominant in collectivist cultures (Hall, 1976; Hofstede, 2001). People from high-context cultures often find low-context advertisements manipulative and aggressive, whereas those from low-context cultures often find them informative and persuasive (Rossman, 1994; Choi and Miracle, 2004).In this context, this article seeks to examine the effectiveness of comparative advertising in Latin America. This study takes into account various factors (comparative advertising intensity, product category involvement, and sponsor brand's relative market share) that affect the usual measures of consumer response (message recall, message believability, attitude toward the ad, brand attitude, and brand purchase intention) (Grewal et al., 1997; Pillai and Goldsmith, 2008; White Nye et al., 2008; Yagci et al., 2009).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Comparative advertising intensity\n3. Methodology: Data were collected via controlled experimentation. The study employed a 3 (comparative advertising intensity: noncomparative, indirect comparative, and direct comparative)x2 (product category involvement: low, high)x2 (sponsor brand's relative market share: market leader, other brand) between-subjects factorial design.3.1 Sample\n4. Results: Prior to analyzing the data to test the hypotheses, all of the seven-point scales were rescaled from 1 to 7, and the reliabilities of the multiple-item scales were examined. This examination allowed us to confirm Cronbach as greater than the acceptable levels of 0.70 (Nunnally, 1978; Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994). The analysis of the means for each of the 12 treatments is presented in Table I, and the means of the factors are presented in Table II. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) have previously been used by other researchers in this area (Manning et al., 2001; Muthukrishnan et al., 2001; Jeon and Beatty, 2002; Zhang et al., 2002; Barone et al., 2004; Priester et al., 2004; Polyorat and Alden, 2005; Miniard et al., 2006; Pillai and Goldsmith, 2008; White Nye et al., 2008; Yagci et al., 2009). Consequently, ANOVAs were calculated for message recall and message believability, and MANOVAs were calculated for attitude toward the ad, sponsor brand attitude, and sponsor brand purchase intention. The ANOVAs and MANOVAs for each variable are presented in Table III. Finally, Table IV presents the e2, which reflects the percentage of dependent variable variance explained by the independent variable in the sample data.H1 is not supported because it is not possible to show that the intensity of the comparison in the ad has an influence on message recall (p-value >0.1; e2=0.001).H2 is supported by verifying that the intensity of the comparison in the ad negatively influences the believability of the message (p-value <0.01; e2=0.069). Specifically, the results suggest that the message is more credible with noncomparative advertising (MNCA=4.93) than with direct comparative advertising (MDCA=3.89) or indirect comparative advertising (MICA=4.33) (see Table II).The intensity of the comparison in the ad influences the attitude toward the ad (p-value <0.01; e2=0.075). However, consumers have a more negative attitude toward indirect comparative ads (MICA=3.71) than noncomparative ads (MNCA=3.92) or direct comparative ads (MDCA=4.02). Consequently, H3 is not supported (see Table II), as the relationship observed between comparison intensity and attitude toward the ad follows a U-shape function instead of a linear one.H4 and H5 are not supported because it is not possible to show that the intensity of the comparison in the ad has an influence on sponsor brand attitude (p-value >0.1; e2=0.034) or sponsor brand purchase intention (p-value >0.1; e2=0.002).None of the main effects of product category involvement and sponsor brand's relative market share was of theoretical or practical interest, so the focus was on the interactions, which tested the hypotheses that the effectiveness of comparative advertising intensity varied by product category involvement and sponsor brand's relative market share. H6 and H7 are not supported because data do not allow the assertion that the effect of comparative advertising intensity is moderated by the product category involvement (p-value >0.1; highest e2=0.028) and/or by the sponsor brand's relative market share (p-value >0.1; highest e2=0.017).\n5. Discussion: In general terms, the results of this study suggest that there are no significant differences between the use of comparative and noncomparative ads in Chile. Additionally, data do not allow the assertion that the effect of comparative advertising intensity is moderated by the product category involvement and/or by the sponsor brand's relative market share.The finding that the message is less credible with comparative advertising than with noncomparative advertising is consistent with prior research carried out in Spain (Del Barrio-Garcia and Luque-Martinez, 2003) and Korea (Lyi, 1988). Additionally, the findings show a less-favorable attitude toward the ads when using indirect comparative messages. This result is partially similar to that found previously in the UK and India (Donthu, 1998). Both results are consistent with the idea that comparative advertising tends to be less persuasive for non-US consumers.5.1 Practical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to test the viability of comparative advertising in Chile.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were collected via controlled experimentation. The study employed a 3 (comparative advertising intensity: noncomparative, indirect comparative, and direct comparative)x2 (product category involvement: low, high)x2 (sponsor brand's relative market share: market leader, other brand) between-subjects factorial design.\nFindings: - The results suggest that direct and indirect comparative advertisements are not more effective than noncomparative advertisements in Chile. Additionally, data do not support the idea that the effect of comparative advertising intensity is moderated by the product category involvement and/or by the sponsor brand's relative market share. Since comparative advertising was not shown to be more effective than noncomparative advertising, the authors hypothesize that it is due to cultural biases and the novelty of comparative advertising in Latin America, as expressed through negative message believability.\nPractical implications: - While experimental research is not sufficient to establish the generalized non-superiority of comparative advertising in the region, the results support the idea that comparative advertising might not be more effective than noncomparative advertising for many marketing campaigns in Latin America.\nOriginality/value: - Several recent studies have investigated international differences in advertising practices. Most of these address advertising in general, leaving the transferability of comparative advertising practices largely unexplored (White Nye et al.). Analyzing the case of Latin America is highly relevant due to the limited development that exists with respect to comparative advertising in the region.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Developing the wider role of business in society: the experience of Microsoft in developing training and supporting employability	[ "Corporate social responsibility", "Employee development", "Skills training", "Human resource development", "Philanthropy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: One of the key problems for business is to decide how and where to focus its involvement with society. Although it is acknowledged that corporate responsibility (CR) relates to the interlink between society and business (Wood, 1991), we are still unclear about how the mechanisms of this interweaving between firms and society (Russo and Fouts, 1997). In particular there is still a great deal of debate about the impact of firms' corporate responsibility activities and the enhancement of their competitiveness and economic performance. A key issue for business managers is how to respond to the wider expectations by governments and society of business in both wealth creation and creating social cohesion whilst still staying close to their core purpose This means that business cannot move too far from its core purpose or product and so involvement needs to be strategic (e.g. Moir and Taffler, 2004; Saiia et al., 2003). Porter and Kramer (2002) argue that firms should focus their efforts where both the company and society benefit because the firm brings unique assets and expertise to address important social and economic goals. In this article we describe the experience of Microsoft in developing training and supporting employability. Using both resource-based view of the firm (Barney, 1991, 2001) and industrial organisation economics (Caves, 1980; Porter, 1980) arguments we suggest that two of Microsoft's CR activities namely the \"21st Century Skills for Employability\" programme and the involvement in the \"European Alliance on Skills for Employability\" can be argued to be a source of sustainable competitive advantage. We also argue that key aspects of these programmes are the business-to-business and stakeholder partnerships and that these may be an effective approach to address broad and complex societal issues such as unemployment and education.\nThe European context: Virtually every government in Europe is struggling to fight unemployment and create new jobs for its citizens. With an increasing ageing population, over 18 million unemployed, pressure from globalisation on traditional manufacturing industries and many national budgets increasingly under pressure, effective remedies are needed for the medium and long-term health of the European Union. Labour market reform and other structural changes to increase job creation are receiving the most attention as the catalysts for creating higher employment, however, extending people's work life through active ageing policies, making job contracts more flexible or reforming pension systems are difficult and unpopular decisions that most governments want to introduce gradually.These measures alone are unlikely to be enough. Policy makers are realising that people have to be equipped with skills and competencies to satisfy the changing requirements of modern labour markets. This is why governments and industry all agree on the urgent need to strengthen science and technology training in higher education. However, the broader needs further down the skills ladder must not be forgotten or penalized in favour of a more privileged sector of the workforce. Without a proper balance, the skills needed to generate competitiveness and growth through higher value-added goods and services will not be available. Services rather than manufacturing are now the keystone of our economies and their paramount need is for a workforce in which certain common, or universal, skills are readily available. These universal skills should include good numeracy and literacy, business and operational skills and, in particular, at least a degree of basic information technology (IT) capabilities. IT skills not only empower people but also translate into higher productivity and economic growth. Better IT skills and more use of computer technology demonstrably improve productivity in the workplace, especially among SMEs. At the same time, IT and related skills are tools that would allow the underprivileged in Europe access to wider employment opportunities and give them more confidence in trying to enter today's labour market.\nGaining advantage: Strategic management is concerned with how some organisations outperform others, i.e. how they achieve superior advantage in the markets they operate in. Put bluntly, strategy is about winning. How firms achieve advantage is complex, but there are broadly two explanations. One relates to industrial organisation economics and the other to the resource based view of the firm. While sometimes these two approaches of how a firm can reach superior performance are explained in opposition to each other, they actually describe different aspects of the same words and hence it may be more appropriate to consider the perspectives as complementing each other.The basic argument of industrial organisation economics (IO) is that competitive advantage derives from privileged market positions. The emphasis of this theory is on the external environment. It argues that the prime determinant of an organisation's performance is its external environment, the structure of the competition and industry it belongs to. Hence the goal of the firm is to achieve optimal positioning in the most attractive markets.The basic argument of the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) is that competitive advantage is generated from within the firm. The firm's resources are its main source of advantage, in particular those resources that are simultaneously valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and imperfectly substitutable. The emphasis is here on internal resources, how unique and different they are in comparison to those of the competitors. The aim is to exploit these differences to achieve competitive advantage.We now explain how Microsoft's initiative aims at improving the European situation and also how we believe that there is a convergence of interest between Microsoft and Europe's jobs and growth strategy.\nMicrosoft's \"21st Century Skills for Employability\": One of Microsoft's initiatives helps address the greatest challenge facing Europeans and their governments: unemployment. Europe also needs a knowledge economy workforce, i.e. one in which all citizens have basic IT skills and future generations gain these skills as part of their education. Europe also requires people with advanced IT skills to provide infrastructure and innovation.Microsoft has initiated the \"21st Century Skills for Employability\" programme. By partnering with governments, business, the education sector and community groups, Microsoft aims to develop skills that will enable people to undertake more interesting, better paid work, adapt to innovations in business processes, and improve productivity and competitiveness at the enterprise level. In committing to 21st Century Skills for Employability across Europe, Microsoft builds on a number of corporate programmes already well established across the EU:* The Unlimited Potential programme, which has supported more than 2,000 community technology centres and reached out to over 2 million people in all parts of the EU25. In February 2006 Microsoft announced an expansion of funding to more than $152 million in cash and software worldwide. These new grants will support 126 non-profit organisations that are expanding existing programmes or opening new centres in 64 countries, bringing the total to 36,000 centres benefiting more than 15 million people worldwide.* The IT Academies programme, which has to date supported more than 2,000 accredited academic institutions to provide half a million students with a premium education in the latest Microsoft technologies.* The Partners in Learning programme, which supports primary and secondary schools to increase access to technology. To date Microsoft has signed Partners in Learning memoranda of understanding with 22 EU governments providing certified IT skills training to over half a million teachers.In summary with its \"21st Century Skills for Employability\" initiative Microsoft and its partners help thousands of Europeans to access training opportunities that will help them to get back into the workforce.\nMicrosoft's employability initiative: new skills for unemployed textile workers in Portugal: Just one example of the 21st Century Skills for Employability initiative in action is the Technology, Innovation and Initiative programme (TII). Launched in January, the TII is a unique partnership between the Technological Centre for the Textile and Clothing Industries of Portugal (CITEVE) and Microsoft, to provide unemployed workers in Portugal's textiles industry with new skills and qualifications to enhance their long-term employability prospects. Supported by the Unlimited Potential programme, TII aims to train at least 3,000 unemployed workers from Portugal's textile sector, which is being significantly affected by increasing global competition. The TII training will equip the participants with new skills needed in the local economy. CITEVE, together with the Instituto do Emprego e Formacao Profissional (The Institute for Employment and Professional Training of the Ministry of Work and Social Solidarity), will also work with local companies and unions to help the trainees find new jobs or start new businesses. Helder Rosendo, CITEVE's general manager explained the problem:The European textiles industries are experiencing a paradigm shift due to the undisputable competitiveness of Asian countries in the sector, forcing Portuguese companies to make stronger bets on research and development, design, logistics and distribution. In this scenario, IT and human resources skills and training are of great importance. A programme such as TII that aims to improve the skills and knowledge of the unemployed workers by training them in IT clearly improves their re-employment prospects either in the same industry or other industries where these skills are required.Behind every statistic there is a person looking for a new or better job to provide for his or her family. Behind every partnership there is a potential to lift someone out of dependence. By applying an innovative approach to delivering IT skills, Microsoft and its partners have already shown they can make a difference. And they are committed to continuing and furthering these efforts.Corporate responsibility as a way to reconcile Europe's twin strategy of competitiveness, jobs and growth\nThe European Alliance on Skills for Employability: In Europe, Microsoft is a founding member of the European Alliance on Skills for Employability. The Alliance partners are the e-Skills Certification Consortium and its members Microsoft, Cisco, European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) Foundation CompTIA and EXIN, together with Fast Track to IT (FIT), Randstad and State Street Corporation. Together this group will invest millions in both cash and in-kind to help train and provide access to technology content and certification to 20 million Europeans by 2010.The Alliance shares a strong commitment to support the European Union's Jobs and Growth Partnership. Its goal is to facilitate the provision of skills training for employability to disadvantaged groups: young under- and unemployed workers, older at-risk workers, and people with disabilities. The Alliance will work to raise awareness on the importance of delivering skills for employability in Europe by promoting business-to-business partnerships and collaborations for sustainable growth, jobs and competitiveness. With each partner contributing its core competencies, programs and resources toward a common goal, the Alliance has the potential to offer new opportunities to millions of people throughout Europe, particularly those at the bottom of the skills pyramid. Working with government, industry and NGO partners across Europe the Alliance will be investing in partnerships that aim to support and assist today's untapped work force, i.e. unemployed youth who have dropped out of education and the over-50s who need new skills, and confidence to find jobs later in life to gain basic IT skills for work and life through local community IT training centres, IT academies and online training;As a result the Alliance will support Europe's 20 million small and medium-sized enterprises, which are critical to the EU economy, by widening their recruitment base of local people able to use IT as tools for business growth and innovation.\nMicrosoft's employability initiatives and superior performance: The initiatives from Microsoft and its partners certainly add social value in terms of European employability and developing social welfare but does it make sense for Microsoft's strategy in the short and long term? And, if it does make sense, why undertake such activities on a partnership basis instead of going it alone and taking all the credit? Does it make sense to commit to such broad-scale initiatives if one wants to create sustainable competitive advantage, generate profits and optimize shareholders value? While there is no doubt that there are costs involved in setting up and managing such programmes we propose that the strategic benefits outweigh the cost and that the advantages for Microsoft are beyond those of enhanced goodwill and its associated marketing benefits.Microsoft's employability partnership initiatives and their impact on the external environment\nConclusion and reflection: In this article we have described how Microsoft has gained competitive advantage from corporate responsibility initiatives and so how these strategies are available to all firms. But there remains our initial question of how to decide what activities to undertake and how to gain that advantage. In reflecting on this experience, we can point to the following features:* The activities were part of the core competencies of the business, so alignment of CR activities and core business delivers impact and sustainability.* Both society and Microsoft gained - but the social involvement wasn't only instrumental - i.e. Microsoft didn't set out to do it to make money - this is part of what business does to last and sustain business success in the long term. In fact, in today's business world it needs more than good products to be a great company.* The activities were coordinated with civil society, industry partners and government and were part of a wider socio-economic agenda.* Microsoft didn't work alone - it had key partners - there is a network and a new form of partnership that is emerging along the value chain that spans from \"access to training to employment opportunities\".* Microsoft's staff were directly involved and this is key in developing intangible assets and where competitive advantage is gained by knowledge.* Inevitably resources and involvement has to be prioritised and having both a strategy for social activities as well as clear targets helps set those priorities.We may not yet understand the mechanisms that link business as part of society, but it is clear that business can be part of the solutions to some of society's problems.Elements for further learning:* This venture is very ambitious but it is only at its start. The impact and outcomes still have to be monitored and measured in the years ahead towards the achievement of the targets by the end of 2010.* Microsoft chose to bring forward a new partnership-based approach which includes industry and other stakeholders. The effectiveness, benefits and barriers of such approach still need to be evaluated. Surely it is best to look at the issue of training and unemployment with and end-to-end perspective, which mirrors every step of the value chain and maximizes the value added of each partner at every step.* While it is essential for a company to align its CR strategies to the policy priorities, there needs to be a balance with the company's core business in order to sustain and develop the programs in the long term. In this case the three elements aligned perfectly. What would be the impact if this was not the case?* How will the EU CSR Alliance act as an enabling environment for these types of new CR activities which are attempting to balance policy making, societal and business goals? Is this a road to redefine, modernize and guarantee the sustainability of the European social model?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe Microsoft's activities in encouraging employability and to show how these activities provide strategic advantage\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Two of Microsoft's corporate responsibility initiatives linked to the development of employment in Europe are described and it is shown how these activities have created sustainable competitive advantage for Microsoft through an analysis of industrial organisation economics and the resource-based view of the firm. Reflects on the characteristics of these involvements and points to aspects which may have wider applicability.\nFindings: - Involvement in societal projects can contribute intangible assets to the firm whilst delivering social value. However these projects are part of wider coordinated activities with other organisations and with government.\nResearch limitations: - These are reflections on participation in business and hence the conclusions are not representative and the analysis is unstructured.\nPractical implications: - These case studies will show other businesses how to think about their corporate social responsibility activities from a strategic viewpoint and will allow academics to see how business develops such strategies.\nOriginality/value: - These are rare descriptions of such projects, which are becoming more common in business.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
HR interventions boost creativity levels in Indian automotive sector	[ "Rewards", "Training", "Creativity", "Organisational learning", "Automotive" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A study of HR interventions in the Indian automotive sector has shown how they are able to enhance employee's levels of creativity, leading to more innovative work. The analysis of the responses of 258 executives suggested the three strategies under consideration - rewards and incentives, training, and organizational learning - all raised levels of creativity significantly.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to test the effectiveness of three extrinsic methods of inspiring more creativity in employees. The methods were rewards and incentives, training, and organizational learning.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To test the effectiveness of these three factors they tested a series of hypotheses on 258 managers and executives from car manufacturing units in India. They used a detailed questionnaire.\nFindings: The test results confirmed Hypothesis 1A, suggesting creativity training increases the number of ideas and the creative performance of employees. It also confirmed Hypothesis 1B that there was a positive relationship between rewards and incentives, and creativity. Hypothesis 1C, which was about the positive effects of organizational learning, was also established. Finally, results supported Hypothesis 2's statement that there was a positive relationship between employee creativity and organizational innovation.\nOriginality/value: The authors said the study was a valuable reminder to companies in the automotive sector that it is possible to stimulate employees to become more creative. But the lessons were equally valuable in other fields where there was a premium on technological innovation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Servant leadership and engagement: a dual mediation model	[ "Servant leadership", "Leader-member exchange", "Public service motivation", "Prosocial motivation", "Work engagement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Servant leaders put followers' interests before their own and act in a moral and humble manner (van Dierendonck, 2011). Empirically, researchers reported that servant leadership is related to various outcomes, such as job performance (e.g. Schwarz et al., 2016), organizational commitment (e.g. Carter and Baghurst, 2014), helping (e.g. Neubert et al., 2008), organizational citizenship behavior (e.g. Walumbwa et al., 2010) and engagement (e.g. Sousa and van Dierendonck, 2017). We find engagement, as a positive job attitude (van Dierendonck, 2011), is a relatively under studied but important outcome. Engaged workers display desirable motivation and behaviors like vigor, dedication and absorption (Schaufeli et al., 2006). In this paper, we investigate how servant leadership affects followers' work engagement using one sample from the public sector and another sample from the private sector.\nStudy 1: Servant leadership and work engagement\nStudy 2: A limitation of Study 1 is that employees who self-select into the public sector may have higher altruistic tendency compared to other working populations, and serving the public is part of their job requirements instead of a discretionary choice. This range restriction in their public service motivation may be an alternative cause for the insignificant mediation effect. We performed a differential replication (Lindsay and Ehrenberg, 1993) with a second sample from the private sector to validate our findings. Although the majority of the research design remained the same for Study 2, we choose to replace the scale of public service motivation, because its wording was designed for the public sector. We use a more general construct, prosocial motivation, as the proxy of the social learning mechanism. Grant (2008, p. 49) defined prosocial motivation as \"the desire to expend effort to benefit other people.\" Given the similarity between the public service motivation and prosocial motivation concepts, some researchers treated the two interchangeably (e.g. Wright and Grant, 2010), while others view public service motivation as a particular form of prosocial motivation \"that is animated by specific dispositions and values arising from public institutions and missions\" (Perry et al., 2010, p. 682).\nDiscussion: Servant leadership research is at its \"early state of theoretical development\" with many unanswered questions (Liden et al., 2014, p. 1449). This study enriches servant leadership literature by comparing the dual mediating mechanisms of servant leadership's effect on work engagement. These results have important theoretical and practical implications.\nConclusion: We found that servant leadership is an antecedent of work engagement, and this effect is primarily through the social exchange process, while the social learning process is relatively difficult to take place. In practical terms, our study shows how important it is to use servant leadership to build strong relationships with employees and boost their work motivation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare two mediating mechanisms of servant leadership's effect on followers' work engagement: the social exchange mechanism (represented by leader-member exchange (LMX)) and the social learning mechanism (represented by public service motivation in Study 1 and prosocial motivation in Study 2).\nDesign/methodology/approach: In Study 1, the authors collected two-wave matched data from 216 public sector employees. In Study 2, the authors collected two-wave matched data from 178 private sector employees. The authors use hierarchical regression and bootstrapping to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Servant leadership is positively related to follower's work engagement and this relationship is mediated by LMX, but not by public service motivation (Study 1) or prosocial motivation (Study 2). It suggests that servant leadership promotes followers' work engagement mostly through the social exchange mechanism.\nResearch limitations/implications: The data were collected from Chinese employees, and future studies are necessary to verify the findings in other cultural contexts.\nOriginality/value: This study sheds light on a more nuanced picture of the effect mechanisms of servant leadership.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Tourist experience on traditional pastries in UNESCO heritage city	[ "Value", "Service quality", "Brand image", "Penang", "Atmosphere", "Pastries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Malaysia continues to be one of the world's leading tourist destinations with an increase in tourist arrivals from 24.6m in 2010 to 27.4m in 2014. Tourism remained an important source of foreign exchange earnings at RM72bn in 2014, an increase of 27.4% from RM56.5bn in 2010. According to the Eleven Malaysia Plan (11MP), sustainable development would be the main foundation for the tourism sector. It could do by introducing a variety of tourism quality products to stimulate the tourists' need for an international and a domestic level. Besides that, promotion strategy becomes more effective if the promotion is held.According to Department of Statistic Malaysia (2018), a total of 205.4m domestic visitors were recorded in 2017 with a growth of 8.5% compared to 189.3m registered in 2016. Meanwhile, the number of trips increased from 253.9m trips in 2016 to 276.1m trips. Based on the Tourism Performance Report 2017, the food and beverage component continued to be the third highest contributor among the domestic visitors with 13.8%. For centuries, Penang was an entrepot drawing settlers from around the world. To date, this state is still well known among many from every part of the world. Penang is one of the states besides Melaka being awarded the UNESCO World Heritage Centre on 7 July 2008 (2008, July 7) as part of UNESCO world heritage site. Given, the UNESCO world heritage listing for Penang, the state does offer tourists a great place to enjoy not only the rich cultural diversity but also with their famous local delicacies which have brought many unforgettable memories. Nonetheless, Penang's tourism industry received a major boost when it was named one of the 17 best places to visit in 2017 by CNN. This has made Penang second after Prince Edward Island, Canada. The Pearl of the Orient was singled out for its cuisine, among other factors, and acknowledged as having one of Asia's best street foods. With these, Penang visitors in 2017 consisted of 52.2% international tourists and 47.8% domestic tourists (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2018).Traditional pastries and biscuits shops in Malaysia are situated in few different places such as Penang, Ipoh and Malacca. A traditional pastry shop in Penang is famous for the Tau Sar Pneah, or we call it as Tambun Pneah. Besides, it is also famous for the brown sugar filling that we call it as Hneoh Pneah. As for Ipoh, it is famous for the Heong Pneah or Beh Teh Saw, lou por peng, meat floss biscuits, sachima, sesame seed and other types of pastries. There are also home-based pastries businesses that are carried out. The business is made by producing the pastries in the house and sells its products in the market or coffee shop to earn for living. Some of the home-based pastries also received an order from the customers to enable delivery service to the customer's place.The businesses of pastries and biscuits are mostly passed down from generation to generation which we can see from the competitor company, Ban Heang. It is a pastry manufacturer which is operated by the grandson and has a different range of pastries coming together with the other local snack delicacies. So, the business of pastries in Malaysia is facing much newly emerging companies who sell almost the same type of pastries in the market. There is market saturation due to the types of pastries produced by all pastries manufacturers are within a few types and range. Each manufacturer is facing a challenging job on how to sustain the pastries and biscuits business by having a more innovative way of capturing the market demand.\nHeritage/tourism opportunities of the business: Most of the pastries are manufactured in the Heritage area. Penang is the heritage site, and this creates the opportunity for Penang to attract more tourists to visit Penang. This business indirectly increased the income of the state and made Penang more well known. Tourists can purchase pastries besides other food delicacies in Penang. The challenge faced by the traditional pastries and biscuits is the competitors where the shops strive to have a variety of products to survive through the competitive market. Both Penang and Malacca are being declared as heritage states. Their Heritage status attracts most of the tourists where it helps the business to run better. So, when there are holidays, many tourists will visit the heritage state to understand better on the culture and the local delicacies that they have. When visitors come over for a visit, it generates better income compared to non-holiday season. The tourists' and visitors' spending power has indirectly improved the economies of the state.Declaration as a heritage state has made the state improve their income where they attract more tourists to come to visit the country. It has created more business opportunity for the state where the economy grows. Tourism has generated income of 58.3bn in 2011 (Anowar et al., 2013). It also contributes to micro- and macro-economics of the country. Tourism has been selected as the second earning tools for the growth of the country to compete with the outside world. For the biscuits outlets that are in Penang, it is described in brief what the products are provided. The three main pastries shops in Penang that will be the main focus of this study are Him Heang, Ghee Hiang and Min Xiang Tai.Him Heang is one of the pastries companies which is quite famous when visitors come to visit. It is a family-owned business which is run by generation after generation where it is now is run by the third generation. The Chinese pastries at Him Heang include Beh Teh Saw, Jin Fei Cui, Qing Tang Bing, Sweet Lotus paste, Tambun biscuits and Xiang Bing (Him Heang, 2016). Ban Heang is another shop that is evolved and also guarded by the family members. This company sells various types of biscuits which include Heong Pneah, Beh Teh Saw, Phong Pneah, Tambun biscuits, Hup Toh Soh, pepper biscuits and Tau Sar Pneah. Leong Chee Kee Biscuits shop is situated at Cintra Street and is famous for making coconut egg tart (Malaysia Foodie, 2010). As for Hock Lock Siew biscuits shop, it is also a business passed down from generation to generation. They are famous for the traditional biscuits such as Lou Poh Peng, brown sugar biscuits, Beh Teh Saw biscuits, Sun biscuits, Tambun biscuits, moon cake, traditional wedding biscuits.From generation to generation, Ghee Hiang strives to produce only authentic, wholesome pastries to be savoured by the young and the old. It has been a Malaysian brand built dating 160 years through careful nurturing and sound customer commitment and experience. Leading Ghee Hiang was the experience of Dato' Ar. Ooi Sian Hian with the mission of meeting and exceeding their customers' every need with quality products (Ghee Hiang, 2009). Their specialities are Tau Sar Pneah, Beh Teh Saw, Phong Pneah, Hneoh Pneah, oriental almond cookies and other pastries. Besides, they are also famous for their sesame oil.The third pastries shop is Ming Xiang Tai. Ming Xiang Tai's vision is to flourish the culture of eating traditional handmade pastries and biscuits and to continue his vision for future generations to come. The traditional handmade pastries and biscuits are the foundation of cultural and artistic appearance. Ming Xiang Tai's prime determination is to hold on to the philosophy and regain the cultural essence of traditional handmade pastries and biscuits (Malaysia Foodie, 2010). According to the owner, pastry chefs can learn their core values by making traditional handmade pastries and biscuits. Au Chee Teck's main objective is to stress on quality and not the quantity of the product. He noted that the pastry industry is different from another type of food industry and the important thing in this industry is the baking skills. This company sells various types of biscuits which include Cantonese Pastry, Six Prosperity Pastry, Signature Trishaw Egg Tarts, Traditional Boaz, Pearl Chicken Glutinous Rice, Nutmeg, Vinegar, Mooncake and other peripheral products.Food heritage is related to the origin of the food products and food production of local produce (Ramli et al., 2016). Tibere and Aloysius (2013) explained food served in the heritage site is the culturally rich and historical value that belongs to the societies, which can be traced based on the recipe used and technique of cooking. Great concerns and consideration are given to the preservation of traditional pastries since it was closely related to the ingredients and preparation method. In order to gain the competitive advantage in this industry, the family-owned pastry businesses need to continue preserving their heritage pastries in the creation of valued products especially the traditional pastries (UNESCO, 2008)\nMethodology: In this study, the secondary research approach was employed via the social media platform. The sample of tourists was selected based on purposive sampling where the unit of analysis for this study are tourists (Malaysians and foreigners) who have experienced with the pastries shops in Penang. As for this study, TripAdvisor was the most appropriate platform for this qualitative content analysis based on its online reputation and popularity among tourists. This analysis will be useful for this study considering that it has been used for a long time to examine customer attitude which eventually aids the researchers in better understanding of the visitors' experience.TripAdvisor has been an online-based website that makes comments about an attraction available to the public for local delicacies such as pastries as stated in this study. Besides, TripAdvisor has a rating system which makes it an essential tool for providing the right set of data that lead to valid results. Its specific design has helped in terms of electronic word-of-mouth society by assisting tourists in sharing their insights about the pastries. In this exploratory research, a purposeful sampling of 68 tourists' reviews posted on Tripadvisor.com is used as the data. The content analysis of the TripAdvisor tourists' review focusses on three pastries shops in Penang (UNESCO World Heritage), namely Him Heang, Ghee Hiang and Ming Xiang Tai.\nFindings and discussion: Online data were collected from 68 tourists who visited the three pastries shops, namely Him Heang, Ghee Hiang and Min Xiang Tai and reported their experiences through online on TripAdvisor website. Due to the frequent updates on the TripAdvisor website, this research set the time frame to collect tourists' reviews from 2014 till June 2018. TripAdvisor.com offers different formats for tourist reviews of a pastry shop: written comments and ratings of ten attributes (service, food, value, price charge, purpose of visit, ambience of the shop, amenities, overall satisfaction). Through the careful comparison between written commentsand ratings, it is believed that the ratings of each attribute are most likely to be reflected in the tourist's written comments. Therefore, this study attempts to focus on the quantitative ratings of each attribute by minimizing the authors' subjective judgements on the written comments. Customer experience clues are observed in the written comments which were stored and managed using Quirkos V2.1 qualitative data analysis software.Not all reviewers of the three studied pastries shops in TripAdvisor stated their gender and age. Majority of those who did mention were more women than men with the majority (71.2%) between 25 and 49 years of age. Based on the reviews collected from TripAdvisor, four attributes were themed. These attributes are service quality, brand image, value and atmosphere of Chinese pastries operators in Penang. From each of these sections, the data collected was coded to analyse the feedback patent. After the data patent had been recognized, it was compared to establish significant findings. Since the information on reviews and comments provided was almost similar, the general comments were summarized for data analysis.Service quality\nImplication and conclusion: Overall, this study contributes to the in-depth understanding of how the tourists' experience is affected by the attributes of service quality, value, brand image and atmospherics. So, the study provides secondary research based on qualitative data to ensure more extensive findings. This study can provide valuable insights for business owners in the pastries industry to provide the tourists' revisiting of buying traditional pastries. This study will also give business owners to develop good business strategies in the pastries industry. In this context, results may broaden the knowledge of pastries business owners. In particular, the study itself is considered useful for Malaysians researchers, as it is the first that presents a study in the selections of pastries in the heritage sites in Malaysia. Improving service quality, enhancing the value, maintaining the brand image and improving the atmospherics in the pastries outlets in Penang will consecutively strengthen tourists' loyalty as well as generating higher revenues for the business as well as to boost the tourism in Malaysia. Furthermore, it is always a wise way for pastry business owners to seek for Halal certification to ensure Halal in religious view and good food quality where this could increase the pastry business performance. Additionally, the importance of carrying out this study is because there seems to be a rising pandemic in the food tourism sector. There have been many research debates on the growth of local food tourism, but there is scare study on local pastry contributing to the food tourism in Malaysia. The study entails a limitation of using secondary qualitative data, while it provides more comprehensive information, it also causes the credibility of the results as the interpretations of the data based on the researchers' understanding. The future research shall consider quantifying the large-scale quantitative research by collecting the primary data to ensure the credibility of the data. Besides, the research scope was limited to pastries (particularly in Penang) which limits the generalizability of the findings of the food industry. This study investigated only the four variables: service quality, brand image, value and atmospheric. Perhaps other variables that may affect tourist experiences such as place attachment, level of familiarity and level of involvement were not examined. Finally, the theory of planned behaviour can be used to examine this topic too.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In recent years, the traditional pastries industry has gained popularity among tourists due to the advantage of the pastries location at UNESCO Heritage city, Penang. However, the little research focussed on this particular industry, and there is lack of evidence of the tourists' experience with the traditional pastries and how these attributes affect their revisit decision.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study utilizes a qualitative research design to gain in-depth understanding on tourists' thought and their repurchase decision. Secondary data were collected via TripAdvisor with 68 tourists who visited the most popular three pastries shops namely, Him Heang, Ghee Hiang and Min Xiang Tai, which are later analysed using qualitative content analysis.\nFindings: The findings revealed that tourists generally concerned about the service quality, value, brand image and atmospherics that could affect their repurchasing decision. Particularly, the staff service quality has been viewed as the upmost important attribute to influence the tourists' decision. Therefore, the pastries shops shall ensure that the staff who serve the tourists shall be well trained to satisfy the tourists' enquiry.\nResearch limitations/implications: The limitation concerning the interpretation of the secondary data based on the feedbacks and comments of the tourists may derive the bias possibility. Future research might consider the large-scale primary data to extend the findings.\nOriginality/value: Limited research exists on the tourists' experience which affects the repurchasing decision in pastries industry. This study provides valuable information for pastries shops and researchers interested in this area.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A typology of music information for studies on information seeking	[ "Music", "Music information", "Information seeking", "Information representations", "Information search process", "Musical semiotics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The domain of music offers an opportunity for self-contemplation and renewal of information notions used in information science research. What does it mean to know about music? How is information science approaching music information? It is likely that the traditional scope of the notions of information does not cover all aspects relevant to representing music information for information-seeking studies. The validity of our information notions should be from time to time tested with theories of knowing and information emerging from particular domains such as music. The aim of this paper is to extend the notion of information used in information-seeking studies to include facets relevant for representing music information, too.\nProblem statement: As stated above, Kuhlthau's (2004) ISP model claims that information source's level of abstraction affects its interpretation in information seeking, and that this interpretation can undergo changes as the information-seeking progresses from a stage to another. When examining information sources at varying degrees of abstractness, Kuhlthau (2004) borrows Bruner's (1966) concept of mode of representation. According to Bruner, any domain of knowledge, and every single problem within that domain, can be presented to the learner through using three modes of representation. Enactive mode of representation refers to sequences of activities for creating desired results. Iconic mode of representation refers to presenting a concept through a graphic without exhaustively defining it. Most abstract of modes is the symbolic mode where through a system that defines rules of expression, a set of arguments is created for describing a concept (Bruner, 1966, pp. 44-45).\nLiterature review: Previous studies have provided diverse approaches to music information. Often, studies describing and modelling information seeking and needs of music scholars review information behaviour among humanists in general (Brown, 2002, p. 74). Despite important works in this area (Brown, 2002; Hunter, 2006; Liew and Siong, 2006; Inskip et al., 2008), emphasis on textual information seems to create a one-dimensional notion of information that does not make visible the perceived roles of the other information types. The branch of research primarily focusing on the source preferences and user satisfaction among music scholars and students (Brown, 2001; Lai and Chan, 2010; Dougan, 2012) often examines the perceived helpfulness of a set of pre-categorized sources of information. While these studies are very usable in collection development, they are less relevant for the interpretation of information types at varying levels of abstraction.\nMusical knowing and semiotics: The problem with musical knowing, i.e., what it means to know about music, presents itself in a complex and problematic manner. According to Bengtsson (1977) The Concept of Tone (our italics) may refer to a notated tone, a measurable frequency or an aural experience. Tarasti (1994, p. 4) adds to the latter also the gestural language, which is needed to transform a notated tone into both a measurable frequency and an aural experience. Musical knowing therefore transpires also within sign systems, which are inherently non-conceptual (Tarasti, 1994). Bengtsson (1977, p. 18) stresses the importance of keeping the different systems of description as separate categories. We cannot assume that the possibility of direct transformation between these sign systems exists (Bengtsson, 1977). Yet, according to Tarasti (1994, p. 4) and Bengtsson (1977, p. 23), it is insufficient to state that musical knowledge is merely transmitted through the musical non-conceptual sign systems. As no sign system works in a vacuum, but in interaction with other systems, also verbal sign systems have had an important role in transmitting musical tradition (Tarasti, 1994, p. 4). Due to the detached nature of the different sign systems, it is important to take into consideration the process of translation, with its imperfect nature, taking place between the systems (Bengtsson, 1977, p. 18). According to Tarasti (1994, p. 4), the most radical translation occurs when a person is trying to explicate his or her aural experiences into conceptual information. Acknowledging the problem of transformation between the representation types is essential in gaining further understanding about their perceived roles within information seeking. However, the mere multitude of differentiated information representations relevant to music pose a challenge to approaching them in information-seeking research.\nScience of gestures and ideological and technological models of musical communication: Tarasti (1994, p. 4) affirms that the concept of tone may also transpire through a tactile mode of knowing, that is, through gestural language of muscular movements and touches that a performer translates, for example, a score into an aural experience. According to a French school, piano playing could be referred to as \"a science of gestures\" (Tarasti, 1994). When attempting to posit the science of gestures into the Bruner's modes representation, the following remarks can be made. As Bengtsson (1977, p. 17) states, the performing musician also receives the aural experience generated through his or her instrument. This creates a system of simultaneous feedback, which continuously affects the musician's performance (Bengtsson, 1977). Research on how music making effects the human brain states that this interaction is diverse, ranging from, for example, hearing, interaction with memory (and thus with e.g. expectations related to cultural intonations), gestures to visual interaction (Levitin, 2007). The present paper differentiates this mode of enactive information of music making from the mere receiving or listening of music, as this mode provides means of control over the sonic reality. The former mode of enactive information will later on be referred to as the \"first enactive\" mode, whereas mere receiving or listening will be referred to as the \"second enactive\" mode. This naming is used purely for distinguishing between the modes. As also music receiving and listening incorporates a myriad of possible interactions, it would not seem appropriate to define these concepts, respectively as for example \"multi-enactive\" and mere \"enactive\"[3]. Whereas the term \"music making\" may in its common use refer to either playing or composing music, here it is used in a broader meaning to illustrate the information resided in all sequences of actions that aim to produce sounds for musical purposes.\nA typology of musical information: As a synthesis derived from the studies discussed above, a typology of musical information is presented. The typology's purpose is not to exhaustively classify phenomena as belonging to one information type alone. The position and needs of the information seeker play a crucial role in providing the angle through which the different modes of representation transpire. We argue that this approach can be used to gain understanding about the perceived roles of various information types present in music-related information seeking.\nDiscussion: The present paper developed a novel music information typology that encompasses broadly different music information facets by categorizing music information sources according to their level of abstraction. In the development of our typology we utilized Tarasti's (1994)\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: A need to renew music-related information notions arises from both information-seeking models and literature of musical semiotics. The purpose of this paper is to create a music information typology, which aims at facilitating the examination of music information types at varying levels of abstraction in the context of information seeking.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Literature of musical semiotics and information seeking are juxtaposed to develop a novel approach to music-related information. The grounding concepts are Bruner's enactive, iconic and symbolic modes of representation. The modes of representation offer a universal scheme of knowledge that is applied to the domain of music by defining their content through Tarasti's Theory of Musical Semiotics.\nFindings: This conceptual paper results in a music information typology ranging from the enactive music information representations to the abstract ones as follows. Music making as the first mode of enactive representations; music listening as the second mode of enactive representations; iconic representations of music; technological models of music as the first mode of symbolic representations; and ideological models of music as the second mode of symbolic representations.\nOriginality/value: The present paper develops a music information typology that encompasses broadly different music information facets by categorizing music information sources according to their level of abstraction. When applied into empirical research, the typology opens a new window into the perceived roles of music information types in the context of information seeking.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Performance measurement and management systems as IT artefacts: Characterising, contextualising and valuing their effective use in SMEs	[ "SME", "IT artifact", "Information system", "Managerial performance", "Competitive performance", "Effective use", "Performance measurement and management system" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In a globalised knowledge-based economy, business enterprises must now attain a level of organisational performance such that they can compete on a worldwide basis (Busco et al., 2008), including a growing number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the industrial and manufacturing sectors (Costa et al., 2017). Seeking to improve their competitive performance, many of these SMEs enable their organisational capabilities for innovation, internationalisation and knowledge management by their use of information technology (IT) artefacts (Hagsten and Kotnik, 2017). In this context, such artefacts may be essentially defined as the application of IT to support some managerial, administrative or operational task(s) (Benbasat and Zmud, 2003).\n2. Theoretical background: The ambiguity that surrounds the notion of system usage in the IS research domain is a source of problems with regard to the conceptualisation and operationalisation of this notion (Straub et al., 1995). An inappropriate or inadequate conceptualisation will not provide the contextualisation required to fully understand the usage phenomenon under study, and will produce mixed results that are difficult to interpret and may lead to erroneous conclusions, particularly when dealing with complex ISs such as PMMS (Boudreau and Seligman, 2003; Jain and Kanungo, 2005). Moreover, an inappropriate or inadequate measurement of IS use founded upon superficial indicators (e.g. duration and frequency of use) that neglect task-related aspects, or upon binary variables (0: non-use, 1: use) or proxies (adoption vs use) will not reveal the true nature of the use of a complex IT artefact such as a PMMS (Burton-Jones and Straub, 2006; Silvi et al., 2015).\n3. Research model: Being part of a network of influences, PMMS usage can be theorised as a context-bound independent or dependent construct integrated in a nomological network (Benbasat and Zmud, 2003). In seeking to provide added validity and relevance to the concept of IS use, we applied Burton-Jones and Grange's (2013) theoretical framework to study the dimensions, contextual drivers and benefits of the effective use of PMMS in SMEs, as synthesised in the research model presented in Figure 1.\n4. Research method: In characterising the use of the PMMS artefact, we adopted a perspective that respects the ontological value of this artefact. A positivist realist posture was thus taken to achieve this aim (Strong and Volkoff, 2010), while simultaneously accounting for the researchers' presence and involvement in situ (Miles and Huberman, 1994).\n5. Results: 5.1 Characterising the effective use of PMMS\n6. Discussion: To summarise our findings, and given our research questions and model, the nomological network that emerged from this initial validation is presented in Figure 2. A first point to be made is that the three dimensions of effective use are indeed hierarchically related, as postulated in Burton-Jones and Grange's (2013) framework, that is, TI enables RF which in turn enables IA. In accordance with these authors, it thus becomes important to assess each dimension as a function of use rather than as a function of the IT artefact or the user, and to assess the context of use if one aims to theorise and operationalise effective use.\n7. Conclusion: While this field study has some limitations related to the nature of the sample, its results nonetheless provide further empirical grounding and understanding of the concept of effective use, as well as further applicability and actionability to this concept and to the nomological network of its dimensions, contextual drivers and benefits in the case of PMMS and in the context of SMEs. Future research should however add technological, environmental and organisational context-related antecedents to this network, including first and foremost the IT infrastructural capabilities of the organisation. Other consequences of the effective use of PMMS should also be studied, the priority being given to the influence of such use upon the development of the dynamic capabilities that enable SMEs to remain competitive in a global, knowledge-based economy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Considering performance measurement and management systems (PMMS) to be \"mission-critical\" information systems for many business organisations, calls have been made for researchers to shift from studying the use of such systems to studying their \"effective\" use, and in so doing to focus on their characterisation as information technology (IT) artefacts. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In seeking to answer these calls, the authors apply Burton-Jones and Grange's theoretical framework to study the dimensions, contextual drivers and benefits of the effective use of PMMS. This is done through a field study of 16 PMMS artefacts as used in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).\nFindings: In characterising, contextualising and valuing the effective use of PMMS, this study provides answers to the following questions: What constitutes the effective use of PMMS? What are the user, artefactual and task-related drivers of such use? And what are the benefits for SMEs of using performance measurement and management (PMM) systems effectively?\nPractical implications: With regard to the design of a PMMS artefact, the findings imply that one should concentrate on those artefactual attributes that most enable informed action on the part of owner-managers, as it is these actions have the greater consequences for the realisation of IT business value in SMEs. Moreover, the nomological network resulting from this research provides the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of a diagnostic tool meant to develop the PMM function in SMEs.\nOriginality/value: This study provides further empirical grounding and understanding. This study provides further empirical grounding and understanding of the concept of effective use, as well as further applicability and actionability to this concept and to the nomological network of its dimensions, contextual drivers and benefits in the case of PMMS and in the context of SMEs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Comparisons of cognitive ability and job attitudes of older and younger workers	[ "Older workers", "Australia", "Cognition", "Job satisfaction", "Employee turnover", "Comparative tests" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Advancing knowledge about effectively managing the ageing workforce and ensuring economic sustainability for a growing retired cohort is a recognised priority for organisational health researchers (Armstrong-Stassen and Templer, 2006). The global population of older people is expected to triple in size by 2050, with a 20 per cent increase in individuals aged 80 years or more (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004). Australian projections, for example, estimate that by 2047, 25 per cent of the Australian population will be aged 65 or older, with current trends accelerating after 2010 as the first of the \"baby boomer\" generation reach this milestone (Treasury Department, 2007). Factors driving the expansion of a maturing workforce include the ageing of the \"baby boomer\" generation, declining fertility rates and increased life expectancy (Dychtwald and Baxter, 2007; Knox, 2007). Many older workers also seek to remain in the workforce for economic necessity (Reitzes and Mutran, 2006; Slack and Jensen, 2008). Lieber (2010), for example, acknowledged the increasing relevance of economic necessity caused specifically by the recent global financial crisis resulting in a dramatic rise in unemployment among over 55-year olds. Other reasons older people wish to continue in the workforce include the desire for social interaction and sense of identity (Noonan, 2005) and for self fulfilment (Letvak, 2002). According to Dychtwald and Baxter (2007, p. 35), the most successful organisations to negotiate the imminent shortage of younger workers will be those that \"fully capitalize on the powerful growth of the new mature workforce\".The current research compares samples of older and younger workers on levels of objective cognitive ability and three key subjective work attitudes (job commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions) with a view to identifying if any age-based differences actually exist. The simultaneous comparison of both objective and subjective measures within these sample groups is rare. The results are anticipated to address the extent to which common assumptions concerning the declining abilities of older workers are evidence based or are merely stereotypical assumptions. The research will also inform employers of the desirability of recruiting and retaining older workers and of the necessity of including age-related discrimination content within workplace diversity training programs.The juxtaposition of an increased population cohort aged 65 and older with higher life expectancies and a diminishing workforce unable to fully support these retirees creates considerable fiscal pressure for aged care, health and pension provisions. The reduction of significant numbers of older workers from the labour force is also predicted to have a detrimental impact on productivity, largely through the loss of expertise and skills (Jorgensen, 2004). Most projections anticipate severe labour shortages occurring due to both the large-scale retirement of current workers and a lack of younger workers available to replace them (Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, 2001). Targeted research is, therefore, now focusing on identifying the primary antecedents of retirement at both the macro (government) and the micro (individual) levels and identifying solutions to maintain and increase labour force participation.Ironically, it is often organisational economic considerations informed by flawed but pervasive stereotypes, which influence decisions to retrench older employees or encourage them into early retirement. Such stereotypical assumptions are explained by social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1986) and self-categorisation theory (Turner, 1987) which described the classifications individuals make about themselves and others based on personal characteristics including age. These classifications form the basis of in-group and out-group membership based on individual similarities and/or dissimilarities. Both theories describe how individuals are motivated to increase self-esteem levels and so demonstrate favourable bias towards other in-group members; demonstrate unfavourable bias (i.e. discrimination) towards out-group members and continually seek to reaffirm the identification of in-group members. Young workers, for example, may perceive older workers as an out-group and thus associate older workers with stereotypical assumptions such as being less productive, less healthy, less able to cope with changes (especially technological changes), unable to benefit from training and more likely to be absent from work (Hedge et al., 2006). Despite the fact that in controlled studies on work-related skills, older workers have been shown to perform at least as well as younger workers (Westerman et al., 1998), these stereotypical assumptions continue to occur and perpetuate the cycle of commonly perceived negative job performance demonstrated by older workers (Maurer et al., 2003).Social stereotypical assumptions concerning older workers also actively discourage employers from hiring older job candidates (Finkelstein and Burke, 1998; Roscigno et al., 2007). Evidence suggests that this stereotyping is especially prevalent amongst young managers who perceive a high distinction between themselves (in-group) and older workers (out-group). Such young managers may be reticent to manage workers from an older generation (Yeatts et al., 2000) and, therefore, require education and training to remedy their application of social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1986) and to enhance their skills for working with diverse age groups. In marked contrast to these stereotypical assumptions, emergent research indicates that many older workers actually display more desirable work behaviours and attitudes as compared to their younger colleague, including higher levels of citizenship behaviours, self-discipline, good health, less absenteeism and fewer demonstrate counter-productive behaviours (Ng and Feldman, 2008).1.1 Defining who is an older worker\n2 Method: 2.1 Participants and procedure\n3 Results: 3.1 Study 1: descriptive results\n4 Discussion: 4.1 Objective performance differences between older and younger workers\n5 Conclusion: We investigated differences between older workers' and younger workers' objective cognitive performance and subjective job attitudes (job satisfaction, job commitment and turnover intentions). No differences in cognitive abilities between older and younger workers were identified. These results indicated that while some decline in cognitive abilities may occur in the general older population, assumptions concerning declines in intelligence and abilities were not supported in our sample of workers. Older workers were, therefore, as cognitively skilled for their job as their younger colleagues. We also found no significant differences for perceptions of social support, commitment, satisfaction, or turnover intentions between the younger and the older workers. Closer inspection of the interaction of support found that older workers did report higher levels of commitment when receiving colleague and family support, compared to their younger colleagues. The research thus shows that the inadequate performance and low job commitment commonly attributed to older workers are not, in fact, truly representative of all ageing employees. The retention of older workers within the labour market is becoming an increasing necessity. This research reassures employers that older workers are just as valuable a human resource compared to younger employees.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Advancing knowledge about effectively managing the ageing workforce and ensuring economic sustainability for a growing retired cohort is a recognised priority for organisational health researchers, employers and governments. The purpose of this paper is to test social perceptions that older workers' cognitive performance and job attitudes compare adversely to their younger colleagues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research assessed samples of older and younger workers in objective tests of cognitive abilities and subjective job attitudes. An opportunity sampling method was employed to recruit a heterogeneous group of participants in Australia (n=172).\nFindings: - No significant differences in cognitive ability between the groups were identified; older workers were as cognitively skilled for their job as their younger colleagues. No significant group difference for perceptions of social support, job commitment, job satisfaction or turnover intentions was identified.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The cross-sectional research design adopted by this research prevented a more detailed examination of the data in terms of causal relationships. While the cognitive testing provided objective rather than subjective data and, therefore, is not as susceptible to response biases such as common method variance, the small sample who undertook the cognitive testing is acknowledged as a research limitation.\nSocial implications: - This research has implications for the reduction in unemployment of older workers and directly addresses the social issues of an ageing labour force.\nOriginality/value: - The paper demonstrates that stereotypical assumptions concerning inadequate performance and low job commitment commonly attributed to older workers are not in fact indicative of all ageing employees.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Drivers of consumers' behavioral intention toward green hotels	[ "Green hotels", "Perceived value", "Behavioral intentions", "Environmental value", "Low-carbon knowledge" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: To provide customers with comprehensive accommodation services, such as heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation and laundry, the hotel industry consumes substantial amount of energy and water and creates substantial waste and emissions of carbon dioxide. The hotel industry, thus, is considered as a major contributor of environmental pollution (Chan, 2005; Chen and Tung, 2014). In Water Resources Agency, Taiwan (2001) had found that the average hotel guest consumes 902 liters of water per day, which is three times the amount of water a person would consume at home per day. Environmental Protection Administration Executive Yuan ROC (2007) had also reported that a hotel's electricity consumption per day is around four to seven times of a household's consumption amount. According to Taiwan Tourism Bureau (2017) report, international visitors' arrivals to Taiwan over the past ten years have experienced a steady growth from 2007's 3,716,063 visitors to 2016's 10,690,279 visitors. This steady growth of international visitors means that more hotels are needed and a significant increase of water and energy consumption would also occur. Environmental management, thus, becomes more and more important for hoteliers in Taiwan.\nLiterature review: Environmental value and perceived value of green hotels\nMethodology: Pilot study\nResults: Measurement model\nDiscussion and conclusion: The results revealed that an individual's environmental value had a significant positive influence on perceived value of green hotels. A possible rationale for these findings is the value-attitude-behavior hierarchy (Homer and Kahle, 1988). Value-attitude-behavior hierarchy suggests that the formation of attitudes results from personal values, which have a causal influence on subsequent behavior. Similar with attitude denotes individuals' favorable/unfavorable response on an object, perceived value that assesses an object's functional, social and emotional values should also involve emotional judgment in/after the evaluation. Therefore, the perceived value of a certain product or service might also be affected by related personal values, which in turn will have a causal influence on subsequent behavior. This might explain why the current study found not only consumers' environmental value had a significant positive influence on their perceived value of green hotels, but also perceived value of green hotels had a significant partial mediating effect on the influence of environmental value on two behavioral intention variables.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships among consumers' environmental value, low-carbon knowledge, perceived value of green hotels and behavioral intention to stay in green hotels as well as willingness to cooperate with green hotels' environmentally friendly practices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Structural equation modeling and indirect effect estimation through bootstrapping technique were performed using 415 valid questionnaires collected from customers who had green hotel stay experiences in Taiwan.\nFindings: The analytical results indicate that environmental value and low-carbon knowledge positively affect perceived value of green hotels, which in turn positively affect consumers' behavioral intention to stay in green hotels and willingness to cooperate with green hotels' environmentally friendly practices. Perceived value of green hotels also partially mediates the effects of environmental value and low-carbon knowledge on two behavioral intention variables.\nPractical implications: This study provides numerous valuable implications for green hotel operators to develop effective strategies to increase consumers' perceived value of green hotels and their behavioral intention toward green hotels.\nOriginality/value: This study is among the first to test not only the main effects of environmental value and knowledge on consumer perceptions of the value of green hotels, but also the mediating effect of consumers' perceived value of green hotels for the relationships between environmental value, environmental knowledge and two behavioral intentions toward green hotels.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Pursuing excellence in firm core knowledge through intelligent group decision support system	[ "Knowledge management", "Fuzzy logic", "Programming", "Decision support systems" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Global competition, technological breakthroughs, changing customer expectations, mass customization, environmental concerns, and others current trends are reshaping the landscape of corporations worldwide (D' Aveni, 1994). Environmental changes have become increasingly more complex and novel. Contemporary firms are not only undergoing accelerated changes, but are also experiencing a fundamental shift in the rules of competition and the way in which the game of competition is played (Eisenhardt and Sull, 2001). Some researchers have contributed significantly to the theory and practice of adopting strategy-making to a rapidly changing environment (Gottschalk and Solli-Sather, 2007; Eisenhardt and Bourgeois, 1998; Burgema, 1994; Grant, 2003; Salmador and Burno, 2003; Gottschalk, 2007), such as activities which enable firms to efficiently develop strategies or capabilities in response to the increasing intensity of environmental changes. This implies that firms must develop dynamic capabilities in order to adapt and, henceforth, core competencies can be developed by adopting the best strategies (Teece et al., 1997; Prahalad and Hamel, 1990; Ethiraj et al., 2005), which may then generate their own individual and unique knowledge through accumulated experience. Knowledge is the most important resource for core competence/capability development (Lee and Chang, 2007; Lin et al., 2007; Teswanich et al., 2006). Obviously, it is necessary for firms to cultivate valuable knowledge, developing core organizational knowledge to achieve long-term sustainable competitive advantage (Hsu et al., 2007). Organizational knowledge is a recognized as a key resource and a variety of perspectives suggest that the ability to marshal and deploy knowledge dispersed across the organization is an important source of organizational advantage. In particular, long-term sustainable competitive advantage originates from the firm's ability to effectively apply existing knowledge to create novel knowledge that is capable of forming the basis for achieving competitive advantage from knowledge-based assets (Wickramasinghe, 2007; Wickramansinghe and Sharma, 2005; El-Korany, 2007).Although firms can engage in knowledge management (KM), through the capabilities of acquiring, integrating, storing, and sharing, for the purpose of building and sustaining competitive advantage, this does not mean that the firm is fully utilizing its resources or managing the right knowledge in the right way (Feng and Chen, 2007; Wickramasinghe, 2007). How can a firm determine which knowledge should be managed and developed? The process of strategy making provides a decision process that aligns the organization's internal capabilities with the opportunities and threats it faces in its business environment (Barney and Hesterly, 2006). It is a stream of decisions and actions which lead to the development of an effective strategy for achieving corporate objectives. From a knowledge perspective, strategy making is a complex process of knowledge creation, where interactions are based on four modes of knowledge conversion, modeled by the SECI spiral (Salmador and Burno, 2003; Nonaka et al., 2006). It focuses on the role of formal analysis, planning and strategic choice, highlighting the role of explicit and implicit knowledge within the process. Each of these is essential activity that provides strategy-makers with data vital to their tasks. In addition, experts have tried to develop and promote KM ideology in order to maintain competitive advantage and improve the organizational use of IT (Lin et al., 2007).As the environment becomes ever more complex and unpredictable, progressive firms are attempting to develop subtler, complex, rapid systems to ensure their survival and to maintain their competitive advantage (Suominen and Takala, 2006). However, most organizations find it difficult to reach cognition and consensus in developing their core knowledge due to the inherent complexity of the knowledge content and the turbulent environment they may confront (Newkirk and Lederer, 2006). Issues related to finding efficient and effective ways of leveraging computer-based information technology to facilitate core knowledge selection have captured the interest and attention of the academic and business communities. A group decision support system (GDSS) is an interactive computer-based system that facilitates solutions for unstructured problems by a group of decision makers (Morton et al., 2003). The functions of GDSS include providing managerial judgment, strategic analysis, assistance, and strategic thinking for coping with uncertainty and fuzziness, and assisting firms to understand relevant factors affecting strategy development (Li, 2000). Although several studies have been proposed to help organizations make good project selection decisions, most of them focus on the field of R&D project selection (Tian et al., 2005), portfolio selection (Lin et al., 2005), journal evaluation (Turban et al., 2004), information technology (Kalapka and Pinos, 2002), marketing (Thieme and Song, 2000), and logistics. Discussion of the application of GDSS for supporting core knowledge selection is rare. Thus, the purpose of this study, by integrating the solutions to the above issues, is to design a GDSS for facilitating core knowledge development. A systematic approach for develop organizational core competencies/capabilities is proposed in order to help firms adapt with the changing environment through the strategy-making process. Organizational core knowledge can be identified through the process of strategy-making in which the firm is enabled to pursue the best strategic positions by effectively applying knowledge resources and capabilities. The proposed system is developed by taking advantage of the characteristics of certain existing analytical and mathematical methods, including knowledge-based SWOT analysis, knowledge audit instruments, gap analysis, synergy analysis, similarity measures, multi-objective linear programming (MOLP), and fuzzy programming (Zimmermann, 1978).This paper particularly focuses on the question of how firms can actually identify core knowledge and thus develop appropriate strategies. The remaining contents of this study are organized as follows. Section 2 will present the conceptual framework of the proposed GDSS. Section 3 covers the research background regarding the concepts applied in this study. In Section 4, a case is employed as an example to illustrate the implementation of the proposed GDSS. Conclusions for the research and suggestions for further study are discussed in Section 5.\n2 The conceptual framework: Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework of the proposed GDSS for the strategy-making process, strategic analysis, planning stage as well as strategic choice. A knowledge audit, providing a high-level view of the extent, nature, and structure of the firm's knowledge (Wiig, 1993; Debenham and Clark, 1994; Tiwana, 2002), and a knowledge-based SWOT analysis, evaluating the firm's external opportunities and threats as well as internal strengths and weaknesses, will be conducted during the strategic analysis process. The objective of the knowledge audit with knowledge-based SWOT analysis is to identify the knowledge that currently exists (current knowledge situation) and specific knowledge areas that are missing (desirable knowledge situation). The desirable knowledge situation includes external knowledge specific to the industry in which the firm operates. The knowledge of Porter's five forces in the industrial environment and the macro-environment context including political, economic, social, and technological elements will be taken into consideration to assess the desirable knowledge situation. In addition, the current knowledge situation identifies the internal core knowledge currently possessed by the firm. The knowledge chain model posits nine distinct, generic activities that an organization performs in the course of managing its knowledge resources (Holsapple and Singh, 2001). By considering those knowledge value activities, we can identify internal core knowledge to be mobilized in order to achieve competitive advantage. With the analysis of the two knowledge situations, it is possible to construct a knowledge map showing the taxonomy and flow of organizational knowledge in the specific knowledge area (Wexler, 2001).A core knowledge profile, providing users with a list of to-be-developed core knowledge, is constructed by identifying the importance of external knowledge and internal core knowledge during the strategic analysis process. From the firm's perspective, decision-makers determine a candidate list of common core knowledge threads by selecting and grouping some to-be-developed core knowledge from the core knowledge profile. A common core knowledge thread is a complementary set of related knowledge resources across business units. Different common core knowledge threads have different combinations of to-be-developed core knowledge. Firms investing in a common core knowledge thread may obtain benefits from the effects of cross-business knowledge synergy (Tanriverd and Venkartraman, 2005).From the internal perspective, synergy analysis, using the return on investment (ROI) values and importance ratings, is applied to evaluate the effect of cross-business knowledge synergy for each candidate common core knowledge thread (Ansoff and McDonnell, 1990). From the external perspective, the level of core knowledge that a firm will/should possess are obtained by conducting focus groups. These levels can be represented as strings of numbers called patterns. A candidate common core knowledge thread has two strings of numbers; one represents that level of core knowledge that the firm should possess, and the other represents the level of core knowledge that the firm will possess if the candidate common core knowledge thread is selected for development. Then, by applying the concept of gaps, we can determine the knowledge gap between these two strings of numbers. These strings of numbers can be viewed as vectors in a core knowledge vector space, and will serve as input data for similarity measures. Similarity measures, such as Euclidean distance (Wang and Xin, 2005), and Cosine similarity (Chung and Lee, 2004) are applied to measure the size of the gap for each candidate common core knowledge thread. To combine the analytical results from internal synergies and external gaps analyses, a MOLP (Gao and Tang, 2003; Jahanshahloo et al., 2005) model is constructed. Fuzzy programming (Lai and Hwang, 1994; Chang et al., 2000; Chakrabortya and Chandrab, 2005) is then conducted to solve the MOLP problem and to determine the most appropriate common core knowledge thread for the firm.\n3 Research background: In this section, we will address relevant concepts including knowledge-based SWOT and knowledge audit, synergy analysis, gap analysis, similarity measures, the proposed MOLP model, and the fuzzy programming solution model applied in the proposed framework.3.1 Knowledge-based SWOT analysis and knowledge audit\n4 A case as an illustration of the method: 4.1 The implementation procedure for the proposed GDSS and results from the case\n5 Conclusion: GDSS had been successfully implemented and the results of the case study show that GDSS can be applied effectively for identifying the core knowledge that should be developed. The computations involved in the MOLP model are tedious if performed manually. However, with computer assistance, it is an easy task and the time for core knowledge analysis can be significantly reduced. Our research has emphasized several advantages of the proposed GDSS:* It provides a comprehensive procedure for managers using a strategy-orientated perspective to determine the optimal core knowledge to be developed by appropriately analyzing internal synergy and external gap effects on core knowledge.* The system provides an effective, systematic, and more natural approach by using the proposed MOLP model. Top managers can simply use the evaluation checklist and linguistic terms to evaluate common core knowledge threads.* A list of priority ranked common core knowledge threads associated with strategic development will be produced by this method. Therefore, the most appropriate common core knowledge threads will be addressed first.* The approach is supported by several sound theories that are logically integrated in the proposed system and its implementation procedures are decomposed into a reasonable series of activities with the most appropriate technique(s) at each step.In practice, managers need not only to be aware of the relationships between core knowledge and other factors but must also consider other decision-making problems related to this issue. However, few studies provide the systematic approach for managers in developing organizational core knowledge. In this study, the proposed GDSS is used to solve decision-making problems related to the determination of the core knowledge to be pursued by the firm. The feedback and comments collected from the case study strongly support the viability of this study's approach in assisting top managers in the selection of development strategies for core knowledge. The top managers in the case company were pleased and agreed with our recommendations. Although the current proposed GDSS was used to determine the firm's core knowledge, it can also work with other similar evaluation measures through modifying some parameters of the system.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper's objective is to present a group decision support system (GDSS) for facilitating the process of core knowledge selection.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The proposed GDSS is developed by taking advantage of the characteristics of certain existing analytical and mathematical methods, including knowledge-based SWOT analysis, knowledge audit instruments, gap analysis, synergy analysis, similarity measures, multi-objective linear programming (MOLP), and fuzzy programming. A case study was performed to identify whether or not the GDSS achieves its designed purpose.\nFindings: - The results show that GDSS can be applied effectively in identifying core knowledge that should be developed.\nPractical implications: - The proposed GDSS provides a comprehensive procedure for top managers, using a strategy-orientated perspective to determine suitable core knowledge to be developed by appropriately analyzing internal synergy and external gap effects on core knowledge. Top managers need not only be aware of the relationship between core knowledge and other factors but must also consider decision-making problems related to this issue.\nOriginality/value: - Few prior studies have provided a systematic approach for develops organizational core knowledge by using analytical and mathematical methods. This paper particularly focuses on the question of how firms can actually identify core knowledge and thus develop appropriate strategies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Benchmarking strategy deployment practices	[ "Benchmarking", "Networking", "Quality", "Management strategy", "Learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Benchmarking for quality improvement within a networking environment is a recent phenomenon. Instances of benchmarking clubs, and of the role played by benchmarking clubs in actively facilitating the benchmarking and networking process, both within and across sectors can be found in a variety of articles, including: Bowerman et al. (2002 - health services), Davis (1998 - local authorities), Dale et al. (1995 - sports club), Favret (2000 - libraries), Jackson (2001 - universities), Mann et al. (1999 - food industry), Ogden and Wilson (2001 - leisure management) and Prado (2001 - various manufacturing). This paper reports on a benchmarking project that was undertaken by one such multi-organisational network, the New Zealand Benchmarking Club (NZBC).The NZBC was formed in May 2000, and comprised of 14 diverse organisations, each aiming to achieve a stated vision of \"World-class performance by members and widespread adoption of excellent business practices within New Zealand.\" The club format was designed to fully engage each member organisation in the process of organisational improvement. Working together the members sought to:* identify strengths and weaknesses of each membership organisation's business practices;* collectively conduct benchmarking projects to identify leading business practices available in NZ and the world; and* apply this acquired knowledge to membership organisations' business practices in the areas of identified weaknesses.Repeating this cyclical process, they aimed to make progress against the Club's vision of world-class performance. Regular self-assessment against the Baldrige criteria for performance excellence (CPE) (NIST, 2002) was the mechanism by which the NZBC tracked the improvement of members.The NZBC's benchmarking project described here focussed on identifying leading practices in the area of strategy deployment. A \"workgroup\" consisting of a facilitator from Massey University's Centre for Organisational Excellence Research (COER) and participants from NZBC organisations (typically those with responsibility for strategy deployment) was formed. The workgroup used a pre-established methodology to exchange experiences and identify leading practices in implementing strategy. The project had the dual purpose of enabling learning for group participants, and finding leading practices. Despite the different sectors, sizes, and organisational cultures of the participating organisations their strategy deployment issues were similar and they were able to share experiences and cooperate in benchmarking deployment practices.The main purpose of this paper is to describe how managers from a diverse network of organisations formed and operated as a team to work on a benchmarking project. The way a range of benchmarking methods were used by the group will be of interest to organisations that are part of an existing network, or that wish to create a network similar to the NZBC. The empirical data were collected from case studies of seven NZBC member organizations. Secondary sources were also used to identify leading practices in deploying strategic initiatives, including the application documents of CPE Award winners and literature searches. From the combined data, a framework for deploying strategic initiatives was developed. The strategy deployment findings of the group are given in summary. The detailed findings and a description of the leading practices found are published in report form (Saunders, 2004).A recent report published by the New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development found there is significant scope for New Zealand organisations to engage in inter-firm and cross-sectorial learning (Knuckey et al., 2002). The findings from the project reported here are evidence of the benefits that can be obtained from cooperative learning occurring between diverse organisations in New Zealand.The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. The next section outlines the role of strategy deployment in organisational improvement, then the use of benchmarking by the NZBC network is summarized. The methodology employed by the NZBC network and details of the workgroup method and the actions undertaken follow. Finally, the benchmarking findings and the dimensions of the strategy deployment framework are discussed and the main conclusions summarized.\nStrategy deployment and performance improvement: The deployment or implementation of strategy is the translation of strategy into action. As quality management concepts have evolved to produce performance excellence frameworks such as the CPE and the European business excellence model (EFQM, 1999) there has been an increased emphasis on assessing and improving the strategic management processes in organizations. In the late 1990s, performance excellence frameworks such as the CPE incorporated strategic planning as a category to address this organisational function (Ford and Evans, 2000). The strategic planning category of the CPE has two items, strategy development and strategy deployment.The CPE strategy deployment item requires a description of how the organisation converts its strategic objectives into action plans, and a summary of the organisation's action plans and related key performance measures/indicators. It also requires projections of the short and longer term performance of the organisation based on the likely changes resulting from the implementation of the strategy. These projections should include benchmarking against best practices, and an outline of the assumptions used in the forecasts (NIST, 2000). The CPE state that objectives must be converted into action plans, but do not specify how this is to be done.Researchers have noted gaps in the literature on the process of strategy deployment, and that the literature is weak on how strategy implementation should be done, and how it can be made to happen faster and more effectively (Mintzberg, 1994; Kaplan, 1995; Noble, 1999a). Previous studies have focused on strategy implementation from a single management perspective such as project management (Bryson and Bromiley, 1993; Hillson, 2003; Klein and Irwin, 1992; Zwikael and Globerson, 2004) or as a component of strategic control (Chenhall, 2003; Fisher, 1995; Langfield-Smith, 1997; Simons, 1990, 2000). The single focus of these studies is a limitation on their usefulness to practitioners and researchers of strategy deployment, who are concerned with understanding all the elements involved in the dynamic and complex process of deploying a strategic initiative (Dawson, 2003; Pettigrew et al., 2003).While Kaplan and Norton (1996, 2001) have developed the balanced scorecard as a means of assisting strategy deployment, it is primarily directed at ensuring a series of appropriate measures are used to evaluate and improve progress by ensuring a link back to the organisational vision and strategic objectives. In practice, balanced scorecards are used more to fulfill the performance measurement and strategic control functions of strategic management (Kaplan and Norton, 2001) rather than as a guide to effective strategy deployment practices.Although strategy deployment occupies a central role in strategic management, few conceptual models have been developed of the processes that comprise strategy deployment itself. Models of strategy deployment from a management perspective include Collins and Huge (1993), Hacker and Akinyele (1998), Noble (1999b - for private sector organizations) and Hacker et al. (2001 - for public sector organisations). A limitation of these strategy deployment models is their linear approach in which deployment is depicted as a step-by-step process. There were no frameworks found in the literature that employ a dynamic model of strategy deployment constructs. No benchmarking studies of strategy deployment were found in the literature.\nThe use of benchmarking in the NZBC network: A number of generations of benchmarking have been identified in the literature (Camp, 1995; Kyro, 2003; Watson, 1993; Yasin, 2002). The use of benchmarking by the NZBC workgroup reflected the evolving concept of benchmarking (Ahmed and Rafiq, 1998; Bhutta and Huq, 1999) and the group functioned on three benchmarking levels. The first was process benchmarking, also called best practice benchmarking (Camp, 1992). A process benchmarking approach has been used by a number of NZBC workgroups to identify and share leading practices within a particular Baldrige CPE category (Saunders and Mann, 2002). The emphasis in process benchmarking is on how processes operate and how to transfer proven good to better practices based on the idea that learning can be made from organisations outside the industry or sector of the benchmarking party (Camp, 1992, 1995; Codling, 1992, 1998).The second form of benchmarking used by the workgroup was competence benchmarking. According to Kyro (2003) competence benchmarking recognises that the foundation of organisational change processes lies in the change of actions and behaviours of individuals and teams. It brings into benchmarking the organisational behaviour approach to organisational studies (Hodgkinson, 2003). The NZBC networking organisations viewed the benchmarking project as a developmental tool for the participants, who were managers in their enterprises. This was the competence benchmarking aspect of the group's work - sharing and learning about the organisational change processes that support strategy deployment. In support of this developmental focus, two expert speakers in strategic management were engaged to address group sessions.The third form was networking benchmarking, in which a network of organisations undertook the benchmarking project together. According to Kyro (2003) networking benchmarking is exemplified by learning with others, in addition to learning from others. An example is Prado's (2001) account of Spanish businesses networking for sharing experience in quality improvement. Kyro (2003) states the advantages of networking over other benchmarking approaches are that learning is faster, and the sharing can lead to new practices being invented, rather than simply benchmarking \"old\" and outdated practices, a criticism that has been leveled at benchmarking public sector practices (Davis, 1998; Magd and Curry, 2003). The present study is an example of networking benchmarking, with 8 of the 15 member organisations of the NZBC network represented in the workgroup. The methods used in these three benchmarking approaches are detailed below.\nResearch methods: Process benchmarking\nFindings: Four of the case studies involved the formation of strategic alliances and three were concerned with aspects of deploying a strategic management framework. Analysis of the case studies identified over 50 leading deployment practices. These practices were classified as either generic to deploying strategy, or specific to forming a strategic alliance or deploying a strategic management framework. Table IV shows an example of the tabulated practices and evidence for one of the dimensions (aligning implementation). The leading practices found for all the dimensions are published in report form (Saunders, 2004).The analysis of the data that were collected from the group work and case studies generated seven dimensions (constructs) of the deployment of strategic initiatives. Each leading practice was assigned to a dimension and classified as requiring \"hard\" (systems or analytical) or \"soft\" (people/social/behavioural) management skills to implement. Some practices required a mix of both \"hard\" and \"soft\" management skills. The seven dimensions form the basis of a framework for the deployment of strategic initiatives. It is beyond the scope of this paper to present a detailed context for the developed framework. The seven dimensions are shown in Table V with their purpose statements.\nDiscussion: The role of the network workgroup\nConcluding remarks: This paper has attempted to show how benchmarking has been used by a network of New Zealand organisations to improve their deployment of strategic initiatives. The study has made three main contributions. First, as a practical example of multiple benchmarking methods in action, and particularly as an example of network benchmarking. This should assist benchmarking by other organisations that are part of an existing network, or that wish to create a network similar to the NZBC.Second, by benchmarking the deployment processes in organizations that are involved in improvement initiatives using the CPE model. No benchmarking studies of strategy deployment were found in the literature. The workgroup members were able to benchmark their organisation's deployment practices against the other participating organisations and against world-class practices as evidenced from the literature and analysis of Quality Award winners' applications.The third contribution of the research was the development of a broad framework for deployment that is built on prior theory and expands previous models of deployment. The framework furthers understanding of how managers deploy strategic initiatives in a performance excellence environment. It also provides a guide to assist organisations in developing an effective strategy deployment process. The framework dimensions are: communicating the initiative; achieving buy-in; aligning implementation; learning; creating the infrastructure for deployment; understanding the business drivers; and, identifying deployment options.While the case study organisations were diverse, from both the private and public sectors, and they varied in size, organisational structure and strategic objectives, the cases revealed many common issues in deploying a new strategic initiative. The workgroup concluded that for an organisation to deploy a strategic initiative effectively, leading practices from all seven deployment dimensions should be in place. While none of the NZBC case study organisations exhibited best practice in all facets of deploying a strategic initiative (as assessed against the framework), the benchmarking findings provided a basis for further improvement of their deployment practices. The deployment framework and knowledge of the leading practices found in this study will assist other organisations to effectively implement their strategic initiatives.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe how managers from a network of organisations formed and operated as a team to work on a benchmarking project. The project had the dual purpose of enabling learning for the participants, and identifying leading practices in strategy deployment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The participants were managers with responsibility for strategy deployment. Data were collected from case studies of seven diverse New Zealand organisations that were undertaking performance improvement using the Baldrige performance excellence model. The unit of analysis for the case studies was a strategic initiative that the organisation had deployed. Secondary sources were also used to identify leading deployment practices.\nFindings: - Despite the different sectors, sizes, and cultures of the participating organisations their strategy deployment issues were similar and the managers were able to share experiences and cooperate effectively. Over 50 leading deployment practices were identified. Seven dimensions of strategy deployment were determined. A framework for strategy deployment was developed.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The framework aids the analysis and classification of strategy deployment practices. Future research using longitudinal studies could evaluate the effectiveness of leading strategy deployment practices and identify circumstances that lead to the success or failure of strategy implementation.\nPractical implications: - The framework highlights the management skills required for effective strategy deployment. It is applicable to a wide range of organisations.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides and example of network benchmarking and how it was managed. This will be of interest to organisations that are part of an existing network, or that wish to create a similar network. No benchmarking studies of strategy deployment were found in the literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Internet of things capability and alliance: Entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation and product and process innovation	[ "Entrepreneurial orientation", "Internet of things", "Market orientation", "Capability", "Product innovation", "Process innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Considerable amount of research has been undertaken to understand the cognitive and learning processes associated with strategic orientation and innovation (e.g. O'Connor, 1998; Smith and Tushman, 2005), as improving the understanding of such relationship can assist in ensuring that organizational investment is translated into tangible business innovations and practical solutions that lead to sustainable competitive advantage (e.g. Dyer and Singh, 1998; Hatch and Dyer, 2004). Much of the importance of the innovation concept stems from the outcomes that follow, including new product creation (Jiang et al., 2014; Veryzer, 1998), new-venture growth (Gronhaug and Kaufmann, 1988; Li et al., 2014b; Shan et al., 2014), and process efficiency (Li and Zhou, 2013; Li et al., 2014a; Verona, 1999; Zhou et al., 2014). For an entrepreneurial firm, identifying and ensuring innovation is widely viewed as a crucial strategy - one from which, in many cases, all else follows (Chen et al., 2006; Laursen and Salter, 2006). Thus, innovation has been the subject of much research in the field of entrepreneurship.\n2. Hypotheses development: 2.1. Strategic focus and innovation elements: entrepreneurship and market orientations\n3. Methodology: 3.1. Data and sample\n4. Data analysis and results: 4.1. Tests for unidimensionability of constructs\n5. Findings: 5.1. Correlation analyses\n6. Discussion: While a strategic focus (entrepreneurial and market orientations) might lead to innovation, it also enhances the ability to achieve innovation in different ways. For example, firms may employ IoT to identify opportunities for improvement and novel solutions. The entrepreneurial orientation generates increased human capital information and views a changing situation as an opportunity (rather than as a threat) while the market orientation enables greater integration from an outside-in perspective. When they are combined, more internal human capital knowledge and external market-based data fosters perceptions of controllability (White et al., 2003), which may lead to a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Appraising a changing market as an opportunity leads companies to respond to market changes effectively. With IoT, great opportunities exist to acquire knowledge. In the present study, we demonstrate that, in new high-tech IoT ventures, being IoT capable and developing IoT alliance assist organizations to gain knowledge as key deliverables, from collecting and disseminating information, to generate product and process innovation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of capability and alliance arising from the internet of things (IoT), specifically in the relationships between strategic orientations (entrepreneurial and market foci) with product and process innovations. In addition, it investigates the direct relationship between IoT capability and alliance. Improving these relationships assist in ensuring that new knowledge from the IoT can be translated into tangible business innovations that contribute to economic development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data from 207 new high-technology IoT ventures in China were obtained after three-wave mailing (i.e. two reminders). Following a rigorous process to purify and validate the measurement scale items, the study used structural equation modeling to test the conceptual model.\nFindings: Findings demonstrate that an IoT capability only enhances product innovation, however, with the addition and support from IoT alliance, both product and process innovation can be achieved in new high-tech IoT ventures. This nuanced insight suggests that new high-tech IoT ventures should focus on building their IoT capability, and at the same time, develop IoT alliances with value chain partners in order to fully take advantage of IoT and gain a better position to formulate more novel offerings.\nOriginality/value: The study is first to contribute with a much needed framework of IoT and entrepreneurship by examining the role of IoT capability further in the relationships between: entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation with product and process innovations arising from IoT; and the role of IoT alliance (interfirm relations, partnerships, etc.) on the relationship above.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The potential of computer-mediated internships for higher education	[ "Simulation", "Internships", "Interaction", "Computer-mediated communication", "Skills gap", "Workplace transition" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The transition of students from university to employment is receiving growing attention (Jackson et al., 2014; Rosenberg et al., 2012), and has been the focus of numerous higher education strategies and collaborative ventures between employers and higher education providers (HEPs). Given that workplace experience is an important contributor to the successful transition from education to graduate employment (Guile and Griffiths, 2001; Knouse et al., 1999), HEPs have a strong incentive to increase the amount and quality of workplace-based learning opportunities for students (Jackson et al., 2017).\n2. CMIs: The term internship itself has a variety of meanings and interpretations (Maertz et al., 2014). The current paper defines internships as temporary (non-permanent) work placements that reflect a period of transition from higher education to employment. As a result, internships are defined as student learning experiences focused on applying classroom knowledge in practical situations (Beenen and Rousseau, 2010). Within the internship arena, learning experiences may be grouped into traditional internships and CMIs, which encompass simulated internships and e-internships.\n3. Benefits and opportunities of CMIs for HEPs: CMIs provide a number of benefits and opportunities for HEPs. Some of these are similar to those of traditional internships, while others arise due to the application of technology within CMIs. The importance of these benefits in the highly competitive higher education sector (Lueddeke, 2010) is substantial because they enable HEPs to demonstrate that their degree programs produce positive academic and employment-related outcomes for students (Hoyle and Deschaine, 2016; Maertz et al., 2014). HEPs that are able to achieve high-quality outcomes in both of these domains are likely to be highly regarded by students and society, and are likely to excel in the increasingly important student outcome focused higher education quality metrics such as the USA \"Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Ranking,\" the Australian \"Graduate Destination Survey\" and the European \"U-Multirank\" assessment system. Additional benefits of CMIs are likely to arise because successful internship programs have the potential to create strong and highly visible links between HEPs and industry partners (Gault et al., 2000; Maertz et al., 2014), which is likely to lead to improved reputation and student recruitment for the HEP (Divine et al., 2007; Weible, 2010). CMIs in general, and e-internships in particular, build on this traditional internship benefit by extending the geographical range of available placements and industry partnerships. This extended range enables students to gain experiences in specific industries and highly specialized career pathways which are not readily available in all physical locations. The following sections provide further examples of how CMIs may support HEPs in addressing some of the contemporary challenges in higher education.\n4. Challenges of CMIs for HEPs: The current paper has described how CMIs may enable HEPs to provide high-quality internship experiences to a large number of students, while concurrently enabling HEPs to access previously unavailable benefits and opportunities. However, not all degree programs are likely to be equally conducive to the integration of simulated internships or e-internships. Of particular concern are degree programs that enable students to enter numerous career pathways. Given that all internship formats are likely to be most impactful on student learning if they possess a clear focus (Rothman, 2007), prior literature (Bayerlein, 2015) recommends that HEPs should address this concern by structuring CMIs as umbrella programs in which individual interns develop the skills and knowledge that is most relevant to their personal career goals. Whilst such umbrella programs are well suited to the development of transferable soft/professional skills (Bayerlein, 2015), their ability to enable the application of the specific technical content most relevant to an individual student's personal career goals is likely to be limited.\n5. Concluding remarks: This paper discussed the opportunities and limitations of CMIs for HEPs and outlined how HEPs may be able to maximize the benefits that arise from CMIs through strategic choices. Although not all benefits and limitations that are discussed in this paper may be applicable to all HEPs, CMIs are likely to provide most HEPs with opportunities to expand existing workplace-based learning programs, whilst concurrently addressing several limitations of traditional internships. However, CMIs are also associated with a number of challenges and limitations for HEPs, employer organizations and students. Despite these limitations, the current paper argues that the benefits of CMIs are likely to outweigh their limitations. This conclusion is reached because CMIs enable HEPs to address contemporary issues in higher education, including the workplace readiness and employability of graduates, the availability and quality of internship opportunities for a growing number of students, and the provision of internship opportunities for an increasingly diverse student population. As a result, the current paper argues that CMIs represent a valuable contribution to the higher education sector, and provide HEPs with previously unavailable opportunities to create workplace-based education programs for students. Given the benefits that may be created through the widespread development and application of CMIs, we hope that more HEPs will consider to utilize CMIs in future curriculum development programs.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the opportunities and limitations of computer-mediated internships (CMIs) for higher education providers (HEPs) and to outline how HEPs may maximize the benefits that arise from CMIs through strategic choices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper provides a systematic assessment of the benefits, opportunities and limitations of CMIs. A particular focus of the paper concerns ways in which HEPs may utilize CMIs to maximize student learning as well as institutional benefits in terms of the use of expertise, collaborations and the achievement of institutional targets.\nFindings: Benefits of CMIs include the more inclusive access of previously disadvantaged student groups to internship opportunities, as well as fewer restrictions for HEPs and employers. Given the right design, CMIs can provide a number of important learning opportunities to students while providing extensive opportunities for HEPs. However, the benefits of CMIs need to be viewed in line with the challenges that arise, such as the skill and expertise required to implement CMIs, the required investment of resources, and the currently limited acceptance of CMIs by employers.\nPractical implications: The findings of the paper highlight that CMIs have the potential to be highly beneficial for HEPs and students. In addition, the paper showcases how HEPs may address the limitations of traditional internships, as well as the challenges that arise in relation to CMIs, through the systematic and well supported application of technological solutions.\nOriginality/value: The paper makes an important contribution to the literature because it is the first to evaluate the potential of CMIs for the providers of higher education programs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Is director independence merely a box ticking exercise? A study of independence determinations in Irish listed companies	[ "Corporate governance", "Independence", "Non-executive director" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It has been recently suggested that a failure to adhere to the principles of good corporate governance was a major contributor to the credit crunch and that for the process of corporate governance to function effectively, it is not simply about complying with the letter of the law, but rather about embracing the broader spirit of good corporate governance (Moxey and Berendt, 2008). This echoes the view taken in the Hampel Report (1998, p. 11) which specifically addresses the threat and failings of box-ticking. While this report cautions that box-ticking does not take into account the diversity of circumstances and experience among companies, it also highlights a more fundamental problem with box-ticking in that \"It can be seized on as an easier option than the diligent pursuit of corporate governance objectives\". The Hampel Report (1998, p. 11) further warns that box-ticking provides an opportunity for those in the firm \"to arrange matters so that the letter of every governance rule was complied with but not the substance\". The issue of box-ticking also poses a notable threat to director independence, which has been consistently identified as one of the primary safeguards for effective corporate governance.\nRelated literature: Typically \"director independence\" has come to mean having no direct or indirect connection with the firm, the interpretation and impact of the degree of connectedness being central to narrow and broad definitions of \"independence.\" This lack of clarity has resulted in a noted lack of consistency as to what constitutes NED independence (Brennan and McDermott, 2004; Mulgrew and Forker, 2006).\nSample, data and method: This paper measures NED independence from three perspectives, which are now fully explained.\nEmpirical results and discussion: Table III provides descriptive statistics for the research sample. To attain a fuller picture of the sample under consideration, data for a number of additional variables which measure board size and the size of the audit, remuneration and nomination committees are also reported within Table III. Interestingly, as shown in Panel A of Table III, 15 of the sample firms (26.32 per cent) did not have a nomination committee in place in 2007.\nExplaining the difference in perspectives: Having identified the existence of a statistically significant difference between how NED independence is determined under each of the three perspectives, one must next examine how this difference can be explained. This requires a vigorous assessment of the raw data used in the above analysis. It should be noted that from the initial sample, a total of 348 NEDs were identified for the financial year 2007. Of this number, 45 non-executive chairmen (12.94 per cent) were identified, leaving 303 NEDs (87.06 per cent).\nImplications of findings: The differences in the determination of director independence found to exist in this study highlights that there is a large degree of variability with regard to understanding, interpreting and applying the concept of NED independence by Irish companies that form the sample used in this investigation. There are a number of important implications of these findings which will now be considered.\nThe role of financial institutions: Given that a lack of compliance and adherence to fundamental principles of good corporate governance within financial institutions in particular has been argued to be a primary factor in the global financial crisis (Moxey and Berendt, 2008) a further insight may be garnered in the sample firms by assessing the extent to which measures of NED independence differ for the financial institutions from the rest of the sample firms.\nConclusion: The objective of this study is to establish whether or not firms listed on Irish stock markets embrace the principles and substance of effective corporate governance, rather than simply following the letter of the law regarding NED independence. The examination of multiple perspectives of NED independence allows for a comparison between the corporate governance mechanisms the firm actually has in place to address potential agency issues and what the firm should have or should be doing to ensure objectivity oversight and the protection of shareholders.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to establish whether Irish listed firms comply with the substance of corporate governance guidance rather than the letter of the rule in the determination of director independence. The paper examines non-executive director independence from three perspectives: the first is from the viewpoint of the sample firms, the second from that given in corporate governance guidance when applied to the sample firms, and the third based on extensive financial statement analysis, prior research and prior literature. By exploring multiple perspectives of director independence, disparities in the interpretation of non-executive director independence can be identified.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Descriptive statistics and non-parametric statistical analysis are used to examine for differences between multiple perspectives of non-executive director independence.\nFindings: The study identified significant disparities in the interpretation of independence by Irish listed firms. This may be explained by a misunderstanding of what director independence means, a deliberate choice to ignore pre-existing norms regarding NED independence or the desire to exceed such norms. The findings suggest Irish financial institutions exhibit higher levels of NED independence than the remaining sample firms explained in part by linkages with the institutions themselves. Findings suggest a lack of adequate oversight in the sample firms, which could ultimately lead to greater agency costs for shareholders.\nPractical implications: Policymakers and other stakeholders valuing director independence may need to reassess guidelines for interpreting director independence and related reporting, policies regarding adherence to such guidelines and associated director training requirements.\nOriginality/value: This study is timely, topical and the first of its kind in relation to Irish listed firms and provides evidence into the lack of compliance within Irish listed companies with best practice guidance. The findings clearly identify a notable lack in a consistent means of interpretation in the sample firms as to what non-executive independence is and why it is an important part of good corporate governance. The paper provides a basis for future research. Such research may include studies of firm motivation in interpretation choice and comparative studies with other jurisdictions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Same but different? An examination of Swedish upper secondary school teachers' and students' views and use of ICT in education	[ "Teaching", "Student", "Teacher", "Upper secondary school", "Use of ICT" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper addresses the question of ICT in education from the perspectives of upper secondary school teachers and students. A lot is expected from ICT in education, although according to a large number of research studies and evaluations, ICT has yet to prove its potential to improve education (OECD, 2015; Pate, 2016; Pedro, 2009; Wastiau et al., 2013). Several questions can therefore be posed. For instance, can the uptake and use of ICT in education ever meet policymakers' expectations? If so, how might the current situation be understood? Is it, as suggested by Schleicher in the foreword to the 2015 OECD report, a question of developing a way of thinking or a pedagogical design that makes the most of ICT, or is there an overestimation of teachers' and students' digital competences in an educational context? Or both? This paper attempts to provide some answers from the perspectives of teachers and students.\nPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine upper secondary school teachers' and students' views and use of ICT in education. What do they regard as the challenges and possibilities? Are they in agreement, or do they hold contrasting views that might restrict the use of ICT in education?\nMethodology: The study is part of a four-year national research project on the use of ICT in Swedish upper secondary schools, funded by the Swedish Research Council. The design of the project is multi-dimensional and longitudinal: multi-dimensional in terms of the inclusion of managers at the municipality level, school leaders, teachers and students, and longitudinal because it runs from 2015 to 2018.Three schools known nationally for their advanced use of ICT are included in the project. The schools have both theoretical and vocational programmes, and students in all three schools have their own laptops which they bring to each class.\nResults: In this section, the results of the study are presented. The results are based on the major themes that emerged from the analyses. The teachers' views are presented first.\nDiscussion: In general, the possibilities and challenges raised by the teachers and their use of ICT in education mirror to a large extent earlier research (Sipila, 2014; Vrasidas, 2015; Ward and Parr, 2010; Wastiau et al., 2013). It can be noted that the teachers in this study are somewhat ambivalent about using ICT in educational contexts, perhaps due to their own personal levels of digital competence or by restrictions of time and subject, which also reflect the results of previous research. How the students' view their in- and out-of-school use of ICT also seems to reflect the reports in the research literature (Beavis et al., 2015; Beckman et al., 2014; Crook, 2012; Gronn et al., 2014; Hinostroza et al., 2015; Ben-David Kolikant, 2012; Plowman and McPake, 2013; Vekiri, 2010a, b). When comparing the results from both the teachers and students, it would appear that they identify similar challenges in the use of ICT in education. Three of the major challenges and three of the major possibilities identified by both the teachers and the students are outlined in the next section.\nConclusion: The main conclusion to be drawn from this study is that the teachers and students at all the three schools are largely in agreement about how they view ICT in education and how it could be used for teaching and learning. The main difference that stands out in the analysis is the educational potential of smartphones. If teachers planned lessons and made educational choices together with their students, many of who are aware of the pitfalls of using ICT in education, such as distracting social media and computer games, a more elaborate use of ICT in education could be designed and planned.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine Swedish upper secondary school teachers' and students' views and use of ICT in education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 25 individual teachers and 39 students in small focus groups were interviewed. A qualitative content analysis was performed using NVivo11. The analysis was conducted in three steps: with each individual teacher, the student groups and the cohort of teachers and students. A comparative analysis was also conducted.\nFindings: The teachers' views and use of ICT are diverse. Teachers and students identify similar challenges when using ICT in education, e.g. time and subject, the shortcomings of a school's learning management system (LMS) and teachers' digital competence. Students report an extensive out-of-school use of smartphones and an extensive in-school use of laptops and LMS.\nResearch limitations/implications: The relatively small number of teachers and students in three schools make generalisations difficult. The examination of teachers' and students' views and use in the same context reveals new knowledge.\nPractical implications: The study may influence teachers' use of ICT in education, based on a better understanding of students' use.\nSocial implications: The study may lead to a better understanding of teachers' and students' different perspectives and a more enhanced and sustainable in-school use of ICT.\nOriginality/value: The originality is that teachers' and students' views and use of ICT in education are examined at the same time. The paper contributes new knowledge about how teachers and students conceptualise and use ICT in upper secondary school practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Measuring the systemic importance of interconnected industries in the world economic system	[ "Systemic risk", "Network analysis", "HITS", "Stress testing", "Systemic importance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The increasing levels of international economic integration have been associated with increasing connectivity and interdependency within the world economic system. For example, the interconnectedness of the international trade network (ITN) increased considerably during the 1990s (Kali and Reyes, 2007). At the same time, the increasing economic integration has enhanced the volatility and fragility of the world economic system (Foti et al., 2013), as witnessed in the recent economic and financial crises, for example, the crisis of 2008-2009 (Kenc and Dibooglu, 2010). A striking characteristic of these crises is that localized initial industry- or country-specific shocks are rapidly transmitted to whole industries in a country or the rest of the world. This potential risk of spillover effects in an economic system is generally referred to as \"systemic risk.\" If one industry or country has many distinct counterparties as a result of connectivity and interdependency (such as trade or input-output relationships), then there are many channels through which it can be affected by a shock originating elsewhere. However, if an industry or country is hit by an adverse shock, then having many counterparties provides more channels to diversify away the effect. Thus, because the connectivity and interdependency in the world economic system can either amplify or absorb the effects of adverse shocks or perturbations to an industry or country, a small shock can spread across a large part of the system (the systemic risk).\n2. The data set: In this paper, we consider the world economic system as an interconnected network according to the data set of the world input-output table (WIOT)[1]. The WIOT is part of the World Input-Output Database (WIOD), which contains detailed information on national production activities and international trade data. The database was created by the WIOD project, which ran for three years (2009-2012) and involved 11 international partners (Dietzenbacher et al., 2013; Stehrer et al., 2014). The WIOT provides data on the input and output relationships across industries and countries (Figure 2). The data in the WIOT denote the output of one industry in one country or the input of another industry in another country, which indicates the value of one industry used by another industry across countries. For example,\n3. Related work: 3.1 The world economic system\n4. Investigating the influence of the crisis: 4.1 The macro-level\n5. Measuring the systemic importance: The investigation of the 2008-2009 crisis provides empirical evidence of the contagion of the crisis, which illustrates the existence of systemic risk in the world economic system. So, a natural question is how to measure the contribution of an individual industry to the overall systemic risk, or in other words, how to measure the systemic importance of the individual industry. Based on this motivation, we propose a combined HITS algorithm to measure the systemic importance of the interconnected industries in the world economic system by considering both the market and network information. The market information is associated with the expected losses of output, which can be computed by the market-based systemic risk measurement. The network information refers to the interconnectedness of industries based on the input-output relationships. The main function of the combined algorithm is to redistribute the output losses. To evaluate the performance of this algorithm, we consider the purely market-based systemic risk measurement as a baseline, and compare the precision score based on the stress-testing approach.\n6. Conclusions: In this paper, we investigate the contagion of the 2008-2009 crisis, which induced systemic risk within the world economic system. To measure the systemic importance of interconnected industries, we develop a combined HITS algorithm. Compared with the purely market-based measurement, the combined HITS not only considers the market information that is used to compute the expected losses, but also considers the interconnectedness information from the network of input-output relationships between industries. The main function is the redistribution process for the output loss based on the input-output network. We evaluate the combined HITS algorithm using the stress testing approach, and find that the HITS outperforms the purely market-based measurement based on the precision scores of predicting the top N systemically important industries. The main contributions of our study are as follows.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure the systemic importance of industry in the world economic system under the system-wide event - the crisis of 2008-2009, by viewing this system as a weighted directed network of interconnected industries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: First, the authors investigate this crisis at three different levels based on network-related indicators: the \"macro\" global level, the \"meso\" country level, and the \"micro\" industry level. This investigation not only provides evidence for the systemic influence, that is, systemic risk, of the crisis, but also reveals the contagion mechanism of the crisis, which supports the stress testing. Second, the authors use a network-related business intelligence algorithm, the combined hyperlink-induced topic search (HITS) algorithm, to measure the contribution of a given individual industry to the overall risk of the economic system or, in other words, the systemic importance of the individual industry.\nFindings: The HITS algorithm considers both the market information and the interconnectedness of the industries. Based on the stress testing, the performance of the combined HITS is compared with the purely market-based systemic risk measurement. The results show that the combined HITS outperforms the baseline in finding the top N systemically important industries.\nPractical implications: The combined HITS algorithm provides a novel network-based perspective of systemic risk measurement.\nOriginality/value: Measuring the systemic importance based on the combined HITS algorithm can help managers and regulators design effective risk management policies. In this respect, the work initiates a research direction of studying the systemic risk in a business system based on a network-related business intelligence algorithm because the business system can be viewed as an interconnected network.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge donating and knowledge collecting: The moderating roles of social and economic LMX	[ "Social exchange", "Leader-member exchange", "Knowledge sharing", "Dyadic relationships", "Knowledge donating" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Knowledge sharing, or the process of mutually exchanging knowledge and together creating new knowledge (de Vries et al., 2006), is recognized as a source of competitive advantage (Grant, 1996; Riege, 2005) and innovativeness (Collins and Smith, 2006; van Wijk et al., 2008). For knowledge sharing and knowledge combination to be effective, both the donating and collecting of knowledge are central (de Vries et al., 2006). Thus, we distinguish between knowledge donating (communicating knowledge to others) and knowledge collecting (actively consulting others for their intellectual capital) (de Vries et al., 2006). The successful exchange of knowledge between the donor and the collector is the fundamental means through which employees may contribute to knowledge dispersion, and, in turn, productivity and performance at the team and organizational levels of analysis. In particular, research reviewed by Wang and Noe (2010, p. 115) reveals positive associations between knowledge sharing and knowledge combination and important organizational outcomes, such as reduced production costs, faster completion of new product development projects, team performance, firm innovation capabilities, and firm performance.\nTheory and hypotheses: As emphasized by Van Den Hooff and de Leeuw Van Weenen (2004), it is important to distinguish between knowledge donating on the one hand and knowledge collecting on the other. Knowledge sharing and knowledge combination involve two actions: the sender's transmission and the recipient's absorption/use of the knowledge (Foss et al., 2009). In what follows, we first argue that there will be a positive relationship between employees' knowledge donating and managers' knowledge collecting, as managers are more likely to collect knowledge from employees when they themselves are the recipients of employees' knowledge donation. Then, we argue that the relationship between what employees donate to their immediate manager and the degree to which the manager actually collects knowledge from the employees in response is contingent on the type and level of LMX relationships.\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nDiscussion: This study contributes to our understanding of knowledge sharing by investigating the relationship between employees' knowledge donating and managers' knowledge collecting in a field setting. Extending previous findings from predominantly self-reported measures of knowledge sharing (Wang and Noe, 2010) to include measures from two independent raters, we observed in support of our first hypothesis a positive relationship between the employee's knowledge donating and the immediate manager's knowledge collecting across 227 employee-leader dyads. This observation contributes to the notion that knowledge sharing is \"[...] a relational act based on a sender-receiver relationship that incorporates communicating one's knowledge to others as well as receiving others' knowledge\" (Foss et al., 2009, p. 873),\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the relationship between employees' knowledge donating and managers' knowledge collecting is moderated by social leader-member exchange (SLMX) and economic leader-member exchange (ELMX).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were obtained from 227 employee-leader dyads from four Norwegian organizations. Hierarchical moderated regression was used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Even though the authors observed a positive relationship between employees' knowledge donating and managers' knowledge collecting, the moderation analysis revealed a positive relationship only for high levels of SLMX relationships.\nResearch limitations/implications: The data were cross-sectional, thus prohibiting causal inferences.\nPractical implications: SLMX relationships may be particularly important for the facilitation of knowledge exchange. Managers may draw on this finding to develop their relationships with employees by means of relationship-oriented behaviors.\nOriginality/value: Given the importance of knowledge-sharing processes, a better understanding of the conditions under which knowledge donating related to knowledge collecting is particularly important. The present study advances knowledge on SLMX and ELMX relationships by demonstrating how SLMX moderates the association between knowledge donating and knowledge collecting.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Uncertainty, the critical basis of risk management	[ "Conflict", "Creative thinking", "Decision making", "Uncertainty management", "Risk management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up ... We ... must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change (Barack Obama, Prague, 2009).\nIntroduction: The management of risk seems inherent in human nature, dating from early humankind's fears of not finding enough food, adequate shelter from the elements and predators, or recovery from an injury or illness. Achieving these ends connotes, on the other hand, the very Pascalian probability that things may turn out all right despite handicaps both known and unknown.It may be to the military that we owe the notion of calculated risk: the peril involved in attacking an adversary under certain conditions or, conversely, in being assaulted by the same opponent. Today the calculation of risk may be ingrained in the mind: it extends to virtually all human activity.There is also the risk of sheer chance, the \"bet\" that we make that something unforeseeable will or will not occur. Readers are familiar with the speculation about monkeys seated before typographic keyboards. If they hammer out enough gibberish on a sufficient number of machines, and if there are unlimited time and unending effort, our dedicated simians will not only manage to peck out a Shakespearean ode or all of Romeo and Juliet. They will even type out the entire works of the Bard of Avon, together with those of Goethe, Racine, Chikamatsu, Averroes and Tolstoy:[T]he hypothetical random act of typing Hamlet is an abstract idea... The exact time necessary for each of us to come into existence and the exact arrangement of our brain cells and our life stories all involve random events that are utterly unlikely and cannot be duplicated. Viewed in this manner, each of our lives resembles a monkey's typed version of Hamlet (Burger and Starbird, 2005).\nWhat are the odds?: Waiting sufficiently\nTechnology: Aircraft that cling to the drawing boards\nScience and medicine: Hazards of the military-industrial complex\nMovement of peoples: Empires in decline?\nEnergy and natural resources: In what it terms the dilemmas of the European energy predicament, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR, New York) pits the difficulties facing this sector against the EU's \"ambitious\" green policies. The EU has set specific goals in coping with climate change. Because energy supplies in Europe are dependent on parallel factors (e.g. Russia's closing of pipeline flow in January 2009), CFR analyst Toni Johnson underlines the main options currently facing Europe in its energy procurement (Johnson, 2009):1. Continuing reliance on gas imports.2. Maintenance of fatigued nuclear plants.3. Renewed dependence on coal power.In regard to (1) above, the distribution of gas depends on regional markets. Russia has shown that it can influence, even threateningly, the dependability of gas flow and cost - irrespective of firm contracts. As for (2), the lure of assured electrical power has begun again to charm traditionally anti-nuclear countries, and additional plants are being added to national power-grids. This evolution is largely to the dissatisfaction of environmental militants and public apprehension over a new Chernobyl. In the case of (3) the attraction of the cost and availability of coal remains offset by its widespread health hazards. The economic crisis of 2008-2009 has exacerbated, moreover, all three problems.To deal with these uncertainties, the EU plans corrective emphasis on the expanded use of renewable energies (20 percent more by 2020), the creation of alternative gas-supply networks, and intensifying efforts to improve both carbon-capture and storage technologies.\nCity and town planning: The Slussen sub-city\nInternational relations: Become literate, then what?\nThe military and uncertainty: The question is yes or no\nCrime and (sometimes) punishment: Legitimating the illegal\nA few conclusions: From the variety of examples illustrating the present paper, it is clear that the will to progress or to reform is essential to the decision processes implicit in the courses of action finally taken. The \"will to progress\" may range from a pondered exercise in selective options to a brusque choice taken almost on the spur of the moment. Whatever the method, uncertainty is overcome, the risk is defied, and the outcome managed as it develops.The reader also will see that we have used the futurist's techniques of scanning, causal analysis, impact analysis and visioning among the examples cited in order to identify uncertainty and, then, assess and manage risk. The opposite of uncertainty is admittedly assuredness, but such certainty may often be lacking when planning new or reinforced strategy. The case of an obsolete, Swedish \"sub-city\" illustrates this point well.The use of projection is exemplified by the case of the EADS/Airbus A400M military aircraft. Because its civil predecessors have been outstanding successes, there is no warranty of the same for the plane's air-force version. And yet the governments concerned continue to bankroll its development.The A400M illustration reverts ineluctably to President Eisenhower's cautionary reference to the growing influence of the military-industrial complex. His far-sighted remarks of a half-century ago not only went unheeded, their importance today is greater than ever. The industrial democracies as well as newly developing nations need to be on guard, tomorrow and the day following, against unbalanced military usurpation of national plans and strategies.A fling into the future\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The objective of this paper is to scan the extent of uncertainty and hesitation in the development of plans and strategy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The author evokes concrete cases of risk aversion, when the action either goes ahead or is stymied by lack of certitude. The incidents cited are of practical - rather than of theoretical - connotation.\nFindings: - This essay shows that the willful overcoming of missing assuredness may sometimes incur, in its turn, hazardous risk.\nOriginality/value: - The paper illustrates the roles of intelligence, the measurement of precaution, and the willingness or failure to gamble on the (sometimes) long shot.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
KPIs for facility's performance assessment, Part I: identification and categorization of core indicators	[ "Assessment", "Identification", "Asset management", "Quantitative techniques", "Performance indicators" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Performance measurement reviews past and present functioning, derives strategies for future endeavors, compares performance within and among the facilities, assesses the performance toward the organization's goals and provides needed direction to management for decision-making (Amaratunga et al., 2000a, b; Cable and Davis, 2004; Lebas, 1995; Douglas, 1996; Barret and Baldry, 2003; Kincaid, 1994). Douglas (1996) explains the importance of building performance in both inter-building and intra-building senses. The inter-building assessment is a comparative evaluation in which the building under study is evaluated against another similar building. In intra-building evaluation, the building is assessed on its own, based on its individual past performance. Performance measurement is, therefore, the key to calibrating the effectiveness of a built facility in a comprehensive manner. Kincaid (1994) mentions that performance measurement is essential in order to perform comparisons and develop strategies for improvement. According to Lebas (1995), gauging the growth of an organization, knowing the current condition of the organization's facilities, developing future plans, and preparing blueprints to accomplish those plans are among the driving forces behind performance measurement. Cohen et al. (2001) posit that for consistent and continuous improvement in building performance, rapid feedback about the condition of the building is essential.\nPerformance measurement: current state of research: Need for performance assessment\nResearch methods: This paper follows a research process suggested by the literature that involves establishing a broad list of performance indicators gathered from literature sources, organizing them in respective categories and narrowing them down into a compact, yet relevant, set of core and quantifiable performance metrics (Hinks and McNay, 1999; Ho et al., 2000; Slater et al., 1997; Gumbus, 2005). Lavy et al. (2010) carried out an extensive literature search identifying a list of core performance metrics, and organized them into relevant categories depending on the type of information represented. This paper incorporates research methods involving the following steps in establishing a compact set of key performance indicators.\nFindings: list of core identified indicators: The following sections describe the process of narrowing down the list of KPIs. Table I presents the KPIs identified and categorized by Lavy et al. (2010). The fourth category of survey-based indicator was replaced with another category of user satisfaction that more properly portrays the opinions of a facility's users.\nConclusions: Performance measurement is vital for reviewing past and present functioning of a facility and for making decisions regarding future strategies. Furthermore, it reveals the contribution of a facility toward achieving the organization's goals. Literature studied for the purpose of this paper emphasizes the need to conduct performance assessments, and points out the lack of proper KPIs. Past research studies on key performance indicators have attempted to establish a relatively comprehensive list of KPIs; however, these sets of KPIs include a large number of indicators, at times not quantifiable or containing overlapping or redundant information.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the previously established list of key performance indicators (KPIs), to identify and categorize the core performance indicators that are measurable and quantifiable.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A literature-based qualitative approach is adopted for accumulating desired information on identifying and categorizing the core indicators. The list of KPIs established in an earlier paper is narrowed down considering the future research needs suggested by the literature.\nFindings: The quantifiable and measurable core indicators are identified and categorized in the form of a list. The core indicators are defined and the variables required to quantify them are described by citing peer-reviewed literature.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper represents the first step toward establishing a relevant list of quantifiable and measurable core KPIs. Future research papers could emphasize derivation of mathematical expressions for determining the identified core KPIs and validating these KPIs using simulation of real building data.\nPractical implications: The need to establish a concise and relevant list of quantifiable and measurable KPIs that could express more than one type of information about a facility's performance is identified in this paper. This paper presents and describes a narrowed down list of core KPIs, which could be utilized by facility management industry professionals while performing a holistic performance assessment.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides a list of core KPIs that could express more than one aspect of a facility's performance and that is measurable and quantifiable.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The critical need for coverage of quality decision making in professional and management education	[ "Decision making", "Leadership", "Professional education", "Management training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: For some reason unbeknownst to me, there are widespread shortcomings in the literature and in educational programs when it comes to helping students learn what it takes to make high-quality decisions in a profession and in personal life.\nThe missing elements - guidelines for decisions: However, neither the literature nor textbooks provide guidance on all the issues that a decision maker should consider so a decision will be a high-quality decision. No criteria are offered for elements of this critical aspect of decisions.Let me back up a bit. The statement above may sound a bit too broad until you consider that every decision has to take into account two sets of considerations:1. the technical; and2. the non-technical.Professional education in any field, whether it be medicine, architecture, information systems, engineering, marketing, accounting, etc., does teach what to consider to perform a task. Doctoral students are given the latest therapy guidelines, architects learn formulae for structural elements of their designs, information systems have innumerable criteria for program development, and similar guidelines are provided to marketers, accountants, inventory specialists, and all other professionals. In short, there is considerable guidance for the technical aspects of a decision. These aspects are relevant almost exclusively to the respective specific field.There are, however, guidelines or criteria that should be observed for the other segment of quality decisions - the non-technical, universal elements that apply almost everywhere, to all decisions that directly or indirectly impact on people and/or on other stakeholders (such as the organization, the community, the society).These elements can be of critical importance to decision quality in project management, as well as when we find ourselves in voluntary or involuntary leadership roles in organizational meetings, and also in our avocational and family environments.For these non-technical aspects of decisions, criteria or guidelines are needed to help decision makers consider all the issues that may be relevant to the situation.\nDecision outcome as quality criterion for decisions: Though widely believed to be, decision outcome is not one of these criteria for either or both aspects. There are many external influences that affect it. We all know of dumb decisions that turned out great because fortuitous developments made them great. For example, an excessively high sales quota for a territory can turn out fully appropriate if business conditions improve unexpectedly or a major customer moves into that territory. The reverse, of course is also true - even a conservative quota for a territory can turn out to be far too high. Furthermore, outcome is too late for making and implementing a high-quality decision - it could help with the next one, but that is not the same thing. With sound criteria, quality can be built into the decision before it is implemented.Such comprehensive decision criteria are needed to objectively ensure that a decision will be as good as the available information permits. There are no such guidelines in existence today that have been validated in empirical research studies. There are, however, tested guidelines for some of the issues that should be considered. An outstanding example is the research by Victor Vroom and his associates that provides extensive data on the most desirable choice of levels of participation (Vroom and Yetton, 1973; Vroom and Jago, 1988; Vroom, 2003). There are also studies described in the motivation and leadership literature that can serve as foundation for extracting other guidelines.\nLimitations of decision guidelines: Meaningful guidelines cannot be specific because the situations in which they will be applied are far too varied to allow them to offer specifics for all situations. The decision maker has to adapt more general guidelines. Vroom and his associates have partly overcome this limitation by creating a matrix at first, and later a computer program, that asks users for the data needed to follow a decision tree to one of several levels of participation. However, even after a lifetime of research, the schema is still far from adequately thorough to bring really specific guidance. It fails to consider the characteristics of participants and the possibility of sequential levels of participation in a decision. Still it is as specific as guidelines that apply to all environments and situations can be.In a similar way, it is possible to draw guidelines from the leadership and motivation research that is reported in the literature. Without extensive research much of it is even less specific than Vroom's guidelines for participation.However, please consider another important area of issues that should be considered in high-quality decisions - communications.It is possible to state unequivocally that decisions should answer the following questions about communications: what should be communicated, by whom, to whom, when and how? Would that require much thought with most decisions? Not likely. However, raising the questions, just like those pertaining to appropriate participation, is likely to uncover thoughts that might have been overlooked if the questions had not been asked.The point here is that decision quality, like quality in anything, depends on thoroughness. A high-quality automobile is one in which every component works well. That includes the radio as well as the essential parts of the power train. In short, a car in which everything works well, including the radio, is a car with higher quality than one where the radio does not work.The same is true of decision quality. The highest quality decision is likely to be one that considers all issues deserving thought with respect to the situation.Now, when it comes to defining all the issues deserving thought, we can look at the responsibilities of managers and parents for some indications.\nGuidelines - issues to consider when making decisions: It is probably obvious that a manager has to consider control, competence, and climate (3Cs; Rausch and Washbush, 1998) and what needs to be done so that all three are at the highest possible level. \"Control\" is not meant to refer to autocratic control by the manager, but rather control by the organization (with appropriate participation) over its activities and plans for the future.A number of decision guidelines can be drawn from an analysis of what is needed to achieve that highest possible level of the 3Cs.The list suggested below is not the only way to look at such guidelines or criteria, but it is the only comprehensive and integrated one currently available. Other lists will undoubtedly be developed either from research or based on this one, as greater awareness becomes widespread, of the need to develop such a list of criteria or guidelines.There are eight guidelines in the list drawn from the 3Cs:1. Keyword - participation. What could or should be done, if anything, so that appropriate participation is used in all decisions and plans?2. Keyword - communications. What could or should be done, if anything, to ensure that everyone is aware of what should be communicated by whom, to whom, when, and how, so all will have the information they need and can expect to receive?3. Keywords - competence, learning, and selection. What could or should be done, if anything, to achieve the highest possible competence for every action?4. Keyword: satisfaction. What could or should be done, if anything, so that stakeholders can gain the highest possible level of satisfaction from the contemplated actions?5. Keywords: progress and performance reviews. What could or should be done, if anything, so that greatest benefits can be derived from progress and performance reviews, and performance evaluations?6. Keywords: coordination, cooperation and conflict. What could or should to be done, if anything, to assure the highest possible level of coordination and cooperation?7. Keywords: norms, organizational justice, ethics, positive discipline, and counseling. What could or should be done, if anything, to stimulate or maintain appropriate norms, organizational justice, ethical policies/behavior, positive discipline, and competent counseling?8. Keywords: goals and action steps. What, if anything, could or should be done about possible use of goals to achieve the desired outcome?This last question is different from the others. It is fully applicable only if an organization either uses formal goals or plans to use them. If an organization does not use goals, formally, it is likely to develop plans for achieving the desired outcome conditions. In a way, what is to be accomplished with such plans, their intended outcomes, is essentially the same as goals. However, only some of the issues of the formal goals process, such as participation issue, would apply.Below the eight guidelines as described are at least one and sometimes several layers of more specific questions or reminders of issue that lead the decision maker closer to seeing what might be the best alternatives and from those the most desirable one.Leadership and motivation literature provides considerable concrete guidance. There are research conclusions, not necessarily fully validated empirically, but with strong face validity, for identifying what should be considered with respect to each of the issues that the question raises. The same would be true for similar sets of considerations that might be in another, equally valid hierarchy, derived from a sound list of management and leadership responsibilities.\nConclusion: Hopefully this brief viewpoint article has shown how a list of guidelines or criteria for the non-technical aspects of decisions can bring higher quality decisions.What is needed is buy-in by decision makers and their willingness to gradually develop the habit to look at the criteria until such review becomes automatic, they way typing has become automatic.Supporting such decision-maker actions is the need of educators and management development professionals, to expose learners to a set of criteria/guidelines during their programs, and to provide opportunities for practice.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to explain the need for inclusion of a segment on criteria for decision quality in management and leadership education and in management development programs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper provides a conceptual base for the use of criteria to achieve high-quality decisions. It explains the two aspects of all decisions (technical and leadership/management) and discusses some examples of research into a limited set of criteria and then offers an overview of a comprehensive set of criteria.\nFindings: - The paper expands on conclusions from previous work by providing solid reasons for the use of decision criteria.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper points to the need for extensive research to validate the criteria and offers specific suggestions on research objectives.\nPractical implications: - The use of comprehensive criteria for the management/leadership aspects of decisions can significantly improve the quality of decisions in work situations, and also in many family and other private life situations.\nOriginality/value: - In addition to the criteria themselves, a major value of the paper is the emphasis on the importance of recognizing that there are two aspects to all decisions and that comprehensive criteria for the technical decisions are provided by education and training in all fields and disciplines, while none are provided in management and leadership programs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Consumer attitudes on mobile payment services - results from a proof of concept test	[ "Innovation", "Sweden", "Multiple regression analysis", "Customer attitudes", "Payments", "Retail service industries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There are many efforts in Europe that aim to increase the use of electronic forms of mass-payment services to the detriment of cash. And there is reason to believe this transition would benefit the society. The economic benefits for a society if cash is replaced by electronic payments may be around or even more than 0.3 percent of GDP annually since the costs for cash-based services are significantly higher than the costs for electronic payments (Danmarks Nationalbank, 2011; Bergman et al., 2007; Humphrey et al., 2006; Flatraaker and Robinsson, 1995). Given this potential and the common belief that mobile phones are a potential platform for electronic payments that replace cash-based payments, this study of factors determining consumers' potential use of mobile payment services is highly motivated. The research question underlying this study concerns which factors that are likely to make consumers willing (or not) to start using mobile phones as the platform for payment services?\nTheory: Research on how consumers adopt innovations is often based on the conceptual idea that innovation first is accepted and used by a small group of interested people and then over time diffused to more and more people in the population. This model was formulated by Rogers (1995) in this discussion of diffusion of innovation, and Rogers' framework is underlying a lot of research in this field. Moore and Benbasat (1991) is another influential article which has been enabling researchers to build and test models of innovation diffusion. More particularly, studies of how mobile payment offerings, i.e. combinations of technologies and services, are adopted by consumers have generally been studied via general technology adoption models (TAM) and diffusion of innovation theories (Mallat, 2007).\nMethodology: The collection of data was done through a collaborative effort including one bank, one provider of the mobile payment service, one actor in the mobile operator industry and myself. The foundation for this study is a proof of concept test of a new mobile payment solution done in Sweden. The test was launched in November 2010 and finalized in June 2011. During this test period there were 22 merchants that had installed the mobile payment service in their stores and there were 294 active users (consumers) that made 972 transactions during the test period. The transaction pattern showed a slow start and most of the transactions were done in May and June 2011. The author's role in this project was to participate in the design of the concept test and in the collection of consumer and merchant data with a particular focus on consumers' views.\nResults from the study: The quantitative data were used to test the hypotheses presented and summarized in Table II. The analysis is done with the help of a regression analysis model where the dependent variable is the consumers' attitudes toward the mobile payment service they had tested and the independent variables are the ones listed in Tables II-V.\nDiscussion and conclusions: It should be acknowledged that the respondents in this study can be characterized as early adopters which imply that we can expect their attitudes toward adopting a mobile payment service to be somewhat more positive than what can be expected from a random sample of respondents from a larger population. A previous study (Kim et al., 2010a) has, for instance, found that the ease of use is relatively more important factor for early adopters than what it is for late adopters, and we should expect this variable to have a strong effect on adoption. We should therefore be somewhat cautious about generalizing the results from this study to a larger population of payment service users. The results in this study are nevertheless interesting since it is testing hypotheses from previous research in a quantitative study of a genuine proof of concept test of a mobile payment service in Sweden.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: A society's potential economic gains from replacing cash-based payments with electronic payments are large, and mobile payments may help this transition. The purpose of this paper is to understand consumers' attitudes on start using mobile payment services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study builds on quantitative data from a proof of concept test of a mobile payment service that was done in Sweden in 2011. The theoretical foundation rests on technology adoption models (TAM) and diffusion of innovation theories.\nFindings: The study finds that the most important factor explaining whether consumers are likely to use a mobile payment service is ease of use. In addition, relative advantage, high trust, low perceived security risks, higher age and lower income were associated with a positive view on adopting the service.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results leads to the conclusion that studies of innovation in the payment industry cannot rely on TAM and innovation diffusion theory alone. Theories on learning, network economies and value-creation must also be included if change processes in payment systems are to be fully understood.\nPractical implications: Companies aiming to launch mobile payment services must understand that consumers' put high importance on reliability of such services and that trust in services is built via learning process. If consumers learn to use the service, the probability they also start to trust it increases. This means that the launch of services must be designed as learning processes for consumers and merchants.\nOriginality/value: The newness in this paper is, first, that the TAM model is tested quantitatively in a regression analysis using data from Sweden, and, second, that the traditional theories used to explain consumers' use of new types of payment services are discussed and suggestions for additional, complementary theories are proposed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Monitoring and data use in developing countries: Findings from a systematic literature review	[ "Leadership", "Decision making", "Data teams", "Professional capital", "Professional judgement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the past 15 years, the definition of educational equity in developing countries has transformed from an overarching concern with access to an emphasis on quality (World Bank, 2011). The system-wide monitoring of performance information is among a palette of educational reforms implemented by high-income countries (HICs) that have been widely adopted by low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as a means of improving quality of service delivery and redressing persistent inequalities in educational outcomes (Wagner et al., 2012; Kellaghan and Greaney, 2001). The collection and dissemination of standardized performance information about students, teachers, schools and school systems are employed as important tools not only for monitoring the state of education but also for promoting educational development by encouraging reform of local school policies, improving organizational processes in schools and shifting teaching practices in an effort to improve schools in the most challenging circumstances and reach the poorest and most marginalized children.\nMethodology: The question guiding our review of monitoring studies (LMICs)[1] is the following:\nRealist synthesis: The focus on conditions under which change occurs (or not) in school-level outcomes in relation to monitoring activity has led us to an approach to systematic review known as realist synthesis. Realist synthesis has emerged relatively recently as a tool for systematically exploring literature that is widely varied in quality and approach. Realist synthesis offers particular insight for topics, such as accountability in education, that involve complex system dynamics (Wong et al., 2013; Pawson, 2006; Pawson et al., 2005). Realist synthesis lends itself to the complex task of tracking contextual conditions by offering a methodology for tracing connections among particular contextual conditions and outcomes of interest. In realist terms, the links between conditions and outcomes are known as mechanisms. These are the social processes that offer ways of explaining, \"What works, for whom, and under what conditions?\" (Wong et al., 2013). Realist review entails viewing programs, such as initiatives that involve performance monitoring, as indeterminate. That is, a performance monitoring initiative does not have causal powers in and of itself; rather the implementation of monitoring offers an array of resources that may or may not be taken up or may be taken up but not as originally intended. Conditions, then, are the ways that particular social programs, such as Educational Management Information Systems (EMIS), come to be recognized as resources and get taken up to produce certain outcomes. The process of taking up those resources constitutes mechanisms, the social processes that link conditions with outcomes (Greenhalgh, 2014). In brief, realist synthesis provides a methodology for identifying and analyzing conditions, mechanisms, outcomes and the relations among these entities.\nInitial rough theory: Realist synthesis begins with the elaboration of an initial theoretical framework. The \"initial rough theory\" intends to identify possible mechanisms connecting conditions and outcomes related to monitoring. To develop our initial theory, we drew on and extended Bouckaert and Halligan (2008), Scheerens (1992), Ehren et al. (2013) and Hatch (2013) to identify the five categories of mechanisms that we initially proposed as most likely to contribute to school-level outcomes attributable to performance monitoring activities (see Figure 1).\nProgram pathways of performance monitoring activities: The first program pathway is setting expectations. This acknowledges the fact that performance indicators in monitoring systems, have a normative or standardization purpose. Such indicators not only serve a measurement function to undertake monitoring of school quality, but they also communicate expectations about goals and about what a good school, a good lesson and good performance constitute. Schools are expected to use the criteria and descriptors set out in the frameworks (e.g. education management information systems or school report cards) to define their own standards of a \"good school\" and a \"good lesson\" and to incorporate these standards into their daily work and teaching. The communication and use of standards in school monitoring are expected to motivate schools to reflect on the standards, process them and adapt their goals and their practical ways of working in such a way that they come closer to the normative image of schools communicated by the accountability indicators. This behavior in response to expectations corresponds with answerability, the notion that schools should be accountable for meeting agreed-upon procedures and goals (Gregory, 2003).\nIdentifying and describing studies: Identifying and describing studies in this realist synthesis was done over six overlapping phases: first, scoping of the literature and theory elaboration; second, search process; third, screening and selection of relevant papers; fourth, characterizing included studies in a systematic map; fifth, quality appraisal and data extraction; and sixth, analysis and synthesis.\nFindings: A total of 17,259 citations were identified from database- and hand-searching for the review overall. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied successively to identify 214 studies for in-depth review. A total of 22 papers judged to be \"highly\" or \"somewhat\" relevant in relation to performance monitoring were included in the synthesis, and data were extracted for the intervention characteristics, study design, contexts, mechanisms and outcomes, and assessed for study rigor. Please see Figure 2 for a flow diagram of the process of selection.\nProviding feedback: uses of EMIS for school-level management decisions: Monitoring activities that aim to provide feedback for decision making at the level of the school emphasize the design, implementation and uses of information systems for education. Traditionally, EMIS were viewed as a means of providing reliable and valid information to policymakers and planners about the relationship between educational inputs and educational outputs. Data might include, for example, system level resource allocation, numbers of students and staff, and school location. Increasingly, EMIS has come to be viewed not only as a tool to offer a high-level view of the system but also as a means of providing data for management decisions at the school level. Such information may include school-level details about expenditures, detailed disaggregation of student learning outcomes and demographic characteristics. The intended program pathway of EMIS information is to improve decision making and the targeting of resources to areas most in need through access to high-quality and timely data. The studies synthesized in this section include several descriptive accounts and overviews of the implementation of EMIS and its impact on service delivery in schools (one high rigor - Lassibilee et al., 2010; four medium rigor - Chen, 2011; Higgins and Rwanyange, 2005; Gvirtz and Larripa, 2004; World Bank, 2008; four low rigor - ADEA, 2001; De Grauwe, 2007; Murimba, 2005; World Bank, 2010).\nProviding feedback: school \"report cards\": School \"report cards\" are school-level information systems intended to increase accountability and transparency by making public information generated through EMIS along with individual school performance compared with performance benchmarks and local, regional, and national averages in various categories. The school report cards are intended to amplify local actors' political voice or promote parental agency through choice (Bruns et al., 2011). We concentrate in our review on system-wide initiatives around the uses of performance information for local school accountability; we do not include efforts that concentrate exclusively on community accountability independent of wider processes (for a systematic review of community accountability, see Westhorp et al., 2014).\nSetting expectations: uses of EMIS with local SDP: We now turn to the generic pathway of setting expectations as a way that EMIS intends to shape service delivery at the school level. We focus on locally based SDP, highlighted in nine papers (six medium- and three low-rigor papers), as a means of improving the quality of data inputs and developing demand and associated capacity to use performance information outputs effectively (Attfield and Vu, 2013; Brock, 2009; Bruns et al., 2011; Caddell, 2005; Crouch and Winkler, 2008; Powell, 2006; Prew and Quaigrain, 2010; USAID, 2006; Winkler and Herstein, 2005). Local SDP processes are presented as vehicles for setting expectations through generating demand for EMIS information, developing capacity to use that information effectively and increasing the quality of data inputs provided to EMIS (Powell, 2006, p. 19). All the papers use descriptive accounts of existing interventions to support their claims; none is an experimental or comparative study. Suggestions of desirable impact of one effort in Nigeria appear in four papers, two of medium rigor (Bruns et al., 2011; USAID, 2006) and two of low rigor (Crouch and Winkler, 2008; Winkler and Herstein, 2005). Two medium-rigor papers describe the positive impact of SDP initiatives in Vietnam (Attfield and Vu, 2013) and in China (Brock, 2009). Two papers (one low and one medium rigor) suggest mixed impact from an initiative in Ghana (Prew and Quaigrain, 2010; Powell, 2006), and one paper of medium rigor suggests undesirable impact in a national initiative in Nepal to promote local SDP (Caddell, 2005).\nDiscussion: We identified 22 papers focusing on monitoring. Nearly half of the monitoring papers were from Sub-Saharan Africa (n=10). An additional five papers covered multiple regions, and seven were country case studies in Latin America (n=2); East Asia (n=4) and South Asia (n=1). Three papers were judged as high rigor, 11 as medium and 8 as low. Three monitoring program activities were identified: EMIS for school-level management decisions; school report cards; and EMIS for local SDP. Hypothesized domains of mechanisms identified in our initial rough theory (Figure 1) in relation to these activities included providing feedback through the use of EMIS for school-level management decisions, providing feedback through the use of school report cards, and setting expectations through the use of EMIS for SDP. From the literature, we identified particular conditions that triggered specific mechanisms leading to intended or unintended outcomes in each of these categories. Specific mechanisms inferred from the literature included follow up/follow through, parental ability to exert pressure and parental participation in monitoring activities for providing feedback, as well as learning from failure for setting expectations. We summarize the connections of these mechanisms with associated conditions and outcomes in a series of conditions-mechanisms-outcomes statements in Table VI.\nConclusion: Our synthesis of monitoring papers provided evidence of conditions that triggered setting expectations and providing feedback/consequences, the first and second of the five hypothesized domains of mechanisms identified in our initial theory. However, our findings also suggest that at least the first three categories of mechanisms, including those previously mentioned and the third mechanism of capacity development of educators, are inter-related and cannot be separated when explaining the ways in which monitoring leads to school-related outcomes. For example, the conditions suggested for feedback from school report cards and EMIS to have an effect include a high level of support both within the school and from higher levels in the system, as well as adequate means of communication and distribution of feedback. Such support also sets expectations in schools around standards of quality regarding learning and teaching, and in theory, may lead to the institutionalization of norms around quality, the fifth category of mechanism for which we did not find evidence.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The collection and dissemination of standardized performance information about students, teachers, schools and school systems offer potentially important tools for school accountability and resource allocation as well as school improvement in developing countries. However, performance monitoring systems in developing countries are in many cases copied from those in high-income countries without a clear understanding of their functioning in contexts of limited resources and capacity for change. The purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions under which and the mechanisms through which system-wide performance monitoring affects school-level organization and processes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The review employs realist synthesis because of the complexity and dynamism of conditions in LMICs, the wide variability in available literature and the aim of explaining how particular organizational outcomes arise, given particular conditions. The authors draw on findings from a systematic review of 22 studies and reports, published since 2001, related to the implementation of performance monitoring.\nFindings: The findings highlight key barriers to the use of data to inform school accountability and improvement. Capacity to collect, interpret and use data is an important condition to both effective external accountability as well as improvement of schools.\nOriginality/value: The review uses realist approaches to building middle-level theories to help scholars, educational advisers, policy makers and educational leaders understand the causal processes that result in certain outcomes from monitoring activities and to identify the conditions that are necessary for those processes to have the desired outcomes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The contradictory effects of customer participation breadth and depth on customer-perceived value	[ "New product development", "Customer participation", "Customer risk-averse", "Technology turbulence" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recent research suggests that customer participation in a supplier's new product development (NPD) process is a key factor that drives the supplier's superior performance (Dong et al., 2015; Eisingerich et al., 2014; Fang et al., 2008; Huang et al., 2007). As a result, managers strive to engage customers in their product development processes. For example, DeWalt, an American power tools and hand tools manufacturer, is well known for its superior product quality and reliability. To produce those innovative and premium products, DeWalt is heavily relying on getting innovation ideas and product directional trends from its award-wining Insight Community, which consists of more than 10,000 end users and contractors (Milbrath, 2015). As discussed by Merlo et al. (2014, p.81), more and more managers have realized that \"emphasizing customer participation may be a more important vehicle for generating valuable repeat business.\"\nTheoretical background and hypotheses development: Customer participation breadth and depth: a transaction cost perspective\nMethod: Sample and data\nResults: To test the hypotheses, a hierarchical multiple regression was used (Aiken et al., 1991). First, the main effects of key independent variables along with a set of control variables were included in the regression model (Model 1). Then, the interaction terms were added to the model (Model 2) to test the moderating effects of customer risk aversion and technology turbulence. To reduce the potential bias due to multicollinearity, we used the mean-centered values of the independent variables and moderating variables to generate the interaction terms (Kopalle and Lehmann, 2006). Specifically, we subtracted the mean values of these variables from their original values. The correlation matrix and descriptive statistics of the key constructs are summarized in Table II. The regression results are presented in Table III.\nDiscussion: These days, more and more managers have realized the importance of getting their customers to participate in the product development process. However, observations from the real business world suggest that customer participation does not always work equally for all the firms. This study, to the best of our knowledge, is among the first to specifically examine the contradictory effects of deep customer participation and broad customer participation in suppliers' NPD. Our results reveal that while deeply participating in a supplier's NPD can lead to increased customer-perceived value, broadly participating may potentially hurt the relationship by resulting in reduced customer-perceived value. As the literature suggests (March, 1991; Terziovski, 2010), organizations usually have limited resources that they can allocate to a strategic end. Thus, focusing on selected sub-processes of product development can enhance resource efficiency and produce more valuable outcomes during the participation process. This finding not only provides an alternative explanation for the mixed effects of customer participation observed in business practices but also highlights the potential risk of getting customers broadly involved in NPD.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether two different participation strategies (i.e. deep participation and broad participation) in a supplier's product development process will result in different levels of customer-perceived value. In addition, this paper examines the moderating effects of customer risk-aversion and technology turbulence on the relationship between customer participation depth/breadth and customer-perceived value.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A theory-based model is developed and tested using data collected from 196 business-to-business firms. A multiple-regression approach was used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Drawing on the transaction cost theory, the results reveal that while deep participation is likely to result in increased customer-perceived value, broad participation may hurt the relationship performance by reducing customer-perceived value. Moreover, the findings suggest that these effects are contingent on at least two contextual factors: how risk-averse the customer is and how turbulent the technological environment is.\nOriginality/value: This study is among the first to disaggregate the customer participation process into two different strategies, namely, deep participation and broad participation. It also extends the current literature by providing more insights about the dynamics involved in the customer participation process.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring FM's dominant logics	[ "Case studies", "Co-operation", "Facilities management services", "Dominant logics", "FM competencies", "FM outcomes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Service dominant logic: As the title says this paper is an exploration. In 2004, Stephen Vargo and Robert Lusch published a paper with the title \"Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing\". They called for a shift of thinking in marketing towards \"a revised logic focused on intangible resources, the co-creation[1] of value, and relationships\". Two years later (Lusch and Vargo, 2006), the name service dominant logic (S-D Logic) had stuck. The singular \"service\" was important:\nDominant logics of FM: Coenen and von Felton (2012, p. 117) have already argued cogently the need for FM to develop a service-centric logic:\nTranslation: The competencies of the Tertius Iungens broker need more study generally but especially in FM. One important aspect is translation between the two domains of Figure 5. FM tends to express itself in the language of buildings and systems. \"Businesses\" express themselves in the language of income and services, be they forms of health care, education, professional activities or customers' needs. The successful broker needs to speak and understand not only both languages but also potentially a third language - and thinking - of the often low-paid workers who actually deliver facilities services.\nConclusions: It appears, from literature, from the formal statements of professional bodies and the empirical work described that the goods versus S-D Logic is a fruitful perspective for understanding FM. Certainly, individuals on both sides of the FM ecosystem described the pursuit, for business reasons, of excellent FM in terms that resonate with the S-D Logic literature. These are the examples where aspects of FM are reported as making a positive difference to the client side users and the clients' own customers. In other cases, in the competency frameworks, and in so many SLAs and so called \"key\" performance indicators FM thinks with at worst a very good dominant logic, inherited perhaps from the world of real estate and at best the transitional logic of one directional delivery of services.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the service ecosystem of facility/facilities management (FM) against the Vargo and Lusch framework of service-dominant logic (S-D Logic).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A theoretical argument guided by previous research into service excellence in FM.\nFindings: In the paper, two arguments are made. First, FM is still dominated by a contractual logic grounded in the tangible world of buildings and bills of quantities. Second, the reciprocal flow of services inherent in the S-D Logic offers a powerful tool for appreciating real service excellence and a business contribution from FM.\nResearch limitations/implications: The S-D Logic framework is theoretical but, it is argued, has profound implications for the practical delivery of FM and the addition of both business and social value.\nOriginality/value: The reciprocal flow of service (as recognition, involvement and development) to FM's \"shop-floor\" staff - the actual fee earners - may be the cornerstone of the co-creation and partnership, much espoused but less frequently practiced.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Identifying escalation of commitment in B2B new product development projects using data envelopment analysis	[ "Data envelopment analysis", "New product development", "Escalation of commitment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\nIntroduction: Escalation of commitment to a troubled project is a widely researched topic, particularly in software project management (Drummond, 1996; Keil, 1995; Keil et al., 1995) and new product development (Biyalogorsky et al., 2006). Business marketing managers are increasingly faced with decisions of whether to continue or abandon projects even when the information available to them is incomplete and uncertain (Biyalogorsky et al., 2006). Escalation of commitment refers to \"the proclivity for decision makers to maintain commitment to losing courses of action, even in the face of quite negative news\" (Sleesman et al. 2012, p. 541). The tendency to stick with losing courses of action - in other words, failing (i.e. inefficient, escalated, or troubled) projects - has detrimental financial costs to firms. Some examples include the Campeau-Federated merger between Philip Morris and Procter & Gamble (Bazerman and Neale, 1992), the Department of Motor Vehicles' spending of $34.6 million for a project that failed in the end, and several information technology product development projects (Keil, 1995).\nWhat is escalation?: Bowen (1987, p. 62) stated that \"there are times when decisions to recommit resources are clearly reasonable, times when they are clearly irrational, and times when one simply cannot prejudge the future effectiveness of continuing or discontinuing any particular course of action.\" In our study, escalation of commitment refers to instances in which recommitment of resources is irrational. Therefore, we define escalation of commitment in the new product development area as the decision to stick with or pour more resources into a failing project. Failing (i.e. inefficient, escalated, or troubled) projects are those in which the remaining costs of the project exceed the future expected benefits (Tiwana et al., 2006). Resources that are committed to projects include employees, money, physical resources (equipment and plant), and time.\nData envelopment analysis: Charnes et al. (1978) first proposed DEA to measure and compare a decision-making unit's productivity. Since then, DEA has been used extensively in practice, and Charnes et al. (1994) reviewed more than 100 published articles that use DEA.\nComparing DEA with subjective approaches: Previous escalation studies have commonly used the experimental design in which respondents are asked to play the role of a manager in a scenario setting and certain variables are manipulated (e.g. budget allocated, time spent, expected return) (Keil, 1995; Keil et al., 1995, 2000). At the end, respondents are asked to decide whether to continue or abandon the projects.\nResults: First, we applied DEA to the data, which had four inputs and two outputs. DEA computed the efficiency scores for the eight project scenarios. Only one project (project 4) was efficient with a value of 1. Others were inefficient (efficiency less than 1) and thus had room for improvement; improvement can be made by either decreasing inputs or increasing outputs. Table II provides the slack values, which show what to change (inputs or outputs) to become efficient. As the table shows, project 4 is at maximum efficiency and slack values are zero, meaning that there is no need for improvement. In contrast, project 1 is the least efficient; its expected return and progress are relatively low and the budget spent is high.\nImplications for research and practice: By incorporating several theories, this study shows that when managers are provided with real-life scenarios free from social and political biases, their decisions on escalated projects are more rational and correspond to objective judgments. As an objective tool for determining inefficiencies, DEA can be confidently used to identify inefficient and, therefore, escalated projects. DEA is an objective and automatic tool that makes managers' decisions free from bias and less time consuming. Managers can use this tool by inputting the output and input variables of their projects and then determining which ones are escalated and therefore need to be terminated. As a consequence, escalation of commitment and the resulting large losses can be prevented especially in new product development. In addition, because DEA provides feedback, managers can evaluate improvement options. Slack values show which inputs and outputs need to be changed (increased or decreased) to achieve maximum efficiency. Thus, managers can observe where to locate more resources and determine whether the current situation is efficient or not. Doing so provides an objective report for managers, especially when it is impossible to terminate the project because of social or political pressures.\nLimitations and further research: The limitations of this study pertain to the disadvantages of DEA; however, in most cases, they can be avoided. First, DEA is sensitive to outliers, and thus managers should be careful when selecting projects to be included for comparison. Second, DEA does not give statistical fit indices, because it is an operational research-based technique. However, it shows exactly where improvements can be made in terms of inputs and outputs. Therefore, as long as managers can frame their projects in well-defined inputs and outputs, they can benefit the most from this method. These limitations are insignificant, as the advantage of using such an objective method results in huge savings in terms of resources allocated.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Business managers are constantly faced with the decision to continue or abandon new product development projects. However, this type of decision may not be easy. These decisions are usually prone to bias of managers. Managers are known to escalate their commitment toward failed projects. It is also not easy to identify projects that are suffering from escalation of commitment. The purpose of this paper is to propose an objective escalation identification method.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper proposes an objective escalation identification method using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The results from DEA are compared with those of subjective methods of identifying escalation.\nFindings: The objective estimate of escalation given by DEA was comparable to the subjective estimate of escalation given by the managers in the survey.\nResearch limitations/implications: DEA is sensitive to outliers and managers should be careful in selecting projects that are to be included for comparison. DEA does not give statistical fit indices as it is an operational research based technique.\nPractical implications: DEA is an objective and automatic tool that makes the decision of managers easier. Managers can use this tool by inputting the output and input variables of their projects and then see which ones are escalated, therefore need to be abandoned. As a consequence, escalation of commitment and big losses can be prevented especially in new product development area.\nOriginality/value: By using the proposed objective approach, escalation of commitment and associated big losses can be prevented especially in new product development area.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Efficient computation of key performance indicators in a distance learning university	[ "Key performance indicators", "E-Learning", "Virtual learning environment", "Learning analytics", "MapReduce", "Educational big data" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the last years, higher educational institutions have significantly increased their usage of e-learning management systems (eLMS) and virtual learning environments (VLEs) (Bhuasiri et al., 2012). Many traditional leading universities offer courses to distant learners nowadays, becoming \"blended\" universities and attracting a growing number of learners (Farid et al., 2018). Blended learning implies both traditional lectures and the usage of digital platforms, where didactic materials can be uploaded and downloaded.\n2. Related works: In this section, we briefly review the recent literature on the main methods and platforms for handling EBD.\n3. Technologies for educational Big Data analytics: The fast evolution of the Big Data phenomenon produced a myriad of tools and techniques to deal with it; this is because classic approaches do not ensure effective answers to data-driven questions, in an acceptable time interval. These recent technologies may be applied to the e-learning context to tackle the velocity, the variety, the veracity and the volume of EBD and the distributed computing solutions are the most suitable. An interesting picture of the most recent \"landscape\" of the tools for Big Data mining and analytics can be found in (Turck, 2018).\n4. Distributed learning analytics framework to compute key performance indicators: In this section, we detail the proposed MapReduce-based learning analytics framework to compute KPIs. The platform has been studied, implemented and experimented at eCampus University, one of most significant distance learning universities in Italy, counting five faculties, serving more than 30,000 registered students and offering 23 degree courses and specializations paths, provided in English as well.\n5. Experimental results: In this section, we describe the experimental campaign carried out considering eCampus EBD. We deem useful, primarily, to provide some details regarding the considered systems. Then, we show a speed-up analysis, concerning IND1 and IND2, performed using both a serial computation (one core) and a parallel computation (four or eight cores) with the proposed analytics framework. Finally, we show a deeper analysis that considers also data skew and repartitioning.\n6. Discussion and educational policy implications: The proposed distributed architecture could be used to analyze the situation and performance of the students almost in real time and, consequently, to evaluate continuously the goals of the overall university, which, in turn, can propose proper and timely improvements to enhance its own e-learning scenario.\n7. Conclusions: In this paper, we have presented a distributed framework to exploit EBD for obtaining useful educational learning analytics. In particular, we have described various Key Performance Indicators that can be computed and extracted from EDB through a proper MapReduce-based distributed framework, in an almost real-time way. Moreover, we have shown how the presented framework can significantly reduce the amount of time needed in computing the indicators considered, when compared with a sequential system.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Managing efficiently educational Big Data, produced by Virtual Learning Environments, is becoming a compelling necessity, especially for those universities providing distance learning. This paper aims to propose a possible framework to compute efficiently key performance indicators, summarizing the trends of students' academic careers, by using educational Big Data.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The framework is designed and implemented in a distributed fashion. The parallel computation of the indicators through Map and Reduce nodes is carefully described, together with the workflow of data, from the educational sources to a NoSQL database and to the learning analytics engine.\nFindings: This framework was tested at eCampus University, an Italian distance learning institution, and it was able to significantly reduce the amount of time needed to compute key performance indicators. Moreover, by implementing a proper data representation dashboard, it resulted in a useful help and support for educational decisions and performance analyses and for revealing possible criticalities.\nOriginality/value: The framework proposed integrates for the first time, to the best of the authors' knowledge, a set of modules, designed and implemented in a distributed fashion, to compute key performance indicators for distance learning institutions. It can be used to analyze the dropouts and the outcomes of students and, therefore, to evaluate the performances of universities, which can, in turn, propose effective improvements toward enhancing the overall e-learning scenario.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sandwell Homes reduces employee absence by 30 percent: ... and boosts productivity, morale and customer service	[ "Absenteeism", "Employee attitudes", "Customer service management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Effectively managing absence is a challenge for any organization, big or small. In organizations where staff are absent, productivity levels fall, affecting customer-service standards. In addition, the latest CBI/AXA absence survey estimated the cost of absence to employers in the UK at over PS13 billion a year, while the cost per employee is PS659 annually. Employee absence therefore has a significant impact on quality and value for money.\nTackling the issue: For Sandwell Homes, then, cost savings were not the primary goal of the initiative. The company proposed implementing an approach that would improve its productivity, demonstrate to employees that their health and wellbeing are important and allow consistency across the business to identify good practice, as well as becoming a better value-for-money organization.Traditionally, the management of sickness absence in businesses has faced a number of difficulties. These include lack of consistent processes, time-consuming data collection expected of line managers, limited support to employees off work and inadequate tracking of compliance with human resource (HR) policies.Sandwell Homes was no exception, experiencing a number of these challenges. Evaluating absence rates and trends throughout the business was difficult, with any data only available six weeks behind. Inconsistencies with how the company's existing absence policy was applied also made it difficult for the HR department to gain an accurate understanding of absence or to monitor levels.Various possible solutions were considered and the benefits of outsourcing the management of staff absence were recognized. Sandwell Homes therefore looked to an external company to help it to manage employee absence and reduce the levels further. As a public-sector organization, the company had to follow a rigorous and comprehensive selection process, with Active Health Partners (AHP) emerging as the strongest contender.AHP introduced nurse-led absence management from \"day one\" in the UK five years ago. The evidence-based model is increasingly being used by large organizations to achieve the positive management of employee health while improving business practice.The absence-management service was rolled out to all of the company's 1,400 staff. Now, when employees are unwell, they contact a dedicated 24-hour call center, where qualified nurses take details of their illness, provide medical advice based on the symptoms given and agree a likely return-to-work date. An absence notification, with brief details of the illness and when the employee is expecting to return to work, is then sent directly to the appropriate line manager by e-mail and/or text message. Relevant information regarding each absence is collated to allow complete online management reports.Sandwell Homes particularly values the fact that AHP provides a nurse-led service, rather than just an administration facility. Not only does this reflect the organization's people-focused approach, but it is also a real benefit as managers cannot challenge return-to-work dates without a proper understanding of the illness and they may feel uncomfortable discussing employees' illnesses with them.One particular example of staff sickness illustrates this benefit well. The employee had just had a wisdom tooth removed, and after telephoning the nurse was told to take two painkillers and advised that he would probably be able to return to work in two days - which he did. He later admitted that he had been planning to take two weeks off to recover. A manager could not make that kind of challenge.\nEmployee wellbeing: In parallel with introducing the AHP service, Sandwell Homes launched a series of \"wellness days\". These were aimed at encouraging employees to adopt a healthy lifestyle - which would also help to reduce the amount of time that employees took off because of sickness. Employees are able to sample a wide variety of services and activities ranging from tai chi and aerobics to cholesterol and blood pressure testing. The response has been extremely strong.\nThe results: Following the introduction of the absence-management service and the company's range of further interventions, Sandwell Homes has significantly improved its previous best of 14 days absence per full-time employee. After six months, this figure fell to 9.77 days, a reduction of around 30 percent. The associated cost savings clearly highlight that Sandwell Homes has become a better value-for-money organization.The company's absence information is now available in real time, rather than six weeks behind. Managers can view information on absences in their area whenever they need to, as well as monitoring absence levels daily. In addition, the system has enabled Sandwell Homes to introduce a more rigorous management culture of taking responsibility for levels of sickness and has led to much greater consistency and compliance with how the company's absence policy is applied. In the past, managers were supposed to follow policies, but it was hard to monitor compliance. Now it is possible to see at a glance, for example, if managers have completed the return-to-work interviews.Sandwell Homes calculates that for every PS1 spent on the absence-management interventions, it has got PS3.80 back in terms of value to the business. This figure represents improved availability and productivity and demonstrates the value of implementing highly targeted absence management and employee wellbeing strategies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to demonstrate how Sandwell Homes, UK, significantly reduced sickness absence through an absence-management scheme which, launched in parallel with a series of \"wellness days\", helped to improve the management of staff health, productivity, morale and customer service.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper draws on the experience of Sandwell Homes' implementation of a sickness absence-management program, driven by the partnership between the Human Resources department, Sandwell Homes employees and Active Health Partners (AHP).\nFindings: - The paper describes how Sandwell Homes had been committed to tackling absenteeism and had shaved four days off its average absence level, but the figure then stagnated, despite continued efforts. The high levels of absence were harming the organization's performance and delivery of service. Sandwell Homes then selected an absence-management service led by nurses to provide effective, timely medical advice, as well as encouraging staff to take responsibility for their health.\nPractical implications: - The paper shows how taking an active approach to staff absence and wellbeing, and aligning reporting systems to identify and implement good practice, can have a positive impact on staff morale, productivity and profitability. Sandwell Homes calculates that for every PS1 spent on the absence-management interventions, it has got PS3.80 back in terms of value to the business.\nOriginality/value: - The paper highlights a significant reduction in average absence figures per employee, cost savings for the company as well as improved employee availability and productivity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring emotional intelligence, political skill, and job satisfaction	[ "Job satisfaction", "Emotional intelligence", "Political skill" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the past two decades, the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) has drawn intensive research attention. Scholars from different research fields have tested how EI is related to a variety of variables, including social support, academic achievement, physical and mental health, and overall well-being, to name only a few (see: Mayer et al., 2008). Research has also explored EI in the work arena. For example, a few studies have tested the relationship between EI and leadership style and consequences (George, 2000; Harms and Crede, 2010), while others have investigated the relationship between EI and employees' work outcomes (Carmeli, 2003; Law et al., 2004; O'Boyle et al., 2010).\nTheoretical framework: EI\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nMeasures: EI\nResults: Table I presents descriptive statistics, an inter-correlations matrix, and reliabilities of the research variables. As the table shows, all three variables are positively correlated. EI was positively correlated with both political skill (r=0.46; p<0.001) and job satisfaction (r=0.24; p<0.001). A positive correlation between political skill and job satisfaction was also found (r=0.28; p<0.001). These findings provide support for H1 and H2. It should be noted that no multicolineraity was observed among the research variables (no inter-correlation exceeded 0.50).\nDiscussion: Almost two decades ago Goleman (1995) suggested that EI is essential for success in organizational politics. Nevertheless, the contribution of EI to explaining political skill, the latest research stream in OP (see: Ferris et al., 2005, 2007), has not yet been extensively explored. Furthermore, the possibility that political skill might act as a mediator in the relationship between other organizational variables has remained largely unstudied (for exception see: Ferris et al., 2008; Liu et al., 2007). The present research addressed these issues and suggested a positive relationship between EI and both political skill (H1) and job satisfaction (H2). Furthermore, political skill was suggested as a mediator in the relationship between EI and job satisfaction (H3). Empirical evidence supported both H1 and H2, with evidence that the greater the participant's EI, the greater his or her political skill and job satisfaction. The findings also showed that political skill mediates the relationship between EI and job satisfaction (H3).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the associations between emotional intelligence (EI) and both political skill and job satisfaction, as well as the possibility that political skill mediates the relationship between EI and job satisfaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data, collected from a sample of 368 employees, were analyzed using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: EI was positively related to political skill and job satisfaction. In addition, the findings show that political skill mediates the relationship between EI and job satisfaction.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research highlights the importance of EI and political skill in the workplace.\nPractical implications: EI training may be employed by organizations and human resource managers to enhance employees' EI.\nOriginality/value: Not enough research attention has been paid to exploring the interplay between EI and organizational politics. The current study clarifies the relationship between EI and political skill in the work arena. Moreover, this study found political skill to be a mediator in the relationship between EI and job satisfaction. Given that in the main the literature has neglected the possibility that political skill might act as a mediator and/or affect work attitudes/behaviors, findings from the current study broaden the scope through which the role of political skill in the workplace can be viewed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Food rescue - an Australian example	[ "Nutrition", "Food security", "Food poverty" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Background\nMethodology: Study design\nResults: The data collected\nDiscussion: The results describe food rescue as a not-for-profit model that supplies free surplus food to community agencies, motivated mainly by the food poverty and hunger that occurs in low socio-economic communities. This particular food rescue organisation provides healthy rescued food to welfare, school and health services, delivers skill development for staff and clients in the sector and, has some potential for an advocacy programme.\nConclusion: This multi-method qualitative study has provided a description of one Australian food rescue organisation. The research indicates that SecondBite is a programme that requires multiple resources including surplus food, funding, infrastructure and labour to deliver its major service (food rescue) and emerging services (nutrition education and advocacy). The frames used to justify their work provide an insight into how food rescue organisations conceptualise the \"problem\" of food poverty in Australia and offer the \"solution\" of food rescue. In light of the growing role of the not for profit sector in a \"big society\" political order, these organisations may be here to stay. Nutritious food rescue organisations may provide some benefits for people already using emergency food and help support the providers at the frontline. The way forward for these organisations who seek a role in prevention and indeed ultimately to put themselves out of business is an ongoing challenge. The lessons learned from this study will help address this challenge.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Food rescue is used in the emergency food sector internationally to reduce waste and improve food supplies to frontline providers and their clients. The purpose of this paper is to provide a perspective on why and how food rescue occurs in Australia. It also examines food rescue as a potential evolution within the emergency food setting.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A descriptive study of SecondBite, an Australian food rescue organisation, was conducted. Documents were reviewed, 14 weeks of participant observation occurred, and two focus group discussions were held. Framing analysis was used to design the research questions (why rescue food? and how?). The description of the organisation was then examined against critical literature to establish how food rescue conforms to and/or challenges the traditional limitations of emergency food.\nFindings: Food rescue requires multiple resources within the emergency food space including surplus food, funding and labour. The frames used to justify this work provide an insight into the \"problem\" of food poverty in Australia and the \"solution\" of food rescue. The script for \"people in need\" requiring \"fresh food\" is well developed by SecondBite, with some tension around food waste reduction as a competing and yet complementary mission.\nOriginality/value: In light of the growing role of the not for profit sector in a \"big society\" political order, the rescuing of nutritious food for emergency parcels and meals, may provide some benefits for people already using emergency food. The opportunity for food rescue organisations to play a role in food poverty prevention requires further attention.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Consumer complaint behaviour of Asians and non-Asians about hotel services: An empirical analysis	[ "Consumer behaviour", "Complaints", "Hotels", "Service industries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The tourism industry is one of the most important sectors in Hong Kong as it is one of Hong Kong's largest earners of foreign exchange. The hotel industry is closely linked to the tourism industry. In order to sustain their success in today's competitive environment in hotel industry, it is important for hoteliers to satisfy their guests. However, guest complaints seem to be inevitable in the hotel industry. Hotels provide services that are perceived in different ways by different people. People develop expectations of services that may not always match with what they receive, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and potential complaints. While consumer complaints are clearly expressions of dissatisfaction, at the same time, they present an opportunity for the management to respond in such a way that dissatisfaction is reduced and repeat business is encouraged (Celuch and D'Onofrio, 1993; Fornell and Westbrook, 1984; Halstead, 1989; Nyer, 2000). Therefore, understanding consumer complaint behaviour in the hotel industry is critically important from both the theoretical and practical perspectives.Consumers in different cultures do have different types of complaint behaviour and intentions (Liu and McClure, 2001; Liu et al., 1997). Therefore, it is essential for hotel management to study how culture impacts on consumer complaint behaviour, in order to take corrective action to improve consumer perceptions of service quality and to remain competitive. Marketers agree that consumer complaints are useful sources of information that help marketers identify sources of dissatisfaction, and therefore should be encouraged (Nyer, 2000). Consumers who were encouraged to complain reported greater increases in satisfaction and product evaluation compared to consumers who were not explicitly asked to complain. Consumer complaint behaviour and intentions about the unsatisfactory products or services, in addition, vary by the culture of consumers (Huang et al., 1996). Therefore, from a cultural perspective, we will identify the complaint encouraging factors and effective methods of handling complaints to better encourage consumers to lodge complaints.Consumer complaint behaviour has attracted considerable attention in the marketing literature over the last three decades (Day and Landon, 1977, Jacoby and Jaccard, 1981; Singh, 1988). Past studies indicated demographic characteristics such as age, gender and education influenced the customer complaint behaviour (Day and Landon, 1977, Herrman et al., 1975; Han et al., 1995). However, findings across different nationalities were inconsistent to a certain extent (Mayer and Morganosky, 1987, Han et al., 1995). We are arguing that culture is one of the factors which results in the inconsistency. To the best of our knowledge, very few studies have focused on cultural differences in complaint behaviour in the hotel industry. We focus on the attitudes of complaining hotel guests having different backgrounds in a world where international business, conference and leisure tourism is really in vogue.The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to explore the potential differences in attitudes toward complaint behaviour between two cultural groups of Asian and non-Asian hotel guests, and identify the relationships between demographic factors (age, gender, and education level) and complaint behaviour. The objectives of this study are to:* test the differences in the consumer complaint behaviour of Asians and non-Asian hotel guests in terms of dimensions of culture; and* examine the relationships between the demographic factors - respondents' age, respondents' gender, and respondents' education level and complaint behaviour, respectively.The rest of the article is organised as follows. In the next section, we present a literature review on consumer complaint behaviour, consumer culture and the relationship between consumer culture and complaints. The research methods, together with the research hypotheses, data collection procedures and data analysis, are then described. Next, findings and results of this study are presented. The article concludes with a summary of key findings, an analysis of its implications for hotel industry and a review of its limitations.\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Consumer complaint behaviour\n3. Research methodology: In order to determine whether there are differences in complaint behaviour, and identify the complaint encouraging factor and effective complaint-handling methods between Asians and non-Asians, the following hypotheses are developed based on a review of the literature.3.1. Complaint behaviour\n4. Findings and discussions: 4.1. Sample characteristics\n5. Conclusions and implications: 5.1. Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to test the differences in the consumer complaint behaviour of Asian and non-Asian hotel guests in terms of culture dimensions. It also aims to examine the relationship between demographic factors (age, gender and education level) and complaint behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper adopts the Hofstede's typology of culture as a framework to investigate cultural differences and demographic characteristics in the complaint behaviour of hotel guests. A face-to-face interview survey is conducted to collect data in this research. Data are then analyzed by various statistical methods such as two-way contingency table analysis, non-parametric Mann-Whitney U and Chi-square tests.\nFindings: - The survey reveals that older complainants tend to resort to \"public actions,\" but people with a higher level of education tend not to complain publicly. In addition, Asian guests are less likely to complain to the hotel for fear of \"losing face\" and are less familiar with the channels for complaint than non-Asian guests. They are more likely than non-Asian guests to take private complaint action, such as making negative word-of-mouth comments. The findings also indicate that there is a significant relationship between \"complaint encouraging factor\" and respondents' nationality and between \"effective complaint handling method\" and respondents' nationality.\nOriginality/value: - Few studies have focused on the cultural differences in complaint behaviour of Asians and non-Asian hotel guests in the hotel industry. The result will be most valuable in assisting hotel managers and marketers to better understand the customer complaint behaviour and intentions both from the Asian and non-Asian contexts, and help formulate strategies and tactics to effectively manage the customer complaint.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Effectiveness of online consumer reviews: The influence of valence, reviewer ethnicity, social distance and source trustworthiness	[ "Social distance", "EWOM Marketing", "Message valence", "Racial/ethnic identity", "Source trustworthiness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Electronic word-of-mouth (or eWOM) is a source of brand and product information for consumers in today's digital marketing environment (Chen and Xie, 2008). In practice, eWOM assumes the role of a repository of \"unplanned\" marketing messages that are generated, shared and seen by consumers (Ghose and Ipeirotis, 2006; Park et al., 2007). Hence, eWOM could be a powerful venue for facilitating online trade and marketing, as it allows customers to publicly share their opinions and evaluations of products on the internet, based on their personal use experiences (Chatterjee, 2001). As such, the image of a company, including its brand and products, could benefit from or be harmed by the unpredictable, uncensored and uncontrolled eWOM platform (Craig et al., 2015; Park et al., 2007).\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Consumer trust in user-generated reviews is likely the primary determinant of the effects of these reviews, which are posted by other consumers and seen as unrelated to the marketer's interest. The discussion below will advance literature applicable in this context, beginning with the concept of source trustworthiness.\nMethod: The study sample was recruited from the student population of a large northeastern university in the USA. College students are an ideal population for studying online consumer reviews, as they prefer word-of-mouth as a source (50.5 percent) for receiving product information relative to any other advertising or promotional sources (On Campus Research, 2012). Students from a multi-section introductory general education course were invited to participate in this study; participants were offered extra course credit. Study data were collected during a one-week period in April of 2015. The initial sample yielded 812 responses; after removing incomplete responses, 620 responses were retained in the final sample. The responses from the Caucasian participants (n=398) were utilized for data analyses to meet study objectives. The average age of the sample was 19.19 (SD=1.17); the gender split was 50.3 percent males and 49.7 percent females. By focusing on the Caucasian participants as the baseline for evaluation, the relationships between majority consumers and multiethnic consumer reviewers could be compared to validate the theoretical assumptions proposed in the study.\nResults: To compare perceived social distance toward Caucasians, Asian-Americans and African-Americans, a pairwise t-test was conducted (see Table I). Results showed that participants perceive smaller social distance in making \"social contact\" with Caucasians (M=1.29, SD=0.83) than with Asian-Americans (M=1.63, SD=1.00, t (397)=-7.59, p<0.001) or African-Americans (M=1.67, SD=1.05, t (397)=-8.52, p<0.001); their perceived \"social-contact\" comfort level with Asian-Americans and African-Americans is not significantly different (t (397)=-1.41, p=0.16). Participants perceived smaller social distance in entering in a \"social relationship\" with Caucasians (M=1.31, SD=0.85) than with Asian-Americans (M=2.05, SD=1.16, t (397)=-13.25, p<0.001) or African-Americans (M=2.13, SD=1.19, t (397)=-14.28, p<0.001); they also perceive a greater \"social-relationship\" comfort level with Asian-Americans than with African-Americans (t (397)=-2.44, p<0.05).\nDiscussion: This study is the first to apply social distance theory to explain cross-cultural trust in a digital marketing context. In doing so, the current research tested an updated social distance scale to better reflect contemporary social relations and expanded the application of social distance theory from a sociological inquiry to marketing and digital communication research. Findings indicate that even though perceived social distance is relatively low between Caucasian participants and the other racial/ethnic groups, their perceived social distance toward individuals with a Caucasian identity (in-group members) remains significantly smaller than that toward individuals with an Asian or an African-American identity.\nLimitations and implications: There are several limitations in this study. First, the manipulation failed to keep physical attractiveness level of an \"average-looking\" male spokesperson equal across three different races; other experimental studies may yield a different result. Second, the mock web page did not show the reviewer's credibility status as a badge next to his profile nor additional reviews posted by other reviewers, as they would have normally appeared on the Yelp site. The absence of these features might influence participant evaluation of the mock reviews. Third, using Caucasian participants as the baseline for analysis narrowed the scope of our study. As the first study on this subject, this approach allowed for a more succinct explanation of a highly complex phenomenon. Fourth, the study focused on three racial groups whose facial features are strongly tied to their ethnic identity; hence a major ethnic group, the Hispanics/Latinos, was not included. Lastly, the generalizability of current study findings primarily applies to college students instead of the general adult population as a whole.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Extant research addressing how consumers respond to electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) remains limited. Even less attention has been devoted to examining the trustworthiness of consumer reviewers with different ethnic backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of reviewer ethnicity, review valence and social distance (to three different ethnic groups) on perceived reviewer trustworthiness, brand attitude and purchase intention toward a product evaluated by reviewers of three ethnic backgrounds.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopted a 2 (review valence)x3 (reviewer ethnicity) design; 398 participants were randomly assigned to one of the six conditions. A mock product-review web page for each study condition was created to manipulate review valence and reviewer ethnicity.\nFindings: Results show that while review valence, reviewer ethnicity and social distance each had a significant effect on perceived reviewer trustworthiness, only review valence had an influence on brand attitude and purchase intention. The interaction between reviewer ethnicity and review valence also had a significant effect on perceived reviewer trustworthiness, brand attitude and purchase intention.\nOriginality/value: The current study is the first to apply social distance theory to explain cross-cultural perception of trust, as it extends and updates the original social distance scale to broaden its empirical relevance to contemporary society via an eWOM marketing context. As social distance is a fluid and timely concept to study the diverse ethnic cultural environment, the current findings carry strong implications to future research in a wide variety of digital communication and marketing contexts, among others.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Interpartner learning, dependence asymmetry and radical innovation in customer-supplier relationships	[ "Innovation", "Learning", "Power", "Value chain" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Radical innovation produces extensive market and technological breakthroughs, making it the source of firms' growth and success (Garcia and Calantone, 2002). It can lead to the merging of some markets, the creation of new ones and the destruction of old ones (Tellis et al., 2009). Accordingly, firms are realizing its critical importance and are striving to develop radical innovative capabilities to stay ahead of the competition. Examples of radical innovation include computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, personal computers, pagers and cellular telephones (Bao et al., 2012; Leifer et al., 2001).\nConceptual framework and hypotheses: In line with Chandy and Tellis (2000), radical innovation in this study refers to the propensity of a firm to introduce new products in customer-supplier relationships that:\nMethod: Unit of analysis\nAnalysis and results: To test our hypotheses, the proposed structural model with all measurement items from the CFA model was estimated using AMOS for Windows 20.0. According to the results, the proposed structural model fits very well with the empirical co-variances from the data, with kh2 = 134.639 on 76 df, NNFI = 0.927, CFI = 0.983 and SRMR= 0.0515, as reported in Figure 2. Based on the good fit of the structural model, the proposed hypotheses were tested. In H1, we maintained that a supplier's joint learning has a stronger effect on radical innovation than its absorptive learning. According to the results, this is supported because the link between absorptive learning and radical innovation is insignificant with b = 0.087 (p > 0.01) while the link between joint learning and radical innovation is significant with b = 0.519 (p < 0.001).\nDiscussion: Radical innovation plays a significant role in firms' growth and success. Underrating the issue of how firms develop, radical innovation is thus a critical issue. With the increase in global innovation outsourcing and a significant shift toward supplier-driven innovation networks and open innovation, suppliers are now playing key roles in the innovation generation in global supply chains. Research on innovation in inter-organizational relationships is burgeoning (Roy et al., 2004; Sivakumar et al., 2010), yet our understanding of the antecedents of radical innovation in inter-firm relationships remains rather unclear. Specifically, a limited amount of work examines the effects of different types of inter-partner learning on radical innovation. Further, empirical work on the conditions under which inter-partner learning drives radical innovation is inadequate. The objective of this study is to explore how inter-partner learning can help suppliers to enhance radical innovation in their customer-supplier relationships with international OEM customers. We examine the effect of absorptive and joint learning on radical innovation. In addition, we explore how dependence asymmetry moderates such effects. Drawing on the KBV, inter-partner learning and the RDT, this study develops and empirically tests an integrative model that delineates the effects of different types of inter-partner learning on radical innovation in customer-supplier relationships. This study broadens and deepens our understanding of how radical innovation by suppliers can be generated in customer-supplier relationships, and how this is shaped by the power-dependence structure.\nLimitations and further research: The results of this study should be interpreted in the light of several inherent limitations. First, supplier innovation was measured using subjective measurements, and focused on product and process innovation only. Future studies should also include objective measures of supplier innovation, such as patents or R&D expenditure. In addition, prior studies show that different conceptualizations may have different antecedents and outcomes. Hence, future research could examine other innovation types, such as incremental versus radical innovation or technological versus administrative innovation, and identify their antecedents and performance outcomes in the supply chain. Total quality managemen is a good example of an administrative innovation because it involves adopting practices aimed at better managing systems development (Lambert and Enz, 2012; Selnes and Sallis, 2003).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to explore how absorptive and joint learning can foster radical innovation. Furthermore, dependence asymmetry is investigated as a moderator of the effects of these factors on radical innovation. Radical innovation is an important source of any firm's success. Yet, there has been a dearth of research in the literature on how different types of inter-partner learning cultivate the process of generating such innovation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use a sample of 204 Taiwanese electronics suppliers to test the effects of joint learning and absorptive learning on radical innovation. The empirical analysis adopts a structural equations modeling approach.\nFindings: The authors find that a supplier's joint learning has a stronger effect on radical innovation than its absorptive learning. However, when accounting for the moderating effect of dependence asymmetry, the analysis shows that absorptive learning does have a significant effect on radical innovation. The effect of joint learning on radical innovation is not moderated by the degree of dependence asymmetry.\nPractical Implications: This study broadens and deepens the understanding of how radical innovation by suppliers can be generated in customer-supplier relationships, and how this is shaped by the power-dependence structure.\nOriginality/value: Inter-partner learning; radical innovation; power; dependence.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Investor protection, valuation methods and the German alternative funds industry	[ "European Union", "Valuation", "Investor protection", "Fund", "E22", "G23", "G32" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: After the financial crisis of 2008, legislators and supervisory authorities all over the world looked for ways to improve investor protection with regard to fund assets and implemented them. In this context, special attention was given to the activities of hedge funds, which had only been subject to a very low level of regulation and supervision before. In many cases, those little regulated financial intermediaries were considered contributors and accelerators of the global financial crisis.\n2. The objective of investor protection: 2.1 Historical development of valuation rules in Germany\n3. Valuation methods according to KARBV: 3.1 Statement of net assets according to KARBV\n4. Independent valuation function, valuation frequency and valuation guideline: 4.1 Valuers\n5. Summary: An important objective of the AIFM Directive is to ensure the reliable and objective valuation of investments across Europe to protect the interests of investors. In light of this objective, it is important to note the special contribution of the continuous determination of the NAV and its continuous disclosure to investors and supervisory authorities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to present the rules for determining the net asset value according to the AIFM Directive which have fundamentally changed regulation of the European alternative funds industry. The paper discusses how these rules must be applied to ensure a reliable and objective valuation and to protect the interests of investors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper draws upon experience gained in the market following the implementation of rules on fund valuation in the European Union in 2011 and further in Germany in 2013. The valuation rules for relevant asset classes are presented and discussed in the light of the overarching goal of investor protection.\nFindings: The paper's findings show that the market participants saw the increased requirements as an opportunity and that they have adapted to the new system. This also applies to fund valuation, even though some people criticise terminology, lack of clarity and the complexity of the new valuation scheme from a practical perspective. Also, due to the increased valuation requirements, a consolidation among market participants can be expected.\nOriginality/value: The issues addressed in the paper are currently the subject of debate by regulators and market participants. There are direct implications for future prudential regulation in the asset management industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Strategic knowledge transfer and its implications for competitive advantage: an integrative conceptual framework	[ "Knowledge management", "Knowledge transfer", "Competitive advantage" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Knowledge management literature emphasizes the importance of knowledge as a valuable asset for firms. Although knowledge has been studied from several perspectives, this paper highlights two different views:1. The importance of the competitive advantages deriving from the nature of knowledge itself.2. The efficient management of knowledge as a way of creating core competencies in the firm.The first perspective mainly focuses on the analysis of attributes that should provide the resources for generating a competitive advantage (Barney, 1986, 1991; Dierickx and Cool, 1989; Wernerfelt, 1984). The knowledge-based view considers knowledge as a firm's most important strategic resource (Grant, 1996a) since potential competitive advantages are derived from this asset.The second perspective focuses on knowledge acquisition, transfer, and generation, and considers these activities as organizational capabilities (Grant, 1996a, b; Kogut and Zander, 1992, 1996; Nonaka, 1994; Spender, 1996; Teece et al., 1997; Tsoukas, 1996). The common premise in these studies is that:Success does not necessarily go to the firms that know the most, but to the firms that can make the best use of what they know and know what is strategically most important to the firm (Bierly et al., 2000, p. 596).Hence, this perspective emphasizes the development of appropriate knowledge management, not only the advantages deriving from the nature of knowledge itself. Furthermore, knowledge acquires greater value when it forms part of a knowledge creation or transfer process. In this way, firms will achieve success if they create new knowledge, spread all over the firm and incorporate it into new technologies and products (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995).Although the two above mentioned perspectives have been developed separately, in this paper we propose to analyze how the efficient transfer of strategic knowledge creates a competitive advantage. Taking the two perspectives jointly, we highlight that although knowledge is a potential source of competitive advantage, the mere possession of potentially valuable knowledge assets somewhere within an organization does not necessarily mean that other parts of the organization benefit from that knowledge (Szulanski, 2000). In order for knowledge to provide value for an organization and organizations do not develop a partial use of knowledge, then internal knowledge transfer must be considered as a crucial element of efficient management of strategic knowledge.Building on the two above-mentioned perspectives, this paper proposes that the nature of knowledge has different implications for the knowledge transfer processes (internal and external transfer) and for competitive advantage. Knowledge that can easily be transferred within the firm is more likely to become accessible to competitors (Winter, 1987; Zander and Kogut, 1995), thus depriving it of its condition as a strategic asset. Therefore, the characteristics of knowledge, that hinder involuntary transfer outside the firm, will be a source of sustainable competitive advantage, and will confer it a strategic character, even though this may be an obstacle to internal transfer.This paper is organized as follows. In the first part, we propose the main dimensions of transferred knowledge. Then, we identify the characteristics of knowledge as a potential source of sustainable competitive advantages. In the third part, we study the implications of knowledge as a strategic asset in the internal transfer process. Finally, we propose a theoretical framework for studying the internal transfer of strategic knowledge.\nDimensions of transferred knowledge: Several authors have studied the characteristics and kinds of knowledge, although they have analyzed this asset from different perspectives and levels of analysis (Nonaka, 1994; Reed and DeFillippi, 1990; Spender, 1996; Winter, 1987). Winter (1987) proposes taxonomic dimensions of knowledge assets according to how difficult it is to transfer: tacit and fully articulable knowledge, teachable and unteachable knowledge, articulated and unarticulated knowledge, observable and unobservable knowledge in use, the dimension of complexity and simplicity, and dependence on or independence of a system.According to these dimensions, Winter (1987) points out that knowledge is more easily transferable when it is teachable, articulable, observable, simple and independent of a system. In addition, actions undertaken to facilitate voluntary transfer may well also facilitate involuntary transfer.These dimensions have been used and increased in later empirical studies and a great number of researchers have analyzed the effect of the characteristics of knowledge in internal and external knowledge transfer. A summary of these contributions is presented in Tables I and II, for internal and external transfer, respectively. There are many similarities between both perspectives. Thus, the characteristics of knowledge studied for both kinds of process are very similar, although they may have different implications for the transfer process.Building on this review, there are four characteristics of transferred knowledge, tacitness, complexity, specificity, and systemic nature (Bresman et al., 1999; Hansen, 1999; Heiman and Nickerson, 2002; Inkpen and Dinur, 1998; Lord and Ranft, 2000; Ranft and Lord, 2000; Shenkar and Li, 1999; Simonin, 1999; Szulanski, 1996; Zander and Kogut, 1995), that may significantly influence the knowledge transfer process. These characteristics hinder the transfer process, generate causal ambiguity (Reed and DeFillippi, 1990), and create barriers to imitation.Other so-called characteristics of knowledge have been studied, although we do not consider them to be precisely characteristics of knowledge. Winter (1987) and Zander and Kogut (1995) consider other characteristics of knowledge, such as codification, teachability and observability of knowledge. Although these characteristics influence internal transfer, they are not characteristics of knowledge. Firstly, codification requires the transformation of knowledge from tacit to explicit. Since tacit and explicit are two dimensions of knowledge, codification is therefore, a mechanism for facilitating knowledge transfer, but not a characteristic of knowledge. Secondly, the teachability of knowledge represents a characteristic of the receiver or the source of knowledge, since it depends on its absorptive capability. Finally, the observability of knowledge reflects the capability of competitors to identify strategic knowledge outside the firm and as such, is not a knowledge characteristic.In summary, building on a developed review of studies of internal and external knowledge transfer, transferred knowledge may be characterized according to four dimensions: the dimension of tacitness and explicitness, degree of complexity, degree of specificity, and systemic nature. In addition, each dimension has two limits and between them there is a continuum of types of knowledge. Hence, we distinguish four pairs of extremes (see Figure 1): tacit/explicit, complex/simple, specific/non-specific, and systemic/autonomous. A position towards the left end is an indicator that the knowledge may be difficult to transfer, whereas a position towards the right is indicative of ease of transfer.\nCharacteristics of transferred knowledge and competitive advantage: Several authors have highlighted the importance of knowledge as an intangible asset. Spender (1996) and Teece (1998) explain the importance of intangible assets on the basis of obtaining competitive advantages, that is, intangible assets as the main basis of competitive differentiation in many sectors. However, we consider that a distinction must be made between strategic and non-strategic knowledge.One research perspective in knowledge management has focused on identifying the characteristics of strategic knowledge, that is, knowledge that has important implications for obtaining competitive advantages. This perspective considers strategic assets to be a set of resources and capabilities that are difficult to commercialize and imitate; they are scarce, appropriable and specialized. Four conditions have been identified in the resource-based view that provides assets with a strategic character: imperfect mobility, difficulty of imitation, difficulty of substitution, and durability (Amit and Schoemaker, 1993; Barney, 1991; Dierickx and Cool, 1989; Grant, 1991; Peteraf, 1993).Therefore, one major issue consists of delimiting the characteristics of transferred knowledge as a strategic asset. In other words, strategic knowledge must fulfill the conditions of imperfect mobility, difficulty of imitation, difficulty of substitution and durability. In order to resolve this question, we analyze the implications of the dimensions of transferred knowledge for competitive advantage.Tacit and explicit knowledge\nImplications for internal transfer process deriving from strategic knowledge: Knowledge transfer refers to the exchange of knowledge between units within a firm (internal transfer) or between different firms (external transfer). We distinguish different kinds of internal transfer, such as between departments or units of multinational corporations (MNCs), and external transfer, such as, strategic alliances, joint ventures, acquisitions, and so on. In addition, knowledge transfer includes different applications depending on the characteristics of transferred knowledge. Thus, for instance, several authors analyze the transfer of technology and product innovations (Ghoshal and Bartlett, 1988; Kogut and Zander, 1992, 1993; Zander and Kogut, 1995), whereas, other authors have focused on the transfer of organizational practices (Darr et al., 1995; Kostova, 1999; Szulanski, 1996). In any case, the objective of knowledge transfer is to facilitate the flows of knowledge within the firm or between collaborating firms.Other classifications of knowledge transfer distinguish between voluntary and involuntary knowledge transfer (Winter, 1987). Voluntary transfer is carried out through the will of the units involved in the transfer. By contrast, involuntary transfer is not carried out through the will of the source unit, and this situation leads to process imitation.Regardless of the type of knowledge transfer, we analyze the implications for the transfer process deriving from the characteristics of strategic knowledge.Implications for internal knowledge transfer deriving from tacit knowledge\nDiscussion: In this paper, we have examined the implications of knowledge characteristics on the generation of competitive advantages and on the knowledge transfer processes. The main conclusion is that the characteristics of knowledge that generate competitive advantages also create barriers for internal transfer. The research question addressed here is what firms must do to transfer strategic knowledge within the firm while limiting involuntary knowledge transfer. We suggest at least two alternatives. The first consists of transforming the knowledge; that is, making knowledge more explicit and simpler, and developing common languages. This transformation makes the voluntary transfer of knowledge easier, but it also makes the involuntary transfer of knowledge outside the firm easier. In order to avoid involuntary transfer, knowledge protection mechanisms must be introduced, which involves economic and social costs. Thus, Liebeskind (1996) argues that firms are able to protect knowledge from imitation, but that protection mechanisms involve different kinds of cost, such as: costs of investment in creating and maintaining protection infrastructures, organization costs, and loss of communication due to the protection of knowledge from transfers within the firm. Making knowledge more explicit and easier may be complex and expensive because it involves the firm developing knowledge transformation processes and protection mechanisms.Working on a similar concept to Szulanski's (1996) knowledge transfer process, a second alternative is to consider that internal knowledge transfer is mainly driven by communication processes. Krone et al. (1987) review communication theories and observe that the basic components of communication are message, channel, sender, receiver, encoding/decoding, and feedback. Several authors have based their research on this framework, in order to study knowledge transfer and analyze the implications of each element for the success of this process. Hence, knowledge transfer may depend on the characteristics of the knowledge transferred (Bresman et al., 1999; Hansen, 1999; Heiman and Nickerson, 2002; Inkpen and Dinur, 1998; Lord and Ranft, 2000; Ranft and Lord, 2000; Shenkar and Li, 1999; Simonin, 1999), the nature of the receiving unit (Ahuja and Katila, 2001; Gupta and Govindarajan, 2000; Lane and Lubatkin, 1998; Minbaeva et al., 2003; Van den Bosch et al., 1999; Zahra and George, 2002), the nature of the source unit (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2000; Steensma and Lyles, 2000; Wang et al., 2001), and the nature of the organizational context (Foss and Pedersen, 2002; Hansen, 1999; Lord and Ranft, 2000; Minbaeva et al., 2003; Syed-Ikhsan and Rowland, 2004; Zarraga and Garcia-Falcon, 2003).To conceive the knowledge transfer as a process we focus not only on the implications of knowledge as strategic asset, but rather take a much broader perspective, considering the transfer process as a whole and analyzing how the different elements of this process (source, receiver and context) can be managed to facilitate the efficient transfer of strategic knowledge (see Figure 2). This alternative provides a way of developing appropriate means of transfer and protecting strategic knowledge without investing different resources in fostering knowledge transfer within firm and hindering knowledge transfer outside the firm.\nConclusion: The internal knowledge transfer may have different implications for competitiveness of firms, depending on the characteristics of transferred knowledge. Thus, strategic knowledge may generate competitive advantages deriving from the nature of the knowledge itself. However, when knowledge is part of the transfer process, we consider the implications of the other elements in order to explain competitive advantages deriving from the internal transfer of strategic knowledge.The effect of strategic knowledge transfer varies depending upon the competitiveness of a specific business sector. Particularly, this effect is more pronounced for knowledge intensive industries like electronics, communications, biotechnology or computer, because this kind of firms employ technological knowledge intensively in the development of their innovations.In summary, we consider that the source of competitive advantages depends on the transfer process and the transferred knowledge, because strategic knowledge is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition. In addition, the analysis of the proposed theoretical framework (see Figure 2) will help us to delimit the process characteristics, which are necessary to the success of internal transfer of strategic knowledge. Future research must be conducted in order to develop more deeply the proposed framework of internal knowledge transfer that will allow to explain how this process is developed in different kinds of firms, such as in MNCs, in acquisitions and even, between firms.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to analyze the implications for competitive advantage deriving from strategic knowledge and knowledge transfer process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - One major issue in a knowledge-based (KBV) view consists of delimiting the source of competitive advantage, that is, knowledge versus knowledge management processes (acquisition, transfer, generation). Based on the KBV and knowledge management literature, the current paper considers the importance of both elements. Specifically, the paper focuses on strategic knowledge and knowledge transfer process.\nFindings: - The contributions of this paper are the proposal of strategic knowledge characteristics and the suggestion of a theoretical framework to study the internal transfer of strategic knowledge. The main conclusion is that the characteristics of knowledge that generate competitive advantage also create barriers for internal transfer. The research question addressed here is what firms must do to transfer strategic knowledge within the firm while limiting involuntary transfer.\nOriginality/value: - In order to answer this question, this paper suggests a theoretical framework that focuses not only on the implications of knowledge of a strategic asset, but rather takes a much broader perspective, considering the transfer process as a whole and highlighting the role of the different elements of this process (source, receiver and context) in order to facilitate the efficient transfer of strategic knowledge.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Assessing the effectiveness of financial regulation in the English Football League: "The dog that didn't bark"	[ "Financial instability", "Financial regulation", "Professional football", "Organizational legitimacy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Professional sports leagues have, from their very early days, implemented measures aimed at regulating the labour market. These include measures designed to control the quantity of talent employed by teams, such as the \"retain and transfer\" system operated in professional football and measures focused on the price of talent, such as a maximum wage for individual players; restricting wages to a percentage of average team revenue and restricting wages to a percentage of own team revenue. This paper is focused on this latter type of measure, which was introduced in 2004 by the English Football League (EFL) and applied to clubs in the Tier 4 league of professional football in England (now called \"League Two\")[1]. The regulation was called the Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP), and it was implemented as a \"hard\"[2] salary cap, as it initially restricted the amount of permitted player-related expenditure for each club to 60 per cent of its income, with a reduction to 55 per cent in 2011.\n2. Financial instability in professional football: There is an extensive literature on the economics of professional sports leagues and of individual professional sport clubs. Within this, a key question is why football clubs are typically financially unstable. For example, Barajas and Rodriguez (2014) applied a version of the model used to predict financial distress in firms which Altman (2000) proposed to identify the determinants of the poor financial situation of professional football clubs in the leagues in Spain. They conclude that to get to a safe financial situation, on average in the Spanish football leagues, clubs require an injection of equity capital, an increase in revenues and a reduction in both wages and current liabilities. The cause of insolvency of football clubs is the subject of research by Beech et al. (2008, 2010). They identified five situations (\"archetypes\") characteristically associated with the insolvency of football clubs in England: clubs that have failed to cope with relegation; clubs that have failed to pay monies due to the government; clubs that have seen \"soft\" debt become \"hard\" debt; clubs that have lost the ownership of their stadium and the \"repeat offenders\". Szymanski (2012) uses data for 37 seasons from 1973/1974 to 2009/2010 to test the hypothesis of exuberant spending or demand shock as alternative causes of insolvency of English football clubs and finds support for the latter. This research was extended by Scelles et al. (2018) to examine insolvency in the top three divisions in France which also found that \"[...] demand (attendance) shocks can account for insolvency to a significant degree\". Barajas and Rodriguez (2010) also tested for the probability of insolvency in Spanish football clubs but they found the accounting data \"questionable\" due, for example, to the large number of \"unqualified opinions\" (p. 54) in the audit reports and they were unable to identify an effect.\n3. Methods: The overall approach is to collect data on three criteria of financial sustainability from the company accounts of the clubs in the league (namely liquidity, profitability and solvency); adjust the data and create measures to maximise the validity of comparability (both between years for each club and between clubs); identify trends in the measures and the statistical significance of differences in trends between the period before and with the financial regulation; and assess the results relative to a control group. The visual inspection method is used to identify trends and suggest candidate break points. Statistical methods, such as Chow tests and tests for structural breaks using STATA14 (with and without imposing a break date) were tried but suffered from inadequate period lengths and consequently failed to identify significant breaks. Using these methods all measures would have resulted in an even stronger conclusion of \"no effect\" being reached. Each of these stages is described in more detail in the following sub-sections.\n4. Results: The results below graphically show the result of the change in average club measures of profitability, liquidity and solvency (respectively) for the ongoing clubs in the Tier 4 (study) and also in relation to the clubs in the Tier 3 (control) league. The relational graphs show, for each measure, trends (or otherwise) in the difference between the average value for the treatment league (Tier 4) and the control league (Tier 3) for clubs that were in the respective league in both the current and previous year (and consequently not affected by changes in the composition of the leagues in the comparative years). The null hypothesis is that the regulation had no effect on these clubs and, in that case, any trend in the difference between the leagues prior to the introduction of the regulation would be expected to continue in the following period. In each graph, a solid vertical line in 2004 indicates the date of the introduction of the SCMP regulation; a dashed vertical line in 2011 indicates the date when the regulatory limit was reduced for the Tier 4 league; a shorter dashed vertical line in 2012 indicates the date of the introduction of the SCMP regulation in graphs with data for the Tier 3 league; and a number of sub-periods have been identified.\n5. Possible interpretation of results: Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?\n6. Conclusions: This paper provides an assessment of the effect of the SCMP regulation introduced by the EFL in the Tier 4 league of football in England in 2004 on the financial sustainability of clubs in the league. The theoretical argument that the financial regulation would improve the financial sustainability of clubs in the league is based on the assumption that club owners will respond to the regulation and that their responses will be consistent with the aim of the regulation. This paper has analysed the evidence of three aspects of financial sustainability; profitability, liquidity and solvency. It has shown that the introduction of the SCMP regulation in 2004, with the initial limits, did not achieve the stated aim of improving the financial sustainability of clubs in the league. This is a particularly important finding since a wider concern about the financial sustainability of professional clubs and the integrity of sporting competition has led to the introduction, in 2012, of financial regulation in all the professional football leagues in England and by UEFA for its club competitions. As there is currently insufficient empirical evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of these regulations, the conclusions from this research should inform the EFL, and competition organisers and regulators more generally, to ensure that the combination of the type of regulation, the binding limit and the enforcement of the regulation is effective.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an assessment of the effectiveness of the Salary Cost Management Protocol, a form of financial regulation introduced by the English Football League in 2004 to improve the financial sustainability of professional football (i.e. soccer) clubs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analytical approach is to assess the effect of the regulation from evidence of change in measures of the financial performance of clubs drawing on three criteria: profitability, liquidity and solvency. A unique database was created from the published financial statements and notes to the accounts of the clubs in the Tier 4 league (known since 2004 as League Two) from 1994 to 2014 to encapsulate the 10-year period before and after the regulation was introduced. To show trends in the data within the study period, the data are reported in graphical form. The statistical significance of change in both the slope and intercepts for trends between breaks of interest in the data is estimated by linear regression.\nFindings: The results show that financial regulation failed to significantly improve the profitability or the solvency of football clubs in League Two. Whilst the liquidity of the clubs improved in response to the introduction of the financial regulation, the results show this was only in the year in which the financial regulation was introduced.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results extend theoretical debate on financial regulation in sports leagues by moving beyond the assumption that financial regulation is a \"technical exercise\" to provide an alternative way of thinking about financial regulation as a \"legitimising exercise\".\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to assess the impact of financial regulation for football league clubs over a longitudinal period. It is also extends previous research in which only single aspects of the financial sustainability of football clubs, such as insolvency, have been considered.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Governance and public health: implications for targeting smoking in the United States	[ "Health law or regulation", "Behavioral", "Social or mental health issues", "Public health", "Public health regulations", "Non-infectious conditions epidemiology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nGlobal and U.S. burden of smoking: Smoking is among the leading causes of death by non-communicable diseases, and the leading health behavior risk factor for premature death and disability worldwide (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), 2018). It is estimated to kill 7.5 million people worldwide each year by the end of this decade (Mendis, 2015). This number of deaths accounts for 10 percent of all deaths. Moreover, smoking causes more than 70 percent of lung cancer cases, 42 percent of chronic respiratory diseases, and approximately 10 percent of cardiovascular diseases globally. To underscore the impact of the issue, for example, a study by Carter et al. (2015) shows that death among current smokers is 2-3 times higher than those who never smoked. This considerable difference can be explained by 21 diseases that have been previously established to be caused by smoking and are included in smoking-attributable mortality estimations.Smoking is the single largest cause of preventable diseases and death in the U.S. According to the Surgeon General Report (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014), the epidemic of cigarette smoking in the past 100 years has caused a number of avoidable public health catastrophes in the U.S. In the last 50 years, more than 20 million Americans have died as a result of smoking, and, of those, 2.5 million (12.5 percent) were exposed to second-hand smoke. At the same time, 100,000 babies have died from sudden infant death syndrome and other complications from pregnancy problems linked to smoker parents. A total of 5.6 million Americans under 18 years old, who are alive today, are estimated to undergo premature death because of smoking-related complications and diseases. Nearly half a million Americans die prematurely from smoking each year. More than 16 million Americans suffer from a disease caused by smoking. On average, compared to people who have never smoked, smokers suffer more health problems and disability due to their smoking and ultimately lose more than a decade of life. With at least 70 identified carcinogen chemicals in the cigarette smoke, more than 1 in 3 cancer deaths in U.S. are linked to smoking.The economic burden attributable to smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke in the U.S. is estimated to be $300 billion annually, including $130 billion for direct medical cost and $150 billion from productivity losses (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014).Global prevalence of daily smoking was about 25 percent in men and 5 percent in women in 2015. That is, approximately 933.1 million of world population were daily smokers, with a little above 4 of 5 smokers were men. At the same year, age-standardized prevalence of daily smoking was 11.7 percent and 14.4 percent among the U.S. women and men, respectively (Reitsma et al., 2017).\nMarket failure in the tobacco industry and government intervention: examples from the United States: The complete market theory assumes that consumers consume a good or receive a service to increase only their own utility, and others will not be impacted by this decision (Chang, 2003). Negative externalities can be observed in smoking and tobacco market (Biglan, 2009; Jha et al., 2000). Smoking affects others who do not freely choose to smoke. Smokers threaten the health of other people who are present in the area and are exposed to cigarette smoke unwillingly. Those exposed to second-hand smoke, as well as children and babies of smoker parents, are impacted by the deteriorative effects of smoking against their own will. Higher cost of treating smoking-related health conditions and complications usually exceeds the revenue generated for governments through tobacco taxation (Proctor and Proctor, 2011).Considering the evidence of market failure in the tobacco industry and higher economic burden of smoking, it is not rational to leave the supply, demand, and consumption of tobacco products to the market forces. Higher rates of death and other immediate negative impacts of smoking call for the necessity of public intervention on this matter. These interventions can include a wide range of governance tools for controlling and decreasing the consumption of tobacco products. While each of these three tools can be applied in different ways, the goal is to secure the health of individuals and the nation.Corrective taxes\nDiscussion and conclusion: Worldwide, smoking is among the leading causes of death by non-communicable diseases. It is the single largest cause of preventable diseases and death among Americans. Presence of market failure in tobacco industry calls for government intervention in the production, distribution, marketing, and consumption of tobacco products. Governance tools targeting tobacco products and smoking aim to prevent individuals, especially children and youth, from starting smoking, help current smokers to quit, and reduce the negative effects caused by smoking.Corrective taxes, social regulation, and public information are among the most implemented governance tools. There are some concerns about the impacts of these tools. For example, the most common and historical concern about higher taxation on tobacco is that government revenues may fall, and some people may lose their jobs (Jha and Chaloupka, 2000). However, studies show that economic gain to society through fall in smoking is way greater than losses due to decrease in government's revenue (Chaloupka et al., 2012; Jha et al., 2000).The effects of governance tools are expected to be sustained in the long-term, when the effects of addiction are vanished and smoking-related preventable mortalities and morbidities are gradually minimized. Holding a contingency approach to use the right combination of governance tools depending on the target population, background, and context is a crucial element in elevating the success of smoking-related governance tools (US Department of Health Human Services, 2000). Estimations from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate that in 2017, a total of 19.3 percent (47.4 million) of U.S. adults used tobacco products. This is the lowest smoking rate from the high of above 40 percent in the mid-1960s - a milestone for U.S. public health (Wang et al., 2018).Despite these success stories and the overall decline in smoking among Americans, some challenges and concerns still prevail. For example, emerging \"lesser evils\" such as e-cigarettes and vaping, which are created to imitate the look and function of traditional cigarettes, are one of the recent challenges that public health faces in combating the tobacco industry. Contrary to the U.S. success in shrinking the cigarettes smoking rate, the epidemic of vaping and e-cigarettes has been rising among U.S. population, especially among young adults and adolescents (US Department of Health Human Services, 2016). In 2018, more than 30 percent high school seniors reported vaping, and 3.6 million middle school and high school students reported using e-cigarettes (Wang et al., 2018). The use of both e-cigarettes and vaping product has been raised dramatically from 2017, and minimum age restriction of sale did not prevent the adolescence and youth from using these products (Shmerling, 2019). As of December 17, 2019, a total of 2,506 cases of hospitalization from a national outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) and 54 confirmed deaths in 27 states and the District of Columbia have been reported to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019).Challenges faced by the public health in developing countries can be different than those of the U.S. Around the world, implementation of similar governance tools and tobacco control policies has been shown to be correlated with lower smoking prevalence rate in low- and middle-income countries (Anderson et al., 2016). However, there are many more potential areas of improvement in these countries than their higher-income counterparts. By the year 2025, contrary to the overall global trend, tobacco smoking prevalence is estimated to rise in Eastern Mediterranean WHO region which are predominantly low- and middle-income countries (World Health Organization, 2018). From 2005 to 2015, although the overall smoking prevalence rate among both genders and across different sociodemographic profiles had decreased globally, but population growth and aging contributed to the rise in smoking-related premature death and disability in countries with lower socioeconomic status (SES). Regarding the gender differences in global distribution of smokers, more than half of the world's male smokers in 2015 were living in the three leading countries of China, India, and Indonesia. On the other hand, only a little above the quarter of all world's female smokers were from the three countries with highest number of female smokers (USA, China, and India). This shows that smoking is more geographically concentrated for men than for women (Reitsma et al., 2017).Enforcing and raising the minimum smoking age law is one of the important areas of focus for other, especially low- and middle-income, countries. Because most of the smokers begin tobacco consumption before the age of 18, and about 95 percent of them begin before the age of 21, eliminating consumption by minors and restricting access of young adults can reduce the overall smoking prevalence and related mortalities and morbidities (Dietz et al., 2016; Gostin, 2010).Selling individual (loose) cigarettes is illegal in the U.S. and the majority of developed countries. However, it is a common business practice in many developing countries. Selling single cigarettes increases minors and young adults' access to affordable cigarette and can lead to smoking initiation and increased national prevalence. Forbidding the sale of cigarettes (individual or pack) in vending machines, at proximity of schools, Internet, and other mediums that make access easier without age verification can help countries in decreasing smoking rates. However, the results of a Mexican study show that some current smokers believed that the single selling of cigarettes helps them to reduce their consumption, and makes quitting easier (Thrasher et al., 2009).Around the globe, tobacco industry continuously attempts to prevent governments from raising the prices through aggressive taxation (Miller, 2013). Since tobacco products are mainly supplied by the multinational corporations, international treat agreement also should be examined to ensure that these agreements do not facilitate the trading of tobacco products and other harmful goods (Birnbaum, 2016).Evidence-based tobacco control strategies, regulations, and interventions to rapidly decrease the use of cigarettes and other tobacco products would guide the societies toward a utopia free of tobacco-related death and disease. The changes would not be sustained without considering socioeconomic determinants of health, preparing better infrastructure such as parks and paved sidewalks, and being aware of the lobbying power of the tobacco industry and other influential factors.Similar holistic and multisectoral approaches should be implemented in targeting other public health problems such as alcohol-related harms, motor vehicle injuries, physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and obesity. Social determinants of health have long been acknowledged as the inseparable part of public health policies and programs. Successful interventions should be customized based on the target populations' socioeconomic status and cultural norms and values. The power of political pressure groups and lobbying organizations, especially those who oppose the changes which serve the public health, should not be underestimated.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this viewpoint is to discuss and analyze three major governance tools that have been implemented in the United States to target tobacco smoking as a major public health concern.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author highlights the negative consequences of smoking as a global and U.S public health concern and discusses three categories of governance tools implemented in the U.S. Additionally, emerging challenges in the U.S. and different sides of story in developing countries are underscored.\nFindings: Although some success has been reached in controlling smoking-related mortalities and morbidities in the U.S. and most of the countries, long-term and sustainable improvement require active surveillance and constant implementation of evidence-based policies and programs.\nPractical implications: This viewpoint discusses the governance tools that can be implemented to decrease smoking-related preventable mortalities and morbidities. Similar tools with some tuning can be used to target smoking in other nations. Additionally, these tools can be modified to target other public health-related wicked problems such as obesity, alcohol consumption, and traffic accidents.\nOriginality/value: This viewpoint highlights the magnitude of smoking as a major public health concern and underscores the necessity of using governance tools in targeting this issue. Additionally, it provides application examples from the United States implementable in other countries with some contextual justifications and tuning.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Factors associated with the utilization and quality of prenatal care in western rural regions of China	[ "Prenatal", "Utilization", "Use", "Mothers", "Pregnancy", "Quality", "China" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Globally, half a million women die each year during pregnancy and delivery, mainly due to limited access to basic but effective health interventions (Supon et al., 2010). This figure remains unacceptably high in many developing countries. Problems associated with perinatal mortality are particularly serious among high risk pregnancies and births. Such problems are amplified in developing countries where adequate primary health care services of maternal and child health such as prenatal care, delivery, and postnatal care are usually not universally available to all the population, especially to the rural population (Atiyeh and El-Mohandes, 2005; Bryce et al., 2005; Yucesoy et al., 2005).According to the China Health Yearbook 2009, the infant mortality rate was 14.9 per 1,000 overall in 2008, with 6.5 per 1,000 and 18.4 per 1,000 infant deaths in urban and rural areas respectively. The maternal mortality rate was 34.2 per 1,000 overall in 2008, with 29.2 per 1,000 and 36.1 per 1,000 maternal deaths in urban and rural areas respectively. These statistics reveal that there are wide regional disparities in infant and maternal mortality across the country. The prenatal care (at least one episode) coverage in 2008 was 91 per cent; however, an interesting picture emerges when prenatal care statistics are broken down by city or Region. The prenatal care rate in Beijing was the highest (98.9 per cent). This rate was not achieved in other major cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin where socio-economic levels are relatively higher than other provinces, with prenatal care levels of only 80.6 per cent in Shanghai and 80.5 per cent in Tianjin. In the western regions of China, provinces like Shanxi and Gansu, which are poorer than other regions, still have a relatively high prenatal care rate, with 95.5 per cent in Shanxi and 91.7 per cent in Gansu. On the other hand, the ratio of high risk pregnant women in Shanghai and Shanxi were roughly the same (16.3 per cent in Shanghai and 16.6 per cent in Shanxi), but the prenatal care rate in Shanxi was 15 per cent higher than Shanghai. This indicates that prenatal care in some large cities, such as Shanghai and Tianjin, still needs to be improved.Previous studies indicate that women who receive prenatal care have opportunities to learn about their pregnancy, childbirth and parenting, and to have their health problems diagnosed and treated early. Babies born to women who had good prenatal care are less likely to die during infancy and the first year. Thus, it is universally acknowledged that improved prenatal care service is a key to improving child survival and maternal health (Rathavuth and Martin, 2007). On the other hand, the perinatal mortality rate in Shanghai was 2.80%0 in 2008, while this rate was 9.64%0 in Shanxi and 14.15%0 in Gansu, more than three or four times higher than that of Shanghai. This enormous difference took place when the prenatal care rate both in Shanxi (95.5 per cent) and Gansu (91.7 per cent) was at least 10 per cent higher than Shanghai (80.6 per cent). This indicates that receiving prenatal care at least once as an indicator of maternal and child health is inadequate and that what really matters is the availability of adequate and qualified prenatal care. Timely initiation and amount of services (quantity of visits) are the most commonly used measures of prenatal care. However, quantity of visits is not a reliable indicator for the quality of prenatal care and fewer routine visits of low risk women do not necessarily put pregnancies at increased risk. The key factor of healthy outcomes in those women relates to the content of services (Meltem et al., 2005). Ideally, women of all ages should enjoy appropriate prenatal care as there is no age threshold below which prenatal diagnosis would be cost ineffective (Harris et al., 2004).Due to the seemingly contradictory data revealed from the China Health Yearbook 2009, indicated above, such as regions with lower prenatal care (measured by at least one visit) having a lower perinatal mortality rate; and with major urban areas showing lower prenatal care coverage than rural areas, but yet achieving a lower infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate, an investigation was deemed necessary. In 2009, Peking University Public Health College Social Medicine and Health Education Department conducted a survey in order to ascertain more detailed information about prenatal care in western regions of China. The rationale for investigating quality of antenatal care is to correct identified deficiencies (Adeniran et al., 2008), to provide evidence to allocate resources more rationally nationwide and to make a contribution to the improvement of child and maternal health in rural regions.\nMethods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted by Peking University Public Health College Social Medicine and Health Education Department from May to July, 2009. The instrument for the study was a ten-stem respondent-administered, structured questionnaire, designed in Chinese, comprised of two segments; general information on infants who were under two years old; and their mothers. Each questionnaire took about 15 minutes to complete. The questionnaire investigated the level and quality of prenatal care and sought to find influencing factors that could contribute to the improvement of prenatal care level and quality. Standardization of the questionnaire was also ensured by carrying out a pilot study on 50 mothers at project villages in one of the three project provinces. Following the pilot study, adjustments were made to the questionnaire prior to commencement of the study.Study population and data collection\nResults: Study population characteristics\nDiscussion: Early entry into prenatal care has a number of benefits for pregnant women and their infants, however, our results indicate that the rate of first trimester visits was only 53.6 per cent overall. This rate was relatively higher among women who had enjoyed prenatal examination, but more than 20 per cent of pregnant women in Sichuan Province did not have their first prenatal visit during the first three-month of pregnancy. The results also reveal that prenatal care utilization among women in western regions of China is not adequate, especially in terms of qualified prenatal care as recommended jointly by UNICEF and Chinese MOH, for women in rural areas of China. Such women should receive prenatal care at least five times at the appropriate point of their pregnancy. It is a cause for alarm there were no women in our sample who had received qualified prenatal care in Gansu province, and that the total percentage of women having received qualified prenatal care was only 1.8 per cent.The China Health Yearbook, 2009, showed that prenatal care (at least one episode) coverage in 2008 was 91.7 per cent in Gansu, which was far higher than some developed regions such as Shanghai and Tianjin. Gansu, however, also had a relatively higher infant mortality rate. These seemingly contradictory figures have been illuminated as a result of our research.One lesson that emerges is that the drive for high usage of existing facilities, such as use of prenatal care, may not be in the best interests of the target population. High numbers of attendance may not, in fact, benefit the pregnant women. If local health staff make great efforts to popularize prenatal care, such efforts should be because the prenatal care is truly effective for the target population, and not because of a desire simply to enhance the statistical indicator. Building attendance without ensuring the quality of service provided might, in fact, hinder the sustainable development of appropriate levels of health care, hazard the health of mothers and their babies and waste limited health resources.In countries like China, the selection of criteria to assess prenatal care utilization is critical due to wide disparities regarding the means of health care delivery across the country. However, this should not mean that there should be a dilution of health care standards required to assess prenatal care throughout the country. For more impoverished areas, such as Gansu, Shanxi and Sichuan, where the population typically has reduced levels of health literacy and where health investment is limited, it is a major task to require pregnant women to receive prenatal care only once, let alone on at least five occasions and ensure these visits are appropriate for the stage of pregnancy. In addition, in such western provinces, the health staff are not equipped with adequate knowledge and equipment and this aggravates the irregular prenatal care. A way forward, therefore, in regions such as these, is to use the limited health investment available to promote health literacy and popularize basic knowledge among pregnant women. This is more likely to enhance their health awareness and autonomy and allow for improved capacity of local health staff and equipment to guarantee their basic health service delivery. There seems little point in enforcing a requirement for pregnant women to make one prenatal visit to a health centre to meet attendance requirements, unless the quality of care received at the health centre is improved.The multivariate analyses indicate that a complex array of factors influence prenatal care utilization by women in western regions of China. The age of the mothers and their educational attainment interact as two crucial factors to reveal their quality of prenatal care. The results reflect common sense recognition that women with higher education tend to give birth later and require appropriate prenatal care. However, this variable is somewhat out of the control of women themselves as in some parts of western China women are deprived of the opportunity of entering school, especially in areas where their economic level is low and where people prefer sons to daughters and provide their very limited resources to boys rather than girls. This could explain why nearly 10 per cent of our respondents in Gansu were illiterate and about 90 per cent of them never went to senior school, or higher. Such issues make this problem hard to address for it needs joint efforts not only from the health sector, but also from the education sector, financial sector and other relevant sectors.Another vital determinant is hospital type where pregnant women went for prenatal care. In rural areas of China, county hospitals and township clinics can provide a relatively sophisticated health service while other hospitals, such as village clinics and private clinics, can scarcely provide a qualified service for patients. According to the regulations of the MOH, normal hospitals should establish pregnancy records for pregnant women when they are first examined in the hospitals and then hospitals should remind them of regular prenatal care and provide standard care for them. This partly explains why women who received prenatal care in township clinics and county hospitals were more likely to get qualified care. It also underlines the importance of improving the quality of hospitals and the necessary staff and basic equipment.The study presented here has a number of limitations. Even though we interviewed participants anonymously and only chose new mothers whose babies were less than two years old, a recall bias cannot be avoided; therefore the accuracy and completeness of reporting as in any interview study could be a limitation. In addition, restrained by lack of financial support and local logistics, we were not able to use random sampling to select the study location; however we used cluster sampling at the village level to strengthen validity and credibility. Despite these limitations, the study has highlighted associations between the quality of prenatal care and individual characteristics. The study also explores the reasons why women in western regions of China lack qualified prenatal care and tries to find feasible solutions for this problem. There is a pressing need for further prospective research including both quantitative research and qualitative research, that will explore the other unexpected causes, such as cultural, economic and social factors for variations in the prenatal care and choice among the care providers in rural and relatively poor populations of developing countries.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to identify key features of prenatal care utilization and quality in western regions of China and to determine the factors affecting the quality of prenatal care.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted. The instrument for the study was a 10-stem respondent-administered, structured questionnaire, designed in Chinese, composed of two segments: general information on infants who were under two years old; and their mothers. The authors determined the quality (both amount and content) of prenatal care using recommendations made by UNICEF and the Chinese Ministry of Health (MOH) jointly for rural areas of China.\nFindings: - The median number of prenatal visits was three and rate of first trimester visits was 53.6 per cent (n=1,474). Over three quarters (75.3 per cent) of respondents had fewer than five prenatal visits, with this proportion highest in Gansu (95.8 per cent) and lowest in Shanxi (55.4 per cent) provinces. The percentage of women who received qualitatively adequate prenatal care services was only 1.8 per cent. No respondents in Gansu received a completely correct prenatal test, while this rate was 4.0 per cent in Shanxi and 0.2 per cent in Sichuan. Mothers' age (p=0.05), level of educational attainment (p=0.07) and place of prenatal care (p=0.01) were related to the quality of care.\nOriginality/value: - The prenatal care utilization among women in western regions of China is not adequate. Those women who have received prenatal care seldom receive qualitatively adequate prenatal care services, according to national standards. This situation clearly requires urgent attention and improvement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The excellence quest: a study of business excellence award-winning organizations in UAE	[ "UAE", "Quality", "DQA", "Performance excellence" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The evolution of the concept of quality over the past several decades includes a framework based on quality award models for achieving and managing performance excellence (Cauchick Miguel, 2015). These national quality frameworks are developed and implemented for improving organizational performance in many countries. There has been no single developed country without a system for setting and implementing national standards because such a system is essential to the socio-technical development of a nation (Choi et al., 2014). Mohammad et al. (2011) identified that there are currently 94 national quality awards (NQAs) used in 83 countries. The national quality frameworks thus have an important role in promoting and rewarding organizational excellence.\nLiterature review: Business excellence, in its simple sense, means doing things better and constantly improving staff, systems, processes and organizations in a competitive environment (Arasli, 2012). Organizations throughout the world adopt business excellence frameworks to guide their business strategy and continuous improvement; some seek and receive awards which recognize high levels of achievement against the criteria of these frameworks (Brown, 2013). However, the development of NQAs has a relatively short history in most parts of the world.\nThe DQA and its criteria: The DQA is based on the excellence model of the EFQM. It has been applied in private and public sector organizations since 1992.\nGlobal studies on NQA winning organizations: Although, various nations have their NQA frameworks, they are mainly based on the Baldrige or EFQM frameworks. The DQA award is also based on EFQM framework. Thus, the literature related to studies on based on the EFQM model is summarized. The EFQM Excellence Model comprises nine elements grouped under five \"enabler\" criteria (leadership, strategy, people, partnerships and resources and processes, products and services) and four \"result\" criteria (customer results, people results, society results and key results). The enablers represent how the organization operates, and the results concentrate on the achievements for stakeholders (those who have an interest in the organization) and how they can be measured and targeted. The section below discusses the findings from case studies of NQA winners.\nMethodology: The purpose of this research is to identify the best practices relating to business excellence among organizations with NQAs through the DQA program which is based on the EFQM Model. In the literature, several authors studying NQA winners specified number of practices associated with the EFQM criteria which were used as a starting point for our study. This theme was inspired by a gap identified during the literature review stage. It was found that there are no known studies related to the business excellence best practices within the UAE context to guide UAE organizations embarking on an excellence journey. On the other hand, internationally published studies explore specific case studies of particular organizations or sectors in other countries (Madan, 2010; Cauchick Miguel, 2015). This research gap prompts us to thoroughly investigate associated practices which are vital to guide organizations on their journey toward excellence. For this purpose, this research examines the following research questions:\nThe results: The analysis mainly focused on studying the DQA winners from 2010 to 2014. The core practices highlighted on main enablers are discussed below.\nDiscussion: The award has helped organizations to clearly improve their understanding of the business excellence framework, to create awareness and to achieve the results as in line with major excellence frameworks globally. Many of the winning organizations demonstrated more than 85 percent customer satisfaction along with business growth due to customer retention or recurring customers. The application of performance excellence frameworks is expected to raise the hope for organizations in maintaining their competitive advantage and long-term profitability (Corredor and Goni, 2010). Investing in excellence contributes to business performance (Dahlgaard et al., 2013) and also guides the business strategy and continuous improvement in organizations (Brown, 2013). Organizations achieving high scores in award assessments in fact are found to be companies with the highest performance across a wide range of indicators including financial results and productivity (Pipan et al., 2012). The findings published by Hendricks and Singhal (2000), in the USA, indicated significantly better financial performance of award-winning companies in comparison with other companies. Notably, BEMs, which are used in all continents, have certainly become a competitive advantage worldwide in recent decades (Pipan et al., 2012). Excellence can be characterized as a moving target (Metaxas and Koulouriotis, 2014).\nConclusion: The purpose of this paper was to explore award-winning organizations' best practices while on their journey of excellence through the DQA. Notably coverage included organizations with highlighted best practices relating to each of the criteria of DQA. The DQA assessment offers valuable feedback reports, recognition, performance enhancement, and many more advantages as do many other business excellence awards around the world (Metaxas and Koulouriotis, 2014).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Organizations worldwide use national quality awards for improving organizational excellence. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched its business excellence awards for the private and public sectors almost two decades ago. Within the past dozen years, UAE companies have made considerable progress in introducing and developing their quality management systems. The purpose of this paper is to report the advance of UAE organizations in business excellence initiatives and highlight the contributions of the award-winning organizations in adopting business excellence approach.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research used a qualitative approach to study award-winning organizations. Initially, secondary data were gathered from the Office of Department of Economic Development which is responsible for the administration of the Dubai Quality Award (DQA). Data were entered and categorized according to the description of organizational practice, company name, industrial sector and DQA criteria. The data were then analyzed using NVivo 10.0 software.\nFindings: The DQA fosters and guides the excellence journey of aspiring organizations not only to win a quality award, but to strengthen their quality initiative through an informative assessment report. The DQA model was perceived by all organizations as a useful approach to quality improvement. Winning organizations have exhibited unique programs developed to embrace the DQA factors. Recommendations for aspiring organizations are discussed.\nOriginality/value: This paper should help managers to plan their journey toward business excellence and to create greater awareness of excellence frameworks and their usefulness when embarking on the path of excellence. This paper adds to the knowledge of the UAE's excellence awards scheme and to the knowledge of business excellence best practices deep rooted in multi-cultural organizational environments. It highlights future research avenues for excellence frameworks.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Discriminant analysis in export research: an imperative for methodological rigor	[ "International marketing", "Research methods", "Export marketing", "Statistical methods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This review assesses methodological rigor in the application of a statistical tool in marketing research, in response to the counsel of Cavusgil et al. (2005) and Reynolds et al. (2003). While rekindling the debate on \"relevance and rigor,\" Varadarajan (2003) identified six crucial factors that form the foundation of methodological rigor, and ultimately the quality of empirical research. A thorough and sturdy methodology ensues from the adoption of an appropriate and robust research design, precise measurement and operationalization of constructs, use of a fitting and representative sample, suitability of statistical or analytical methods, accuracy and completeness in the reporting of results, and evidence of reliability and validity in the reported findings (Varadarajan, 2003, p. 369). The exact contribution of this review is confined to elements four, five, and six. In line with MacInnis's (2011, pp. 137-139) framework on conceptual studies, this review seeks to explicate on the use of a statistical procedure with a view to examine its appropriateness for the context in which it is applied, dissecting the accuracy and completeness of the reported results, and critiquing the underlying reliability and validity of these results.\nDA: an overview of the literature: Fisher's (1936, 1938) studies, which sought to integrate and extend prior work (e.g. Bose, 1936; Fisher, 1928; Hotelling, 1931; Mahalanobis, 1928; Wilks, 1932) on how to capture \"distances\" and \"measurements\" using multiple variables, may be considered the seminal research on DA. Fisher (1938) described DA as a variant of multiple regression analysis, in that the procedure could be applied to discriminate two or more groups on the strength of predefined linear variables. While the use of DA in the biological sciences dates back to the 1930s and 1940s (e.g. Rao, 1948) its application in the social sciences is relatively recent. A careful review of key literature on DA (see Crask and Perreault, 1977; Hallaq, 1975; Huberty, 1984; Klecka, 1980; Lachenbruch, 1975; Lachenbruch and Mickey, 1968; Morrison, 1969; Press and Wilson, 1978), shows that this statistical tool accomplishes the following:\nMethodology: Search criteria and coding\nFindings: The findings section has been structured to align with the primary goals of the research. The review addresses the preliminary requirements pertinent to the use of DA as well as the nature of the models constructed, with a view to determining the appropriateness of DA for the situation in which it is being employed. The specific aspects reported include multivariate normality of data, sample and group sizes, sample size-to-variable ratios, estimation methods, variable selection approaches, and the adoption of a split-sample approach. Second, the review tackles accuracy and completeness in the reporting of the descriptive results. This subsection focuses on the properties of the DF including the eigenvalue, canonical correlation, Wilk's l, kh2, significance tests for predictors, and centroids. Finally, the results address the predictive component of DA in the context of reliability and validity of the models. Of particular interest here are the overall hit ratios, jack-knife validation techniques, and post hoc tests such as chance criterion and Press's Q. Table I provides a summary of the key results.\nImplications and recommendations: The implications and recommendations discussed in this section arise from the shortcomings identified and detailed in the Findings. To address these limitations, this review encourages future studies to: adopt DA subject to checks for appropriateness, outline and justify model specifications, enhance accuracy and completeness in the reporting of descriptive results, construct testing models which match data and variable properties, and utilize post hoc tests to improve validity and reliability of predictive results.\nConclusion: This methodological review on the application of DA in export-focused research raises several significant concerns. There are conspicuous deficiencies with reference to all three facets on which this review focused, namely; suitability of DA for research context, accuracy and completeness in the reporting of descriptive results, and reliability and validity infused within the predictive component of DA. It is imperative to reiterate some of the manifest flaws, including the reporting of multivariate normality in 12.7 percent of the models, the mention of estimation procedure(s) in 30.4 percent of the models, and the disclosure of the variable selection procedure(s) in 17.6 percent of the models. The split-sample approach was used in one-third of the models and there are additional concerns vis-a-vis both the adopters and the non-adopters of the split-sample approach. Some models adopting the split-sample approach do so erroneously without meeting the data requirements, while the majority of non-adopters choose not to employ the split-sample approach when their research design meets the requirements. Among the non-adopters of the split-sample approach (68 models) only 15 compensate for this with cross-validation. Perhaps more importantly, out of the 102 models assessed in this review, 24 use direct testing with no validation or post hoc testing whatsoever. Aside from these shortcomings, it is imperative to recognize some of the archetypical studies (e.g. Andersen and Rynning, 1994; Angelmar and Pras, 1984; Gnepa, 2000; Kaleka and Katsikeas, 1995; Katsikeas and Leonidou, 1996; Katsikeas and Morgan, 2003; Moini, 1990; Schlegelmilch, 1986b). These studies can potentially inform future research as they comprise models that closely match the criteria discussed in the review.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to appraise methodological rigor in the application of discriminant analysis (DA) in export-focused research and to offer guidelines for future studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample includes 89 empirical peer-reviewed studies, comprising 102 models published over the period 1979-2014. Content analysis and vote counting are used to evaluate each of these studies.\nFindings: This review highlights major flaws in the application of DA in export research. The shortcomings are self-evident particularly concerning suitability of DA for research context, completeness in the reporting of descriptive results, and validity and reliability of predictive results.\nPractical implications: The study takes the position that the lack of methodological rigor may be undermining the eminence of knowledge in exporting, and this has extensive implications for both researchers and practitioners.\nOriginality/value: This review outlines steps to assess methodological rigor associated with DA and offers guidelines for scholars seeking to enhance rigor in future research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Toward the development of new product ideas: asymmetric effects of team cohesion on new product ideation	[ "Innovation", "Creativity", "New product development", "Front end", "Ideation", "Team cohesion" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Successful development of new products enhances companies' growth and profits. While several factors contribute to new product success (Henard and Szymanski, 2001), the activities in the initial stage such as the development of new product ideas (hereafter, new product ideation) are truly essential for successful new product development (Barczak et al., 2009; Langerak et al., 2004). While the development of a large pool of product ideas is important, it is even more important to generate quality ideas, i.e. the product ideas possessing the greatest chance of being transformed into commercially successful products.\nTheoretical framework: A well-constituted new product development team appears to contribute greatly to the success of new products (Hirunyawipada et al., 2010; Hsu, 2006; Sethi et al., 2001). Team literature suggests that the collective efforts of individuals in a team can lead to creative outcomes (Paulus, 2000; Sawyer and DeZutter, 2009). Fundamental to team performance is, among others, the cohesion among its members (Moore, 2000). A highly cohesive team performs well because its members are well motivated and more engaged in communication, coordination and collaboration (Beal et al., 2003; Festinger, 1950; Hoegl and Gemuenden, 2001; Sivasubramaniam et al., 2012). Team cohesion has been studied in new product development, but its effects on team performance and/or project outcomes seem disparate (Hoegl and Gemuenden, 2001; Keller, 1986; Sethi et al., 2001).\nHypothesis: Organizational commitment\nMethodology: Measurement\nDiscussion: Novelty and usefulness of new product ideas have been identified as key characteristics of successful new products (Cooper, 1979; Im and Workman, 2004) and hence it is important for practitioners and academics to understand their antecedents. To that end, the goal of this research has been to provide a deeper understanding about team - level ideation deliberation. Pursuant to the goal of this study, we examine team-level antecedents of the novelty and usefulness of new product ideas and their influences on the new product idea characteristics. More specifically, this study addresses how teams' organizational commitment and relational factors (social cohesion and competency) influence the novelty and usefulness of product ideas indirectly through the teams' task cohesion. Our findings indicate that the ideation teams' task cohesion, a focal construct, positively influences all desirable dimensions of the product ideas. Task cohesion acts as a catalyst and can facilitate the integration of the team members' efforts to enhance the novelty and relevancy of product ideas. As the teams identify with their organization's goals and missions, they have greater chance of producing original product ideas that are useful to customers and fit with the organizations' product development facilities, if they also have task cohesion.\nConclusion and implications for managers and theory: The proposed theoretical framework is generally supported by the empirical results. The findings reveal that the three desirable characteristics of new product ideas could be enhanced when the members of an ideation team are attracted to their team and mutually commit to an ideation task. In addition, their commitment to their organization and their social competency positively correlate to the team's task cohesion.\nLimitations and future research directions: As in all cross-sectional research studies, this study too suffers from some limitations. Specifically, the non-inclusion of temporal dimension in a phenomenon which is temporal in nature is a weakness. However, despite this limitation, we believe that the findings enhance the understanding of the \"front end\" of new product development. Future researchers may substantiate our findings using a longitudinal research design. One limitation of our study is that we use a manager's perception of whether a new idea is useful to consumer or not. We do this because in the end, it is the new product development (NPD) manager who has to decide if the idea is useful or not. The manager could use information or the data from the consumer's themselves through some sort of feedback. Hence, future researchers may consider using consumers' perception of usefulness of the idea.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate asymmetric effects of team cohesion and team members' relational qualification on the creativity of new product ideas.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Structural equation modeling was conducted on survey data collected from 195 new product development practitioners in various US high-technology industries.\nFindings: The study suggests that creative and potentially successful product ideas include three dimensions - usefulness for customers, and novelty for customers and usefulness for the firms (i.e. enhancement efficiency and effectiveness of companies' new product development process). By focusing on a relational aspect of new product development teams, the study shows that team task cohesion mediates the relationship between the antecedents (team members' organizational commitment and social competency) and the three outcome dimensions of a successful product idea (novelty, usefulness to customers and usefulness to the firm). The team members' interpersonal relationship has no positive association with task cohesion and the desirable qualifications of product ideas.\nResearch limitations/implications: An ideation team's socially competent members who identify with their organization are likely to be attracted to a given task. This task cohesion, in turn, enhances the creativeness of the development of product ideas.\nPractical implications: To generate fruitful product ideas using a team approach, companies should make sure that their new product ideation teams achieve a sense of mutual commitment to the given ideation tasks, develop a feeling of belongingness and ownership toward the firms and include members who have good social and interpersonal skills. However, the possession of strong social cohesion is not essential for the teams.\nOriginality/value: This study provides novel insights concerning the relational aspect of product development teams assigned to the initiation phase (front end) of a new product development process.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Medical image resources used by health care professionals	[ "Image retrieval", "Health professionals", "Medical images", "Information searches", "Digital images", "Medical informatics", "United Kingdom", "Health services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Digital image resources are highly important in domains such as medicine, where digital imaging has become a vital component in a number of applications within current clinical settings (Glatard et al., 2004; Muller et al., 2004; Eakins and Graham, 1999). According to Eakins and Graham (1999), medical images are utilized by a variety of users, such as medical students, lecturers in medical departments and clinicians; each with different levels of ?subject knowledge and experience. Access to digital images is commonly mediated through systems such as Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM), or Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS). Although research into the effectiveness of such systems is extensive, much of the research focuses on one particular image retrieval system (Muller et al., 2005a). There is less investigation of the image information needs and image resources used by professional users who search for medical images as part of their daily work. Revere et al. (2007) reported that the information seeking process is situational, contextual and unique to the information seeker; knowledge regarding the motivations and medical image information needs of health care professionals is also vital in the design and development of effective medical image retrieval systems. The information resources used by health care professionals were investigated in a number of previous studies (Covell et al., 1985; Gorman, 1995; Shelstad and Clevenger, 1996). Findings showed that the information needs of health care were usually met by medical literature, such as textbooks, and by asking colleagues. The main conclusions reached from this previous work showed that health care professionals look for up-to-date information to quickly answer questions about patient care. To complement these previous studies we have carried out a study in the UK on the medical image resources used by health care professionals and this paper[1] reports our findings.\n2. Studies on image resources used by image users: Sklar (1998) examined the need for and use of images by architecture and design students. The study found that students look for images in a variety of sources, including journals, books, planning reports, maps, drawings, plans, and sketches. Sklar (1998) also examined the type of images sought by users, reporting that the students mainly looked for diagrammatic images (maps, site plans, soil surveys, census data, zoning and regulatory information) and drawings or sketches.Cobbledick (1996) investigated the information needs of four artists. She reported a heavy reliance on printed materials and their own personal art collections while searching for visual materials. Cobbledick added that artists used images from their own collections as well as images retrieved from public and institutional libraries.Challener (1999) reported that professors of art history and studio art obtained images from a variety of resources to illustrate their slides when teaching their students. She found that the art professors used images obtained from departmental collections, their own personal collections, magazines, museums, and books. These findings were reiterated by Hemmig (2009) who noted that books, magazines, photographs, as well as digital images, were used by artists as the main image resources to satisfy their visual information needs.Beaudoin (2009) examined the image resources used by 20 participants, including archaeologists, architects, art historians and artists. The findings of the study revealed that participants used various kinds of image resources, including books, non-digital image libraries, magazines, museums, image databases, personal collections, and web sites. She also reported a preference for using images obtained from online resources.Hersh et al. (2005) studied the pictorial information needs of 13 medical searchers including clinicians, researchers, educators, librarians and students[2]. The results of Hersh's study showed that the medical image needs of biomedical professionals were categorized into four groups: research-related, patient care-related, education-related, and others (Hersh et al., 2005). However, they did not inspect the sources of medical images that biomedical professionals used to meet their medical image needs.Paling and Miszkiewicz (2005) studied the image resources used by 34 dental faculty members and clinicians. The results indicated that participants looked for images in a variety of sources, such as search engines, personal collections, digital textbooks, digital journal articles, database and CD/DVDs. The authors reported that a substantial number of the participants preferred to find and use digital images from online dental image collections, and that none of the participants indicated an overall preference for physical slides. Participants preferred to access higher quality images that could be manipulated and that had metadata describing image contents, such as the name of a disease or injury.Studies of image resources used by health care professionals investigated the use of information resources for solving medical problems that arise during consultation. However, to the best of our knowledge there have not been many studies that investigate the image resources used by health care professionals when searching more generally.\n3. Method and subjects: To investigate the image resources used by health care professionals and their information seeking behaviours for visual materials, we adopted a qualitative approach to the research as suggested in Maglaughlin and Sonnenwald (2002), Ingwersen and Jarvelin (2005), Hirsh (1999), Park (1994), and Myers (1997). Suitable tools and techniques for data collection and data analysis were based on using Grounded Theory (GT), specifically the \"Straussian version\" of GT explained in Strauss and Corbin (1998). This helped us to undertake a more in-depth study of the phenomena.Strauss suggested that the site of study or the research population must be selected according to the research questions (Strauss and Corbin, 1998, p. 214). Therefore, and according to the research questions of the study, we selected Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as the site of our study. Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust consists of about 11,689 staff, including medical, dental, scientific, therapeutic, technical staff, nursing, midwifery, health visiting staff, health care assistants, and other support staff (Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 2007). The sampling method for the interview stage of the study was purposive non-random sampling, a theoretical sampling (as suggested by Strauss and Corbin, 1998) and described in the following paragraphs. In describing this method, Strauss states that in grounded theory the researchers must collect the data in a non-random purposive, convenient manner and should continue collecting data until data saturation is reached. Theoretical sampling is sampling on the basis of \"concepts that emerged from analysis and that appear to have relevance to the evolving theory\" (Strauss and Corbin, 1998, p. 202).Ethics approval to allow recruitment and interviewing of participants was obtained from the NHS National Research Ethics Service and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Health care professionals were sought who used any kind of medical image in their daily work, who were skilled knowledgeable computer (and internet) users, and held a degree in health or in bio-medical sciences. To recruit participants, invitation letters were e-mailed to nearly 1,200 subscribers of a Sheffield-based health and biomedical mailing list and by traditional postal services (letters of invitation were posted to 250 people). Of 33 interested respondents, 29 participants were then selected and were interviewed based on their suitability for this study. A local research contact from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust facilitated our access to interviewees.According to Strauss and Corbin (1998) in grounded theory data collection, data analysis and building the theories are regarded as reciprocally fused. Guided by some initial research questions, we selected the research population, the type of data and the data collection method. Then we collected the first piece of data. At that point, we could start the analysis process using a constant comparison method. After the first set of data was analysed, the second set was collected using the directions that emerged from first data analysis. This is the principle of theoretical sampling. According to Strauss, the researcher continues the cycle of alternation between data collection and data analysis until theoretical saturation is achieved. Strauss and Corbin (1990) stated that saturation is achieved when no new concept or category emerges, and the researcher has identified the main category and established the relationship between the main category and others. Using theoretical sampling and after interviewing 14 participants, it appeared that we reached data saturation; however, we continued the recruitment and data collection processes to ensure this was the case. In total 29 health care professionals participated in our study, with the mean average of 13 years and 3 months' work experience (range: 2 to 35 years). The mean interview duration was approximately 42 minutes (range: 28 to 92 minutes), and the majority of participants, except two (P4 and P11), mentioned that they had several roles other than a clinical role at the time of interview.3.1 Data collection protocols\n4. Results: 4.1 Image information needs\n5. Discussion and conclusions: Our findings indicate that health care professionals search for images in web-based resources (mainly by using Google's Image Search), journals (both electronic and printed journals) and personal collections. Books seemed to be less important resources. One of the major findings of our study is that only nine participants used or were aware of online medical image collections. Our investigations indicated that while there was willingness and interest in using medical image collections, participants believed that they could not find the images they needed. In addition, health care professionals believed that the number of images in medical image collections on the internet was limited. Moreover, health care professionals emphasized that any web-based medical image collection should be easy to use. Although the potential usefulness of medical image collections is apparent, barriers or difficulties in using these collections appeared to put health care professionals off. Previous studies identified barriers to finding text-based information by health care professionals (Ely et al., 1999; Shelstad and Clevenger, 1996; Gorman, 1995). These were lack of time, lack of access to electronic journals and databases, and lack of information seeking skills. This study, however, found different barriers to seeking medical images. These barriers include:* low precision in the image retrieval;* lack of domain specific image searching tools;* the large number of images in the results set;* lack of credibility;* low quality of retrieved images;* lack of image search facilities;* lack of time;* difficulties of image search with medical abbreviations and acronyms; and* legal issues such as copyright of images.These barriers affected the choice of medical image resources used by health care professionals. For example, health care professionals tended to use journal articles or their personal collections when they could not find specific medical images. Thus we believe that the barriers to seeking medical images can affect the choice of medical image resources by health care professionals. Our findings, however, showed improvements in the barriers identified by previous information (textual) seeking studies. These improvements include better access to electronic journals and databases and improved information literacy skills. Lack of time still remained an important barrier to seeking medical images. We also found that there was a preference for using images from personal collections and from journal articles when the health care professionals required images for research purposes. However, additional research is required to confirm these results.The results of the current study are also favourable for applying content-based image indexing and retrieval methods to medical images. However, the difficulty of developing content-based indexing and retrieval tools is due to several factors. First, in most cases, medical images are intensity-only images containing less information than non-medical images. Additionally, different types of images (e.g. MRI and ultrasound images) may be acquired of the same anatomic area in particular medical conditions. Each type of medical image needs an additional registration procedure (Glatard et al., 2004). Secondly, medical images are usually low resolution and high noise images. Thus, it is difficult to automatically analyse and extract their visual features. Medical images obtained with different devices, even using the same modality, may have significantly different properties (Lehmann et al., 2000). Thirdly, medical images could be indexed on medical criteria that are extremely variable depending on the kind of image acquisition considered (e.g. imaged anatomic area and clinical context). However, medical images interpretation is often difficult even for trained medical doctors. A holiday picture might bear enough information without text; however, for medical images the text is essential. For deeper analysis of medical images, detailed textual information is required because medical images themselves are dependent on the context (Muller et al., 2005b). Low-level visual attributes of images such as colour or size of image were seemed to be important for health care professionals, though sometimes the main focus of the medical image search was on the context information (e.g., technical information) requiring high-level human reasoning. Indexing on a high level of abstraction is currently possible only by using textual descriptions, as Markkula and Sormunen (2000) reported.The health care professionals in this study used Google's Image Search and medical databases supporting traditional textual query operations. Thus, it is difficult to explain how they would change their medical image searching behaviour if they could execute queries based on the visual similarity of photographs. It is also difficult to prejudge common uses for purely visual queries without textual search keywords. Perhaps the first challenge would be how to formulate a visual query for medical image retrieval. Moreover, the number of medical images on the Internet and the heterogeneity of medical images might make content-based medical image retrieval problematic. Nevertheless, a content-based approach can be used in the classification of the set of images retrieved by search keywords or index terms. Within the retrieved set of images, visually similar images could be grouped together and the output of image retrieval could be organised by these groups. Thus, the end-user can see different image categories contained in the retrieved set of images.The health care professionals studied in this research could be sure of the credibility of images when they used images from their personal collections or when they searched for images in books and papers. In other words, credibility was used as a criterion to decide about the potential image resources to use for image retrieval. However, further research is required to know which factors affect health care professionals' decisions concerning the credibility of image resources. These findings of the current study imply that developers of image retrieval systems should focus on the criteria or aspects of images which seem to be important for the end-users.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Medicine is heavily dependent on images and health care professionals use medical images for clinical, educational and research purposes. This paper aims to investigate the resources used by health care professionals while searching for medical images.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research is based on a qualitative study that uses the Straussian version of grounded theory and involved 29 health care professionals from various health and biomedical departments working within Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS (National Health Service) Foundation Trust. Data collection was carried out using semi-structured interviews and think-aloud protocols.\nFindings: - The findings show that health care professionals seek medical images in a variety of visual information sources, including those found online and from published medical literature. The research also identified a number of difficulties that health care professionals face when searching for medical images in various image resources.\nOriginality/value: - There have been few studies that investigated the image resources used by health care professionals. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of medical image resources and information needs of health care professionals. A clear understanding of the medical image information needs of health care professionals is also vital to the design process and development of medical image retrieval systems.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Information technology and front office employees' performance	[ "Performance management", "Human resources management", "Service encounter", "Critical incidents", "Information technologies", "Front office performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The tourism industry has changed profoundly due to information technologies (IT hereafter), particularly hospitality business (Law et al., 2013). Hotels activities are characterized by being based on various and well-known standard processes and operations (Chathoth, 2007). Among these, guest accommodation is one of the most directly and immediately responsible for satisfying guests' needs (Hai-yan and Baum, 2006). In this sense, in hotels, front office employees stand out because they are the main staff in charge of client assistance and the ones who handle most of the interactions with guests on behalf of the hotel.\nLiterature review: Impact of information technologies on jobs\nResearch questions: Receptionist is a key occupation to gain client satisfaction, and further than anecdotal evidence, there are no data about the IT participation. Guest satisfaction is of great importance because of its potent effects on recurring sales, word-of-mouth, consumer loyalty and on overall firm performance (Oliver, 2010).\nMethodology: Because this article seeks to understand workers' behaviors, two qualitative techniques were applied: in-depth interviews and the critical incident technique (CIT hereafter). A qualitative approach based on these techniques enables the researchers to go deeper into the behaviors that receptionists exhibit in their jobs and in their use of IT. In turn, considering that satisfactory service encounters are made up of particular behaviors, CIT is a suitable technique, given that it identifies specific behavioral incidents. Critical incidents (CI hereafter) can be collected in several ways. Because personal interviews were going to be used, these were used to identify the CI. This way of identifying CI has been used previously by different authors (Bitner et al., 1990; Edvardsson, 1992; Lundberg, 2011). In all, 3 interviewers were asked to interview 2 receptionists in 5 hotels each for a total of 30 receptionists in 15 hotels. All the interviewees had a minimum tenure of one year on the job.\nResults: Receptionist task performance and information technology\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of information technology (IT) in the performance of front office employees in hotels. This is done by testing and analyzing up to what level the task performance content of receptionists depends on IT and by testing and analyzing up to what level the contents of the service encounters in which they participate depend on IT.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper includes in-depth interviews with 30 receptionists, using the job task performance model and the critical incident technique in the service encounter model.\nFindings: IT takes part heavily in the task performance of front office workers, who rely on IT to get their job done. On the other hand, in service encounters, the value of the human presence is still high, and in most critical incidents, IT do not participate.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample was located in the same destination with only two types of hotels.\nPractical implications: The dependence of front office employees with IT is so high that some of the receptionists could be substituted by IT in the near future. However, human participation in satisfactory critical incidents is very high.\nSocial implications: Receptionists should get ready and trained taking into account that the value they provide is higher in tasks that are both not routine and in which face-to-face interactions take place.\nOriginality/value: Usually, front office employees are managed with human resources view, without taking into consideration specifically how IT has spread into the hospitality industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mathematics achievement in middle school level in Pakistan: Findings from the First National Assessment	[ "Assessment", "Mathematics", "Schools", "Pakistan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Concerns over the quality of education in Pakistan have been expressed in all national education policies formulated since the independence of the country. These concerns were heightened when Pakistan joined the global, joint UNESCO-UNICEF Monitoring of Learning international initiative in 1996. Education sector reforms were developed, aimed at improving all aspects of education, including infrastructures, human resources, curriculum, teaching/learning material, and periodic assessments of students' achievement at both national and regional levels in the country. This resulted in a number of assessment studies being conducted between 1984 and 2005 with the financial and technical support of UN or multi-donor agencies (Haque et al., 2000; Mirza and Hameed, 1994; Pervez, 1995; Saeed et al., 2005; Shah, 1984; Bureau of Curriculum Development and Extension Centre Balochistan, 2000; NWFP Bureau of Curriculum Development and Extension Services, 1999; UNESCO, 2001).\nResearch objectives: The present study uses National Assessment data to address the following research questions:* Does mathematics achievement vary systematically across students and schools?* To what extent are the mathematics curriculum and frameworks implemented in schools?* To what extent do gender and location account for differences in mathematics achievement (at item and test scores levels)?* To what do extent student demographics, home background, and homework variables predict mathematics achievement?* To what extent do schools' physical and academic resources predict mathematics achievement?* To what extent do student and school level variables interact to predict achievement indirectly?\nMethod: Data source and sample\nMeasures: Mathematics achievement\nData analysis: Data analysis is reported in two parts. Part 1 reports an evaluation of the test items to ascertain the fit statistics and item difficulty indices, and Part 2 reports the results of MLM models estimated to examine the impact of various student and school level variables on students' achievement.Part 1: Item-level analysis\nResults: Unconditional model\nSummary of the results: Multilevel analysis produced several interesting results with the models that attempted to explain variation in average math achievement across levels. The baseline model indicated that around 61 percent of the (adjusted) variance in mathematics achievement was due to systematic difference in the average achievement of students attending different schools. According to the results, the significant student level predictors of mathematics achievement included student gender, home background, homework variables, self-confidence, attitudes towards mathematics, liking for mathematics, and parental support in homework. Among the school level variables, school gender, availability of physical facilities and academic resources in the school, amount of instructional time, and class size were found be associated with mathematics achievement. Number of sibling, age, father education and occupation, school size, and availability of separate classroom were not associated with achievement. School gender, geographical location, homework and student attitude variables' interactions were also significantly associated with achievement. The highest proportion of variance explained by the final level 1 model was 40 per cent; and for the level 2 model it was 38 per cent. Thus, the results of variance decomposition show that even though student- and school-level variables explained a significant amount of the variance associated with average achievement, additional variables are needed to be tested to explain more of the variance.\nDiscussion: Using data from the first national assessment of Grade VIII students in Pakistan, this study produced several interesting results with Rasch measurement and multilevel models that attempted to explain variation in mathematics achievement. The average achievement of students in mathematics was significantly lower than the set mean based on IRT scaling. Item-level Rasch analysis indicated that students were able to pass low-rigour items requiring simple mathematical skills such as recalling mathematical definitions and formulas. High-rigour items requiring students to use cognitively demanding skills - for example, reasoning and problem solving - were difficult for the students. Geometry and measurement elicited the weakest scores relative to students' average performance in mathematics. Less than 20 per cent students were able to pass items that required the application of geometric properties at a problem-solving level. In algebra, most of the students failed to demonstrate an understanding of relatively formalised algebraic expressions. Less than 30 per cent of students could pass the items at the problem-solving level in this domain. Items involving conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge were moderately difficult. However, students were able to respond correctly to items involving the concept of sets. In the number sense domain, items requiring addition, subtraction, and multiplication of the numbers with different bases, finding the square roots of natural numbers, and operations with decimal and fractions using models (e.g. number lines) were passed at conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge level. Data analysis and information handling items, the least emphasised domain in the curriculum, were also responded to at the conceptual level.The analysis of DIF indicated that the majority of items were not substantially different across gender or regional location. The gender-level analysis of DIF indicated that items favouring female students in either content domain belonged to knowledge of concepts to recall basic facts, terminologies, numbers, and geometric properties. Items favouring male students in either domain belonged to the problem-solving level, which involves analysis, synthesis, and generalization in more widely applicable terms. Items that involved application of mathematical knowledge and skills, for solving algebraic expressions, functions, equations, geometric figures or statistical data were not substantially different across group. These findings are consistent with previous research reporting that males exhibit superior deductive, problem solving, and spatial skills, whereas girls display better verbal skills (e.g. Berberoglu, 1995; Hedges and Nowell, 1995; Nowell and Hedges, 1998). Twenty (35 per cent) of the items were flagged as having DIF across rural and urban students, of which the geometry and data analysis items favoured rural students, whereas four algebra items were flagged for DIF in favour of urban students and three were flagged in favour of rural students.The findings of the multilevel analysis revealed that several student- and school-level variables are important in predicting mathematics achievement. The results show that 61 per cent of the (adjusted) variation in mathematics achievement was due to systematic differences in the average achievement of students attending different schools. At the student level, a number of variables were observed to contribute towards mathematics achievement. First, gender shows a significant influence on achievement scores in favor of boys, both directly and through the interaction of student and school gender. This finding is consistent with other findings indicating that girls lag markedly behind boys in mathematics achievement and cognitive skills (Alderman et al., 1996), though not consistent with some more recent studies that indicate few gender differences (Delgado and Prieto, 2004; Mullis et al., 2000; Spelke, 2005). Boys' scores were also significantly higher in mixed schools. Indeed, several sets of explanations on gender gaps in mathematics achievement have been offered in the extant literature, ranging from genetic to environmental influences, sex-role stereotypes, and student-teacher interaction. The most plausible explanation in the case of Pakistan associated with the achievement gap, however, is considered to be the low enrolment and high dropout rate of girls, particularly in rural areas, and differential role expectations and attitudes of parents towards girls' education. The influence of geographic location on mathematics achievement in favour of rural students might be surprising given the fact that the profile of sampled rural and urban government schools differ significantly in terms of access to school resources, academic resources, teacher qualification and student home background.The effects of home background have been well documented in the research literature. It has been posited that home background has a positive effect on learning achievement when it focuses and mobilises the child and provides a nurturing environment; familial support and expectations as well as support for learning at home regulate and positively influence achievement regardless of socioeconomic conditions of the family (Connell et al., 1994). The results of the present study confirm the impact of home background variables on students' achievement. The home background model explained 35 percent of the total variance. Home language had a statistically significant effect on achievement. The results showed that if student speak a regional language at home, their mathematics scores increase by 0.10 SD units. The fact that there are around eight dominant recognised languages in the country presents several logistical challenges for the education system. As per curriculum requirements, Urdu is the medium of instruction in government-owned schools. However, the problem is that in the majority of schools (especially rural schools), a regional language is used as the unofficial language of instruction, because in most cases the mother tongue of the students and teachers is the same. As a result, a regional language is associated with high achievement scores. It was also observed from the data that only 17 per cent teachers use the national language to explain mathematics concepts in the classroom; furthermore, the effect of language remained the same when it was estimated separately. The strength of the language variable in favour of regional languages is a promising result for national assessment but needs to be distinguished from ethnic and socio-economic factors inherent in the country given the political history of the provinces.Father education was not found to be associated with student achievement; however, mothers' education showed a significant effect on achievement; with every one SD unit increase in mother's education, student performance increased significantly. It is interesting to note that in the national sample 57 per cent of mothers were completely illiterate, 0.03 per cent had passed intermediate-level education, and 0.01 per cent had obtained graduation or post-graduation. SES was associated significantly with achievement when estimated separately, but the significance disappeared when it was estimated with the home background model.The homework model appeared to be a strong predictor of achievement; this model explained 40 per cent of the total variance. The frequency of homework was associated with mathematics achievement, however; a lesser frequency of homework (twice a week) showed a more pronounced impact. Similarly, less time spent on mathematics homework was significantly associated with increase in scores. Thus, the results do not support the typical \"more is better\" view of homework. Parental help with homework also increased students' performance. Consistent with the existing literature on homework research, the results suggest that parents might well help increase mathematics performance by helping their children in homework, monitoring, and keeping track of their after-school activities (Trautwein et al., 2002). The results were also suggestive concerning extra tutoring in mathematics. The frequency analysis revealed that around 24 per cent students never receive any tutoring for mathematics, and around 55 per cent reported getting occasional tutoring in mathematics, and that frequency of tutoring was negatively associated with achievement. Self-confidence, mothers' expectations of their children performance in mathematics, students' attitudes towards mathematics and liking of mathematics as a subject were found to be significantly associated with an increase in mathematics achievement. The homework model explained 39 per cent of the total variance.The results indicated that the more positively disposed students were towards mathematics, the better they were likely to perform. Similarly, students who reported that their mothers thought doing well in mathematics was important were more likely to achieve higher scores.The school resources model explained 35 per cent of the total variance. The major differences in school resources associated with achievement across location and school gender were academic resources and physical facilities. The availability of learning resources (availability of a library, curriculum documents, teacher guides, AV aids, usable blackboards, textbooks) increased achievement scores significantly; however, less than 50 per cent of rural as well as urban schools reported the availability of learning resources in the schools. Likewise, better physical facilities in schools were found to be associated with an increase in achievement scores but less than 50 percent of schools had access to physical facilities ranging from medium to high levels. Rural schools were more likely to have poor facilities than urban schools.Although the effect of amount of instruction time per week was not statistically significant, it indicated that less than average instructional time decreases achievement scores. The availability of separate classrooms, the percentage of classes learning in the open air and in corridors, and school and class size did not show any statistically significant relationship with achievement. This finding again is in line with the existing school resources research, particularly in developing countries, where the effects of school resources variables have been examined in several studies but no systematic evidence that availability of school resources would increase academic achievement has been reported.\nConclusion and directions for future research: This study is only the beginning of a detailed analysis of relationships between various student- and school-related variables and mathematics achievement using national assessment data from Pakistan. Only a few major variables with policy and research implications were tested to keep the interpretations clear and simple. The next stage of this study could examine the more complex pattern of relationships and interactions among relationships for subgroups. For example, examining the average achievement of boys and girls in single-sex schools separately might produce a more powerful explanation of the gender gap in achievement. In addition, future research can include teacher background variables to investigate the effects of teachers' qualifications, training, and teaching strategies on achievement. The estimated models were successful in explaining the variation in average achievement in terms of proportion of variance explained and significance of estimates of the effects. Furthermore, the use of a large dataset weighted for differences in sampling units, the application of IRT scaling, and hierarchical linear modelling for estimating direct and indirect effects lend further credence to the results. The intercept equations in MLM models are reliable because the dependent variable has shown the least sampling error and the most parameter variance as shown by MLM statistics. Overall, most of the hypothesised relationships were statistically significant, substantial in size, and supported the robustness of the theoretical models regarding the importance of these factors in predicting mathematics achievement.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The general objective of this paper is to investigate the mathematics achievement of middle grade students in Pakistan. Specifically: to determine whether mathematics achievement varies systematically across students and schools; to what extent the mathematics curriculum and frameworks are implemented in schools; to what extent gender and location account for differences in mathematics achievement (at item and test scores levels); to what extent student demographics, home background, and homework variables predict mathematics achievement; to what extent schools' physical and academic resources predict mathematics achievement; and to what extent student- and school-level variables interact to predict achievement indirectly.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach was to undertake a quantitative survey of 14,440 students from 770 schools across the country. The analytic strategy included item-level Rasch analysis, DIF analysis across gender and regional location, and MLM analysis to test various student- and school-level models.\nFindings: - Rasch analysis indicated that students were able to pass low-rigour items requiring simple mathematical skills. The DIF analysis indicated that items favouring female students in either content domain belonged to knowledge of concepts to recall basic facts, terminologies, numbers, and geometric properties. Items favouring male students in either domain belonged to the problem solving level. MLM analysis revealed that at the student level, gender, location, and some home background and homework variables contributed towards mathematics achievement. At the school level, availability of learning resources and better physical facilities were found to be associated with increase in achievement scores.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Only a few major variables with policy and research implications were tested to keep the interpretations clear and simple. The next stage of this study could examine the more complex pattern of relationships and interactions among relationships for subgroups.\nPractical implications: - The study has implications for a review of the gender gap in school enrolment, the national curriculum for mathematics, homework policy, the role of regional languages as a medium of instruction in schools, the provision of school resources, and learning aids in schools.\nOriginality/value: - The paper shows that the estimated models were successful in explaining the variation in average achievement in terms of proportion of variance explained and significance of estimates of the effects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Improving organizational learning through leadership training	[ "Organisational learning", "Leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizational learning is a well-documented determinant of desirable organizational outcomes such as financial performance, innovation capacity and customer value (Baker and Sinkula, 2002; Davis and Daley, 2008; Ellinger et al., 2002, 2003; Garcia-Morales et al., 2012; Jimenez-Jimenez and Sanz-Valle, 2011; Santos-Vijande et al., 2012; Valencia et al., 2010; Yukl, 2009). The rationale for attempting to improve these outcomes via improving organizational learning is that the subsequent development of new knowledge can reduce the likelihood that a company's human capital will become outdated, thus enabling the skills and knowledge to remain dynamic, and improving organizational performance (Garcia-Morales et al., 2012).\nMethod: Design and context\nResults: Employees' ratings on the single item on perceived changes in organizational learning because of the intervention showed that 42 per cent (n = 110) had not perceived any changes, 22 per cent (n = 57) had perceived changes for the better, 3 per cent (n = 7) had perceived changes for the worse, 13 per cent (n = 44) had perceived changes that did not affect their own work situation and 16 per cent (n = 42) did not know. Similarly, 14 per cent (n = 11) of line managers answered \"completely true\", 65 per cent (n = 51) responded \"somewhat true\", 20 per cent (n = 16) selected \"neither untrue nor true\" and 1 per cent (n = 1) responded \"somewhat untrue\" on the equivalent item on perceived changes in organizational learning as a result of the training intervention.\nDiscussion: This study aimed to fill an identified gap in the literature by examining the impact of a leadership training intervention on organizational learning. The data showed that both line managers and employees' perceptions of three dimensions of organizational learning improved significantly after the leadership training. Specifically, managers' ratings of continuous learning improved significantly, indicating that they perceived that staff in the organization were to a higher degree given time and other resources for learning and were rewarded for learning. Similarly, employees' ratings of empowerment and embedded systems also improved after the intervention. These changes indicated that they perceived that efforts to establish systems to capture and share learning and the organization's process to create and share a collective vision and receive feedback from its members about the gap between the current status and the new vision had improved substantially.\nConclusions: This intervention study has provided evidence on the importance of leadership training for organizational learning. Line managers' and employees' ratings of three dimensions of organizational learning improved substantially after the leadership training intervention. Furthermore, the fact that line managers perceived changes in dimensions of individual-level learning, whereas employees perceived changes in dimensions of organization-level learning, implies that leadership training can affect different levels of learning for different stakeholder groups. It is important to further examine the mechanisms by which leadership training can improve organizational learning at all levels and for all groups of employees. This study provides needed knowledge on the activities to be included in leadership development programs when organizational learning is a target outcome of that. This study also highlighted ways to evaluate this type of intervention.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate whether training of managers at workplaces can improve organizational learning. Managers play a crucial role in providing opportunities to employees for learning. Although scholars have called for intervention research on the effects of leadership development on organizational learning, no such research is currently available.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The training program consisted of theoretical and practical elements aimed to improve line managers' transformational leadership behaviors and, in turn, improve organizational learning. The study used a pre- and post-intervention evaluation survey. Line managers' and their subordinates' perceptions of organizational learning were measured with the Dimensions of Organizational Learning Questionnaire and with post-intervention single items on organizational learning.\nFindings: Comparisons between pre- and post-intervention assessments revealed that managers' ratings of continuous learning and employees' ratings of empowerment and embedded systems improved significantly as a result of the training. The leadership training intervention had positive effects on managers' perceptions of individual-level and on employees' perceptions of organizational-level aspects of organizational learning.\nOriginality/value: The study provides empirical evidence that organizational learning can be improved through leadership training. Both line managers and their subordinates perceived that organizational learning had increased after the training intervention, albeit in different ways. Implications for developing leadership training programs and for evaluating these are discussed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Teachers' skill flexibility: Examining the impact of principals' skills and teachers' participation in decision making during educational reform	[ "Educational reform", "Participation in decision making", "Interpersonal skills", "Principals’ strategic skills", "Skill flexibility" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The role of leaders in facilitating conditions that nurture organizational processes during times of change has received increasing attention among management scholars in the last decade (e.g. Green, 2016; Hallinger and Lee, 2013; Shaked and Schechter, 2017; Soini et al., 2016). Previous studies have been conducted with the aim of identifying the characteristics and conditions that are associated with successful organizational change (e.g. Green, 2016; Shaked and Schechter, 2017). This study falls within this line of work yet focuses on aspects seldom linked with teacher's skill flexibility (SF). Namely, I consider the role of principals' skills in explaining teachers' participation in decision making (PDM) and SF, during educational reform.\nMethods: Context of the study\nResults: Means, standard deviations and correlations for the study variables (two levels) are reported in Table I.\nDiscussion and implications: In this study, I examined theoretical paths through which strategic and interpersonal leadership skills can eventually directly influence organizational change processes (i.e. PDM) and indirectly influence outcomes (i.e. SF). Findings revealed that only principals' strategic skills were found to be related to teachers' PDM, in the context of organizational change. Further, teachers' PDM was found to be positively related to teachers' SF, and to partially mediate the effect of principals' strategic skills on teachers' SF. In the following, I further elucidate these paths to clarify contributions and implications for theory.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine a model linking school principals' strategic, interpersonal skills and teachers' participation in decision making (PDM) to predict teachers' skill flexibility (SF) during the implementation of educational reform.\nDesign/methodology/approach: From 113 randomly selected elementary schools in Israel that had undergone a reform called \"New Horizon,\" 1,482 teachers participated in the study. Data were analyzed through the multilevel structural equation modeling.\nFindings: Results showed that only principals' strategic skills lead to teachers' PDM, which in turn predicts teachers' SF. Furthermore, based on the upper echelon theory (Hambrick and Mason, 1984), principals' strategic skills promoted teachers' SF through teachers' PDM.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research enables expanding the theoretical upper echelon model, both in the context of leaders' skills and in their relation to change outcomes.\nPractical implications: Using of strategic skills will help principals influence teachers to participate in decision making, adapt to the reform and promote their ability to use skills according to changing needs.\nOriginality/value: The results of this research emphasize the strategic role of school principals as the leaders of organizational change and promoters of its outcomes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding microblog continuance usage intention: an integrated model	[ "Continuance intention", "Social media", "Structural equation modeling", "Microblog", "Behavioral-based attitude", "Object-based attitude" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Microblog services, also called mini-blogs or microblogs, have become an established category within the general group of social media. Their services provide a new platform for people to share and consume information and knowledge. Unlike other social media, microblogs allow users to publish 140-character messages. Microblog posts require less time and effort to write than \"traditional\" blog posts. Moreover, microblog users are allowed to choose who they want to follow without first requesting permission. In China there are many microblog services sponsored by different providers. By the end of 2012, according to the 33rd report of the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the number of microblog users was more than three billion (CNNIC, 2013). However, this number fell to 2.04 billion in 2015 (CNNIC, 2015). Is this an indicator of decline? Will microblog in China meet the same fate as RenRen, a social network site in China that customers are losing interest in? In order to avoid rejection by users, microblog providers in China have been taking proactive measures to keep users' interest up, such as updating new functions, redesigning interfaces and inviting popular stars to launch microblogs. However, there are still some problems that microblog providers need to resolve: How can microblog providers keep users' interest up more effectively? Which characteristics of microblog do users pay attention to? To answer these questions, this research proposed an integrated model to investigate the process of the microblog system and how information characteristics' impact continuance usage.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Wixom and Todd's model\n3. Research model and hypotheses: As we mentioned above user satisfaction theory is generally a weak predictor of behavior; meanwhile, the U&G theory cannot provide actionable feedback about important aspects of the IT artifact itself. Therefore, we proposed an integrated model (see Figure 3). In this model, system quality and information quality are recognized as object-based beliefs; user satisfaction can also be viewed as an object-based attitude based on Wixom and Todd's research; and gratification is defined as a behavior attitude. Our model is not only to generate a longer list of possible antecedents that affect microblog continuance intention, but also to build a theoretical logic that links beliefs about microblog to continuance usage.\n4. Research methodology: An online questionnaire survey was employed to collect data and structure equation modeling was used to conduct data analysis.\n5. Results: The collected data were analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) method (Chin, 1998). The evaluation of the model fit was conducted in a two-phase approach, i.e. measurement model and structural model. The first step was to assess the reliability and the validity of the measurement model and test if the empirical data conformed to the presumed model. The structural relationships were then validated using bootstrap analysis (Chin, 1998).\n6. Discussion: 6.1 Summary of results\n7. Conclusion and limitations: This research proposed an integrated model which represented a causal chain from key characteristics of microblog to continuance usage based on Wixom and Todd's theoretical framework, the U&G theory and IS success model. Our results indicated that gratification of microblog could be viewed as behavioral attitudes and had a significant influence on users' continuance intention. Meanwhile, our research results also demonstrated that satisfaction could be classified into objected-based attitude and was an antecedent of gratification. Ultimately, our research identified that microblog users were satisfied with these system characteristics (i.e. autonomy, ease of use, broadcasting and interoperability) and information characteristics (i.e. perceived usefulness, reliability, timeliness, conciseness and subscription).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors affecting users' continuous microblog usage intention. In recent years, the number of microblog users has gradually declined. This research can reveal microblog users' needs and provide the improvement direction of microblog services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: By integrating Wixom and Todd's theoretical framework, the Uses and Gratifications Theory and the DeLone and McLean Information System Success Model, a conceptual model is proposed. In this model, gratification is defined as a kind of behavioral attitude, and satisfaction is viewed as an object-based attitude. The survey data were collected online and analyzed using the partial least squares method.\nFindings: The results suggest that users' continuance intention (behavioral intention) is jointly determined by users' gratification (behavioral-based attitude) and their habitual microblog usage behavior. Likewise, gratification is positively affected by satisfaction (object-based attitude) which is a joint function of system quality and information quality (object-based beliefs).\nOriginality/value: In this research, Wixom and Todd's principle is applied as the basic theoretical framework; gratification is viewed as a behavior attitude and user satisfaction is identified as an object-based attitude. This research model is a new lens for continuance usage research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Internationalization of the educational services market through development of the system of remote education: Possibilities and barriers	[ "Internationalization", "Development of the remote education system" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Internationalization of the educational services market is a perspective direction of its development and one of the key tasks of national strategies of managing this market in modern countries of the world, which are implemented as a reaction to the challenges of globalization. Internationalization stimulates increase of volume of the educational services market, ensuring the following multiple advantages.\nMaterials and method: Popularity and necessity of internationalization of the educational services market and practical experience of implementation of this process are studied in the works of Bedenlier (2017), Bogoviz et al. (2017), Calvo (2017), Churski et al. (2017), Goncharov et al. (2016), Guo and Guo (2017), Healey (2017), Lau and Lin (2017), Mellita et al. (2017), Popkova et al. (2015) and Ruan (2017).\nResults: The results of bringing the indicators down to common measuring units and calculation of the index of internationalization of the educational services market in the countries of the world in 2017 are shown in Table II.\nConclusions: Thus, the offered hypothesis was proved - remote education possesses wide capabilities in the sphere of stimulating the internationalization of the educational services market, as it allows attracting a large number of foreign students. However, this potential of remote education is not used in countries of the world, which is caused by serious barriers on the path of development of international remote education. These barriers include low reputation of remote education, high complexity of its provision and low interest of academic staff of universities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the possibilities and potential barriers on the path of internationalization of the educational services market through development of the system of remote education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In order to determine the influence of development of the system of remote education on the process of internationalization of the educational services market, the authors use the method of regression analysis. A regression curve is built, containing the model of paired linear regression and the value of determination coefficient. The research object is the market of higher educational services - as it is subject to internationalization and distribution of remote education. The research is performed based on the 2017 data by the example of countries from various regions of the world that show different rates and levels of socio-economic development but that achieved the largest success in development of the system of remote education - the USA, the UK, Brazil, China, South Korea, Italy, Germany, India, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa and Russia. Due to the absence of the official international statistics on the issue of internationalization of the educational services market, the proprietary method is used for determining its level.\nFindings: It is concluded that remote education has a slight influence on the process of internationalization of the educational services market in the countries of the world, though it has large potential in the sphere of stimulation of internationalization of the educational services market, as it allows providing educational services of equal quality and equal cost for domestic and foreign students.\nOriginality/value: The developed and presented model of managing the development of the remote education system of a modern university in the interests of stimulating internationalization of the educational services market allows overcoming these barriers and opening the existing potential of remote education in the sphere of stimulation of internationalization of the educational services market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
E-government success: some principles from a Spanish case study	[ "Government", "Spain", "Taxation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Finland has introduced a system to pay for parking through a mobile phone in several cities. The PARKIT (http://e.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID = 7240) parking system allows users to start, finish or extend the parking time by just making a phone call, without even having to go to their vehicle, thus saving time, nuisances and money, as the user only pays for the parking time consumed.The City of Melbourne (Australia) wants both visitors and residents to feel at home there. For this purpose, it has installed iHubs (www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top = 228&pg = 715&st = 584), i.e. computerised kiosks which provide information about events, restaurants, leisure, shopping and transport.Norway.com, the Norwegian public sector information portal, has recently developed a service for those who wish to obtain information from the web portal but do not have an internet connection. Calling a free phone number, users can have the information from the web site (news, contact information, etc.) read to them (www.norway.no/).The same as in these examples, there is a growing number of instances in which the public sector has committed itself to investments in information and communication technologies (ICT) hoping to improve its internal management as well as the services it delivers to citizens through an innovative use of communication channels and facilities (Chen, 2003; Choudrie and Papazafeiropoulou, 2006; Mitra and Gupta, 2007). This recent trend has come to be known as \"e-government\".The present paper has as its aim to discuss e-government with a focus on tax administration and providing an illustration with the case of a Spanish local public organisation. A short initial review of the literature on e-government is followed by some facts and figures about this trend both across the world and in Spain. After examining the environment, the case study is set out.\nThe concept of e-government and applications in tax administration studies: E-government definition\nE-government: some facts and figures: Table II shows the 2005 ranking of various countries as far as e-government maturity level is concerned[1]. It can be seen that Canada and USA are the leading countries in the development of e-government. Accenture refers to these countries as trend creators. They are followed by contenders for e-government leadership, among which stand out Northern European countries such as Denmark, Norway and Finland, along with others such as France, Australia and Japan. Curiously enough, although the most developed and wealthiest countries are logically those that have made the most progress in e-government (Chen et al., 2006; Siau and Long, 2006), one must highlight the effort made by other countries which, despite having fewer resources at their disposal, have managed to achieve significant progress, e.g. Singapore (among contenders) or Malaysia (among followers) (Adham and Ahmad, 2005).Legislative efforts have been made all over the world in recent years to drive government investments in ICT (Strejcek and Theil, 2003). In the European context, the i2010 Action Plan for e-government (http://europa.eu.int.pitt.idm.oclc.org/information_society/eeurope/i2010/index_en.htm) is a scheme adopted by the European Commission on April 25, 2005 which shows the path to be followed for the development of e-government within the European Union, providing guidelines for programmes, initiatives and decision-making mechanisms between 2006 and 2010, as well as a road map and strategic follow-up (RED.ES, 2006).The data offered by CapGemini, drawn from the report on the availability and sophistication of online public services presented to the European Union, show a considerable progress in many countries, like Austria, for instance, and in some of the new member states, especially Malta and Estonia. It can be checked in Table III that the European average both for the sophistication and for the availability of online public services has improved with respect to the preceding years, which shows that an effort to develop e-government is being made by the countries located in this part of the world.Spain finds itself above the European average, both in availability and in sophistication of online public services. The situation, though not excellent, is not bad either if one considers the Spanish data with respect to the worldwide situation, as can be observed in Table II.E-government in Spain\nThe case of Suma: Suma is a public organisation which supplies services to town councils in the Alicante province (located in South-East Spain, with a population of more than 1,700,000 inhabitants) as a tax administration body. It operates independently from other national or local bodies and its foundation in 1990 came as a result of the evolution of other previously existing \"tax administration services\" in the province.The revenues derived from taxes amount to ca. 50 per cent of the total income obtained by town councils, which is why good administration is of paramount importance for the local finances. Suma has pioneered the establishment of an efficient, high-quality resource management style in Spain. It has created a model based on the pillars of organisation, human resources and technology, the coordination of which has made it possible to reach excellence levels at service results and quality.During the last few years, Suma has developed and implemented a wide range of technological applications to which tax administration procedures have been made easier both for employees and for taxpayers. Some of the most outstanding ones are described below.Technological applications\nDiscussion: The progress toward maturity in e-government is being supported by various international and national institutions. In the case of Spain, the public sector is making continuous efforts to jump on the bandwagon of the Information Society, as a result of which it has come very close to the world's average in e-government maturity and is actually above the European average. The number of Spanish users contacting PP.AA through the net is arrising and several plans and proposals of law (Avanza and Moderniza Plans, Proposal of law of Electronic Administration, the SARA systems, the electronic identity card) are contributing to the modernization of PP.AA technologies and organisation in this country.The case of SUMA offers some managerial implications for PP.AA showing how a body in charge of tax administration can be successful at the implementation of e-government. This has come as a result not only of its determination to develop and apply different technologies, but also of its reflection on what citizens expect from a tax administration body and on how the latter can be best attended to. With these ideas in mind, Suma has elaborated a series of technological principles and a model which states that investment and technological improvement are useless if no attention is paid to the areas of human resources and organisation.The principles presented (time, efficiency, multitask level, taxpayer comfort and modernity) have demonstrated to be the success factors in a tax administration service, unless this is the conclusion of the Suma experience, as this organisation have applied them in all the technological projects undertaken the last 15 years. On the other hand, these success factors must be incorporated into a model, like the one presented by SUMA. Only through the combined action of the three forces of the model (technology, organisation and human resources) will it be possible to ensure the right functioning within the organisation. If one of the vectors is imbalanced and is, for instance, too strong or too weak, the resulting model will prove totally ineffective. To sum up, technology is only efficient when it is used by well- trained staff and forms part of the organisation's workflow.\nConclusion: The immersion into the information society by the public sector has uncovered the need to modernise both its service production processes (NPM) and the ICT by means of which these services are prepared and offered (e-government). E-government implies an effort to improve PP.AA efficiency, but also their effectiveness. In other words, this is not only about reducing costs but also about delivering the services desired by citizens and using the means or channels preferred by them.Although the technological principles presented here are inferred from the success of e-government at tax administration, they seem to be easily generalisable to other PP.AA areas.The case of Suma consequently illustrates the true challenge facing PP.AA in relation to e-government, that is, to succeed in being seen not as something that holds back and hinders the activities undertaken by individuals and firms, but as proactive administrations with the ability to anticipate the needs of citizens and, therefore, to offer them assistance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper has as its aim to analyse the evolution and current status of e-government, trying to deduce a series of basic principles for its success.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A case study has served to achieve that aim, but prior to its presentation, a short review of the e-government literature along with some facts and figures have made it possible to assess the situation of e-government in various countries around the world, and more precisely in Spain.\nFindings: - E-government lays emphasis on technology; however, the internal processes through which public administrations (PP.AA) offer their services to citizens need careful reengineering.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Although a case study like this one, in which the analysis of e-government is restricted to the functioning of a tax administration body, may have limitations when it comes to generalising the conclusions drawn, the principles inferred from it can be easily extrapolated to the vast majority of PP.AA.\nOriginality/value: - Since, tax administration requires using a large amount of data, it is a key area in the application and study of e-government. That is why a Spanish public organisation in charge of tax administration has been examined in this paper.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Dealing with a global issue: contributing to poverty alleviation	[ "Social responsibility", "Energy", "Poverty", "Partnership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The sustainable development agenda is in a process of change. Up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in 2002, sustainable development was a \"campaign topic\". Today, however, we are in a new phase of the sustainable development journey focused on implementation. For business, this means more emphasis on actions and measurable results.EDF's business is the generation, transmission, supply and distribution of energy (mainly electricity) and energy services. Energy is one of the basic needs of today's society. The link between energy and development was strongly underlined by the Johannesburg WSSD where access to modern energy was recognized as indispensable in poverty reduction. This link is now increasingly subject to analysis and evaluation in order to understand the inherent levers and causalities. As a global player, the group is directly involved but also strongly committed to sustainable development and all the issues it raises. EDF cannot ignore that one-third of the world population has no access to modern energy and especially to electricity. Being active in developing countries, we have to tackle both the issue of sustainable electricity supply in peri-urban areas and off-grid solutions in remote rural areas. This is part of our sustainable development agenda and of our corporate social responsibility objectives.EDF Group has initiated some leading projects related to poverty reduction. The aim is to optimize the group's own actions but also to serve as reference to encourage other players, whether local or global, to participate in setting up viable, sustainable programs with lasting, long-term benefits for poor populations leading to wealth creation. Leadership in this domain is necessary in order to stimulate change and promote sustainable development.Improving the livelihoods of people living in remote rural areas through the provision of an energy service brings a range of benefits, some of which will be re-channeled into the rural services company and ensure its long term viability, at the same time slowing down the inevitable demographic movement of people towards the cities. Improving the quality of service and access to electricity of populations living in the slum areas of the world's major cities will have direct benefits for the local electricity company in terms of increased productivity, reduced theft of electricity, increased social stability and an improved relationship between the supplier and its customers for the future.Today, most people living without access to electricity are in rural areas. In the future this will change with the migration of populations to peri-urban areas where the problems of access will also concern quality of supply and service. EDF is active in both fields, working on peri-urban electrification solutions in Africa (Cape Town and Casablanca) and South America (Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro) and rural solutions in Africa (Mali, South Africa, Morocco, Senegal, Madagascar) and Asia (China, India, Laos).To tackle these rural and peri-urban issues, EDF has set up a specific action program called Access.In this paper we have chosen to share our experience in terms of contribution of poverty alleviation by presenting our rural electrification projects that include:* to test through pilot projects sustainable solutions which are adapted to the real situations in different parts of the world and identify the key conditions for replication; and* to scale up access to electricity by running long term (15 to 20 years) large-scale rural electrification programs on the rural energy services company (RESCO) model.\n2. Rural electrification: the Access program: The questions involved in poverty reduction are interconnected and complex compared to earlier one-dimensional environmental issues and the corresponding solutions are neither easy nor obvious. For this reason, EDF has set up a range of actions to look at these questions:* an R&D program to find new technical solutions;* an operational program intended to test models in the field (the Access program) in partnership with institutions and other industries, as well as NGOs; and* an international working group looking at the monitoring and evaluation of the impact of electricity on development in order to be able to assess the real effects of the programs, the causal links and the inherent levers, to be able to continuously improve our actions in the field, and to form a key element of local stakeholder dialogue.The EDF Access Program has set up and operates four RESCOs, two in Mali (at present 2,000 families - average family size of 20 people - in the future to be extended to a total of 7,000 families), one in Morocco (at present 7,000 families - average family size of seven people - in the future to be extended to a total of 53,000 families) and one in South Africa (at present 3,100 families - average family size of six people - in the future to be extended to 12,000 families). Three of these four projects are based on energy provided through solar panels, the fourth, in Mali, being based mainly on village diesel mini-grids and a few solar panels for outlying houses.The program also assists and supports the group's affiliates in their rural electrification projects. One such example is EDF Energy, our UK affiliate, which inaugurated a solar pumping project in central KwaZulu Natal in South Africa in July 2004. This project will provide drinking water for the local community and also water for irrigating a community garden where the produce will be sold on local markets but which will also be used to feed the local school children. The project has been set up in the concession area where the Access Program is already very active and EDF Energy was able to benefit from the existing infrastructure and skills of the local RESCO for the installation of the system and to ensure long-term maintenance and therefore sustainability. EDF Energy is the first UK electricity company to set up a project in a developing country in this manner and this first action will serve to nourish their reflection around the possibility of implementing a social tariff for electricity at some future date.The Access Program also sets up innovative pilot projects throughout the world working in partnership with the ADEME (the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Efficiency) and the FONDEM (a French NGO - the Foundation for Energies in the World). These projects, which can also be used as test-beds for the EDF R&D department, have been set up in China, Laos and Madagascar, and in the last quarter of 2004 two pilot projects will be set in India in order to test a biomass gasification model run on a local cooperative basis with the support of local NGOs.Since the beginning of the Access Program in 2001, 400,000 people in developing countries have been provided with access to energy. EDF has deliberately chosen to target the most needy and poorest populations. This decision in turn has shaped the model developed and has led to the identification and implementation of a number of basic guidelines which reflect the requirements of setting up viable and sustainable projects. These guidelines, established through experience in the field, have come to form the model that is now generally followed whenever setting up a new project. These guidelines are described below along with the reasons for their evolution during project implementation and the lessons learnt in each case.\n3. Guidelines for integrating social expectations: the lessons learned: 3.1 A suitable institutional framework\n4. Conclusion: The Access program has enabled EDF to test a number of pilot projects that have provided rich information. Building from this experience we have revised and improved our approach to providing energy to developing countries.Among the main lessons learnt, we must underline the following:* RESCOs are very sensitive to cash flow problems (payment rates, etc.);* lack of visibility of the institutional frameworks of the countries concerned can be a real handicap;* because of cash flow problems, start-up costs need to be kept very low;* the lack of local skills and training requires extensive training programs in the field;* the lack of risk cover mechanisms (institutional risks for example) means that new solutions are required from the international institutions; and* the fee-for-service business model is viable and sustainable if run on the long-term, which is in line with the needs for sustainable electricity supply.The existing projects, after initial teething problems and a steep learning curve, are now demonstrating that they are successful as business projects but also in providing energy access to the poorest and thereby contributing to the overall goal of sustainable development. All four of the existing companies are seeing their customer-base enlarged, either through extensions within their current concession or through reply to call for tender on new concessions. Our RESCO in Morocco recently won a tender that will amount to a total customer-base of 58,000 families. This will make the company a world reference in this field. It also demonstrates that it is possible to scale-up such projects.We are now looking to the future: at the beginning of 2004 we started two new R&D programs focused on these issues, the first one oriented on medium-term questions concerning energy access, whether technical, economic or social, the second one focusing on long-term questions which we will need to anticipate to be able to give relevant answers related to poverty, economic development and access to energy and electricity. Further work is required to find satisfactory answers to the power requirements of these populations, outside solar home systems, in order to encourage local economic activities and wealth creation. In 2004 we will be setting up four new pilot projects in India focusing on biomass gasification. This is a renewable option, involving the burning and gasification of agricultural or wood waste and could provide a solution for village electrification in many areas of the world. We are also developing, with the R&D division, pico-hydro solutions for use where water is present.Our contribution is a drop in the ocean of needs for access to energy. But by showing others that it is possible to improve the situation, we hope to encourage them to join us in our work. Scaling up is now the first priority of the international institutions on their way towards the millennium development goals. Public private partnerships like the ones set up for access to electricity in remote areas seem to be one of the concrete answers. But this means a long-term commitment on the part of all the actors, which is perhaps the most difficult challenge.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To present one approach to integrating societal expectations in business as adopted by Electricite de France through their Access to Energy Program.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The objective is achieved through three main actions, one of which is explored here: rural electrification through the setting-up of rural energy services companies in developing countries which bring energy (electricity or gas) services to isolated populations, thereby encouraging the development of local economic activities and contributing to poverty reduction.\nFindings: - Findings range from the importance of an existing and suitable institutional framework, through the reduction of start-up costs and the cash-flow problems of these small companies, to the definition of a sustainable model (fee for service) and the provision of accompanying services (gas, water, telephone, etc.) and capacity building.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Further research will be determined following monitoring and evaluation feedback from these local companies.\nPractical implications: - Working in countries with suitable institutional frameworks and with grant financing to cover most of initial equipment investment to keep tariffs low. Establishing local business zones with higher power levels to encourage local economic development. Ensuring maximum equipment efficiency (particularly batteries).\nOriginality/value: - Identification of a sustainable model in rural electrification that is now being replicated on a major scale in Morocco and South Africa.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Reverse logistics information system success and the effect of motivation	[ "Diffusion of innovation", "Reverse logistics", "Partial least squares", "Information quality", "Information systems success" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Scholars recognize reverse logistics (RL) as one of several important areas within the context of supply chain management (Croxton et al., 2001; Lambert, 2008; Rogers et al., 2002), and if managed effectively, RL processes can help firms gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace (Stock et al., 2006). Likewise, information systems (IS) capabilities are recognized as playing an important role in managing RL processes (Daugherty et al., 2002, 2005). Research in this area often investigates the effects of IS implementations on measures of performance to determine if IS adds value in the context under examination. However, literature suggests that the success of IS should not necessarily be based upon measures of performance alone - indeed, the idea of \"success\" encompasses several dimensions (DeLone and McLean, 1992, 2003; Petter et al., 2008). Unfortunately, extant RL literature rarely takes such a holistic approach. The purpose of this study is to extend the tradition set forth in the management information systems (MIS) literature to explore facets of IS Success theory in the context of RL.\nRL: a matter of perspective: RL can be defined as:\nConceptual development and hypotheses: As shown in Figure 1, IS Success theory consists of the following constructs:\nData collection: Measures\nAnalysis and results: We used PLS regression modeling for data analysis and hypothesis testing. We chose PLS over linear regression because of the strength of PLS in analyzing path models with multiple item constructs (Ahuja et al., 2003; Gefen et al., 2000; Sambamurthy and Chin, 1994). Additionally, PLS requires fewer observations and has more relaxed distributional assumptions than other modeling techniques, such as covariance-based structural equation modeling, making PLS most appropriate for exploratory studies such as ours (Gefen et al., 2011).\nDiscussion and implications: Our study demonstrates IS Success in the context of RL and indicates that motivation to use IS for RL differs between inbound and outbound. These findings contribute to theory and practice in several ways. First, we extend the MIS theory of IS Success into the logistics domain. Within the logistics literature, IS outcomes are generally described in the context of operational efficiencies or effectiveness (Hazen and Byrd, 2012), with little consideration for the holistic concept of \"success.\" In fact, of the 181 unique theories identified in Defee et al.'s (2010) inventory of theory used in logistics research, IS Success was conspicuously absent despite being one of the most cited theories in IS literature (Lowry et al., 2007; Petter and McLean, 2009). This research helps to bridge this obvious gap in the logistics literature. In addition, this study contributes to the literature on IS Success theory by demonstrating the theory's efficacy in the context of RL, thus further validating the generalizability of the theory. We foresee that future logistics research will see the benefits of and continue to use IS Success theory as a basis for examining the role of IS.\nLimitations and conclusions: There are some limitations to this study that can be addressed in future research. For instance, we examined only three of the constructs represented in IS Success. Although we chose to investigate what we believe are the most salient constructs within our context of RL, future research might examine additional dimensions of quality (system quality and service quality) that are addressed in IS Success theory. Also, we examined RL cost effectiveness as the net benefit of IS Success. However, there are other net benefits that might be worthwhile considering in this context - such as customer satisfaction or various measures of efficiency - that might be examined in future studies.\nAcknowledgements: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the US Government.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Information systems (IS) play a substantial role in managing reverse logistics (RL) processes. However, the RL literature rarely takes a holistic approach to examining the \"success\" of IS employment. Drawing on the rich literature base from the IS field, the authors explore IS Success theory in the context of RL. Considering Diffusion of Innovation theory, the authors also examine the effect of motivation on IS utilization. In doing so, the authors provide scholars and practitioners with insight into the factors affecting the success of a RL IS. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based upon DeLone and McLean's IS Success theory, the authors develop the model to consider information quality, IS utilization, and RL cost effectiveness (as a proxy for net benefits). The authors disaggregate RL into two processes and thus consider the model from two perspectives: the process of receiving returns from customers (inbound) and the process of returning products to suppliers (outbound). The authors survey 136 RL professionals and employ partial least squares modeling for data analysis.\nFindings: For both inbound and outbound path models, information quality is significantly and positively related to IS utilization; in turn, IS utilization is a significant predictor of net benefits. For inbound, RL goals provide significant motivation to drive IS utilization. For outbound, RL challenges provide significant motivation for IS utilization.\nOriginality/value: The authors bring IS Success theory into the context of RL. Additionally, by investigating the topic from both inbound and outbound perspectives, the findings suggest differences between inbound and outbound RL processes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sequence generation for learning: a transformation from past to future	[ "Learning objects", "Concept maps", "Learning path", "Automatic sequencing of objects", "Sequence generation", "Soft computing approaches", "Bio-inspired computation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: E-learning systems have been a part of information technology right from the first network, which was created with the intention of students sharing their research work in universities. The term has evolved from a wider area of web-based learning, which involves all aspects of the learning process that uses the World Wide Web as a basic technology and the medium of communication. The term E-learning was coined in the year 1999 in Los Angeles at a conference on CBT (Klasnja-Milicevic et al., 2017).\n2. Methods: Since the inception of personalization in E-learning, learning path generation has been deeply explored by education researchers. A search on the Google Scholar with the combined query of \"Learning path Generation\" and \"E-learning\" with the \"anywhere in the article\" clause produced 43,600 results, making it very difficult to skim through them. Further, when the query was modified to search for \"learning path generation\" in the title, it produced only 26 results. The results were again filtered from the year 2005 and later, 17, 900 results were the set of titles that were produced. The titles were included for the first reading if the titles contained \"adaptive learning path,\" \"personalized learning path,\" \"curriculum sequencing,\" \"course sequencing,\" and allied terms were included in the first read.\n3. Review of learning path generation methods: Below is the table that summarizes the different methods used for learning path generation. The papers that use the different approaches, the attributes used for learning path generation, whether the learner attributes are manually collected or automatically deduced, whether the path generated is static or dynamic is presented in Table I.\n4. Benefits of learning path generation: The benefits of learning path generation lies in the basis of personalized learning, which itself is based on the theory of differentiated instruction which states that \"every individual is different and to ensure that every learner learns effectively the teacher must adapt the lesson to suit the individual's need\" (Subban, 2006). Personalized learning theories are consistent with the constructivist theory of learning.\n5. Challenges in sequence generation systems and future areas of research: The review of learning path generation methods has led us to various interesting deductions that can be incorporated into systems being developed in the future. Some of the interesting observations are listed below:\n6. Conclusions: Learning sequence generation systems have been in use since the advent of E-learning systems. It is only in the last 15 years that they have seen widespread use in online learning systems. As such recommender systems is a very old field, but sequence generation is a relatively young field. As the literature demonstrates, learning sequence generation systems are effective in providing learners with individualized learning experiences which will prove to them beneficial as they are in accordance with their needs, preferences and inherent characteristics. Fewer other benefits might include time being saved at the learner front when accessing resources for a concept and the time taken to learn a concept or retain certain concepts. On the other hand, the designers may be challenged with the fact that designing such a system which will without disturbing the learner gather all the learner characteristics and generate a learning path which will prove beneficial to them. Machine learning algorithms may be incorporated as an ensemble to deduce the learner characteristics and remaining parts of the ensemble to use the historical data to analyze what similar learner groups have benefited from, in the past. Given the evidence that such type of systems is valuable and affect the learner's intellect. Researchers must continue to work in this area and use more learner attributes to generate learning sequences.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the different sequence generation techniques for learning, which are applied to a broad category of personalized learning experiences. The papers have been classified using different attributes, such as the techniques used for sequence generation, attributes used for sequence generation; whether the learner is profiled automatically or manually; and whether the path generated is dynamic or static.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The search for terms learning sequence generation and E-learning produced thousands of results. The results were filtered, and a few questions were answered before including them in the review. Papers published only after 2005 were included in the review.\nFindings: The findings of the paper were: most of the systems generated non-adaptive paths. Systems asked the learners to manually enter their attributes. The systems used one or a maximum of two learner attributes for path generation.\nOriginality/value: The review pointed out the importance and benefits of learning sequence generation systems. The problems in existing systems and future areas of research were identified which will help future researchers to pursue research in this area.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Machine learning for Asian language text classification	[ "Languages", "Classification", "Modelling", "China", "Japan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Text classification addresses the problem of assigning a given passage of text (or a document) to one or more predefined classes. This is an important area of information retrieval research that has been heavily investigated, although most of the research activity has concentrated on English text (Dumais et al., 1998; McCallum and Nigam, 1998; Yang, 1999). Text 1 classification in Asian languages such as Chinese and Japanese, however, is also an important (and relatively more recent) area of research that introduces a number of additional difficulties. One difficulty with Chinese and Japanese text classification is that, unlike English, Chinese and Japanese texts do not have explicit whitespace between words. This means that some form of word segmentation is normally required before further processing. However, word segmentation itself is a difficult problem in these languages. A second difficulty is that there is a lack of standard benchmark data sets for these languages. Nevertheless, recently, there has been significant notable progress on Chinese and Japanese text classification (Aizawa, 2001; He et al., 2003).Many standard machine learning techniques have been applied to text categorization problems, such as naive Bayes classifiers, support vector machines, linear least squares models, neural networks, and k-nearest neighbor classifiers (Sebastiani, 2002; Yang, 1999). A common aspect of these approaches is that they treat text categorization as a standard classification problem, and thereby reduce the learning process to two simple steps: feature engineering, and classification learning over the feature space. Of these two steps, feature engineering is critical to achieving good performance in text categorization problems. Once good features are identified, almost any reasonable technique for learning a classifier seems to perform reasonably well (Scott and Matwin, 1999).Unfortunately, the standard classification learning methodology has several drawbacks. First, there are an enormous number of possible features to consider in text categorization, and standard feature selection approaches do not always cope well in such circumstances. For example, given a sufficiently large number of features, the cumulative effect of uncommon features can still have an important effect on classification accuracy, even though infrequent features contribute less information than common features individually. Therefore, throwing away uncommon features is usually not an appropriate strategy in this domain (Aizawa, 2001). Another problem is that feature selection normally uses indirect tests, such as kh2 or mutual information, which involve setting arbitrary thresholds and conducting a heuristic greedy search to find a good subset of features. Moreover, by treating text categorization as a classical classification problem, standard approaches can ignore the fact that texts are written in natural language, which means that they have many implicit regularities that can be well modeled by specific tools from natural language processing.In this paper, we propose a simple text categorization approach based on statistical n-gram language modeling to overcome the above shortcomings. An advantage we exploit is that the language modeling approach does not discard low frequency features during classification, as is commonly done in traditional classification learning approaches. Also, the language modeling approach uses n-gram models to capture more contextual information than standard bag-of-words approaches, and employs better smoothing techniques than standard classification learning. These advantages are supported by our empirical results on Chinese and Japanese data.In oriental languages such as Chinese and Japanese, there are two obvious and distinct ways to perform text classification: character based and word based. In the word based approach, one first must segment the character sequence into individual words, and then apply standard classification techniques from word based textual languages, such as English (He et al., 2003). In the character based approach, by contrast, one instead works directly with character level n-gram features and side steps the segmentation problem (Damashek, 1995). However, although Chinese text classification can be conducted entirely at the character n-gram level, it is still not clear that this is a better approach than taking word segmentation information into account as well. Moreover, if word segmentation information is useful, one is still left with the question of determining the relationship between classification performance and segmentation accuracy. Answering these questions is of theoretical and practical importance in designing Chinese and Japanese text classification systems.The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. We first introduce the three standard text classifiers to which our language modeling approach is compared (Section 2). We then present the language modeling based approach in Section 3. We discuss the problem of word segmentation in Chinese and Japanese text in Section 4, and then empirically evaluate our statistical language modeling based approach on Chinese and Japanese datasets in Section 5. Finally, a detailed discussion and analysis of the results is offered in Section 6 and conclusions are given in Section 7.\n2. Text classification methods: Text classification is the problem of assigning a document D to one of a set of \|C\| pre-defined categories C={c1, c2, ... , c\|C\|}. Normally a supervised learning framework is used to train a text classifier, where a learning algorithm is provided a set of N labeled training examples {(di, ci): i=1, ... , N} from which it must produce a classification function F : D - C that maps documents to categories. Here di denotes the ith training document and ci is the corresponding category label of di. We use the random variables D and C to denote the document and category values respectively. A probabilistic text classifier is formulated as the following decision problem: given a document d, determine the class label c* that yields the highest posterior probability P(C=c\|D=d) (written P(c\|d) for simplicity): Equation 1 We introduce the three standard text classifiers that we will compare against below.2.1 Naive Bayes classifiers\n3. Language model text classifiers: We now present a language modeling based text classifier. The goal of language modeling is to predict the probability of natural word sequences; or more simply, to put high probability on word sequences that actually occur (and low probability on word sequences that never occur). Given a word sequence w1w2...wT to be used as a test corpus, the quality of a language model can be measured by the empirical perplexity (or entropy) on this corpus: Equation 12 Equation 13 The goal of language modeling is to obtain a small perplexity.3.1 N-gram language modeling\n4. Chinese word segmentation: To investigate the role of word segmentation in Chinese and Japanese text classification,we first introduce the basic word segmentation problem, which for these languages has been extensively researched. To obtain a range of segmentation accuracies, we employ three different word segmentation algorithms: a dictionary based approach, a compression based approach, and an EM based approach. The details of these algorithms can be found in the given references (Beaulieu et al., 1997; Peng and Schuurmans, 2001; Teahan et al., 2001). For the sake of completeness we briefly describe the basic approaches here.4.1 Dictionary based word segmentation\n5. Empirical evaluation: We now present our experimental results on Chinese and Japanese text classification problems. The Chinese data set we used has been previously investigated in (He et al., 2003). The corpus is a subset of the TREC-5 People's Daily news corpus published by the Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC) in 1995. The entire TREC-5 data set contains 164,789 documents on a variety of topics, including international and domestic news, sports, and culture. The corpus was originally intended for research on information retrieval. To make the data set suitable for text categorization, documents were first clustered into 101 groups that shared the same headline (as indicated by an SGML tag). The six most frequent groups were selected to make a Chinese text categorization data set.For Japanese text classification, we consider the Japanese text classification data investigated by (Aizawa, 2001). This data set was converted from the NTCIR-J1 data set originally created for Japanese text retrieval research. The conversion process is similar to Chinese data. The final text classification dataset has 24 categories which are unevenly distributed.5.1 Experimental paradigm\n6. Discussion and analysis: We now give a detailed analysis and discussion based on the above results.We first compare the language model based classifiers with other classifiers, and then analyze the influence of the order n of the n-gram model, the influence of the smoothing method, the influence of the feature selection method, and the effect of word segmentation accuracy.6.1 Comparing classifier performance\n7. Conclusion: We have presented a simple language model based approach for Chinese and Japanese text classification. By comparison to three standard text classifiers, the language modeling approach consistently demonstrates better classification accuracies given the same feature space. On the character level, the language modeling classifier also performs better than the maximum entropy classifier. Although straightforward, the language modeling approach appears to give state of the art results for Chinese and Japanese text classification. We also investigated the relationship between word segmentation accuracy and classification performance, and confirmed that the relationship is non-monotonic. Nevertheless, it was found that word segmentation still plays an important role in Chinese text classification.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research is to compare several machine learning techniques on the task of Asian language text classification, such as Chinese and Japanese where no word boundary information is available in written text. The paper advocates a simple language modeling based approach for this task.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Naive Bayes, maximum entropy model, support vector machines, and language modeling approaches were implemented and were applied to Chinese and Japanese text classification. To investigate the influence of word segmentation, different word segmentation approaches were investigated and applied to Chinese text. A segmentation-based approach was compared with the non-segmentation-based approach.\nFindings: - There were two findings: the experiments show that statistical language modeling can significantly outperform standard techniques, given the same set of features; and it was found that classification with word level features normally yields improved classification performance, but that classification performance is not monotonically related to segmentation accuracy. In particular, classification performance may initially improve with increased segmentation accuracy, but eventually classification performance stops improving, and can in fact even decrease, after a certain level of segmentation accuracy.\nPractical implications: - Apply the findings to real web text classification is ongoing work.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is very relevant to Chinese and Japanese information processing, e.g. webpage classification, web search.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Automating knowledge acquisition for constraint-based product configuration	[ "Configuration management", "Knowledge management systems", "Knowledge creation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's manufacturing industry, the trend has been changing from mass production to mass customization (Piller and Stotko, 2002). Companies compete with each other by producing personalised products with short time-to-market. Effective and efficient product configuration process (Franke and Piller, 2003) will enhance manufacturers' capability in generating product variants. Therefore, it has been a key enabler for mass customization. On the other hand, computer-aided product configuration is considered as one of the most successful applications of knowledge-based approaches in the past decade. Knowledge-based configurations can be classified into three different approaches, namely rule-based (Gunter and Kuhn, 1999), model-based (Stegmann et al., 2003) and case-based approaches (Tseng et al., 2005). Past research has mainly focused on the development of reasoning techniques for mapping requirements to configurations. Despite the success of certain conventional approaches, they faced the challenge of digitizing and capturing the design knowledge in the system and the acquisition of configuration knowledge is usually done manually.Product variation grows exponentially due to the increasing demand of customized products. Manually keying in the configuration knowledge into a computer-based configurator is time consuming and error prone. Especially for complex product, the design constraints among components and attributes are complicated and large in amount. Manual generation is impractical. In the practical product configuration environment, knowledge of existing products or historical product data plays an important role in new product variant generation. Designers rely heavily on the past design data. In this paper, we develop a constraint-based product configuration system and propose a novel approach in generating product configuration constraints.A number of previous work has dealt with IT-supported configuration for consumer products. Companies like Dell Computer and American Power Conversion have implemented their own web-based configurator to facilitate product sales (Hvam, 2006). It is useful for selecting highly modularized product components which are stored in company's database, where customization is not necessary. However, it is not feasible for most of the current products with complex composition. Constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) was first introduced in configuring elevator systems in Yost and Rothenfluh (1996). It shows how CSP can efficiently solve the complex configuration problem. With constraint-based configurator, the change impact in design can be easily traced as well (Mckay et al., 2003). On the other hand, review shows that few researches have focused on knowledge discovery in the design phase. Shao et al. (2006) applied data mining techniques in discovery of product configuration rules based on customer group. It is a significant work in mining the mapping relationship between customer cluster and design specification. However, it was not aware of the constraint among the design parameters and may result in a configuration that violates the design or physical principle. Wu and Hsiao (2006) adopted association rule mining techniques in capturing logic implication in the circuit design. However, the approach may not be as effective in capturing product design knowledge where manufacturing parts and parameters relationships have more variety in type.In this paper, a constraint-based configurator is presented. A data mining approach is proposed in discovering the constraint in configuration. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the constraint-based product configuration. Section 3 presents the detail illustration of the proposed data mining approach. Experimental results will be shown and discussed here. Section 4 concludes the limitations of the current work and future research.\nConstraint-based product configuration: Figure 1 shows the general flow of the constraint-based configurator design. General product data model is important in configuration problem (Ling et al., 2005). It is to capture the compositional information of product family (Du et al., 2002) and individual product variants. Constraint model is responsible for representing design specification proposed by designer, as well as the requirements from the customers. This information is usually known as configuration knowledge, which is modelled by using the concept of variables, domain and constraints in constraint-based configuration. A CSP solving algorithm (Kumar, 1992) is applied in the constraint solver to generate a list of solutions based on the configuration knowledge.Product data model\nCongifuration knowledge generation: As discussed above, configuration knowledge refers to the constraints in the CSP problem. From a number of product configurations, we will be able to discover the possible relationships among components and attributes by evaluating their probability of the co-existence in the same configuration. The constraint discovery targets in mining the configuration knowledge in a product family. As shown in Figure 5, the product variants are instantiated from product family model, where the constraints are imposed. By applying the following proposed approach, the constraints are expected to be automatically generated from the variants.Approach\nSummary: Efficient product configuration process is crucial for enabling mass customization. This paper presents the work in developing a constraint-based configurator. The proposed data mining technique in discovering configuration is discussed. Conventional types of configuration constraints are modelled and the effectiveness of the computer-aid configuration is shown. However, the computational complexity of the CSP in solving configuration is yet to be examined. Association rule mining technique is proved to be a good candidate for the constraint generation during the configuration process. Given sufficient number of product variants information, the system is able to generate acceptable configuration constraints efficiently. It greatly reduces the effort in product configuration acquisition for the configurator. Besides the significant of the approach in product configuration, the rule acquired can be used to assist the new product design. It can be enhanced to generate the design knowledge for a portion of the new design that has been existed or similar to the existing modules.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Product configuration is considered as one of the most successful applications of knowledge-based approaches in the past decade. Knowledge-based configurations can be classified into three different approaches, namely, rule-based, model-based and case-based approaches. Past research has mainly focused on the development of reasoning techniques for mapping requirements to configurations. Despite the success of certain conventional approaches, the acquisition of configuration knowledge is usually done manually. This paper aims to explore fundamental issues in product configuration system, and propose a novel approach based on data mining techniques to automatically discover configuration knowledge in constraint-based configurations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Given a set of product data comprising product requirements specification and configuration information, the paper adopted an association rule mining algorithm to discover useful patterns between requirement specification and product components, as well as the correlation among product components. A configuration was developed which takes XML-based requirement specification as input and bases on a constraint knowledge base to produce product configuration as output consisting of a list of selected components and the structure and topology of the product. Three modules are developed, namely product data modelling, configuration knowledge generation and product configuration generation module. The proposed approach is implemented in the configuration knowledge generation module. The configuration generation module realizes a resolution of constraint satisfaction problem to generate the output configuration.\nFindings: - The significance and effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by its incorporation in our configuration system prototype. A case study was conducted and experimental results show that the approach is promising in finding constraints with given sufficient data.\nOriginality/value: - Novel knowledge generation approach is proposed to assist constraint generation for Constraint-based product configuration system.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effect of competitive strategies and organizational structure on hotel performance	[ "United States of America", "Hotels", "Competitive strategy", "Organizational structure", "Organizational performance", "Brand image", "Human resource management", "Information technology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: One of the major goals of business managers is to achieve superior performance. Prior research has shown strategy formulation and implementation to be key factors in accomplishing this goal (Chathoth and Olsen, 2007). Many hoteliers develop competitive strategies that aim to secure a strong market position and achieve profitability outcomes. In line with Barney's (1991) approach, such competitive strategies are commonly formulated by assessing the internal resources of the firm (e.g. tangible and intangible assets and organizational capabilities). Enz (2008) argued that a single resource cannot create competitive advantage. Rather, it is the combination of competitive resources - branding, human resources (HR), information technology (IT) innovations, computer reservation systems, niche marketing and advertising, and pricing tactics - that can increase a hotel's capabilities and improve performance (Olsen et al., 2008). Hotels with strong resources can distinguish themselves from their competitors and survive in a competitive environment.The attainment of superior performance is a challenging, if not impossible, task if hoteliers do not implement an organizational structure that harnesses their internal resources and allows them to respond to the business environment at both the proper time and in an appropriate manner (Galetic et al., 2007). The organizational structure defines the physical environment in which employee behavior occurs (Dalton et al., 1980). Organizational structures can be categorized as either mechanistic or organic. A mechanistic structure is highly formalized, non-participative, hierarchical, tightly controlled, and inflexible, whereas an organic structure is defined by its informality, decentralization of authority, open channels of communication, and flexibility (Khandwalla, 1977). The former is more suited to industries with low rates of technical and market change (Burns and Stalker, 1961) and can help hoteliers to monitor cost effectiveness and quality. The latter, in contrast, is more appropriate for situations in which hoteliers have to deal with rapid changes in the environment and prefer a minimal degree of hierarchy (Covin and Slevin, 1990). An organic structure by nature also allows for greater flexibility in staff work activities.Capitalizing on areas of strength in internal resources plays an important role in the success of a hotel. Many studies have explored the relationships between firm performance and brand image (Enz, 2008; Holverson and Revaz, 2006), HR (Enz, 2008), and IT (Jonsson and Devonish, 2009) and that between organizational structure and organizational success (Barth, 2003; Galetic et al., 2007; Olsen et al., 2008), but the role played by organizational structure and the question of whether a mechanistic or organic such structure is more appropriate for business implementation are largely unexamined issues. Further, the nature of the relationship between - or the respective roles played by - organizational structure and performance has not yet been clearly identified (Burns and Stalker, 1961; Covin and Slevin, 1990; Jogaratnam and Tse, 2004; Tarigan, 2005). The objectives of the study reported herein were thus to investigate the influence of competitive strategies and organizational structure on hotel performance and explore whether organizational structure has a moderating effect on the relationship between competitive strategies and hotel performance.\nLiterature review: Resource-based approach\nMethodology: Research design and survey instrument\nResults: Characteristics of respondents and hotel properties\nDiscussion and implications: This study investigated the influences of competitive strategies and organizational structure on hotel performance, as well as the moderating effects of organizational structure on the relationship between these strategies and hotel performance. Its results show a competitive HR strategy to have a direct impact on a hotel's behavioral performance (Crook et al., 2003; Wang and Shyu, 2008) and a competitive IT strategy to have a direct impact on a hotel's financial performance (Jonsson and Devonish, 2009; Law and Jogaratnam, 2005). Organizational structure is found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between both of these strategies and behavioral performance, a result similar to those reported by Jogaratnam and Tse (2004) and Tarigan (2005). However, the results of the current study show that organizational structure has no influence on the relationship between a brand image strategy and a hotel's behavioral performance, and nor does it have any moderating effects on the relationship between a hotel's financial performance and its competitive brand image, HR, or IT strategy.This study provides further evidence of how competitive strategies and organizational structure help to explain hotel performance; that is, competitive HR and IT strategies are a good measure of such performance, whereas a brand image strategy and organizational structure are not good explanatory factors in this regard. A variety of other resources internal to individual hotels may have differing, but important, effects on hotel performance, for example, hotel size, category, and affiliation (Claver-Cortes et al., 2007).As noted, a competitive IT strategy is found to have a direct impact on a hotel's financial performance. For example, IT advances allow coordination between a hotel's guest reservation system and online booking from a central location (Whitla et al., 2007), which, in turn, can boost a hotel's sales volume and other financial figures. Even if IT advances are not a major competency in such lodging categories as resorts and motels/inns, they can still improve internal business operations and coordination among different departments, reduce employee workloads, and increase employee satisfaction. Hotels that lack IT resources, whether hardware or software, may consider leasing them to boost overall hotel performance.Although this study produced no consistent evidence of organizational structure's moderating effect on the relationship between competitive strategies and hotel performance, its results do have a number of managerial implications. First, supportive organizational structures, whether mechanistic or organic in nature, can optimize firm performance (Jogaratnam and Tse, 2006). Hotels with a mechanistic such structure enjoy a greater relationship between a competitive HR strategy and behavioral performance than their organically structured counterparts because a competitive such strategy is a necessary component of any service business, especially at the operational level. A wide-ranging set of training and development programs should be standardized to monitor the consistency of service standards. All employees must follow hotel rules and procedures to satisfy customers and complete their daily tasks in a satisfactory manner. A mechanistic structure would therefore be a suitable choice for a HR training and development strategy. This result is similar to Simons' (2000) notion that a centralized structure can help an organization to control employees at lower levels of the organizational hierarchy, thereby resulting in functional and efficient employee behavior. In many cases, HR strategies are developed at headquarters and then implemented in affiliated hotels. As a result, managing a competitive HR strategy via a mechanistic structure may be a suitable arrangement for achieving behavioral standards in different hotel properties under the same brand name.With regard to IT strategic implementation, in contrast, hotels with an organic structure enjoy superior behavioral performance to those with a mechanistic structure. IT advances help hotels to meet customer expectations and assist employees in completing their work duties. An organic structure enables employees to respond promptly during service encounters. When customers receive a fast response and timely service from employees as a result of using an electronic reservation system, for example, their level of satisfaction increases (Yeh et al., 2005). IT is an essential component in any strategic planning process aimed at improving both business performance and customer service (Law and Jogaratnam, 2005). An organic structure empowers hotel employees, rendering them more confident in their ability to discharge their responsibilities. Employee satisfaction also improves when management provides a less restrictive working environment.Brand image is a key success factor in the hotel business, although this study produced no evidence of its impact on hotel performance. A hotel's brand image is no doubt built among customers through other strategic methods. In this study, a hotel's brand image strategy was found to have a moderate correlation with its HR and IT strategies, thus implying that the former can be integrated with the latter. In addition to HR and IT strategies, advertising and marketing and/or delivery service strategic methods can also create a positive brand image for hotels. Hoteliers need to understand that their main business goal should be to maximize the market value of their hotel's assets and recognize that the hotel's brand name is a very valuable such asset in positioning and flagging ('Neill and Xiao, 2006). Hence, hoteliers should devote considerable effort to promoting a positive brand image.Surprisingly, organizational structure was found to have no moderating effect on the relationship between financial performance and the three competitive strategies examined herein - brand image, HR, and IT strategies - a finding similar to that reported by Grinyer et al. (1980). Organizational structure has a major influence on behavioral, rather than financial, performance. Some hoteliers concentrate on stakeholders' interests rather than on the financial performance of the business. All of these relationship measures rely on behavioral performance in terms of customer and employee satisfaction rather than financial performance. Another observation is that many of the hoteliers who participated in this study were from independent hotels. Some independent hotels lack the resource capital necessary to promote their brand and invest in IT, thereby resulting in poorer financial performance relative to their chain-affiliated counterparts (Claver-Cortes et al., 2007).When hoteliers face an uncertain environment, they need to select which form of organizational structure to adopt with care. Hotels that adopt an organic structure allow greater flexibility in the workplace, meaning that they may lose control of their employees and productivity. As employees are empowered to spend more time on service delivery to customers, there is the potential for employee productivity to decline. Furthermore, if employees are spending more time on each guest, then those waiting to be served may perceive the hotel's performance standards to be unsatisfactory. To compensate, hoteliers may consider hiring additional staff, which would have consequences for financial performance. A mechanistic organizational structure, in contrast, gives hoteliers the power to monitor employee behavior and productivity, which may help them to achieve goals and boost financial performance. However, customers will not appreciate the resulting lower standard of service provided by employees or the reduced amount of time spent on them, which may lead to poor behavioral performance from the customer perspective.Overall, the results of this study suggest that some outcomes of HR and IT strategies can independently explain hotel performance. It is also clear that such factors as organizational structure should be taken into account in implementing and measuring hotel performance. In assessing which goals are most important, and thus which type of organizational structure is preferable, hoteliers must consider their business objectives. Desirable performance can be achieved if hotels implement the right strategies via a suitable organizational structure.\nLimitations and future research: This study is subject to a number of limitations. First, it was conducted between October and December 2008, and the results may thus be biased by seasonality. One-off events in particular properties may not be applicable to future property transactions. It is therefore recommended that future studies can be conducted during different times of the year, as perceptions of the issues discussed herein may differ over time. Second, such hotel characteristics as hotel size, affiliation, and lodging segmentation were not investigated in this research, and they may have impacts on the factors under study. In addition to the brand image, HR, and IT competitive strategies included in the current study, it is suggested that future research explore the functions of other competitive strategies, such as pricing and customer relationship-building, in explaining hotel performance. Data analysis techniques such as confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling are the recommended tools for such research, as they can improve the reliability and validity of the constructs being examined. Third, the perceptual measure of financial performance employed in the current study may mislead readers as to the exact nature of actual business performance outcomes. Such objective financial indicators as the average occupancy rate, amount of profit earned, and return on investment ratio would be ideal alternative measures in future research, although, in reality, these types of objective data are highly sensitive and very difficult to obtain. Finally, the generalizability of the study's results may be limited due to the low response rate to the online survey. Non-respondents may have had different perceptions of the issues examined. The use of alternative data collection procedures, such as a mail survey or face-to-face interviews, in combination with the online survey may have improved the response rate and should be considered in future research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of competitive strategies and organizational structure on hotel performance and to explore whether organizational structure has a moderating effect on the relationship between competitive strategies and hotel performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study employed a causal and descriptive research design to determine the cause-and-effect relationships among competitive strategies, organizational structure, and hotel performance based on previous studies. A 28-question self-administered questionnaire comprising three sections was employed. The target population for this study was US hotel owners and general and executive managers whose e-mail addresses were listed on a publicly available database. A census survey was carried out and e-mails were sent to all of the hoteliers listed in the database.\nFindings: - The results show a competitive human resources (HR) strategy to have a direct impact on a hotel's behavioral performance, and a competitive IT strategy to have a direct impact on a hotel's financial performance. Organizational structure is found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between both of these strategies and behavioral performance, a result similar to those reported by Jogaratnam and Tse and by Tarigan. However, the results of the current study show that organizational structure has no influence on the relationship between a brand image strategy and a hotel's behavioral performance, nor does it have any moderating effect on the relationship between a hotel's financial performance and its competitive brand image, HR or IT strategy.\nPractical implications: - When hoteliers face an uncertain environment, they need to select which form of organizational structure to adopt with care. Hotels that adopt an organic structure allow greater flexibility in the workplace, meaning that they may lose control of their employees and productivity. A mechanistic organizational structure, in contrast, gives hoteliers the power to monitor employee behavior and productivity, which may help them to achieve goals and boost financial performance.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides further evidence of how competitive HR and IT strategies help to explain hotel performance, whereas a brand image strategy and organizational structure are not good explanatory factors in this regard. Hotels with a mechanistic such structure enjoy a greater relationship between a competitive HR strategy and behavioral performance than their organically structured counterparts. With regard to IT strategic implementation, in contrast, hotels with an organic structure enjoy superior behavioral performance to those with a mechanistic structure.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An MCDA-C application to evaluate supply chain performance	[]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper has been written in a context where organizations are under constant pressure to create innovative and attractive solutions for their customers. At the same time, these solutions must bring outstanding results for companies by reducing costs, adding value to clients and consuming less natural resources, amongst other issue.\n2. MCDA-C: The origins of the MCDA-C date back more than 200 years, but its formulation as a scientific management instrument occurred in the 1990s in the work of Roy and Vanderpooten (1996), Landry (1995) and Keeney (1992), amongst others. Its application can be especially useful to support decision making in complex, conflicting and uncertain environments (Almeida et al., 2011, 2012; Bana e Costa et al., 2008, 2012, 2014; Bana e Costa and Oliveira, 2012; Bana e Costa and Silva, 2008; Bana e Costa, 2007; Belton and Stewart, 2002; Canedo and Almeida, 2008; Ensslin et al., 2000; Montibeller et al., 2007; Mota et al., 2009; Phillips and Bana e Costa, 2007; Pinheiro et al., 2008; Ramos et al., 2007; Soares de Mello et al., 2002, 2010). Contexts are complex when they are influenced by multiple criteria that may be perceived in completely different ways by the actors involved. Contexts are conflicting when these actors have different interests that need to be reconciled. Contexts are uncertain when there is lack of knowledge about the quantitative and qualitative aspects that decision makers wish to measure accurately (Ensslin et al., 2010).\n3. Case study: a supply chain performance evaluation model: The following sections show the results of implementing the MCDA-C for an internal supply chain in the refrigeration equipment industry. The process starts in the structuring phase.\n4. Conclusions: This paper aimed at developing a supply chain performance evaluation model that was customized to the values and preferences of the Vice-President of Operations for a company in the refrigeration sector. Given the supply chain's complex, conflicting and uncertain environment, the MCDA-C methodology was chosen as the intervention instrument. After discussing the theoretical framework of supply chain performance evaluation and the MCDA-C, the paper presented the results of the case study. In keeping with the applied methodology, the case study was divided into three stages: structuring, evaluation and recommendations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a performance evaluation model for the operations of the supply chain of an organization of the refrigeration equipment sector. The tool must aid the decision maker in the performance improvement and creation of competitive advantages.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopts a mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches and applies them through a case study. The data collection was conducted through unstructured interviews and supplemented by documentary research. The applied intervention instrument is the Multicriteria Decision Aid - Constructivist (MCDA-C).\nFindings: Identification, organization, ordinal and cardinal measurement and integration of the aspects of the context judged as relevant by the decision maker. In addition, it can be highlighted the current situation diagnosis and elaboration of improvement actions related to lean philosophy and advanced planning systems.\nPractical implications: The developed model is being used to aid the decision maker in their decisions concerning the improvement of the supply chain operations.\nOriginality/value: The main contributions made by the paper resides in the proposal of solutions for fulfiling gaps identified within the supply chain performance evaluation area and in the application of the MCDA-C to a practical case.\nKeywords: Performance, Supply chain, Multicriteria, Decision, MCDA-C\nPaper type: Case study\nResumen: Objetivo\nObjetivo: El objetivo de este articulo es desarrollar un Modelo de Desempeno para las operaciones de cadena de suministro de una organizacion en el sector de equipos de refrigeracion. La herramienta debe ayudar a quien toma las decisiones en mejorar el desempeno y crear ventajas competitivas.\nDiseno/metodologia/enfoque: El estudio usa una combinacion de enfoques cualitativos y cuantitativos aplicandolos a un caso estudio. La recoleccion de datos se hizo a traves de entrevistas no estructuradas y se complemento con investigacion documental. El instrumento de intervencion usado es el Multicriterio De Apoyo a la Decision-Constructivista (MCDA-C).\nHallazgos: Identificacion, organizacion, mediciones ordinales y cardinales e integracion de los aspectos de los contextos considerados como relevantes por el tomador de decisiones. Se puede destacar ademas la situacion actual de diagnostico y la elaboracion de acciones de mejoramiento relacionados con la filosofia Lean y los Sistemas avanzados de planificacion.\nImplicaciones practicas: El modelo desarrollado esta siendo usado para ayudar al toma decisiones en las decisiones concernientes con el mejoramiento de las operaciones de la cadena de suministro.\nOriginalidad/valor: La mayor contribucion hecha por este articulo reside en proponer soluciones para cubrir brechas identificadas dentro el area de Evaluacion de Rendimiento en la Cadena de Suministro y en la aplicacion del MCDA-C a un caso practico.\nPalabras Claves: Desempeno, Cadena de Suministro, Decision, Multicriterio, MCDA-C\nTipo de papel: estudio de caso\nResumo: Objetivo\nObjetivo: O objetivo de este artigo e desenvolver um Modelo de Avaliacao Desempenho para as operacoes da cadeia de suprimentos de uma organizacao do setor de equipamentos de refrigeracao. O modelo proposto deve ajudar o tomador de decisoes a melhorar o desempenho e criar vantagens competitivas.\nDesenho/metodologia/enfoque: O estudo faz uso de uma abordagem qualitativa e quantitativa aplicada em um Estudo de Caso. A coleta dos dados foi feita por meio de entrevistas abertas, sendo complementada por pesquisa documental. O instrumento de intervencao usado e o Multicriteria Decision Aid - Constructivist (MCDA-C).\nAchados: Identificacao, organizacao, medicoes ordinais e cardinais, e integracao dos aspectos do contexto sao considerados como relevantes para o tomador de decisoes. Alem disso, destacam-se o diagnostico da situacao atual e a elaboracao de acoes de aperfeicoamento, nas quais se avaliam os efeitos da implementacao da Filosofia Enxuta e de um Sistema de Planejamento Avancado na organizacao.\nImplicacoes praticas: O modelo desenvolvido auxilia o tomador de decisoes nas decisoes concernentes ao melhoramento das operacoes da cadeia de suprimentos.\nOriginalidade/valor: As principais contribuicoes do artigo residem na proposicao de melhorias em lacunas ainda presentes na avaliacao do desempenho da cadeia de suprimentos e tambem na aplicacao da MCDA-C em um caso pratico.\nPalavras-Chave: Desempenho, Cadeia de Suprimentos, MCDA-C, Decisao, Multicriterio\nTipo de papel: estudo de caso\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Linking perceived organizational support and organizational justice to employees' in-role performance and organizational cynicism through organizational trust: A field investigation in India	[ "Structural equation modelling", "Organizational cynicism", "Perceived organizational support", "Organizational justice", "Organizational trust", "In-role performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The current business scenario is complicated, unpredictable, and chaotic (Harris and Short, 2013). In this connection, this study attempts to examine organizational practices and policies that are mutually beneficial to employers and employees, which lead to sense and meaning making at the workplace, and which emphasizes overall employee upliftment and learning (e.g. Harris and Short, 2013; Illeris, 2011). Accordingly, this study considers the Indian organizational setting comprising organizations that are of local origin as well as multinational corporations operating in India and employing an Indian workforce.\nPOS: POS, developed and reported by (Eisenberger et al., 1986, p. 501), has been conceptually defined as an overall understanding by an employee that his/her organization is concerned about him/her and is ready to meet his/her role-related as well as extra-role needs and aspirations. According to Eisenberger et al. (2001), POS or lack of it may be viewed as employees' experiences of altruistic or selfish motives of his/her employing organization that creates a sense of duty or leads to negative outcomes such as stress and annoyance, respectively. It has been further argued that POS by employees is an expected outcome when employees on their part adhere to organization-espoused practices, scripted policies, traditions, and mores.\nOrganizational justice: According to Liden et al. (2003), organizational justice applies to a wide range of HRM policies and practices that are administered in organizations all over the world. On joining the organization, an individual passes through a brief, but continuous and meaningful period of induction and socialization. That is to say, individuals at this time may examine whether the organization has indeed made provisions for them as promised during the selection and recruitment phase. Subsequently, there comes a point in an employee's organizational tenure when he/she starts to compare their self-provisions in terms of material rewards and benefits such as pay and skills development, in terms of policies and procedures such as promotion opportunities in future, and in terms of the significance of jobs allocated as also with respect to interactions with supervisors, peers, and subordinates. Our observations corroborate with earlier comments found in the literature (Holtz and Harold, 2011; Liu and Ding, 2012). In the context of our study setting, historically in India we have the notions of belief in others (vishwas) and self-belief (atma vishwas) which is implicit in our social relationships. Thus, our trust and perceptions of benevolence of our employers shall be supported further by perceptions of fair treatments meted out to us. Extant interdisciplinary readings (e.g. Tod, 1829; Peck, 2011) bear out these arguments. More recently, studies have presented the process whereby social exchange interaction and equity perceptions have been placed side by side to promote a sense of fair play which, in turn, motivates employees to accomplish designated tasks and keep negative attitudes such as worry, frustration, and cynicism at bay (Rafferty and Restubog, 2011).\nOrganizational trust: For the purpose of this study we identified another key construct, that is organizational trust, which is based in the SET and has been found to be an antecedent to various workplace consequences including in-role and extra-role behavior, employee involvement, and organizational commitment (Wang et al., 2013).\nResearch design: Subjects and procedures\nResults: To assess the uniqueness of the measures of the self-reported study variables, that is POS, organizational justice, organizational trust, and organizational cynicism, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted. Using AMOS 16.0, the fits of two nested models were compared: a one-factor model including all the four constructs, and a four-factor model considering the constructs separately. On the basis of the sequential kh2 differential test (James et al., 1982), the four-factor model kh2 (224, n=237)=558.37 was found to fit the data significantly better than the one-factor model, kh2 (230, n=237)=717.54;\nDiscussion: The results of our study, as noted in the previous section, are consistent with our theoretical proposition presented in the conceptual path (Figure 1) and our baseline model (LVM1). Our findings suggest that organizational trust does mediate the exogenous and the endogenous variables in LVM1.\nConclusion: Overall, our study sought clarity about POS and organizational justice in terms of their impact upon employees' in-role performance and their levels of organizational cynicism when such relationships are mediated by perceptions of organizational trust. We found empirical evidence to validate our hypotheses. Based on this, we derived theoretical, practical, and cultural implications of our study. Despite its limitations, we are of the opinion that our study shall prove to be instructive in many ways for future researchers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the mediating role of organizational trust in the relationship between perceived organizational support and organizational justice on the one hand and their consequences, namely employees' in-role performance and their levels of organizational cynicism on the other. Along with this, accounting for organizational trust as a mediator and organizational cynicism as a critical consequence the authors aim to contribute to the literature pertaining to these variables.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Random sampling technique was applied. Data were collected from 237 managerial-level employees and 156 of their immediate supervisors of seven privately owned manufacturing and service sector organizations in India. A questionnaire comprising 49 items pertaining to the study constructs was administered. Item analyses were carried out to estimate the reliability of the instrument. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to establish the instrument's construct validity and uniqueness of the study constructs. The hypotheses of the study were tested and competing path models were compared using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques with maximum likelihood estimates.\nFindings: All scales were found to have acceptable reliability estimates. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis established that the manifest variables loaded significantly on their latent constructs and that the latent constructs were empirically distinct. This established the scales' construct validity. The results of the SEM procedures indicated that all hypotheses of the study could be accepted as statistically significant and that organizational trust mediates the path between the independent and the dependent variables.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study was cross-sectional in design and, as such precluded causal inferences. Data were collected from private sector firms operating in India, and hence, there was a limitation regarding the findings as far as cross-national generalization and generalizability among employees of state-owned enterprises were concerned.\nPractical implications: The study identified some practical implications related to its findings. These include meeting the affiliative needs of employees, managers as organizational agents must manifest organizational support by regularly interacting with their subordinates, and that managers should address their reportees not as members of a given department but as members of teams and allocate job assignments accordingly.\nSocial implications: The findings of the study lend credibility to an interplay between social exchange ideologies, equity sensitivities, and fairness heuristics. Additionally, the results of this study extend the social exchange-equity theory literature which has placed social exchange variables as predictors of workplace outcomes in an Indian context. This, further leads to the enhancement of positive consequences such as task performance, and reduces negative outcomes such as cynical attitudes towards the organization.\nOriginality/value: The present research is among the first of its kind to examine the study variables vis-a-vis managerial employees working in India. This study would also qualify to be among the very few studies in India with reference to the social exchange, equity, and fairness heuristics theories.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Relationship between work-family conflict and quality of life: An investigation into the role of social support	[ "Quality of life", "Social roles", "Malaysia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Work and family (non-work) epitomize the most important domains of adult life for most individuals and these realms are often regarded as the backbone of human existence. The ability of individuals to deal constructively with the demands of work and of family depends on many factors, such as the kind of job they have; the organizations that employ them; and the economic, social, and cultural context in which they live (Bailyn, 1992). Millions of people all over the world juggle these two domains:1. to balance their lives;2. to minimize the potential conflicts that arise from the \"balancing act\"; and3. to improve the quality of living.Today, there are more dual-career families than ever before and there are a large number of single-parent households (Morf, 1989). This makes managing the work-family responsibilities more difficult and challenging than in the households with a more traditional \"husband works, wife stays at home\" family units (Boles et al., 2001; Powell and Greenhaus, 2006). The challenges in meeting the (often) incompatible demands of work and family can create work-family conflict (Eby et al., 2005; Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985; Kopelman et al., 1983; Thoits, 1983 (cited in Aryee et al., 1999); Verbrugge, 1983; Voydanoff, 1987). In this research, we address the work-family conflict that arises from work and non-work (family) domains. The work-family conflict and some aspects of quality of life have been discussed and argued extensively for the past 30 years (Bacharach et al., 1991; Behson, 2002; Boles et al., 2001; Cooke and Rousseau, 1984; Frone et al. 1994; Greenhaus et al., 1997; Judge et al., 1994; Lui et al., 2001; Noor, 2002; Parasuraman et al., 1996; Senecal et al., 2001; Thomas and Ganster, 1995). The absence of a strong theoretical framework has hampered the empirical efforts to investigate work and family (Senecal et al., 2001). In this study, we have attempted to present a comprehensive model that can help understand:* the relationship between work-family conflict and quality of work and non-work lives and quality of life as a whole;* the mediating roles of quality of work life and quality of non-work life; and* the role of social support on the relationship between work-family conflict and quality of life.Several studies have used overall life satisfaction, well-being and quality of life to explain the same construct (Adams et al., 1996; Judge et al., 1994; Aryee et al., 1999) and we use these terms interchangeably. In this research, the terms quality of life, quality of work life and quality of non-work life reflect individuals' perception.Many models that deal with the stress management have identified social support as an essential resource or a coping mechanism that is able to reduce the negative effects of stressors and work-family conflict (Carlson and Perrewe, 1999; Etzion, 1984; Ganster et al., 1986; Thomas and Ganster, 1995). The most common source of support at work originates from supervisors, co-workers and organizational policies. Researchers examining the role of supervisor support have claimed that it is more significant than other supports in reducing the stress at work (Ganster et al., 1986; Kirmeyer and Lin, 1987). In a non-work domain, support comes from various sources, such as spouse, other family members and friends. However, spouse support has been consistently viewed in a positive way when evaluating various job and life outcomes (Kim and Ling, 2001; Parasuraman et al., 1996). Therefore, in this study, only supervisor support and spouse support constitute social support. Many researchers have investigated social support as an antecedent or an independent variable of work-family conflict (Aryee, 1992; Carlson and Perrewe, 1999; Granrose et al., 1992; Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985; Parasuraman et al., 1996). A few studies have examined the role of social support as a moderator between stress and well being (Blau, 1981; Cohen and Wills, 1985; Ganster et al., 1986); work-family conflict and well-being (Carlson and Perrewe, 1999; Greenhaus and Parasuraman, 1994; Parasuraman et al., 1992); and work-family conflict and job and family satisfaction (Suhatmini, 2000). These studies have hypothesized a particular relationship (independent variable or moderator) and have tested it. A different slant has been taken in this research. We have used SEM-based (Structural Equation Modeling) approach to study supervisor and spouse supports as:* moderators between work-family conflict and quality of life;* independent variables of work-family conflict; and* independent variables of quality of life.The results from these three models have been compared to assess the most \"appropriate\" roles for supervisor and spouse supports.This research also addresses the role of gender and ethnicity on the perceptions of work-family conflict and quality of life. Earlier studies by Parasuraman et al. (1996) and Senecal et al. (2001) have addressed the role of gender on work-family conflict and quality of life. According to Lobel (1992), the perception of work-family conflict is related to individual's value system. Since this study has been conducted in Malaysia (Malaysia has three major races: Malays, Chinese and Indians), it is interesting to study the role of ethnicity on the perception of work-family conflict and quality of life.The contributions of this study are manifold:* a comprehensive model linking work-family conflict, quality of work and non-work lives, and quality of life;* testing the mediating roles of quality of work life and non-work life;* determination of appropriate role of social support; and* a study in an eastern setting.Most of the earlier studies have been carried out in western countries. This study has been conducted in Malaysia, a fast developing country in South-East Asia.\nTheoretical framework and hypothesis development: Many theories have been postulated to study the impact of work-family conflict on individuals:* The Role Stress theory (Judge et al., 1994; Katz and Kahn, 1978);* The Role Enhancement theory (Crouter, 1984; Kinnunen et al., 2006);* The Spillover theory (Staines, 1980);* The Compensatory theory (Staines, 1980);* The Gender-Role Expectation theory (Galinsky et al., 1991; Higgins and Duxbury, 1994); and* The Self-Identity theory (Schlenker, 1987).The major theory that governs the foundation of the theoretical framework in this study is the Spillover Theory (Champoux, 1978; Duxbury and Higgins, 1991; Piotrkowski, 1978; Staines, 1980). The Spillover theory suggests that there is a similarity between what occurs in the work environment and what occurs in the family environment (Staines, 1980). This theory emphasizes on the tendency of the workers to carry their emotions, attitudes, skills, and behaviors that they establish at work into their family life and vice versa (Crouter, 1984; Piotrkowski, 1978). The spillover process can be either positive or negative. The negative spillover induces stress in individuals and the positive spillover can lead to high levels of satisfaction. According to Kinnunen et al. (2006, p. 159), \"individuals experience, to some extent, both spillovers simultaneously\". Most of the researchers analyzing work and non-work nexus with work-family conflict and quality of life have anchored their research foundations in this theory because of its broad applicability and widespread acceptance in the literature (Parasuraman et al., 1996; Sirgy et al., 2001; Staines, 1980; Zedeck, 1992; Zedeck and Mosier, 1990).Many researchers have attempted to construct a single model for work-family conflict in connection with quality of life. Four major models developed by Greenhaus and Beutell (1985), Higgins et al. (1992), Kopelman et al.(1983), and Parasuraman et al.(1996), linking work-family with quality of work and non-work lives and overall satisfaction, form the basis for the theoretical framework developed in this study. The theoretical framework is given in Figure 1 and it represents the base model (without social support). Since the role of the social support is to be analyzed from different perspectives, it is not included in the base model.Work-family conflict and quality of work life\nMethod: Sample and location of study\nResults: Construct validity of the constructs\nDiscussion: Work-family conflict with quality of work life, quality of non-work life, and quality of life\nConclusions: The current research was conducted to:* assess the impact of work-family conflict on quality of life;* test the mediating roles of quality of work life and quality of non-work life; and* assess the role of social support in enhancing the quality of life.The study was conducted in Malaysia, a fast growing country in South-east Asia. The findings of this study are:1. work-family conflict has a negative relationship on the quality of life;2. quality of work life and quality of non-work life mediates the relationship between work-family conflict and quality of life. Our study has shown that of the total impact of work-family conflict on quality of life, 60 percent can be attributed to the direct effect, and 40 percent to the mediation effects; and3. supervisor support and spouse support play important roles in enhancing the quality of life of an individual.The study has also shown that women in Malaysia perceive a higher quality of life when compared to males and of the three major ethnic groups in Malaysia (Malays, Chinese, and Indians), Chinese perceive a higher level of work-family conflict. The study has outlined several theoretical and practical implications.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The main purpose of this study is to link work-family conflict, quality of work and non-work lives, quality of life and social support (supervisor and spouse supports). Specifically, it seeks to address three different roles of social support that have theoretical and empirical support and the mediating roles of quality of work life and quality of non-work life.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The SEM-based approach has been used to study supervisor and spouse supports as moderators between work-family conflict and quality of life; independent variables of work-family conflict; independent variables of quality of life. The study has been carried out in Malaysia.\nFindings: - The main findings are: work-family conflict has relationship with quality of life; quality of work life and non-work life are \"partial\" mediators between work-family conflict and quality of life; and, among the various roles of social support, its role as an independent variable of quality of life gives the best results.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research is based on a cross-sectional study conducted in Malaysia and addresses only the spouse and supervisor supports as components of social support.\nOriginality/value: - The research has developed a comprehensive model linking work-family conflict, quality of work and non-work lives, and quality of life and has studied the role of social support.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Protecting organizational knowledge: a structured literature review	[ "Literature review", "Knowledge protection", "Intellectual property", "Knowledge security", "Protection measures" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: It is no secret that organizations rely heavily on information systems (IS) and that widely publicized security breaches have fuelled organizational awareness of the need to protect themselves against the commercial consequences of knowledge theft (Dhillon and Torkzadeh, 2006). Subsequently, investment in data protection has also risen, with companies spending significant amounts of money and resources to, for example, adopt frameworks such as COBIT and engage with auditors in the verification of protection measures (Bachlechner et al., 2014). Paradoxically, while knowledge is considered as an organizational asset that must be protected, and despite empirical research showing that successful knowledge protection significantly enhances organizational performance (Lee et al., 2007), knowledge managers still seem to pay little attention to security issues in their jobs (Asllani and Luthans, 2003). Empirical research has revealed a number of barriers to knowledge protection measures, particularly from a knowledge management (KM) perspective. This includes the consideration that knowledge protection is frequently considered as a barrier to knowledge sharing (Khamseh and Jolly, 2008), or that it is often narrowly understood as the management of digital rights and thus seen as part of the management of intellectual property rights (IPR) (Lee and Yang, 2000). Additionally, it is found that firms consider their intellectual capital to be mainly residing in their employee's brains (Chan and Lee, 2011) and although such \"tacit knowledge\" is often difficult to document, it is a valuable source of competitive advantage (Norman, 2002).\n2. Related work: Knowledge is a multifaceted term whose definition varies from discipline to discipline and even between individual domains (Maier, 2007). Computer sciences distinguish between data, information and knowledge (Alavi and Leidner, 2001), with data considered as consisting of raw and unanalyzed elements such as symbols and requires input into an interpretation process, whereas information is related to meaning and thus results from the aggregation of data (Trkman and DeSouza, 2012). Knowledge in this perspective is characterized by its relationship to and impact on the user, as it is subject to his or her interpretation and application (Maier et al., 2009), thus providing the necessary context for the interpretation of data and information (Trkman and DeSouza, 2012). Theories of knowledge furthermore differentiate between tacit and explicit knowledge (Nonaka, 1994; Chan and Lee, 2011). Tacit knowledge is highly personal and rooted in actions; it consists of mental models, beliefs and individual perspectives which makes it difficult for the person to articulate it. This contrasts with explicit knowledge, such as a document for example, which by being formalized and systematic can easily be communicated and shared within communities (Olander et al., 2011).\n3. Methodology: The authors followed the approach proposed by Webster and Watson (2002) for conducting a structured literature review and applied the proposed three-step procedure:\n4. Discussion of results: In the following sections, we structure the discussion of results according to the analytical dimensions:\n5. A future research agenda: Within the literature review, the authors investigated the research on knowledge protection. Based on these results, promising research directions for future research can be discussed.\n6. Summary: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first comprehensive literature review undertaken on knowledge protection. It shows that, despite its central importance to organizational competitiveness (Liebeskind, 1996), knowledge protection is an under-researched topic in KM. The authors analyzed 48 papers, and the key results are summarized according to the five analytical dimensions in Table III.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate pertinent knowledge protection literature. At the same time, however, knowledge protection is often a neglected or underdeveloped area. This is all the more concerning as knowledge protection plays an essential part in preserving an organization's competitive advantage. Despite the recognition of this issue by scholars, the knowledge management literature has so far tended to concentrate on the facilitation of knowledge sharing rather than on knowledge protection.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors present the results of a structured literature review undertaken to investigate the current state of research on knowledge protection. The paper identifies core domains in knowledge protection literature, discusses theoretical perspectives and research methods, sheds light on the role of the information technology (IT) artefact in knowledge protection research and develops a portfolio of knowledge protection measures.\nFindings: In this paper, 48 papers were analyzed by taking five analytical dimensions into account: research domains, research methods and models, the role of the IT artefact, theoretical views and measures to enforce knowledge protection. Based on the discussion of the results, promising avenues for further research were identified and a research agenda was proposed. The authors argued for more research on the protection of tacit knowledge, more in-depth empirical investigations, more research on IT support and a stronger consideration of theories in knowledge protection research, as well as research on how organizations could build a strategy of knowledge protection.\nResearch limitations/implications: Tacit knowledge, as well as informal alliances or (social) networks, is under-researched so far. Knowledge protection phenomena need to be investigated in depth to test the assumptions stated in many conceptual papers. IT artefacts should be developed and evaluated. More theory-based research and overarching frameworks or strategies for knowledge protection need to be developed.\nPractical implications: In this paper, a portfolio of knowledge protection measures was developed, which might be of particular interest for practitioners. Further, the paper provides a good overview of the current state of practice regarding knowledge protection.\nOriginality/value: So far, there is no structured literature available focussing on the topic of knowledge protection.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Document delivery demand and service review at the University of Kent	[ "Library services", "Document delivery", "Interlending", "Interlibrary loan", "Document supply", "Interlibrary lending" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The document delivery service at the University of Kent has existed in its current form since 2009. It serves around 17,500 students and about 600 members of academic and research staff at the university's Canterbury campus.\nDemand analysis: Over the past decade, the document delivery service at the University of Kent has seen a considerable rise in demand. Apart from a slight slump in the academic years 2009/2010 and 2012/2013 there has been a steady increase in applications and fulfilled requests, with a noticeable 60 per cent rise in 2011/2012 (see Figure 1).\nUsers: Requests from postgraduate students account for the majority of document delivery applications. Like most universities, Kent has a growing number of postgraduate students (see Figure 2).\nService set-up: The set-up of the document delivery service is thought to be another factor for the high demand of ILL material. The service is free of charge for staff and postgraduate students of the University of Kent and is subsidised by the academic schools, most of which also fund undergraduate requests to a limited extent. EThOS digitisation orders and foreign applications sourced via the British Library premium service are generally granted.\nHigher education landscape: Another explanation for our current ILL trend can be found in the unique geographical situation of the University of Kent. Due to the relative isolation within the higher education landscape, no major collaborations with other large academic institutions exist.\nAcquisition policy: Currently, the library has no proactive purchase policy regarding document delivery applications. Literature that cannot be sourced via ILL is assessed on a case-by-case basis. In general, only material deemed to be suitable for a wider library audience is purchased.\nJournal subscriptions and open access: There is evidence that package deals and a general increase in online resources and the growing wealth of open access material has had an effect on document delivery requests for journal articles. Serial subscriptions saw a 145 per cent rise during the past five years. Figures from the academic years 2011/2012, 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 suggest that demand for articles declined during that period, while the supply of book loans grew around 15 per cent. In 2011/2012, satisfied photocopy requests[1] made up 39 per cent of total ILL items supplied. In 2012/2013, this portion fell to 36 per cent and again to 31 per cent in 2013/2014 (see Figure 4).\nService review: A review of the document delivery service was carried out in Spring 2013 to improve the overall user experience and to identify efficiencies that would allow us to deliver a better service and meet the growing demand within our existing resources. Several areas were identified where adjustments and changes - within the restrictions that our LMS imposes - would contribute to achieve the desired effect.\nAuthorisation of applications: Previously, most document delivery requests required authorisation from subject librarians (acting as budget holders for the academic schools) prior to processing. The result was a considerable delay in the application process. Consequently, it has been proposed to abandon this practice and to introduce a quota system. Furthermore, all subject librarians would receive monthly statistics with detailed information for all requests in spreadsheet format. Quotas vary from school to school but typically the allowance for undergraduate students would be three requests and for postgraduate students and members of academic staff 10-15 requests per academic year. Once quotas were exceeded, the relevant subject librarian would be alerted. ILL staff would still flag up expensive requests such as EThOS digitalisation orders and foreign applications.\nCirculation of interlibrary loans: The area of the service that saw the most significant changes was the circulation of document delivery loans. Proposals and suggestions in that respect came mainly from our lending services staff and management. Lending staff and borrowers alike were often left frustrated when dealing with interlibrary loans. These \"foreign objects\" did not seem to conform to any standard borrowing and renewal procedures. They had arbitrary lending periods as due dates vary from lender to lender, and all queries had to be referred to the ILL team located in a different part of the library. Document delivery loans were manually issued to borrower accounts by ILL staff prior to the point of collection and remained issued until either returned by borrowers or, if uncollected, retrieved by ILL staff. As a consequence, users sometimes had books on their library account that they did not collect, and under certain circumstances, they even incurred overdue fines if these loans were not collected and discharged in time by document delivery staff. Furthermore, interlibrary loans could only be renewed by emailing the document delivery service several days in advance, and British Library renewals were charged at PS5.\nFinance and invoicing: Document delivery material is paid for by the academic schools that provide designated funds for that purpose. Currently, more than 30 individual document delivery school funds exist. Previously, every line item on the monthly British Library invoice was charged against the relevant school fund and general costs such as handling charges and value-added tax (VAT) were split among all related school funds. As this had been a very time-consuming and laborious process, the creation of a central fund for the document delivery service was proposed. School budgets would be charged according to their monthly document delivery usage by transferring relevant costs into the central ILL fund. All revenue from the service such as library fines and claims for ILL material supplied to other libraries would be entered into the main fund. Charges for document delivery items and related costs would be paid from the central document delivery fund. To cover BL renewals and other associated costs like handling, postage and VAT, charges for interlibrary loans had to be adjusted. Consequently, schools would be charged PS8.50 instead of PS8.00 for each photocopy and PS13.75 instead of PS12.50 for each loan.\nPlanning and communication of the changes: Quite unexpectedly the planning and discussions around the proposed changes and the task of communicating them to users and staff presented a much greater challenge than the actual implementation of these modifications.\nImplementation and impact of the changes: The implementation of the proposed modifications required only minor changes to the document delivery service workflow. The text on the book wrappers provided with interlibrary loans had to be altered, renewal reports to monitor renewals of document delivery loans were now regularly run and subject librarians had to be provided with detailed monthly borrowing statistics.\nFeedback: During the pilot period, ILLs were issued with a feedback questionnaire (see Appendix). After the pilot, we evaluated all nine feedback forms and other feedback we had received. All of those who filled in the forms thought the changes to be an improvement. Three users especially praised the speed of the service, two labelled the service as \"hassle-free\" and one borrower characterised the service as \"student friendly\". Two users voiced concerns about the reduced collection period. Whereas previously interlibrary loans were kept for the entire length of the lending period specified by the lending institution, under the new regulations they are only held for one week. Fourteen borrowers emailed document delivery during the trial period to explain that they were unable to collect their loan items within one week. In all instances, reservation periods were extended. Ultimately, the cancellation message users receive after the end of the reservation period can serve to encourage them to collect their loans.\nFinancial implications: A number of factors cause concern about the ability of the document delivery service to remain sustainable. One factor is that, as expected, the number of renewals increased considerably after borrowers were given a self-renewal option, which has increased the costs for the British Library service (Table I).\nOutlook: We are currently looking into the possibility of extending the document delivery service to around 330 users based at one of the University of Kent's centres of study outside the UK. So far, staff and students at our Brussels campus have access to the library services of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, but this arrangement will end in the near future and alternatives have to be explored. One option would be to administer a British Library Document Supply Service (BLDSS) account on behalf of our Brussels users. All staff and students based in Brussels have library accounts and can submit ILL requests using our online form. Interlending applications would have to be sent directly via BLDSS. Photocopies could be supplied electronically either directly to the end user or forwarded by Canterbury ILL staff. Loans could be sent directly from the British Library to an administrator in Brussels and would then be returned the same way. For loans not available from the BL, we could use the British Library Get It For Me premium service. A procedure would need to be agreed with Brussels for the reporting, receipting and returning of loans.\nPredictions: The change in UK copyright legislation in 2014 now permits interlenders to supply articles from electronic journals, which means that orders previously declined on copyright grounds can now be supplied. Figures at Kent University suggest that overall there has been an increase in satisfied photocopy requests in the first half of the academic year 2014/2015 as compared to last year (Figure 5).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the document delivery demand at the University of Kent and describes the recent changes to the document delivery service and their impact.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Statistical data from 2007 to 2015 and user feedback have been examined.\nFindings: There is a combination of reasons behind the high level of demand for interlibrary loan (ILL) material at the University of Kent, most notably the specific needs of users and library policy regarding document delivery.\nOriginality/value: A study of one of the very few UK universities to experience an increase in ILL in the past few years.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The syllabus as a student privacy document in an age of learning analytics	[ "Higher education", "Ethics", "Privacy", "Learning analytics", "Student privacy", "Syllabi" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The ever-increasing availability of data about people's behavior necessitates continued research and ethic discussion about the collection and use of the data and people's rights to and expectations of privacy. While the concept of information privacy is ambiguous (Solove, 2008), it is best explored in the domain of information science where issues of Big Data, human computer interaction, and information ethics come together. This study is part of a larger initiative to understand how information and data privacy is conceptualized in the higher education environment. Information science scholars have begun addressing issues associated with student data collection, analysis and interventions (see Britz and Zimmer, 2014; Jones and Salo, 2018; Rubel and Jones, 2016). Additionally, several IMLS-funded projects are exploring the issue from the student and librarian perspective (see Syracuse University, 2017; Trustees of Indiana University, 2018). This study takes an initial step in exploring student privacy from the instructor perspective.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Intellectual privacy as a theoretical framework\n3. Research methods: This study uses document review and thematic analysis to explore how instructors frame the issue of information privacy for students. The course syllabus is a ubiquitous and important evidentiary document of instructor values and thinking and a critical communication link between instructor and student. While thematically analyzing the syllabi, a codebook was developed to make sense of the privacy issues in the syllabi and to provide a structure for future research.\n4. Findings: 4.1 Prominent code categories\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Reflections on missing privacy information\n6. Conclusion: Examining the syllabus - a critical document that serves as a tool for communication, learning, and rule-setting, as well as an expression of values - reveals a breadth of student data privacy issues and practices in LIS courses. It also reveals challenges associated with this issue, including accurately explaining privacy concepts and ensuring that students have adequate privacy literacy. Facilitating reflection and discussion among instructors about student data privacy in the syllabus may help to alleviate some of these challenges and strengthen the syllabus as a useful document in empowering students to value and protect their own data privacy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reveal how instructors discuss student data and information privacy in their syllabi.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors collected a mixture of publicly accessible and privately disclosed syllabi from 8,302 library and information science (LIS) courses to extract privacy language. Using privacy concepts from the literature and emergent themes, the authors analyzed the corpus.\nFindings: Most syllabi did not mention privacy (98 percent). Privacy tended to be mentioned in the context of digital tools, course communication, policies and assignments.\nResearch limitations/implications: The transferability of the findings is limited because they address only one field and professional discipline, LIS, and address syllabi for only online and hybrid courses.\nPractical implications: The findings suggest a need for professional development for instructors related to student data privacy. The discussion provides recommendations for creating educational experiences that support syllabi development and constructive norming opportunities.\nSocial implications: Instructors may be making assumptions about the degree of privacy literacy among their students or not value student privacy. Each raises significant concerns if privacy is instrumental to intellectual freedom and processes critical to the educational experience.\nOriginality/value: In an age of educational data mining and analytics, this is one of the first studies to consider if and how instructors are addressing student data privacy in their courses, and the study initiates an important conversation for reflecting on privacy values and practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of agency costs in the voluntary adoption of XBRL-based financial reporting	[ "Agency costs", "Information asymmetry", "Voluntary adoption", "XBRL" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: ... What we need is something that will give individuals faster access to better information that they can easily use and understand...analyze and compare the data with the same information from other companies...We want to make the numbers derived from financial statements vastly more accurate...and ... want to allow companies to communicate with investors on a constant basis.(Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] Chairman, COX, 2006).\n1. Introduction: eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an information technology (IT) data standard that provides an identifying tag for financial facts, such as total revenue, to create a straightforward way to identify and compare business performance of one company to another (Hoitash et al., 2006; Liu et al., 2017). The technology has been championed as a way to improve the efficiency, timeliness and faithful representation of financial data, and the ease with which data can be acquired and analyzed (Garner et al., 2013). Accordingly, voluntary adoption of XBRL has begun to grow worldwide for both publicly- and privately-owned firms (Pinsker and Felden, 2016). Prior research has, therefore, examined the motivations for and determinants of XBRL adoption (see, e.g. Bhattacharya and Premuroso, 2008; Efendi et al., 2011; Kaya, 2014). However, the propensity of firms with agency costs to voluntarily adopt XBRL-based reporting, to the best of knowledge, has not been examined. This study fills the literature gap by examining whether firms with agency costs voluntarily adopted XBRL reporting format under the voluntary filing program (VFP) in the United States [1].Agency costs, as suggested by agency theory, arise when the interests of managers are not aligned with those of the owners and can take the form of preference for on-the-job perks, shirking and making self-interested and entrenched decisions that reduce shareholder wealth (Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Ang et al., 2000). The primary reason for agency costs in a firm is information inequity between insiders and outsiders (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). Francis et al. (2008) and others (see, e.g. Grossman and Hart, 1980; Milgrom, 1981; Verrecchia, 1983) argue that higher information asymmetry between the firm and the market creates a demand by the market players for disclosure. The XBRL-based reporting improves disclosure as it helps users to get access to firms' financial data in real time with automatic updates. Efendi et al. (2016) note that XBRL provides users with the opportunity to instantly search, compare financial information of firms, industry sectors, topics and issues in a timely manner (Efendi et al., 2016; Pinsker and Felden, 2016; Liu et al., 2017). If so, then firms with higher information asymmetry (higher agency costs), compared to those with lower agency costs, are less likely to voluntarily adopt XBRL reporting format because such a reporting format can expose their wrongdoing.On the other hand, it can be argued that when there is lower information asymmetry between firms and investors, managers may have an incentive to disclose more information to signal their superior information environment and expect the market to positively respond to such a decision (Verrecchia, 1990; Healy and Palepu, 2001; Francis et al., 2008). Signaling theory suggests that a reporting entity can enhance its value through financial reporting, especially when firms and investors have access to unequal information (Connelly et al., 2011; Rankin et al., 2012). Investors make their investment decisions based on the available information to them in the market, so firms, whether they have higher or lower agency costs, may have an incentive to provide information to the market. Therefore, in light of the supposition of the signaling theory, all firms are more likely to voluntarily adopt the XBRL reporting format because such a reporting format will increase investors' confidence in those firms.While the agency theory suggests that firms with higher agency costs are more likely to voluntarily adopt XBRL reporting format, signaling theory suggests that all firms are more likely to voluntarily adopt the XBRL reporting format. Which theory is borne out in reality is an important question for both managers and investors and provides the initial motivation for this study. We, therefore, investigate the likelihood of firms to voluntarily adopt the XBRL reporting format. Our empirical analysis commences by constructing a combined measure of a firm's agency costs that captures the joint impact of commonly used individual agency cost variables, including firm size, age, leverage, analyst coverage, management and institutional ownership. An aggregate measure of a firm's agency costs, more likely, reflects the approach used by management and other stakeholders in making decisions based on the firm's overall rather than a single agency cost metric. As an alternative measure, we use another common measure of a firm's agency cost based on bid-ask spread. Our analyses focus on all firms (140) that participated in the VFP during its entire existence, making the results more generalizable. A logistic regression model is employed, which regresses the likelihood of adopting XBRL on agency costs based on the test variable and a number of control variables used in prior research. To mitigate the potential endogeneity problem, which is common in voluntary disclosure studies (Core, 2001; Beyer et al., 2010), the employed empirical models include test and control variables that are measured in the year prior to the firms' first year in the VFP.The regression results support the expectations that firms that participated in the VFP and voluntarily adopted XBRL did in fact have significantly lower agency costs relative to their matched-pair, non-adopting counterparts (i.e. those with higher agency costs). To further control for the endogeneity concerns of correlated omitted variable bias, we use two-stage least-squares regressions and continue to find evidence that supports the main findings. The results from the additional analyses show that the level of agency costs of the firms that voluntarily adopted XBRL remain statistically unchanged after the adoption while the level of agency costs associated with the firms that did not participate in SEC's VFP significantly decline after adopting the XBRL-based financial reporting later during the mandatory filing program (MFP). These results somehow reinforce the main findings that the voluntary XBRL adopters had significantly lower agency costs than their matched-pair, non-adopting counterparts, and so did not experience a significant reduction in their agency costs. While the SEC's main concern focused on the cost of adopting XBRL for small firms, this study provides evidence that firms made decisions whether or not to voluntarily adopt XBRL based on the magnitude of their agency costs; the cash flow position of the firms did not play a significant role in such decisions.Our study contributes to the literature and practice in the following ways. First, it contributes to the literature that investigates the motivation for and determinants of XBRL adoption (see, e.g. Bhattacharya and Premuroso, 2008; Efendi et al., 2011; Kaya, 2014). Our finding that firms that participated in the VFP and voluntarily adopted XBRL did in fact have significantly lower agency costs contributes, particularly to the stream of research that examines the determinants of XBRL adoption. For example, Kaya (2014) examines the effect of firm-specific characteristics on the extent of XBRL voluntary adoption, finding that the extent of XBRL voluntary adoption increases with firm size and firm innovativeness.Second, it adds more broadly to the studies that use theories to examine the determinants of XBRL adoption. For example, Pinker and Felden (2016) examine the voluntary adoption intent of Germany, using technology framing theory and institutional theory, finding weak evidence that finance managers' XBRL adoption intentions are more significantly influenced by normative pressure compared to IT managers. We examine whether firm's agency costs played a role in the voluntary adoption of XBRL under VFP in the United States using agency theory and signaling theory, finding that firms with lower agency costs were more likely to have voluntarily adopted the XBRL reporting format. Our finding is consistent with our ex ante predictions under the agency-theoretic view that firms with lower agency costs have the greater propensity to adopt XBRL reporting format.Third, our finding that firms with lower agency costs voluntarily adopted the XBRL reporting format under VFP could provide useful guidance to other countries in their decision to adopt or mandate XBRL for financial reporting (as suggested in Srivastava and Liu, 2012; Pinsker and Felden, 2016). Besides, given that investors do value XBRL reports, firms with higher agency cost or lower agency costs may adopt it as a way of ensuring information transparency; it may also help firms to justify the costs and efforts spent in learning and implementing this new reporting technology.The remainder of the study is structured as follows. Section 2 provides background and reviews the regulatory setting of XBRL. Section 3 discusses related literature and hypothesis development. Section 4 explains research methodology and Section 5 describes summary statistics. Section 6 reports empirical results. The study is concluded in the last section.\n2. Background and regulatory setting: In April 2005, the SEC released its Final Rule No. 33-8,529 for the VFP that allowed public companies to voluntarily furnish supplemental financial information using XBRL format (SEC, 2005a, b, c). Later in December 2008, the SEC passed its final rule of MFP requiring all public companies to adopt XBRL-tagged financial statements over a three-year phase-in period, beginning with requiring large public companies with a common equity float of $5 billion and above to submit XBRL filings for the first quarterly reports for fiscal periods ending on or after June 15, 2009 (Chen et al., 2018). The potential benefits from XBRL adoption as noted by Cox (2006, p. 2), a former SEC chairman, is:XBRL offers individuals faster access to better information that they can easily use and understand. We need to make searches for information easier. It should be easy to call up information about any company you choose. You should be able to download it and use it in the personal software of your choice. And you then should be able to easily analyze and compare the data with the same information from other companies. We want to make the numbers derived from financial statements vastly more accurate. And we want to allow companies to communicate with investors on a constant basis.XBRL-based reporting, therefore, can offer a superior improvement in financial data analysis by facilitating comparisons of financial information across space and time, and as well as highlight relations between data items. Besides, the use of XBRL for financial reporting can make financial statements available to investors in a timelier manner and at a lower cost by increasing the speed, accuracy and usability of financial disclosures, reducing information asymmetry (Chen et al., 2018). Firms with lower information asymmetry (lower agency costs), although are already transparent, would voluntarily adopt XBRL-based reporting because such firms would always want to show their superior information environment (Mavlanova et al., 2012) and would adopt an information technology that would increase their transparency. On other hand, firms with higher information asymmetry (higher agency costs) would not voluntarily adopt XBRL-based reporting because adopting it would expose their weaker performance--the market can punish them if, through this disclosure, investors are able to get information of their abysmal performance. Therefore, we argue that while firms with lower agency costs are likely to voluntarily adopt XBRL, those with higher agency costs may not, ceteris paribus.\n3. Literature review and hypothesis development: 3.1 XBRL and digital reporting\n4. Research methodology: 4.1 Research design\n5. Summary statistics: 5.1 Descriptive statistics\n6. Empirical analyses: 6.1 Main results\n7. Conclusion and limitations: This study examines whether and how agency costs play a role in the adoption of XBRL-based financial reporting under the SEC's VFP. The study sample comprises of 140 firms that participated in the VFP and 140 matched-pair counterparts that did not voluntarily adopt the XBRL-based financial reporting. Employing a summary measure of agency costs, this paper finds that participating firms had significantly lower agency costs than their matched-pair counterparts in the year prior to the voluntary adoption of XBRL-based financial reporting. Our results although support the agency theory do not support the signaling theory that suggests that all firms are more likely to voluntarily adopt the XBRL under VFP. These findings suggest that based on a firms' level of agency costs, regulators and policymakers can, in advance, identify firms that are more likely to comply with a new financial reporting initiative.The study also suffers from the following limitations: First, the sample is limited to US firms so the findings cannot be extrapolated to other contexts. Second, we are aware of the fact that there could be alternative explanations for our finding that firms with lower agency costs will voluntarily adopt XBRL. For example, the observed differences in agency costs between adopters and non-adopters could be driving the results, but our sample couldn't allow us to do further analysis to isolate those effects--propensity score matching technique could have been useful in isolating these observable differences, but we couldn't implement it because of sample size issues.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how firm's agency costs played a role in the voluntary adoption of the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) under the SEC's voluntary filing program (VFP) that encouraged the voluntary adoption of the XBRL.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study employs a logistics regression and a sample of 140 firms that voluntarily participated in the VFP during its entire existence in the United States, and 140 matched-pair counterparts that did not voluntarily adopt the XBRL to investigate the role of agency costs in the voluntary adoption of XBRL-based financial reporting.\nFindings: We find evidence consistent with the conjecture that a firm's low magnitude of agency costs plays a significant motivating role in the voluntary adoption of XBRL-based financial reporting. Our results continue to hold after using an alternative measure of agency costs and conducting two-stage least squares regressions. Supplementing these results, the study also shows that the level of agency costs of voluntary XBRL adopters remains statistically unchanged after the adoption while the level of agency costs associated with the firms that did not participate in SEC's VFP significantly decline after the adoption during the XBRL mandate.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study suggest that based on a firm's level of agency costs, regulators and policymakers, especially those in countries that are yet to mandate XBRL reporting, can, in advance, identify firms that are more likely to comply with their new financial reporting initiatives.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides first evidence on the role of agency costs in the voluntary adoption of XBRL using data from the United States.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
HR as business partner during mergers and acquisitions: The key to success is to get involved early	[ "Mergers and acquisitions", "Organizational culture", "Communications", "Human resource management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Tata Steel's $7.6 billion acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel-maker Corus, conglomerate Aditya Birla's $6 billion purchase of global aluminium company Novelis and telecom company Bharti Airtel's $10.7 billion deal for Zain Telecom's Africa operations - there has been no shortage of big takeovers involving Indian companies in recent years. In 2010 alone, the overall value of the deals in India was $49.8 billion, of which domestic deals accounted for $18.3 billion.\nBefore the acquisition takes place: For human resources (HR), the work begins at the stage of scouting for the right partner for the acquisition or merger. The acquiring firm's HR specialists have to look into all the soft and hard aspects of the target firm's human resources.The hard aspect involves analyzing employee compensation, including bonuses, severance liabilities, pensions, health care reimbursements and so on. The real challenge, though, is analyzing such soft aspects as culture, decision-making styles, performance differentiation and organizational values. HR needs to examine the target organization in terms of employees' skills, capabilities, engagement with the organization, employment contracts, total rewards, termination payments and benefits.In the case of the merger between Bank of Punjab and Centurion Bank of India to form Centurion Bank of Punjab in 2005, the merged entity involved HR from an early stage and the management of the merged entity hired a global HR consulting firm to advise on human capital. Such early involvement of HR in the deal helped to make it successful and, learning from the experience, the merged entity acquired another bank - Lord Krishna Bank - in 2006. The merged entity was itself acquired by HDFC Bank in 2008.In contrast, an important reason for the failure of the $36 billion merger of German auto-maker Daimler-Benz and US vehicle manufacturer Chrysler in 1998 was the labor and health-care legacy cost differences. Daimler had to offload $18 billion for health-care and pension liabilities from its books - an amount too high for the company to accommodate and which Daimler did not factor in at the due-diligence stage. Daimler sold the Chrysler business to private equity investors in May 2007.\nWhen the merger plans become firmer: As merger plans become firmer, HR needs to start preparing a strategy for the integration of the two firms by aligning structures, rules and policies, pay structure and employee designations. HR's work may also involve developing a new vision and mission for the combined entity.Immediately after the merger or acquisition, HR's job is to fine tune the mindset of the employees in order to achieve the synergy initially envisaged. Communication with employees is now crucial in terms of the timeliness and content of the message, channels for delivering it and congruence of the facts conveyed. HR will be responsible for helping to convince employees that the merger or acquisition will benefit everyone.The 2004 merger of the Oriental Bank of Commerce with Global Trust Bank (GTB) in India was a case where proper communication was not followed. GTB employees had to rely too heavily on the rumor mill and grapevine, resulting in a condition known as \"merger syndrome\". Many of the most talented GTB employees left soon after the announcement of the merger and the outflow continued for up to two years after the merger.\nImmediately after the merger: Immediately after a merger, HR specialists also need to gauge the pulse of employees through a survey, and sound out top management about holding staff meetings where people's questions and concerns can be addressed.The process of \"acculturation\" - of meshing of the two organizational cultures - is a major challenge for HR. If one of the merging organizations has a strong corporate culture, this may impede HR's efforts to create a single unified culture. Realizing the synergies of the merger or acquisition depends largely on creating a single set of assumptions, values and beliefs, and this can be a Herculean task for HR.The star performers in the acquired company need to be reached and reassured about their futures in the merged company. Cisco Systems has acquired many small technology firms and a prime reason for many of these acquisitions has been to expand the skill sets of the parent organization. Cisco's acquisition strategy has enabled it to tap into a ready source of skilled employees - people who would be difficult to find and hard to develop if recruited directly from the labor market.In contrast, an important reason for the failure of the $360 billion merger of AOL and Time Warner was management's failure to reconcile cultural differences between the two businesses. AOL was the best-known name on the internet while the Time Warner controlled a number of magazines, music, film and television businesses. The idea was that, together, they would form the world's first fully integrated media and communications company. But a clear and concise strategy for the merged entity never emerged and the two businesses separated almost a decade after they had agreed to get together.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to highlight the important role human resource (HR) plays in organizations during mergers and acquisitions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper looks at the role of HR in various organizations that have undergone mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and captures the criticality of HR getting involved early during the process.\nFindings: - The paper provides case studies illustrating that if HR is involved from the early stages of the M&A deal, the chances of success are higher than if HR gets involved only after the merger has taken place.\nPractical implications: - The paper includes a number of case studies of successful and failed M&As and draws out the lessons for HR.\nSocial implications: - The paper draws out the factors that help to ensure that mergers and acquisitions are good for the companies and employees involved, as well as for society as a whole.\nOriginality/value: - The paper looks at the process of mergers and acquisitions from a mainly Indian context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leadership in complex, stressful rescue operations: a qualitative study	[ "Leadership", "Decision making", "Stress", "Disasters" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The rescue service has a reputation of handling smaller events, such as car fires and limited apartment fires adequately, but perform less well in large-scale operations. This is understandable from a prevalence perspective. A recent survey of the work environment in a number of Swedish rescue services, showed that less than five per cent of the working hours was spent on actual rescue operations. Among the rescue missions in turn, less than five per cent could be described as stressful, large-scale operations (Martensson, 2005). The latter typically involve staff from several rescue services, personnel from other organisations such as the police force, health care personnel, volunteers, etc. These events usually also last much longer than the smaller \"ordinary\" events, and frequently attract interest from the media.Research on leadership in stressful, large-scale rescue operations is apparently lacking. A recent (2005) survey of literature on leadership and/or decision making + stress + rescue or rescue service yielded 90 references. Most of these dealt with post-operation support such as psychological debriefing or computer-based fire simulations. Only one the study focused on leadership during stressful rescue operations (Danielsson and Ohlsson, 1997). This study surveyed the need and the necessary conditions for, implementation of decision support systems in the rescue service organisation (telephone interviews with 75 local fire chiefs in Sweden). Broadening the literature search to other contexts, the combination of leadership, performance, and severe stress or acute stress, or extreme stress, resulted in one reference only, which focused on leadership during a stressful event from a performance perspective (Larsson et al., 2001). This was a qualitative study among Norwegian and Swedish military officers. However, the episodes in this study, although highly stressful, were of a limited size in terms of complexity, and usually only required direct, face-to-face leadership within a smaller well-known group.Following from this lack of research, we concluded that a generative approach would be appropriate to enhance the understanding of the issue. The aim of the current study was to develop a theoretical understanding of leadership in stressful, complex rescue operations, using a grounded theory approach.\nMethod: Selection of rescue operations and informants\nResults: The emerging model\nDiscussion: The aim was to develop a theoretical understanding of leadership in complex, stressful rescue operations. The suggested model shows that there are several components, which interact. From a leadership perspective, possibly the most important factor is the balance between the leader's appraisals of the possibilities to influence the situation and if there are any people at risk.The four studied cases differ considerably when they are described using well-established situational concepts from the stress theory (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) such as duration, intensity, ambiguity, predictability, controllability, etc. However, the interpretation of the interview stories points to greater similarities than differences between the episodes when analysed from a leadership perspective. There were some minor context-related differences though, which were omitted here for space reasons. Interested readers are referred to a longer report (Sjoberg et al., 2005, in Swedish).Episodes evaluated as uncontrollable and, at the same time, having people being threatened, generated the strongest stress reactions among the rescue operation commanders. This result fits nicely with Lazarus' (1991, 1999) stress theoretical formulations. Evaluation of people at risk can be seen as primary appraisal and assessment of possibilities to control the situation as secondary appraisal. The issue of people at risk was recurring in most interviews. \"It turned out all right - nobody got hurt\" was mentioned by the informants from the flood, the derailment, and the fire in the national park. This strong emphasis probably reflects the primary goal for all rescue services in Sweden - to save lives.The importance ascribed to everyday working conditions for the leadership during stressful and complex rescue operations, replicates the result noted in the study cited above on leadership in severely stressful conditions in military groups (Larsson et al., 2001). The emphasis placed on previous experiences of complex rescue operations could be seen in the light of Klein's (1989, 1993) writings on recognition-primed decision-making. The results indicate that many fire chief commanders are at a disadvantage when a complex event occurs because they have no previous experience of this.Three problem areas were noted in each of the three large-scale rescue operations: role shifts, staff work, and practical routines. Having different roles during different shifts in a long-lasting rescue operation appeared to create \"unclarity in leadership management, partly for the leader, partly for those around him/her.\" Having practiced role shifts during exercises, and having a good personal knowledge of each other, were mentioned as facilitating factors. As the issue of role shifts appears to be complex for leaders as well as for those being led, and since we have not found it in the leadership literature, we suggest it should be directly addressed in future research. We venture to guess that role shifts in stressful situations increase the likelihood that behaviour is determined more by the core of one's personality, than by role identities built up in the work socialisation process.Complex rescue operations imply a need for field staffs as well as for strategic staffs. This was often associated with a lack of clarity regarding roles and tasks, and with communication problems. Personal knowledge and exercises were mentioned as facilitating factors also here. These results are consistent with those noted in military peacekeeping missions (Johansson, 2001).The third problem area, practical routines, appeared to be related to difficulties arising when routines from less complex operations were to be applied in long-lasting and complex ones. This required creative solutions, which in at least two of the cases, did not work well until the rescue services were assisted by military personnel. The latter group typically has experience of large-scale, long-lasting operations. In this area, the rescue services can probably benefit from incorporation knowledge and experiences from the military (Van Creveld, 1977).In constructing our current model we were limited to data obtained from a selected group of rescue services leaders. It should also be emphasised that the concepts derived from the data may be of a sensitising rather than of a definitive character in Blumer's (1954) words. Bringing a variety of leadership actions together under the heading \"managerial routines\" could, for example, be questioned, although this actual word occurred frequently in the interviews. It should also be noted that the study relies on self-reported data only. These may be inaccurate, and a broader range of data would have been desirable. The rather narrow kind of data related to the post-operation situation illustrates this. A broader range of outcome aspects, for instance material resources and economic, would probably have been illuminated if additional data collection methods had been used. The rescue services in Sweden are a male-dominated work environment. All informants in the present study were men, for example. Thus, another weakness is that there are no data on possible gender-related issues.Another limitation may be that two to six years had passed between the incidents and the interview for the participants. Although it appears that humans remember central issues of stressful episodes quite well (Christiansson, 1992), it cannot be excluded that various kinds of psychological processing may have affected the memory. Little is also currently known about the generalisability of the model. However, this was not the goal of this qualitative study. In the general terms of Glaser and Strauss (1967) \"Partial testing of theory, when necessary, is left to more rigorous approaches (sometimes qualitative but usually quantitative). These come later in the scientific enterprise.\" Thus, further studies of leadership under severe stress are needed in a variety of contexts to further, develop, formalise, and evaluate the effectiveness of the present model.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To develop a theoretical understanding of leadership in stressful, complex rescue operations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A grounded theory approach was used. Twenty rescue operation commanders from four complex rescue operations in Sweden were interviewed.\nFindings: - A model was developed which suggests that leadership in stressful, complex rescue operations can be understood as a causal process consisting of three broad time-related categories. The pre-operation everyday working conditions affect the leadership during rescue operations, which in turn affects the post-operation everyday working conditions, etc. Everyday working conditions include training and exercises, previous mission experiences, personal knowledge of co-actors, and organisational climate. The leadership during a complex rescue operation is affected by the leader's appraisal of the balance between what is at stake, human lives in particular, and the manageability of the situation. Patterns of stress reactions among rescue commanders and their leadership behaviour and managerial routines, were identified. Three problem areas were noted: role shifts during long-lasting operations, staff work, and practical routines. The post-operation conditions include the leader's evaluation of the outcome, organisational climate, and post-event stress reactions.\nResearch limitations/implication: - Small sample, lack of representativeness, and lack of illumination of possible gender-related aspects.\nPractical implications: - The model may be valuable in training and exercises with rescue operation commanders.\nOriginality/value: - A new integrative, theoretical process model of leadership in complex, stressful rescue operations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Is the opposite of positive negative? Untangling the complex relationship between work-family enrichment and conflict	[ "Quality of life", "Working conditions", "Family life", "Job enrichment", "Conflict" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Due to social changes over the last three decades such as the increasing prominence of dual-career partners and single parents in the workforce and corresponding decline of the traditional family structure of male breadwinner and female homemaker (Barnett and Hyde, 2001; Lewis et al., 1992), both women and men have become increasingly affected by, and concerned with, interdependencies between their work and family roles (Barling and Sorenson, 1997; Eby et al., 2005; Friedman and Greenhaus, 2000). Researchers interested in the interface between work and family roles have identified two broad types of interdependencies, one negative and the other positive. The literature has long been dominated by a focus on negative interdependencies, or work-family conflict (WFC) (Barnett, 1998; Eby et al., 2005; Haas, 1999). The conflict perspective asserts that experiences in either role lead to stress, time constraints, and/or dysfunctional behavior in the other role (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985), thereby detracting from the quality of life (Allen et al., 2000; Frone, 2003). In recent years, researchers have paid increasing attention to positive interdependencies, or work-family enrichment (WFE) (also known as enhancement, facilitation, or positive spillover; Frone, 2003; Grzywacz, 2002; Grzywacz and Marks, 2000; Kirchmeyer, 1992). The enrichment perspective asserts that experiences in either role generate resources that may be profitably used in the other role, thereby enhancing the quality of life (Frone, 2003; Greenhaus and Powell, 2006). This article represents an attempt to bridge the conceptual gap between these two perspectives of the work-family interface.Although WFE and WFC might be thought to be opposite sides of the same coin and thereby negatively related, prior research has generally observed small, non-significant relationships between them. Greenhaus and Powell (2006) identified 15 studies in which both WFE and WFC were measured. Only eight of the 21 correlations between WFE and WFC in these studies were statistically significant (three positive and five negative), and their mean value was -0.02. As a result, some scholars have concluded that the extent to which individuals experience enrichment between their work and family roles has no bearing on the level of conflict they experience between these two roles; i.e. WFE and WFC are independent constructs (Frone, 2003; Grzywacz and Bass, 2003; Grzywacz and Marks, 2000). However, the exact nature of the relationship between WFE and WFC remains a matter of debate in the work-family literature.In this article, we consider the relationship between WFE and WFC. Are WFE and WFC unrelated, are they negatively related, or is their relationship more complex than either of these alternatives suggests? Increasing our understanding of the relationship between WFE and WFC should provide greater insight into the work-family interface, specifically the ways in which individuals' experiences in one role affect their experiences in the other role.\nA starting-point: A recent theory of WFE proposed by Greenhaus and Powell (2006) provides a starting point for our analysis of the relationship between WFE and WFC. Greenhaus and Powell (2006, p. 73) defined work-family enrichment as \"the extent to which experiences in one role improve the quality of life in the other role\". In their model, summarized in Figure 1, five types of resources may be generated in either role that influence the quality of life in the other role:1. Skills and perspectives (e.g. cognitive, interpersonal, and multi-tasking skills; ways of defining problems or situations);2. Psychological and physical resources (e.g. self-esteem, optimism, physical health);3. Social-capital resources (i.e. influence and information derived from interpersonal relationships in work and family roles);4. Flexibility (i.e. discretion in the timing, pace, and location at which role requirements are met); and5. Material resources (i.e. money and gifts derived from the work or family domains).Quality of life is regarded to have two components:1. high performance; and2. positive affect.Resources generated in Role A (work or family) may promote high performance and positive affect in Role B (family or work) by two paths in Greenhaus and Powell's (2006) model. First, a resource may be transferred directly from Role A to Role B, thereby enhancing performance (arrow 1 in Figure 1) and in turn positive affect (arrow 6) in Role B. This process is considered the instrumental path of the model (Hanson et al., 2006) because a resource from one role has a positive instrumental effect on performance in another role. Second, a resource generated in Role A may promote positive affect in Role A in two ways, either directly (arrow 2) or indirectly through its effect on performance in Role A (arrows 3 and 4); positive affect in Role A in turn may produce high performance (arrow 5) and positive affect (arrow 6) in Role B. This mechanism is considered the affective path of the model (Hanson et al., 2006) because of the central role of positive affect in the enrichment process.However, experiences in one role, either work or family, do not necessarily improve the quality of life in the other role by either path of Greenhaus and Powell's (2006) model. We next consider specific conditions under which enrichment, conflict, or something else might occur along the instrumental and affective paths of their model.\nThe relationship between work-family enrichment and conflict: Along the instrumental path\nImplications for theory and research: The title of the article poses the question, \"Is the opposite of positive negative?\" The answer to this question suggested by analysis of the relationship between WFE and WFC is \"yes and no\", or \"it depends\". Along the instrumental path in Figure 1, WFE and WFC are unrelated when a particular resource is not generated in Role A or when it is generated in Role A but not applied in Role B; in both instances, the lack of application of a resource from Role A to Role B results in the absence of WFE but does not produce WFC. When the resource is applied to Role B, WFE and WFC represent opposite ends of a continuum that respectively captures the success and failure of the application and are therefore negatively related. Along the affective path, WFE and WFC are either unrelated or negatively related depending upon whether the generation of a particular resource in Role A has no influence on affect in Role A (unrelated) or produces negative affect in Role A that reduces performance in Role B (negatively related). Moreover, WFE and WFC are unrelated when positive affect produced in Role A does not influence performance in Role B. That is, neither enrichment nor conflict can occur along the affective path if affect generated by experiences in a role remains within that role. Thus, for each resource, WFE and WFC may be either unrelated or negatively related depending on the particular conditions that are present.This article contributes to the literature on the work-family interface by extending Greenhaus and Powell's (2006) model of WFE to the relationship between WFE and WFC and by conceptualizing this relationship at the resource level of analysis. Our conceptualization has implications for both theory and research on the work-family interface.First, our analysis demonstrates that theories are needed that bridge the gap between the conflict and enrichment perspectives of the work-family interface. Although theories that focus on either WFC (e.g. Frone et al., 2002; Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985) or WFE (e.g. Greenhaus and Powell, 2006; Grzywacz, 2002) have been developed, there has been little prior attempt at conceptualizing the relationship between WFE and WFC. The analysis presented in this article represents an initial attempt to bridge this gap that may be more fully developed. For example, future theories should consider the influence of potential moderators in the work and family domains such as salary, family wealth, organizational level and tenure, marital status, and parental status, all of which may influence the amounts of resources in a role that are available to be applied to the other role and thereby the levels of WFE and WFC that may be derived from these resources. In general, theories are needed that consider phenomena related to the work-family interface at the resource level, representing a micro perspective, as well as at the aggregate level across all possible resources, representing a macro perspective.Our analysis also has important implications for research. First, it suggests an explanation for why prior research has tended to find small, nonsignificant correlations between WFE and WFC. Such research has generally been conducted at the aggregate level, focusing on overall WFE and overall WFC. Such a focus is likely to result in the averaging across all conditions pertaining to the instrumental and affective paths for all types of resources that may be available at different levels in the work and family roles. Focusing on phenomena at the mecro level obscures potential differences in the influence of independent phenomena at the micro level.There are other possible explanations for why the observed relationships between overall WFE and overall WFC have been minimal. Resources that are generated in one role may not mitigate the primary sources of conflict with the other role. WFC is generally produced either by time pressures or stressors that intrude into another role (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). However, particular sources of WFE, such as the acquisition of social capital or the development of a skill, may have no effect on time pressures and other types of stressors. In addition, experiences in a role may simultaneously produce enrichment from the application of one resource and conflict from the depletion of another resource. For example, the presence of young children in the family can facilitate the acquisition of communication skills that enhance work effectiveness but also limit the flexibility one has to meet work responsibilities. In the same vein, a high-pressure work culture might not only increase job performance and skill development that can be applied successfully in the family domain but also produce negative affect at work that interferes with effective functioning in the family role. For these reasons, it is not surprising that the overall degree to which one experiences WFE has not seemed to be related to the overall degree to which one experiences WFC.Thus, research is needed that focuses on the relationship between WFE and WFC at the resource level. Most existing instruments that measure WFE (e.g. Carlson et al., 2006; Grzywacz and Marks, 2000; Hanson et al., 2006) or WFC (e.g. Carlson et al., 2000; Grzywacz and Marks, 2000) assess processes at the aggregate level. For the recommended research to proceed, development of new measures of WFE and WFC that assess specific processes at the resource level is necessary.In addition, measures of WFE and WFC need to assess similar processes. Many of the WFE scales focus on the transfer of skills, information, self-esteem, and positive mood from one role to another, whereas many of the WFC scales tend to assess scheduling conflicts and the intrusion of stress from one role to the other. Because existing measures of WFE and WFC have not assessed similar processes, it has been difficult to reach conclusions about how the same process might contribute to WFE or WFC.Specifically, to test relationships between WFE and WFC along the instrumental path, measures are needed at the resource level to examine the extent to which:* a resource is generated in Role A;* if the resource has been generated in Role A, an attempt has been made to apply it to Role B; and* if the resource has been applied to Role B, the application has been successful or not.To test relationships between WFE and WFC along the affective path, measures are needed at the resource level to examine the extent to which:* if the resource has been generated in Role A, it has produced positive or negative affect in Role A; and* if the resource has produced affect in Role A, this affect has spilled over into Role B.A research program that systematically collects information on such a set of scales from different populations would enhance our knowledge of the relationship between WFE and WFC.It should be noted that other variables may be related to the presence or absence of both WFE and WFC. For example, recent theories and research have examined individuals' preferences for and experiences of segmentation vs. integration of their work and family roles (Ashforth et al., 2000; Edwards and Rothbard, 2000; Kreiner, 2006; Olson-Buchanon and Boswell, 2006; Rothbard et al., 2005). Kreiner (2006, p. 485) defined segmentation as \"the degree to which aspects of each domain (such as thoughts, concerns, physical markers) are kept separate from one another - cognitively, physically, or behaviorally\" and integration as \"the merging and blending of various aspects of work and home.\" Role segmentation and role integration are typically conceptualized as opposite ends of a continuum (Ashforth et al., 2000; Nippert-Eng, 1996). People who engage in a high degree of role segmentation try to keep their work and family domains as separate as possible; in contrast, people who engage in a high level of role integration try to blend these two domains and remove boundaries between them (Kreiner, 2006). Role segmentation may diminish the extent of both WFE and WFC experienced by individuals, whereas role integration may increase the likelihood of both WFE and WFC. Thus, we recommend that future research on the relationship between WFE and WFC consider the moderating influence of individuals' segmentation vs. integration of their work and family roles.In conclusion, the results of prior studies of the relationship between WFE and WFC have led to the conclusion that WFE and WFC are independent and unrelated constructs. However, this conclusion has been primarily based on research at the aggregate level. We propose that the relationship between WFE and WFC is best considered at the level of the individual resource. At the resource level, WFE and WFC may be either unrelated or negatively related depending on specific conditions associated with the generation and application of the resource. Future research is recommended that examines interdependencies between work and family roles at the resource level to increase our understanding of how experiences in these two roles affect one another and how these interdependencies may be successfully managed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The relationship between work-family enrichment (WFE), representing positive interdependencies between individuals' work and family roles, and work-family conflict (WFC), representing negative interdependencies between the same roles, has been discussed but never fully clarified in the scholarly literature on the work-family interface. The purpose of this article is to increase understanding of the relationship between these two constructs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The relationship between WFE and WFC is conceptualized at the level of a \"resource\" that may be generated in one role, work or family, and applied to the other role. This approach offers an alternative to the more typical approach of analyzing this relationship at the aggregate level across all possible resources.\nFindings: - The answer to the question posed in the title of the article is \"yes or no\", or \"it depends\". At the resource level, it is suggested that WFE is either unrelated or negatively related to WFC depending on the specific process under consideration by which experiences in one role may affect experiences in the other role.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Future research that examines the relationship between WFE and WFC at the resource level is recommended. For this research to be conducted, new measures are needed that assess these two constructs at the resource level.\nOriginality/value: - This article sheds light on the resource-level conditions under which positive vs negative interdependencies between work and family roles may occur. In addition, it argues that research on the work-family interface that goes beyond the aggregate level of analysis is sorely needed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Temporal coordination through communication: using genres in a virtual start-up organization	[ "Communication", "Virtual organizations", "Electronic mail" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The possibilities for distributing work across time and space have been the subject of growing interest in the literature (Lipnack and Stamps, 1997; Maznevski and Chudoba, 2000; Markus et al., 2000; Montoya-Weiss et al., 2001; Massey et al., 2002, Panteli, 2004; Yoo and Alavi, 2004). Today, many people are involved in various forms of virtual, or geographically and temporally dispersed, work. For example, teams are increasingly composed of members who are spread across different cities or countries and who mediate their collaboration with various communication technologies. One of the critical questions raised by such distributed work arrangements is how people use technology to coordinate and align their work with colleagues at a distance.Prior research suggests that the temporally and geographically dispersed communication environments of virtual teams pose significant challenges to coordinating team activities (Sproull and Kiesler, 1986; Ocker et al., 1995/1996; DeSanctis and Monge, 1999; Cramton, 2001). In comparison with teams working in co-located environments, virtual teams are reported to experience difficulties with insufficient context cues, feedback delays, and long interruptions or pauses in communication. Such research concludes that workable solutions for accomplishing distributed coordination are critical to the quality and success of virtual collaboration.While we have learned much from existing research on virtual teams, some of this research on temporal coordination within virtual teams is underdeveloped in two ways. First, by framing \"virtual\" as a context that is lacking qualities present in co-located environment, many researchers focus primarily on the limitations or constraining aspects of technology used to accomplish distributed coordination, thus underestimating the enabling aspects of such technology. Second, much of the research is based on short-term (often student) teams whose work context and task differ significantly from those of organizational teams working on real-world projects. To understand what virtual team members actually do to temporally coordinate their dispersed activities, more longitudinal research on virtual teams in their \"natural habitat\" would be helpful.In this paper we report on an attempt at such research, an empirical study of a small software development start-up (which we call Little Company or LC), whose members were geographically dispersed across four different cities and three different time zones in the USA, and who relied primarily on electronic mail and telephone to conduct their distributed work[1]. To address the question of how members of LC used technology to coordinate and align their distributed work, we draw on the notion of genre as typified social action to examine the e-mail exchanges among the members as they collaborated to develop a software product. In our study, we found that their recurrent enactment of three genres and one genre system was particularly useful in structuring their distributed work over time.In what follows, we first establish the theoretical basis for using genre and genre system analyses to make sense of electronic communication over time, and argue that this lens can shed important light on understanding the temporal coordination of virtual work. We then describe our research site, data collection, and analysis methods. Next, we empirically examine how LC members temporally coordinated their work through enacting genres and genre systems in their e-mail communication. We conclude with implications of our analysis for the temporal structuring and distributed coordination of work in virtual teams.\nTheoretical background: In this section, we draw on literature from two different research domains to situate our study: research on temporal coordination, and research on communication genres.Prior research on temporal coordination\nSite and methods: Research site\nTemporal coordination in LC: LC members worked flexible and fluid hours, and their communication pattern reflects this (see Figures 1 and 2). During the 13-month period of our study, about a half of the messages (46.6 percent) were sent outside of the conventional 9.00 am to 5.00 pm \"work day,\" and about 18 percent of the messages were sent over the weekend. As a company, LC operated almost around the clock, every day of the week. While these were the overall temporal patterns, each member enacted different individual temporal patterns reflecting variations in such factors as personality, habits, media preferences, work tasks, and family situation.In addition to time zone differences, members' flexible work hours and their different temporal patterns necessitated coordination. In this section, we examine LC's temporal coordination of work by analyzing the genres and genre systems that members enacted in their electronic mail communication. In particular, we were interested in those communications that were used to temporally structure LC's work, whether explicitly or implicitly. We found that three genres and one genre system were primarily involved in facilitating the temporal coordination of work within LC.Genres used in temporal coordination\nImplications: In this paper, we have described how the members of a small start-up organization temporally coordinated their dispersed activities through everyday communicative practices, thus accomplishing both the distributed development of a software system and the creation of a robust virtual team. By focusing on the genres and genre systems enacted by the LC members to structure their e-mail communication, we have identified some means through which virtual team members can use their communication to accomplish the temporal coordination of their distributed work.Within LC, the status report genre, bug/error notification genre, update notification genre, and phone meeting management genre system emerged as key communication structures that both reflected and shaped members' temporal and work practices. These genres were enacted by members in recurrent situations that reflected both the nature of their collective software development work, as well as the unique local contexts within which each individual member was embedded. Through enacting temporal coordination genres, the full-time members shared important temporal information that allowed them to schedule work, synchronize efforts, allocate tasks, and coordinate their dispersed activities accordingly. The phone meeting management genre system not only demonstrates the dynamic and negotiated nature of temporal structuring in LC, but also shows that a strong organizational temporal structure can emerge through such processes. The habitual enactment of these genres and genre system facilitated the coordination, coherence, and continuity of dispersed electronic collaboration over time in this virtual start-up organization.Our study confirms the various suggestions from prior virtual team research that structuring communication and work process is an important mechanism for the temporal coordination of dispersed activities. In particular, we have tried to show that the notions of genre and genre system are particularly useful to make sense of and analyze how such structuring actually occurs over time. These concepts shift the research focus from how a given set of temporal coordination mechanisms affect team performance to how coordination mechanisms emerge, are stabilized, and adapted over time. Most of the prior research on temporal coordination in virtual teams has stressed the importance of formal temporal structures for more efficient coordination and better performance within virtual teams. However, in real settings, imposing temporal structures at the outset is often neither possible nor practical. In many cases, such formal temporal structures are too abstract to guide everyday activities or too rigid to accommodate different and dynamic local situations. Rather, it is through the shared experiences members gradually accumulate as a team that they discover more appropriate temporal structures and useful temporal coordination mechanisms for their ongoing work.Clearly, there is a trade off between temporal flexibility and tight coordination. Imposing a rigid temporal or process structure may reduce the pressure for coordination, but it hampers temporal flexibility, which is often an important advantage of virtual organizing. Pre-planned and imposed structures are, by definition, limited in their capacity to deal with emerging local exigencies and accommodate the multiple temporal structures in which members are embedded. As we have seen in the LC case, it is not possible to predict or schedule when a bug will be found in code or when a computer might break down. And as members participate in multiple temporal structures - for example, work time, family time, personal time - that often blur together or conflict with each other, ongoing and dynamic temporal negotiation is inevitable. Thus, in practice, situated micro-coordination becomes critical for the accomplishment of effective temporal structuring of distributed work. Our investigation of members' ongoing e-mail communication suggests that their recurrent use of specific genres and genre systems affords them such dynamic and flexible coordination mechanisms. These coordination mechanisms structure communication around shared temporal expectations and norms, but are flexible enough to allow members some opportunities for negotiation and adjustment. Furthermore, as organizing structures, genres and genre systems evolve and change as members modify them or invent new ones in response to emerging situations.A focus on genres and genre systems is also useful in understanding how virtual teams that lack the temporal symmetry and visible temporal cues of co-located organizations can create shared temporal structures and rhythms that help coordinate their different activities. Reddy and Dourish (2002) note that knowledge about temporal rhythms is itself an important resource for workers to help them accomplish their work and guide them through future activities However, in contrast to the co-located medical workers in their study, whose main coordination challenge was to learn and adapt to institutionalized temporal rhythms, virtual team members such as those in LC, have to actively produce knowledge about temporal rhythms and make it available to the rest of the team through communication. Genres and genre systems facilitate this communication, helping members make critical information available \"at the right place at the right time,\" where \"the rightness\" is based on different genre norms established implicitly or explicitly over time. In the LC example, the update notification messages were expected to be sent almost simultaneously with the actual update, whereas the status report was less tightly linked to a particular moment in time. The content and timing of these genres provided critical information to members, helping them create and adapt their own work rhythms in accordance with those of other members. Furthermore, enacting genres and genre systems also contributes to creating more routine organizational rhythms, as seen in the example of the phone meeting management genre system. Genres and genre systems, thus, help temporal coordination by directly or indirectly generating collective work rhythms, not in the sense that they are enacted on some fixed schedule, but in the sense that they shape shared expectations regarding the team's collective work rhythms to which individual members can orient.The implications of this paper are not limited to the topic of temporal coordination. Some researchers have observed that temporal issues (e.g. deadlines, schedules) often create second agendas that contribute to the general improvement of group processes by redirecting members' attention from the principle activities of the team to more process oriented tasks (Gersick, 1988, 1989; Okhuysen and Eisenhardt, 2002). For example, Gersick (1988, 1989) found that, in response to deadlines, members occasionally interrupted the efforts of the group to discuss time-related issues. Similarly, Okhuysen and Eisenhardt (2002) argued that a temporal agenda can be an effective formal means of team intervention to improve the integration of knowledge. The implication of genres and genre systems for these findings is that as part of the team's genre repertoire, they allow members to bring second agendas into ongoing discussion and negotiation. Furthermore, while temporally coordinating their work through genres, members inevitably attend to other issues of coordination that go beyond temporal issues For example, the bug/error notification genre not only notifies members when a bug has been found or an error has occurred and how urgently the solution is needed, but typically also discusses who should take care of the job and how best to proceed. By adding second agendas as a critical part of daily communication, genres and genre systems can contribute to enhancing members' awareness of issues beyond the primary task, thus improving overall group processes.The role of communication genres and genre systems in providing awareness of others' activities also speaks to some additional issues raised in coordination theory. Crowston and Kammerer (1998) noted that coordination theory is useful for identifying the cause of coordination problems but that it is less useful in identifying solutions. For example, knowing whom to consult to solve problems is as important as knowing the cause of those problems. They suggest that successful coordination depends as much on members' capabilities and willingness to develop shared understandings of the team's tasks and one another as on identifying dependency problems. The importance of a kind of \"collective mind\" (Weick and Roberts, 1993; Crowston and Kammerer, 1998) or \"mutual knowledge\" (Cramton, 2001) in temporal coordination can be repeatedly observed in LC. For example, members' ability to \"smell a bug\" (i.e. knowing whose expertise is needed to fix a particular problem) was the basis of timely task allocations. Awareness of tasks and team expertise is thus a precondition for successful temporal coordination. Yet, it is also a dynamic capability that members have to learn and develop through ongoing communication and collaboration. Our analysis of communication practices in LC strongly suggests that the recurrent use of certain genres and genre systems can be very useful in developing this awareness over time. Through enacting status reports, bug/error notifications, and update notifications, LC members constantly articulated and checked discrepancies of understanding or expectations among members about appropriate tasks or requirements. As organizing structures of e-mail communication, these genres and genre system can facilitate the processes of socialization, conversation, and recapitulation suggested by Crowston and Kammerer (1998) as crucial for the development of collective mind in dispersed teams.We should note that this study is exploratory in nature and based on a single case study. The virtual organization examined in this paper was unique in several aspects: first, it was a small organization composed of white males in a similar age group; second, it was based on collaboration among peers with very little hierarchical structure[6]; third, all members possessed a very high level of technical expertise; and finally, the members shared a complex web of personal, educational, and work experiences that predated their collaboration within LC. All these factors contributed to the LC members' successful coordination in a technologically mediated environment across time and distance. In particular, the high level of commonality and prior experiences of collaboration provided a strong basis of mutual trust and enhanced team awareness, which facilitated active collaboration among the members.The insights generated from this exploratory study should form the basis for additional research. This paper reports how a particular virtual team developed and used temporal coordination practices, extending research into the \"real\" virtual team context over time. We expect the critical role of genres and genre systems in temporal structuring to be evident in other types of distributed or virtual teams and organizations. However, the actual practices of temporal coordination and specific genres and genre systems in use will undoubtedly differ across teams and organizations, depending on differences in goals, tasks, technologies in use, and members' local situations. We hope that our account here has opened the way for further research that explores the possibilities of temporal coordination through the enactment of genres and genre systems in different virtual contexts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To explain how genres structure temporal coordination in virtual teams over time.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The first year e-mail archive of a small distributed software development start-up was coded and analyzed and these primary data were complemented with interviews of the key participants and examination of notes from the weekly phone meetings.\nFindings: - In this paper, it is found that members of a small start-up organization temporally coordinated their dispersed activities through everyday communicative practices, thus accomplishing both the distributed development of a software system and the creation of a robust virtual team. In particular, the LC members used three specific genres - status reports, bug/error notifications, and update notifications - and one genre system - phone meeting management - to coordinate their distributed software development over time.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study confirms the various suggestions from prior virtual team research that structuring communication and work process is an important mechanism for the temporal coordination of dispersed activities. In particular, an attempt has been made to show that the notions of genre and genre system are particularly useful to make sense of and analyze how such structuring actually occurs over time.\nOriginality/value: - In this paper, the research focus is shifted from how a given set of temporal coordination mechanisms affect team performance to how coordination mechanisms emerge, are stabilized, and adapted over time. It is also shown how the notion of genre may be used to shed light on the practices through which temporal coordination is accomplished in geographically distributed teams.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Slowly shifting out of neutral: Using young adult literature to discuss PSTs' beliefs about racial injustice and police brutality	[ "Neutrality", "Discussion", "Political classrooms", "Pre-service teachers", "Racial violence", "Young adult literature" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In 1991, four White police officers in Los Angeles were video-recorded repeatedly and excessively kicking, clubbing and tasering Rodney King, an African American taxi driver. The subsequent acquittal of the police officers led to one of the largest civil unrests in US history, the LA riots. Although incidents of racial injustice were not new in the USA, the Rodney King beating was one of the first police brutality videos of its kind, and it forever changed the conversation about police and race in America. Twenty-six years later, reports of police violence against Black and Brown bodies in the USA continue, and with the rise of smartphones, people have taken to documenting those incidents via social media. In 2014, when a White police officer shot and murdered Michael Brown, an unarmed African American adolescent in the streets of Ferguson, MO, demonstrations consumed the city, re-awakened race conversations, and incited activism through the movement #BlackLivesMatter.\nYoung adult literature as a critical literacy tool: Literature, in general, creates opportunities to put oneself in another person's shoes. Nussbaum (1997) argued that literature's purpose is to cultivate:\nCritical literacy and critical race theory: Our analysis of our PSTs perceptions of discussing race and police relations using YAL in the classroom was framed by critical literacy and the pedagogies outlined by Freire (1985) who believed that teaching was a political practice and never neutral. Educators, he said, need to \"recognize ourselves as politicians\" (p. 17) and work toward transforming reality by critically challenging dominant ideologies that seek to oppress.\nResearch design and methods: This qualitative exploratory case study (Stake, 1995) investigated PSTs in two university YAL courses as they read and discussed All American Boys. The qualitative approach to inquiry looks at what is the nature of an issue and how is it perceived and is marked by data collection in the field (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). The field for this study was the two university classrooms and their online spaces. Because we wanted to see each PST's participation and hear each participant's understanding, we chose to design the study as a case study (Stake, 1995). The case was bound by these two groups of people working at the same time, on the same text, across two geographical places. The multicultural, multivoiced YA fiction text All American Boys was chosen to begin discussion about the death of Michael Brown and other victims of personal and institutionalized incidents of race-based police brutality.\nFindings: The findings presented here are part of a larger study on using the novel All American Boys to discuss race and police violence. In this article, we have chosen to focus specifically on how participants from different backgrounds, racial identities and levels of education talked about political neutrality as a nonpartisan and preferred stance in relation to discussing racism and police and community relations in the classroom. Participants approached neutrality differently, and after analysis, we were able to see how our choice of YAL or our pedagogical strategies may have contributed to PSTs maintaining neutral stances at the same time that some PSTs shifted away from a neutral stance. The first part of this section is organized by three subthemes:\nDiscussion and implications: Like Paolo Freire, historian, educator and social activist, Zinn (1994) tells us in his memoir, \"you can't be neutral on a moving train,\" which suggests that all acts, whether passive or active, are political. As we waded through our data, we realized that despite multiple intentional scaffolds, and creating a dialogic classroom space for difficult conversations, most of our participants were resistant to taking a stand as they read and discussed the novel All American Boys. Our PSTs were not averse to talking about race, but most were definitely attempting to keep their feet planted firmly on the tumultuous train ride. Being politically neutral, in this way, may be seen as a rejection of, or, at the very least, reticence toward social justice, restorative and critical English Education (Morrell, 2005; Winn, 2013).\nConclusion: We have attempted to show how PSTs perceive discussing racial violence and police brutality through reading a YA novel, All American Boys. What we uncovered is that many of our students, although making progress by beginning to question and interrogate their beliefs, found political neutrality to be their default position when faced with controversial and difficult topics in YAL.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: to explore how preservice teachers in a young adult literature course critically conceptualize discussions in school spaces about race and police/community relations; and to understand the constraints and affordances of using the young adult (YA) novel, All American Boys, as a critical literacy tool for discussing race and police/community relations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative exploratory case study (Stake, 1995) investigated 24 pre-service teachers in two university YA literature courses as they read and discussed All American Boys. Thematic analysis consisted of open coding through the theoretical lenses of critical literacy and critical race theory.\nFindings: Pre-service English language arts teachers largely thought that while race and police relations was important and the YA book was powerful, it was too political. Their fears about what might happen lead to privileging the role of neutrality as the desired goal for teachers when tackling difficult conversations about racial injustice in America. Although students made some shifts in terms of moving from neutral to more critical stances, three sub-themes of neutrality were predominant: a need for both sides of the story, the view that all beliefs are valid and the belief that we are all humans therefore all lives matter equally.\nOriginality/value: A search at the time of this study yielded few research tackling racial injustice and community/police relations through YA literature in the classroom. This study is important as stories of police brutality and racism are all too common and adolescents are too often the victims.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The influence of a virtual agent on web-users' desire to visit the company: The case of restaurant's web site	[ "Social presence", "Trust", "TAM", "E-service quality", "Restaurant web site", "Virtual agent", "Web site humanization", "Web-user experience" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Internet reduced the cost of interaction between the firm and its customers (Iansiti and MacCormack, 1999; Nevens, 1999) and eliminated the importance of physical distance (Eika and Reistadbakk, 1998). A web site is particularly useful for engaging with customers who have never visited the restaurant before, as it offers them the chance to experience something of its atmosphere, level of service and genre of cuisine. In such a place, where human interaction is essential to the customer's opinion of the company, humanizing the web-experience is crucial. Several terms refer to interactive animated characters on web sites. McGoldrick et al. (2008) summarized several terms found in the literature, such as \"virtual agents\" (Abbattista et al., 2002), \"avatars\" (Wood et al., 2005; Holzwarth et al., 2006), \"embodied conversational agents\" (ECAs) (Cassell et al., 2000), etc.\nLiterature review: E-service\nResearch model: In order to better understand the impact of the virtual agent on e-service quality (quality of web services which are delivered through the web site) and patronage intention, we employed the technology acceptance model (TAM) which describes the intention to accept or use a new technology (Davis, 1989). The original TAM has been widely used to explain technology adoption. As web sites are a type of information technology, users' attitudes and behaviours can be partially explained by the TAM (Cyr et al., 2007; Davis, 1989). According to TAM, the ease of use of a new technology will influence its perceived usefulness. This part concerns the utilitarian component. More recently, the original TAM has been expanded to include a hedonic component related to the enjoyment created for the user (Cyr et al., 2007; Childers et al., 2001). This aesthetic component was not originally included in TAM (Cyr et al., 2007). Thus, we used TAM, and we expanded it with the aesthetic and hedonic components in order to apply it to our virtual agent's characteristics. Figure 1 depicts our research model. Elements of the model and hypotheses were elaborated above.\nMethodology: In this research we integrated the virtual agent on a restaurant web site. With the help of a computer service company named Askom, we developed a virtual agent named Laura (Figure 2). The algorithm used for machine-learning was based on the use of keywords. Initially, we trained Laura to answer basic questions. To that end, we collected a database of FAQ found on more than 50 restaurant web sites. We started by teaching Laura to answer these questions. In a second step, we integrated this virtual agent to the restaurant's web site and tested it with 40 users (learning phase). These interactions helped to improve the response satisfactory rate. This means that the virtual agent will evolve and improve its knowledge based on its interactions. We estimate that the percentage of successful answers given by Laura will reach 80 percent (in the cases when the questions are linked with the restaurant). In our interviews with virtual agent developers, they estimate that a good virtual agent will respond to 70-90 percent of the questions. It would be too costly to develop an agent capable of having a better score.\nResults: Descriptive analysis\nConclusion: The objective of this research was to measure the perception and the behavioural intention of web-users who interact with a virtual agent on a web site. We discovered that the online experience clearly impacts the patronage intention. Indeed, the hedonic and utilitarian values of the virtual agent impact the patronage intention, even if the hedonic value has the major role. In parallel, we found that the humanization of the web site increases the hedonic value of the virtual agent but the web-users judge that there is no significant impact on the utilitarian value. One explanation could be the fact that we applied this model on a hedonic industry. We also found that the trust dimension influences the utilitarian value and has no influence on the hedonic value. One reason of this result could be based on the fact that trust is more related to the concrete usefulness of a virtual agent and less to the pleasure of interacting with it. On the contrary, the aesthetic of the virtual agent impacts more the user's enjoyment than the utility perceived in the technology.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to measure the perception and the behavioural intention of web-users who interact with a virtual agent on a web site. The author wants to measure the added value of this technology in terms of providing e-service and measure web-users' desire to have a concrete experience with a firm after experiencing its web site.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author integrated a virtual agent on a restaurant's web site and conducted an online survey. The author asked respondents to interact with the virtual agent and then fill in the questionnaire. The author used the expanded version of the technology acceptance model (TAM) for measuring the intention of potential customers to accept a new technology and for evaluating the characteristics of the virtual agent. In order to measure the e-service quality, the author adapted items of WebQual to restaurant industry. As the author had several latent variables, the author used partial least squares (PLS), a variance-based structural equation modeling method.\nFindings: Results show that the utilitarian and hedonic values of the virtual agent increase significantly the desire of potential clients to experiment the restaurant. Hedonic value seems to play a major role. This is a crucial factor for restaurant and hotel industries which can be considered as hedonic industries.\nPractical implications: This research can help firms to manage relationships with current and potential clients through their web site. The nature of the company plays an important role in the success of the virtual agent's implementation. Even if in the case the author applied the virtual agent to a hedonic industry, a lot of companies in other sectors can benefit from having a virtual agent, especially if the company in question is service-oriented (e.g. bank, airline, etc.).\nOriginality/value: According to the author's knowledge, virtual agents have never been applied to restaurant/hotel industries before. The results of this research significantly advanced the understanding of the impact of virtual agents, especially in the hospitality industry. Moreover, the author applied the TAM to the characteristics of virtual agent, which is very new for the academic world. Finally, the framework the author presented in this research could be used as a basis of measurement of virtual agent effectiveness.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Racial-ethnic diversity in Canada: competitive edge or corporate encumbrance? Part two	[ "Performance", "Multiculturalism", "Diversity", "Immigration", "Cultural diversity", "Racial-ethnic diversity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nCanadian population and immigration: Part One of this two-part paper covered an explanation of diversity and an explanation of performance, and an assessment of cultural values of organizations practicing diversity.\nThe effect of diversity on performance: In the literature review thus far, we have focused on the effect of ethnic diversity on performance, with performance being one of the most significant indicators in business. Much of the research explored the larger definition of diversity (gender, tenure, age, ethnic, etc.) and on its role on the performance level in the workplace. Nonetheless, we tried to extract as much as possible what has been written about the role of ethnic diversity.\nConclusion: It is still somewhat inconclusive whether racial-ethnic diversity can have a definite positive or negative impact on organizational performance. However, from a social understanding standpoint, clearly it is a benefit to be able to recognize, tolerate and even celebrate other cultures. In many stated pro-diversity work climates, \"majority-minority differences in absenteeism (a performance criterion) [are] smaller in organizations perceived to place greater value on diversity\" (McKay et al., 2008, pp. 349-74). In other words, in environments where the minority cultures are valued among the majority culture, there are fewer differences in performance results. It can be extracted then that in environments where minority cultures feel threatened, performance results vary more widely.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between multiculturalism and performance, and attempt to reconcile some of the varying points of views, in order to suggest practical implications for managers in the workplace.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A review of the literature regarding both diversity and performance was performed. Next, the focus was on the relationship specifically between racial-ethnic diversity and performance. To show the relevance of the paper, materials dedicated to Canadian population and immigration was included.\nFindings: It is still somewhat inconclusive whether diversity can have a definite positive or negative impact on organizational performance. The literature reviewed shows that authors have differing opinions. One element appears to be clear: diversity of itself does not necessarily bring benefit. For a diverse group to perform well, it must be well managed. Diversity remains an underused tool that managers have yet to learn to utilize.\nResearch limitations/implications: At the time of writing, there was not a significant amount of published material on the direct relationship between multiculturalism and performance. This paper attempts to gather and make sense of the various views formalized thus far and puts forth a new question of how to turn multiculturalism in the workplace into an asset for organizations.\nPractical implications: Managers still do not agree on how to take full advantage of diversity. As the Canadian workforce becomes more and more diverse, so increases the importance of addressing and answering this question in practical terms. Especially facing the increased globalization of corporations, taking advantage of the untapped potential that resides in a culturally diverse work team should be at the top of every international company's goals.\nSocial implications: The importance of studying the relationship between multiculturalism and performance is crucial because in developed countries like Canada organizations are becoming increasingly culturally diverse. Much has been written about the effect of group diversity on conflict and creativity, on the performance of heterogeneous groups vs homogeneous groups, on organizational commitment among ethnic minorities, and on self-fulfilling performance expectations.\nOriginality/value: This paper is a useful source for managers interested in understanding the real value of diversity in the workplace, as well as for researchers studying the relationship between corporate diversity and corporate performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Entrepreneurial artisan products as regional tourism competitiveness	[ "Innovation", "Entrepreneurship", "Small firm/new venture strategy", "Regions", "Clusters" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Tourism represents one of the most important industries worldwide and performs a fundamental role in the development and competitiveness of many regions (Abreu et al., 2018; Ayikoru et al., 2013; Byun et al., 2017; Camison et al., 2017; Cheng and Yiu, 2016). However, tourism does not only generate economic benefits but also brings socio-cultural gains (Hieu and Rasovska, 2017).\nLiterature review: Artisan products\nMethods and data: The selection of methods took place in accordance with the various means of data collection, such as observation and content analysis based upon secondary data so as to avoid any excessive dependence on any single source and therefore avoiding jeopardising the reliability of the findings (Chong, 2017). Research into the winery sector has thus far tended to ignore the client perspective Dressler (2016) and Garcia-Granata et al. (2013). The academic community identified the need to return insights derived from empirical studies and put forward analysis of segments (Barber et al., 2009; Manoj, 2015), multidimensional approaches (Engelbrecht et al., 2014), analysis of the impacts of profit (Garcia-Granata et al., 2013) and researching client side experiences (Fuller et al., 2009) as priorities. To this end, it was made recourse to the databases run by the DREM - Regional Directorate of Statistics, INE - Instituto Nacional de Estatistica (Statistics Portugal) and IVBAM - Institute of Madeira Wine, Embroidery and Handicrafts. These databases contain information referring to the commercialisation of Madeira wine and embroideries ever since 1976 in the case of wine and since 1998 in the case of embroideries and artisan products.\nResults and data analysis: As regards the results, it was first opted to identify, as detailed in Table I, the main artisan products and the leading artisan productive units in each RAM council constituting the main artisan producers currently active in the region.\nDiscussion of results: The development of artisanal tourism has contributed towards the preservation and development of regional artisanal traditions in a sustainable fashion as this assists not only in expanding the market but also in opportunities favourable to developing production as well as preserving and promoting the cultural values of regions (Hieu and Rasovska, 2017).\nConclusions: Tourism, in its artisan facet, plays an important role in commercialising the tourist basket of products that provide a fundamental input into regional tourism competitiveness.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse the role of entrepreneurial artisan products in regional tourism competitiveness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study applies secondary data from different sources (Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira, the Madeira Institute of Wine, Embroideries and Handicrafts) covering a temporal period spanning the last 15 years (2001-2015). This deployed quantitative data analysis through an econometric approach with recourse to regression models and the Pearson's correlation technique.\nFindings: According to the results, it is suggested that in terms of external support and funding, there should be a greater role and a boost in the number of projects carried out not only under the auspices of the European Union but also under the Autonomous Region of Madeira. Thus, participant companies may invest in greater business efficiency and entrepreneurship, in innovation, promotion and the internationalisation of their products, and thereby obtain greater overall regional competitiveness.\nResearch limitations/implications: The generalisation of results remains to a certain extent limited, given the findings stem from only one particular region. The exclusive utilisation of secondary data may also undermine the robustness of the results obtained.\nOriginality/value: The study provides empirical evidence that helps in identifying the role of artisan products within the capacity for regional tourism sector entrepreneurship and competitiveness. Furthermore, this also contributes to the knowledge of the scientific community particularly interested in artisan and cultural entrepreneurship and regional competitiveness in the tourism sector.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Reducing meat consumption: the case for social marketing	[ "Australia", "Sustainability", "Social marketing", "Meat consumption" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Consumption of food provides nutrition and energy for the human body. People's preferences for food, however, are much more complex than satisfying this basic function. For example, concerns about food quality, including organic and green, are attracting significant research attention in the marketing literature (e.g. Nasir and Karakaya, 2014; Perrea et al., 2014; Tan and Cadeaux, 2012). Another aspect of food is its physical base - from plant or animal origin, with the last few decades witnessing increasing global per capita meat consumption (Raphaely and Marinova, 2016).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Livestock and climate change\n3. Research methodology: This exploratory research applies a quantitative approach through a survey of a random sample of Sydney residents. Ethics permission was obtained from Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. The survey sample comprising adults - employed or studying, allowed exploration of the issue of food choices within a population not strongly influenced by the price of meat (be it cheap or expensive). Exploratory surveys are used for issues that are relatively new and poorly understood both, by the researcher/s and the general population being investigated. Often the problem is not clearly defined and such exploratory research helps in gaining familiarity with the issue (Shields and Rangarjan, 2013). According to the FluidSurveys Team (2014a, n.p.) \"[e]xploratory research is the researcher's tool to understand an issue more thoroughly, before attempting to quantify mass responses into statistically inferable data\". The focus is on discovering insights and exploratory surveys are typically used for their value in developing marketing strategies (FluidSurveys Team, 2014b). Essentially, social exploratory research seeks to find out what is going on, how people react to particular settings, what meaning they attach to their actions and what concerns they have (Schutt, 2012). Understanding the complex issue of meat consumption requires such an exploratory approach.\n4. Results: This exploratory survey did not pro-actively try to solicit participants who adhere to different diet styles. The sample was randomly selected from a large database of Sydney residents with the only eligibility criterion applied being to be employed (98 per cent of the sample) or engaged in full-time studies (2 per cent of the sample). The key survey results in relation to dietary preferences and the main reasons for consuming meat are discussed below.\n5. Discussion: The survey asked participants to describe their associations with the word \"meat\". No negative associations were recorded by the meat-eaters. Taste and health associations feature very strongly (see the list below). Many participants indicate their love of the taste of meat and enjoyment of eating it with descriptions, such as \"juicy\", \"delicious\" \"bloody steak\", \"mouth-watering\" and \"comfort\". Health-related descriptions include references to: \"iron\", \"protein\", \"staple dietary requirement\", \"energy\" and \"goodness\". These associations are very powerful consumption motivators and are unlikely to change easily. Innovative social marketing approaches are required to reduce meat's appeal.\n6. Current dietary guidelines and red meat marketing in Australia: The latest Australian dietary guidelines (NHMRC, 2013) are unambiguous in limiting the consumption of red meat. This is in line with other prestigious health bodies, such as WHO (2015). Surprisingly, the meat industry itself purports to support these guidelines. The MLA's Guide to Healthy Meals suggests limiting red meat intake to \"650 g/week, raw weight\" (Meat & Livestock Australia, 2015c, p. 6) which is approximately the equivalent to 455 g/week of cooked red meat (Glasser, 2015). MLA also states its commitment to nutrition by supporting \"consumption of 455 g/week of cooked red meat in palm-sized portion sizes, three to four times a week, as part of a healthy, balanced diet consistent with the Australian Dietary Guidelines\" (Meat & Livestock Australia, n.d., n.p.). It has even developed a Healthy Eating Guide for different age groups (Meat & Livestock Australia, 2015b) including the lower meat amounts required for children under nine and for older adults. However, this needs to be interpreted with a lot of scepticism because of MLA's extensive advertising and meat promotion which constantly bombard consumers and whose messages are inescapable through overt and subliminal aggressive marketing.\n7. The case for social marketing: Given the pervasiveness of meat consumption within Western culture, and Australian society in particular, any changes in current attitudes and behaviours without strong social marketing interventions are unlikely to occur. The survey results show that the choice to eat meat is not entirely rational but caused by a mixture of emotional, social and nutritional messages. Although this may well be the case with the consumption of any other food, none is as devastating to the environment as meat is.\n8. Research implications and limitations: 8.1 Research implications\n9. Conclusions: This exploratory study examined the reasons behind meat intake of Sydney participants. Although these consumers may not be aware of the importance of this sustainability issue, \"in scholarly thinking the ecological effects and energy-intensiveness of meat production and consumption have been acknowledged for more than 20 years\" (Verain et al., 2015a, p. 209). Similarly, evidence of the negative health impacts of excessive meat consumption has also been available for decades.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore reasons behind meat consumption. It aims to find out what motivates meat consumers and explore the opportunities of social marketing to counteract negative environmental and health trends.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An exploratory Australian survey of Sydney consumer red meat choices is used covering dietary preferences, meat eating patterns, reasons and levels of concern for economic and environmental issues. Analysis of dietary guidelines and marketing campaigns in relation to the survey findings is conducted.\nFindings: The survey highlights: lack of awareness about the link between meat consumption and environmental well-being; widespread inaccuracy of health messages related to meat consumption; influence of the meat industry in promoting excessive meat consumption; pervasiveness of the link between red meat consumption and national identity, social status, prestige and masculinity; and urgent need for government-supported social marketing interventions and the demarketing of meat.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to propose social marketing based on the health and environmental co-benefits of reduced red meat consumption.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of corporate culture, market orientation and organisational commitment in organisational performance: The case of non-profit organisations	[ "Performance", "Non-profit organizations", "Market orientation", "Corporate culture", "Organizational culture", "Organizational performance", "Organizational commitment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Public and non-profit organisations are increasingly committed to introducing deep changes associated with the growth of contract-based services, improving service quality standards towards users, introducing efficient and effective mechanisms of management (Macedo and Pinho, 2006; Rodrigues and Pinho, 2010). In this context, the adoption of business-oriented approaches in non-profit organisations is recognised as a critical factor, with organisational culture and market orientation potentially playing a pivotal role in influencing organisational outcomes.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Corporate culture\n3. Hypotheses development: 3.1 Corporate culture and organisational commitment\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Research setting\n5. Analysis and results: 5.1 Sample profile and measurement model estimation\n6. Discussion: Nearly 62 per cent of the organisations included in our sample match a \"clan culture type\", whose dominant attributes are cohesiveness, participation, teamwork and sense of family. Principles such as loyalty, tradition, interpersonal cohesion are particularly relevant. This can be justified by the fact that the strategic emphasis of these organisations is the development of human resources, commitment and morale (Cameron and Freeman, 1991). The second most representative is the \"market culture type\" with 20 per cent. This corporate culture type emphasises competitiveness and goal achievement. Finally, the third corporate culture type is the \"adhocracy\" with 11 per cent. This corporate culture type emphasises values of entrepreneurship, creativity and adaptability.\n7. Conclusion and implications: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between organisational culture, market orientation, organisational commitment and organisational performance in non-profit health organisations. Data were collected using validated scale instruments drawn from relevant literature. The results evidence the importance of corporate culture and market orientation in non-profit organisations and highlight their impact on organisational performance. With regard to the market orientation consequences, the results suggest that higher levels of market orientation result in both high levels of organisational commitment and organisational performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework that explores the relationships among the following constructs: corporate/organisational culture, market orientation, organisational commitment and organisational performance in non-profit organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In line with previous studies in the field, a quantitative research design was adopted. The data collection was performed through a mail survey of a sample of Portuguese non-profit organisations operating in the area of health. Structural equation modelling was used as a means to analyse the hypothesised relationships.\nFindings: Results have shown that organisational culture impacts on organisational performance. Concerning the market orientation consequences, the study results suggest that higher levels of market orientation result in both high levels of organisational commitment and organisational performance. Results also suggest that organisational commitment does not affect performance in a very significant way.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study was restricted to non-profit organisations, particularly those operating in the area of health and used cross-sectional data to test the research model and hypotheses. Whilst these findings remain valid, they cannot be used for universal generalisations. This study has significant theoretical and practical implications.\nPractical implications: Practitioners and researchers agree that organisational culture may lead to different performance results, although little attention has been given to this issue. The study is useful for understanding organisational culture, market orientation, organisational commitment and organisational performance in non-profit organisations.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers original findings through simultaneously examining the relationships between organisational culture, market orientation, organisational commitment and organisational performance in the context of non-profit organisations. The findings add weight to the recent emphasis on business-oriented approaches as a lever for improving performance in non-profit organisations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Making equalities work? Scottish trade unions' approaches to equal opportunities	[ "Trade unions", "Equal opportunities", "Gender", "Race", "Scotland", "United Kingdom" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The trade union movement faces unprecedented challenges in addressing inequality at work, and in renewing its membership. Increased labour force diversity and economic restructuring has contributed to a decline in union membership in the UK, prompting a widespread recognition of the need to recruit from previously marginalised and under-represented groups. However, there is also awareness that this strategy will only be successful if unions are perceived to challenge the disadvantage experienced by new and potential members, addressing both discriminatory and structural causes of inequality.Drawing on interviews with equalities representatives employed by 26 unions - more than three-fifths of the union organisations affiliated to the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) - the aim of this paper is to explore unions' approaches to addressing equal opportunities issues in Scotland. We focus on the views of specialist equalities officers (or officers with an equalities remit) regarding issues of diversity in membership, activism and union post-holding; and the extent to which equalities have been mainstreamed within the collective bargaining agenda. The analysis takes as its starting point the three models of \"sameness\", \"difference\" and \"transformation\", identified by Rees (1998) and the assertion by Booth and Bennett (2002) that the mainstreaming of equality requires all three. We assess the extent to which union approaches to equalities have been limited to the \"sameness\", and to a lesser extent the \"difference\", model: responding to direct discrimination and making some reforms to representative structures, but failing to substantially engage with the underlying structural causes of inequality and the need for the \"transformation\" of discriminatory forms of work organisation.Within the context of this special issue, the research represents a contribution to discussions of the professionalisation of equalities work. Unions have increasingly sought to establish specialist posts and remits dealing with equalities to provide an expert, professional voice within their organisations. Professional equalities officers (or other senior officers with a specific equalities remit) are therefore key \"insiders\", framing and articulating the case for action on equalities within unions. The literature on the politics of equal opportunities campaigning has identified tensions between activism and professionalism, with shifts towards the professionalisation of equalities work seen as potentially appropriating and compromising radical (activist-driven) reform agendas by imposing managerialist practice and structures (Halford and Leonard, 2006). Although similar concerns have been raised by some trade unionists, professionalisation through the establishment of equality officer posts has generally been welcomed by activists who have previously struggled to influence union decision-makers on the need to prioritise action on equal opportunities (Heery, 2006a). However, questions remain regarding the extent to which the leadership provided by professional equalities specialists is likely to be framed and constrained by the values of these and other officers, members' differing priorities, and representative and organisational structures within unions.Following this introduction, we explore the theoretical, trade union, labour market and legislative contexts for the research and describe the methodology. We then present the empirical findings in three sections, looking at union membership diversity, diversity in post-holding, and equalities priorities and the bargaining agenda. Finally we draw conclusions, returning to the theme of the need to move beyond a sameness-based understanding of equal opportunities, to fully recognise both the different experiences of groups of workers and the need to challenge structural and institutional barriers to equality.\nContext for the research and theoretical framework: Sameness, difference and transformative approaches to equality\nMethodology: The findings reported below are based upon semi-structured, in-depth interviews undertaken with professional trade union officers. The STUC, which supported the research, has 42 affiliated \"trade union organisations\". All 42 organisations were approached and 26 participated in the research (62 per cent response rate). Unions participating in the research were based in a wide range of sectors, and included major \"general\" and manufacturing unions and key public sector unions in the health, government and education arenas. Several small craft or professional unions also participated. Table I provides a breakdown of participating unions by size of membership in Scotland.Each union was asked to nominate the most appropriate official to comment on equalities issues at the \"Scotland\" level. The rank and location of interviewees varied depending on the size of union, whether equal opportunities was a specialist function (not all union have equalities officers), and the level of devolution to the regions. In our research 23 unions were UK-wide, with Scotland holding \"regional\" status. Of these, 11 nominated national (UK-level) equalities officers who were able to discuss the Scottish policy context; eight nominated regional (Scotland-based) equalities officers; two nominated UK-level policy or industrial relations officers whose remit included equalities; and two nominated Scotland-based regional officers with an equalities remit. The three Scotland-only organisations nominated a national (that is, Scotland-wide) equalities officer, a National Assistant Secretary with responsibility for equalities, and (in the case of a small union organisation) the National Secretary.Given the diversity of the unions and interviewees involved, the analysis presented here is of professional officers' perceptions of issues and practices, rather than a definitive description of the relevant unions' approaches to equalities at all levels of their organisation. The interviews sought to cover the issues faced by the full spectrum of \"equalities groups\", asking specific questions on issues of age, disability, gender, race/ethnicity, religion/belief and sexual orientation (that is, the issues faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-sexual (LGBT) workers). However, interviewees' responses were mainly confined to issues of gender and, less often, race, which is reflected in the evidence presented below. While some action had been taken in other equalities areas, there was a clear sense that many unions have struggled to develop coherent strategies to address the needs of less visible minority groups.Union membership diversity\nDiscussion and conclusions: There is evidence that some Scottish unions have made progress towards the development of policies, procedures and campaigns to promote equal opportunities within the union movement and workplace (Lindsay et al., 2005). The Scottish context - with union membership (especially among women) higher than the UK average, a particularly strong public sector, and the STUC enjoying a constructive relationship with the Scottish Executive - could provide a particular conducive environment for the testing of new approaches to combating inequality.Indeed, many unions have begun to grapple with the issue of the under-representation of particular groups among their membership and lay and professional officers. But among unions participating in our study there was often an acceptance that membership tends to \"reflect the sector\". If we accept that union membership and unionised workplaces deliver benefits for workers and that labour market segregation contributes a large part to pay inequalities, the question arises - can unions claim to promote social justice and equality, and still be satisfied with a membership that \"reflects the sector\"?Equalities officers were aware of the under-representation of particular groups (and especially women and BME workers) within the ranks of their lay and professional officers. In many cases, this was explained as an \"image problem\" - that unions are perceived as being White and male-dominated (a perception that is, in many cases, accurate). However, some of our interviewees also cited a long-hours culture among union staff precluding the involvement of those with caring responsibilities (most often, women). This directly contradicts the commitment to progressive flexible working and work-life balance (that is, transforming work organisation to reflect the needs of different groups) that forms a major theme for unions' equalities campaigns. There is a continuing need to raise awareness of the manner in which these priorities involve action on a number of fronts, from engaging with employers on fair recruitment procedures, to re-thinking how unions themselves organise their work.Finally, for many union equalities representatives, the equal opportunities agenda continues to be marginalised within collective bargaining. Yet labour market segregation and discrimination are collective problems, and a collective response is required - certain forms of work organisation disenfranchise whole groups of workers, not just individuals; the gender-pay gap reflects systemic, institutionalised discrimination at the labour market and workplace level, rather than merely the sum of a number of arbitrary and individual cases of unfair treatment. As Dickens (1999) has noted, bringing together equal opportunities and collective bargaining will mark a break with traditional approaches and a challenge to existing forms of trade unionism, but such change is necessary if equalities issues are to be prioritised across all levels of the union movement.These findings are particularly important in reporting the perceptions and priorities of professional equalities officers (or senior union professionals with a specific equalities remit). Equalities officers are representative of a drive towards the professionalisation and specialisation of these issues within unions. There is evidence that the emergence of specialist equalities officers as key insiders articulating the case for action has progressed the equal opportunities agenda within unions (Heery, 2006b). However, our findings highlight how the leadership provided by professional equalities specialists can be constrained by established organisational and bureaucratic structures within unions and undermined by apathy, hostility or a simple lack of awareness among workplace activists. Our research also suggests that the values of equalities officers can reflect the assumptions governing broader priorities and practice within their unions (resulting in, for example, a reluctance to challenge forms of work organisation that are fundamental to explaining labour market inequality).This is not necessarily to suggest that the professionalisation of equalities work has appropriated, compromised or diluted an activist-driven, radical reform agenda - indeed, it is clear that the commitment of equalities officers to pressing for change from within unions' complex organisational structures benefits the equalities agenda. But there is also evidence that equalities professionals can struggle to challenge embedded structures and established bargaining agendas supported by other union officers. Our findings suggest that professionalisation is far from a panacea for the problems of \"mainstreaming equalities\" within trade unionism. Activist-driven, self-organised structures are also required in order to engage with, and articulate the concerns of, different groups at the grassroots level; and there is a need for greater diversity in all forms of professional post-holding, so that unions do not come to rely solely on equalities officers to provide a voice for under-represented or disadvantaged members.Despite recent progress, there is evidence that unions' approaches to equalities are largely based on the \"sameness\", equal-treatment model and to a lesser extent the \"difference\" model; responding to direct discrimination and making some reforms to representative structures, but not substantially engaging with the underlying structural causes of inequality. There is a failure (especially at the local level) to acknowledge the differences in the circumstances and experiences of groups of workers, and to articulate the need for transformative change in how we organise and reward work. Unions in Scotland and elsewhere will be required to embrace new forms of organising and campaigning if they are to achieve renewal by recruiting from a more diverse labour force, and address the complex needs of an evolving membership. The first step in this process is to develop a more sophisticated analysis of equal opportunities that commits unions to challenging fundamental, structural inequalities within organisations and labour markets.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to analyse trade unions' approaches to equal opportunities in Scotland, focusing on issues of: recruitment of membership from different groups; promoting diversity in post-holding; and the role of \"key equalities issues\" in collective bargaining.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper draws on in-depth interviews with equalities officers of 26 unions in Scotland. The analysis takes as its starting point the three models of equality policies identified by Rees: the \"sameness\", \"difference\" and \"transformation\" models.\nFindings: - The paper argues that, although some equalities officers demonstrated a thorough understanding of the issues, union approaches to equalities in practice reflect the \"sameness\", and to some extent \"difference\", models: attacking direct discrimination and insisting that members should be treated the same, establishing some limited mechanisms to reflect on the different needs of groups, but being less able to tackle the underlying structural causes of inequality. It is suggested that unions need to develop a more sophisticated analysis of equal opportunities which fully reflects the differences between the experiences of groups of workers and which challenges the fundamental, structural inequalities within (and therefore seeks to transform) organisations and labour markets. A key element of this agenda must be the mainstreaming of equal opportunities within collective bargaining.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Further research is required on how unions are beginning to deal with the issues raised in the paper. The paper is also limited to the views of individual equalities officers - further research on local practice is required.\nPractical implications: - The findings will be of interest to organisations engaged in equalities work and unions seeking to develop policy and practice in this area.\nOriginality/value: - The paper will add to the literature on unions' approaches to equalities. It applies the Rees model to extensive new data, and is the first major piece of research to address these issues within the Scottish policy context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Retail service quality in small retail sector: the Indian experience	[ "Retail service quality", "Small retailers", "Shopping values", "India", "Service quality assurance", "Retailing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Service quality is important in building consumer loyalty, improving sales, and retaining consumers. Measuring and defining quality presents a challenge to marketers as quality can be interpreted in different ways (Finn and Lamb, 1991). The purpose of the current research is to examine the consumers' perception of service quality in small retail stores in India. The consumers' shopping values influence their service quality perceptions, and are instrumental in determining their service quality attitudes. The current research investigates the role of hedonic and utilitarian shopping values in determining Indian consumers' small retail quality attitudes. Understanding consumer expectations regarding small retail stores can provide valuable insights to retailers to improve their products and services (Kim and Jin, 2001). Service quality can be viewed as a potent strategy that can help retailers differentiate themselves (Chao et al., 2007). Parasuraman et al. (1988) proposed a 22 item scale to measure the gap between consumers' expectations and actual service quality received. In service settings, interaction between service staff and consumer is critical in generating consumer satisfaction (Gronroos, 2001). Sweeney et al. (1999) studied the influence of perceived risk on consumers' perception of value in retailing. Perceived risk was found to be critical in consumers' product-service quality.Indian retail landscape has been dominated by small retailers, and most Indians prefer to do their household shopping from these outlets. The entry of multinational and private retailers is changing the consumers' perception towards retail service quality. The modern ambience, layout, and assortments of organised retailers would pose a threat to the survival of local retailers. The local retailers need to understand the consumers' service quality expectations in order to modify their service and product quality.The Indian retailing can be broken into two sectors: organised and unorganised. The organised retailing covers supermarkets, hyper-markets, and malls. These are professionally managed and offer variety of services and products under one roof. These retail stores are not family-run and operate on self-service model (Sengupta, 2008; Ramkrishnan, 2010). However, a major market share of Indian retailing is dominated by large unorganised retail which includes the small size family-owned stores (Halepete et al. 2008; Ramkrishnan, 2010). Kalhan (2007) states that unorganised retailing in India encompasses small privately owned stores which are run and managed by family members. The small retail outlets use stalls or small rooms for storing and selling products. These retailers offer products at convenient and economical prices to the local consumers (Halepete et al., 2008; Srivastava, 2008; Sathish and Raju, 2010; Ramkrishnan, 2010).Indian retail sector is projected to grow to $720 billion by 2011 (Economic Times, 2009) and retail industry would be 'worth $ 175-200 billion by 2016 (Sathish and Raju, 2010). Liberalisation policies in retail sector have made India an attractive destination for multinational retailers (Srivastava, 2008). The entry of global retailers with superior managerial and financial resources is bound to affect the future of small retailers. The organised sector though growing steadily only constitutes of 0.08 of total retail sector in India (Srivastava, 2008; Sengupta, 2008). Though organised retailing makes 70-80 per cent of the total trade in developed countries, its share in the Indian market is still low (Mishra, 2009). The Indian retailing is fragmented and most retail outlets operating in the country are of less than 500 square feet in size (Mishra, 2009; Ramkrishnan, 2010). It comprises of weekly haats, kirana stores, stalls, and convenience stores. The small retailers have high flexibility of designing their marketing mix according to local consumer needs (Ramkrishnan, 2010). Since most Indian consumer prefers to shop from the local retail outlets, understanding the consumers' service quality expectations would be beneficial for targeting them. The in-depth understanding of retail quality service dimensions can help the small retailers to improve their services and combat the threat from multinational and organised retail formats.The research objectives of the current research were:R1. How does the Indian consumer define small retail service quality?R2. Do hedonic and utilitarian shopping values share relationship with retail service quality?R3. Do different consumer age groups differ in retail service quality assessment and shopping values?R4. Do hedonic and utilitarian shopping values influence consumers' small retailers' service quality perceptions?\nLiterature review: Retail service quality\nMethodology: Instrument\nFindings: Since some items in the original RSQS had been re-worded and modified for Indian retail, Exploratory Factor Analysis test run on the 28 items. The Factor analysis would enable to examine the dimensionality of the scale to measure consumers' service quality and construct a measurement model. Table I represents the results of the Exploratory Factor Analysis with Varimax rotation and reliability scores for the scale. The analysis revealed three factors, which covered 46.22 per cent of variability. Ten items had to be excluded as the factor loadings was less than 0.5 and failed to meet (ibid) recommended level of internal consistency for scale development.Definition of small retailer service quality\nDiscussion and implications: The paper examines the relationship between small retail service quality dimensions and shopping values, which can prove to be useful to retailers in modifying their retail services. The rapid changes in the retailing sector in India are being manifested in the form of supermarkets and malls. These store formats combine hedonic aspects of shopping with their varied mix of products and services. The small retailers face a threat from organised retail formats which offer better mix of entertainment, facilities, ambience, and services. The organised retail sector is growing at the rate of 40 per cent annually (Mishra, 2009) and poses a threat to small retailers. The results of the current study indicate that Indian consumers' give importance to service, employee behaviour, credit policies, and social relationships while evaluating retail service quality. This is a positive sign for the small retailers. The ambience and infrastructure of malls, hypermarkets, and supermarkets may be superior to small retail outlets; however, consumers perceive small retail outlets to fulfil their hedonic and utilitarian shopping values. Shoppers may be attracted to the glamour of malls but for daily shopping needs, depend on small retail outlets; though one limitation of small retail outlets is that they do not transact in credit cards/debit cards, but only cash. The small retail outlets abound in India, research states that 95 per cent of the retail outlets in India are of less than 500 sq. ft (Srivastava, 2008; Ramkrishnan, 2010). A large section of the population is employed in the unorganised retail sector, and improving service quality can help them survive the onslaught of organised retailing.The store size of small retail outlets does not warrant small retailers to improve their store layout and ambience. Most stores are run in the retailers' houses, or in small adjoining rooms attached to the house. The poor storage space and layout makes the store congested and crowded. The positive aspects are that consumers overlook these discrepancies. When they go to make purchases from the local store they do not have any expectation about its ambience or organised layout. Their expectations are based on their past experiences with the local retailers. The service quality expectation is therefore dependent on a myriad of factors but not ambience. The results support research which state that consumers' respond to in-store experiences, services while evaluating service quality (Westbrook, 1981; Oliver, 1981; Finn and Lamb, 1991). The personal interaction was an important sub-dimension for the service and relationship dimension. The small retailers share a personal relationship with local consumers, and their behaviour was considered an important determinant in service quality assessment. The \"pleasurable\" aspect of shopping is enhanced through social interaction and congenial store atmosphere. The results support research findings of Ozedmir and Hewett (2010) wherein they suggest that in collectivist cultures personal relationship between consumer and retailer was important in determining service quality.The small retailers can improve their service and facilities in order to target younger consumers. The younger consumers are more likely to be enamoured by the ambience, decor, and facilities of malls, supermarkets, and hyper-markets. To target this age group, the retailers must increase their product assortment, add more product lines and brands, and make new products easily available. The unavailability of global brands or variety in the products is a deterrent to store patronage. The small retailers lack financial resources and do not want to stock products which have limited clientele. They prefer to stock products which readily sell and are items of popular demand. Increasing product variety would enable them to get consumer footfall and help them in improving service quality perceptions.\nLimitations and future research: The study did not consider the influence of income, education, and occupation on consumers' service quality expectations. These demographic factors can present a different insight about consumers' service quality expectations. The data were collected from Northern region of India, where unorganised retail formats are popular. A sample from the Southern part of the country may provide a different perspective about consumers' service quality assessment.Further research to understand the influence of culture on service quality expectation can prove to be interesting. Research can also be taken up to understand if consumers' service quality assessments differ with respect to retail formats. A comparison between service quality assessment for organised and unorganised retail can prove useful to retailers.There can be research to understand the retailers' service quality perceptions and compare it with the consumers' assessment. This would help in bridging the gap between the quality definition of the provider and the consumer.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The objective of the research is to understand Indian consumers' definition of retail service quality with respect to small retailers and influence of hedonic and utilitarian shopping values in determining their expectations towards small retail service quality.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data were collected through a small retail store-intercept technique in four cities of Northern India (n=386).\nFindings: - The results indicate that small retail service quality for Indian consumers comprises ambience, layout, and service/relationships dimensions. Hedonic and utilitarian shopping values influence consumers' service quality evaluations.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study did not consider demographic variables like income, education, and occupation as factors that might affect consumers' perceptions towards retail service quality.\nPractical implications: - The findings can help small retailers in improving their service quality by focusing on Indian consumers' hedonic and utilitarian shopping values. The research helps small retailers to combat the competitive pressures of organized retailing in the Indian retail landscape.\nOriginality/value: - There has been limited research on understanding consumers' perceptions towards retail service quality in the Indian setting. Further, there is no research to examine Indian consumers' perceptions towards small retailers' quality attributes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Thirty years of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing: a bibliometric analysis	[ "Bibliometrics", "Science mapping", "Business marketing", "Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing (JBIM), this manuscript uses bibliometric analyses to examine the theoretical and practical contributions of the outlet to business-to-business (B-to-B) and industrial marketing. This evaluation gains importance as JBIM is one of the few journals dedicated to examining topics pertaining B-to-B as opposed to business-to-consumer (B-to-C) transactions.\nMethodology: A bibliometric study was performed with all publications of JBIM from 1986 to 2015 between November and December 2015. The bibliometrics is based on the results obtained from the Scopus database, which is the largest database of abstracts and bibliographic references of peer-reviewed scientific literature, with more than 18,000 titles from 5,000 publishers allowing international multidisciplinary integration and is updated daily. It also contains essential tools that will enable a more complete view of the settings such as the author profile and citation tracker. Finally, the index contains the tool \"H\"; all these tools will be applied when presenting the results of this study. However, the data for the period from 1986 to 1994 were obtained considering two sources: the number of publications in the webpage of JBIM and Scopus database, whereas from 1995 to 2015, only the database was used because it incorporates all publications for that period of time. Thus, it was done with 1,086 published studies, between 214 from 1984 to 1994 and 872 publications from 1995-2015. It is important to consider that this number may shift over time because of the dynamics of the database, incorporating new recurrent publications (as does the number of citations of each article).\nResults: This section presents the results for the JBIM focused on exploring its performance, evolution and trends over the past 30 years. The results are derived from bibliometric analysis obtained from the Scopus database in conjunction with the official information published by the magazine. To date 1,086 studies found that will form the basis of this analysis is presented. In addition, it limited the analyzing to the document types \"Articles\" and \"Reviews\" obtaining 798 publications and 74 respectively. Editorial notes and comments were removed from the analyses because they are not subject to the peer review process. Moreover, they have a combined total of 13,182 citations, making an average of 12.14 citations per paper. Its H index is the same as 50, which means that there are 50 studies that have received at least 50 citations.\nConclusions: Figure 1 shows an increasing trend in the number of publications from the creation of the magazine, which demonstrates the growing interest in this area of marketing by the academic community. The possibility to study the possible correlation between times with a slight decrease in publications during economic crisis (already international as in 1992) remains open.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The aim of this study is to reveal the contribution that Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing has to scientific research and its most influential thematic work in B-to-B since its beginning in 1986 until 2015, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper begins with a qualitative introduction: the emergence of the magazine, its origins, editorial and positioning. Subsequently, it is based on bibliometric methodologies to develop quantitative analysis. The distribution of annual publications is analyzed, the most cited papers, the keywords that are mostly used, the influence on the publishing industry and authors, universities and the countries that have the most publications.\nFindings: The predominant role of the USA at all levels is highlighted. It also highlights the presence (given its size and population) of the countries of Northern Europe. There is great interest in appreciating the evolution of the number of publications that are always increasing which demonstrates the growing and sustained interest in these types of articles, with certain times of retreat (often coincide with economic crisis).\nResearch limitations/implications: The Scopus database gives one unit to each author, university or country involved in the paper, without distinguishing whether it was one or more authors in the study. Therefore, this may bring some deviations in the analysis. However, the study considers some figures with fractional counting to partially solve these limitations.\nPractical implications: After observing the different perspectives of the journal's production, it allows to give an objective view of the evolution that the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing has had in the past 30 years.\nOriginality/value: It is part of the trend that several journals (Journal of Marketing, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Business Research) made special sections to show progress and contribution of these journals to scientific research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cultural memory in English teaching: a critical autobiographical inquiry	[ "Narrative inquiry", "English teaching", "Cultural memory", "Critical autobiographical narrative" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In an office cubicle in a Faculty of Education [...].\nIntroduction: Standards-based reforms to education have come under significant critique for their technical and instrumental orientations to teacher professionalism (Kostogriz and Doecke, 2013; Mockler, 2011). However, less commentary has been directed at the ways in which policy discourses of teacher professionalism display a marked concern with the present and an imputed, technologically driven, neo-liberal future, with little reference to how teaching practices have evolved over time and how past practices are still evident in the present. This paper proposes that the ways in which contemporary policy discourse displaces awareness of past practices and commitments is part of the ideological work of standards-based reforms. In short, a congruence is proposed between \"presentism\" (Green and Cormack, 2015) and technicism. Standards-based documents and procedures can be seen as a form of transmission of professional memory by way of lists of competencies and descriptors that are designed to transcend time and context. However, they can also be seen as acts of \"official forgetting\" (Hirsch and Smith, 2002) in which teaching-as-technique and as the transmission of \"content\" is separated from the evolution of practices as expressions of disciplinary ways of knowing, as well as concomitant ethical and intellectual investments.\n\"Official story\" of teacher professionalism: presentism and technicism: Teacher education in Australia is increasingly aligned to a standards-based reform agenda that posits \"what teachers should know and be able to do\" (AITSL, 2011). The prevailing discourses of professional standards act as pedagogical texts addressed to pre-service teachers, practising teachers and teacher educators. They can be understood as designs for particular types of professional identity that emphasise technical-instrumental competence while de-emphasising critical and reflexive understandings of teacher identity (Buchanan, 2015; Hardy et al., 2018; Mockler, 2011). Ivor Goodson calls these powerful accounts of teaching and teacher professionalism \"practice as defined\" (Goodson, 2003) and argues that such definitions may work to pre-figure and delimit the scope of professional identity in ways that may constrain practice to the application of technical skills.\n\"Official story\" of literacy education: While English has historically been a contested subject in Australia and the UK (Beavis, 2010; Gibbons, 2017; Goodwyn, 2012) as well as the USA (Brass, 2015; Peel et al., 2000; Zancanella and Moore, 2012), there has been a discernible intensification of policy and political-media interventions in English teaching in the twenty-first century (Kostogriz and Doecke, 2013; Locke, 2004; Luke, 2012; Yandell and Brady, 2016). For English teachers in particular, with the historically close association between the subject and progressive pedagogies, standards-based policies and discourses have presented particular challenges (Gibbons, 2017; Hardcastle and Yandell, 2018). As \"global policy travel\" has shaped discourses about teachers' work, it has been increasingly positioned as implementing \"technical fixes\" that are deemed to lead to better student outcomes on a narrow range of indicators (Hardy et al., 2018; Sahlberg, 2011/2015). This has generated an education policy environment where the standardisation of teacher professional practice is increasingly coterminous with the standardisation of literacy. For example, the recent federal government commissioned review on the provision of schooling in Australia, Growth Through Achievement (Gonski et al., 2018) consistently uses a pattern of discourse that associates literacy with words such as \"foundational\", \"core\" and \"basic\", while advocating skills-driven testing. In the Australian and UK context for subject English, this has resulted in an increasing focus on aspects of literacy that can be measured, benchmarked and rendered into quantitative data (Brass, 2014, 2017; Comber, 2011, 2012; Frawley and Mclean-Davies, 2015; O'Mara, 2014; Yandell and Brady, 2016). Some research has argued that a similar trend was evident by the early twenty-first century in the USA (Petrosky and Reid, 2004) and that this trend may intensify with the Common Core State Standards (Brass, 2015; Zancanella and Moore, 2014). The result is a set of discourses around literacy teaching that propose, \"a very specific set of characteristics that [are] of a much narrower range than English teachers would want for their subject\" (Sawyer, 2014). This is not to suggest that the \"official story\" of literacy education fully determines what happens in classrooms or English teachers' professional identities and practices. Rather, it points to struggles over the meaning of English teaching in national contexts where the standardisation of teacher professionalism has converged with efforts to standardise the teaching of literacy. The result is a set of tensions around different understandings or \"versions\" of English (Gibbons, 2017) that teachers negotiate within their practice (Comber, 2011, 2012; Goodwyn, 2012; Kostogriz and Doecke, 2013; Yandell and Brady, 2016). Knowing about the larger story of the \"projects\" of subject English (Green, 2002/2014) over time can mitigate the narrowness of standards-based understandings of literacy. In the following section, I outline how critical autobiographical inquiry can respond to the dual challenges of \"presentism\" and technicism.\nCritical autobiographical inquiry: Over the past two decades, critical autobiographical inquiry and teacher narratives have gained ground as a form of research scholarship and assessment in teacher education (Carter, 1993; Parr et al., 2013; Parr et al., 2019). A subset of narrative inquiry methods, critical autobiographical inquiry in teaching and teacher education uses autobiographical accounts of experiences of education to inquire into the ways in which education shapes identity and outlook. Factors such as race, class, gender and sexuality often come to the fore, as identity is seen as discursively negotiated and constructed in contested social fields, rather than an essential self that is unproblematically \"voiced\" (Kamler, 2003).\nCultural memory: a method for intersecting public and private memories: Despite the methodological similarities, there has yet to be a work that connects critical autobiographical inquiry in the field of education, with the transdisciplinary work of cultural memory studies. Defined broadly as scholarship that focuses on \"the interplay of present and past in sociocultural contexts\" (Erll, 2008, p. 2), cultural memory, sometimes also called \"collective memory\" or \"social memory\", explicitly studies the ways in which individual processes of remembering participate in more public or socially distributed ways of representing the past and its meaning in the present.\n\"Are we more like the Greasers or the Socs?\": As I cast my mind back to the thousand sensory details of life in school, a particular moment from year 9 English emerges as emblematic of the kinds of work with and around texts that I came to cherish as both a student of English and then, some years later, as an English teacher. Our class is in a portable classroom on the edge of the school oval. I can see Diana[1], hunched in her school uniform, as she reads from S. E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders (1967). Through her voice we hear the raw, searching voice of Hinton's protagonist, Ponyboy, as he tries to make sense of the embittered and violent rivalry between two groups in his local world - the Greasers and the Socs.\nBanquo's ghost: It is winter and I am in my tenth year of being a high school English teacher. A total of 25 years have elapsed since the scene in the portable classroom as a year 9 class studied The Outsiders. For the afternoon class in the independent girls' school where I work in a leafy suburb of Melbourne, I have planned a year 12 lesson focussed on the banquet scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Key to the lesson is a series of questions I want to pose to the students about the significance of Banquo, seemingly Macbeth's only friend, to the play as a whole.\nDiscussion: A cultural memory approach to the narratives presented in this study looks for points of intersection between my individual memory and larger patterns of continuity and change in practices of English teaching in Australia and beyond. This is not to suggest that there is a single, monolithic \"culture\" that is being remembered, nor that how I remember classroom moments around the teaching of texts would represent how English teaching is practised in all times and places. Rather, critical autobiographical inquiry practised as a form of cultural memory of English teaching points up how personal memory participates in recognisable patterns of practice that nonetheless are located in the contested and plural field of subject English. The \"memory texts\" are taken as \"cases\" that shed light on how my individual experience of subject English connects to the discipline's evolving and debated \"project\" over time. Engaging in this practice enables me to articulate my investments in particular practices around the study of texts in relation to what are promoted as imperatives in the context of Australia and other nations pursuing constraining forms of standardisation. Historicising and locating my own practice as emerging from particular approaches that were developed in particular times and places enables me to read current understandings of both teacher professionalism and literacy as also emerging from the historical process of struggles over the meaning of English education. Making this move enables me to take up a vantage point in which noting past orientations to the teaching of English is a way of getting my bearings in the contemporary education landscape.\nConclusion: This paper has been a \"methodological exploration\" (Kuhn, 2007); it has used cultural memory approaches to critical autobiographical inquiry to develop situated knowledge about my professional identity as a teacher educator in subject English. The narratives presented and discussed exemplify a set of practices around teaching with texts that represent an ethical and intellectual investment in students both \"reading the word\" and \"reading the world\" (Freire and Macedo, 1987/2005). I bring these orientations to the teaching of English into my practice as a teacher educator, where I aim to combine teaching \"technique\" with communicating an ethos that collaborative meaning-making with and through language remains paramount. This connects to Allan Luke's hope that subject English, even in the face of standardised testing, will retain its remit to be \"about making sense of the world, about building, critiquing, and imagining possible worlds, possible futures, and possible lives\" (Luke, 2012, p. 8).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Contemporary standards-based reforms to teaching and teacher education are characterised by appeals to technical orientations to teacher professionalism. In addition, the standardisation agenda has targeted literacy education as a focus for interventions. This has highlighted an incongruence between standardised approaches to literacy and pedagogies and practices in subject English that have developed over time, and which represent disciplinary ways of knowing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper uses the occasion of the author's transition from classroom English teacher to teacher educator to inquire into the pedagogies and practices around teaching with texts that form part of her professional identity. The purpose of this study is to introduce cultural memory as an approach to interpreting narratives about educational experience and the development of English pedagogies over time.\nFindings: The paper argues that standards-based reforms tell \"official stories\" (Malcolm and Zukas, 2009) about teacher professionalism that displace knowledge of past practices and the ethical and intellectual investments they represent. This is characterised by a marked \"presentism\" (Green and Cormack, 2015) in contemporary education policy. By contrast, critical autobiographical inquiry practised as cultural memory produces situated accounts of the role of professional memory in the on-going \"project\" (Green 2002/2014) of English teaching.\nOriginality/value: The paper presents new work in the area of teacher professional identity drawing on the interdisciplinary methods of cultural memory studies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Modeling success factors for public construction projects with the SEM approach: engineer's perspective	[ "Construction", "Methodology", "Project management", "Interview", "Questionnaire survey" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Construction projects are the central core of the economic growth of a country. It is obvious that the performance of these projects plays an important role. Because of the dynamic nature of the construction industry, construction projects are continuously facing uncertainties that make the management of these projects challenging and subsequently cause poor performances (Sugumaran and Lavanya, 2014). Hence, it is imperative to ensure that the construction projects are completed to satisfy and meet the predetermined objectives.\nLiterature review: Success has always been the ultimate goal of every activity of a project, and the construction project is no exception. There are a considerable number of journal papers explaining factors impacting the success of construction projects in general, but very few have focused on determining the critical factors for the success of public construction projects (Amade et al., 2015).\nResearch method: The various steps involved in the research are presented in the following sections.\nStructural equation modeling (SEM): SEM is among the most useful advanced statistical analysis techniques that have emerged in the social sciences in recent decades. SEM is a class of multivariate technique that combines the aspect of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the form of measurement model and regression or path analysis in the form of the structural model. The advantage of using SEM is that it simultaneously examines the relationship between measured variables (independent variables) and constructs (dependent variables). The measurement model is concerned with how well the variables measure the constructs addressing their reliability and validity and the structural model is concerned with modeling the relationships among the constructs by describing the amount of explained and unexplained variance which is akin to the system of simultaneous regression models (Wong and Cheung 2005). Unlike other multivariate statistical analysis, such as regression analysis, SEM considers the measurement errors also and explains the entire relationships in a single model (Molenaar et al., 2000). Thus, SEM is a technique which effectively incorporates a whole range of standard multivariate analysis methods, including regression, factor analysis and analysis of variance. Also, because second order and first order constructs have been used, SEM has been found the most appropriate to validate the significance of the relationship. Many researchers Tabish and Jha (2012), Memon and Rahman (2013) and Chen et al. (2012) applied SEM in the construction management area.\nVariables and constructs: Variables also known as indicators are the directly measured raw data, whereas constructs are not directly measured. Variables having common variance define constructs (Yong and Pearce, 2013). Therefore, in order to measure the SF of construction projects, based on the result from factor analysis six first-order construct and their variables (indicators) are determined as shown in Table IV. Important determinants of public construction project performance such as PMC, OC, MSU, SC, EP, MF are considered for the model.\nReliability (construct and item): Cronbach's a reliability analysis was performed using SPSS version 21. Construct reliability measures the degree to which an observed variable reflects an underlying factor. It is computed from the squared sum of factor loadings for each construct and the sum of the error variance terms for a construct. A construct reliability value of 0.6 and 0.7 may be acceptable (Hair et al., 2010). Further, item reliability which refers to the amount of variance explained in the underlying constructs rather than to error can be obtained by squaring the factor loadings, and it should be greater than 0.50 (Hair et al., 2010).\nValidity (convergent, discriminant, face and nomological): Validity refers to the extent to which research is accurate. Convergent validity is a way to assess the construct validity of a measurement procedure (Campbell and Fiske, 1959). It refers to the degree to which indicators of the same constructs should converge or share a high proportion of variance in common. Average variance extracted (AVE), factor loading and communality are used to assess convergent validity. The AVE, factor loading and communality should be 0.50, 0.60 and 0.50, respectively, or higher (Fornell and Larcker, 1981; Hair et al., 2010).\nDiscussion: Project success is a foundation to execute, manage and control current projects and to plan and orient future projects. Project SFs need special attention to ensure the project's success; otherwise, if these factors are not handled properly, it could lead to the failure of the project (Kandelousi et al., 2011).\nSummary and conclusions: Public construction projects play a vital role in the economic growth of a country. The performance of these projects greatly depends on some critical factors which are responsible for their success/failure. Hence, understanding of the impact of critical factors on performances of public projects is considered to be a means for improving their efficiencies and effectiveness. Hence, a comprehensive investigation of public construction project success is initiated in the Ethiopian construction industry. This study attempts to identify a set of factors affecting the success of a public construction project. A questionnaire survey and SEM technique have been used to empirically validate the proposed hypothesis, that SFs have a significant positive influence on the success of public construction projects and to explore the relative impact of these CSFs in the success of the public construction projects measured against various success parameters. The results point out that all the parameters and indices considered in the study were within the acceptable limits. The final SEM indicated that the hypothesis set for the study was found to be supported with a very strong path coefficient of 0.82 at 0.05 significance level, as shown in Figure 2.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The study of the success factors of a project is a means of improving the effectiveness of the project. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to identify various determinants and validate their effects on the success of public construction projects in Ethiopia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study uses a questionnaire survey to collect data and structural equation modeling (SEM) to empirically examine the effect of determinants, namely, project manager's competence, owner's competence, management support and updates, scope clarity (SC), effective partnering, and monitoring and feedback on success of public construction projects which has been measured by performance on cost, schedule, quality and no-dispute parameters. Out of 407 questionnaires distributed among the selected respondents, a total of 200 completed questionnaires were received. The response rate was 49.1 percent.\nFindings: The results depict that the investigated factors have a significant positive influence on the success of public construction projects with path coefficient of 0.82, the model is substantial in representing the relationship of the factors on the success of public construction projects and the factor \"SC\" plays a decisive role in the success of a project as it has a path coefficient of 0.98, and it is followed by \"effective partnership, and owner's competency\" having equal path coefficients of 0.96.\nResearch limitations/implications: The proposed model was validated by collecting data from many senior construction executives in Ethiopia only, hence may induce certain bias in the outcome of the study.\nPractical implications: The significance of six constructs is highlighted to help the project manager in understanding the role of various constructs in public construction projects. The results would enable researchers and industry practitioners to focus on a few factors to take proactive measures and get the optimum result in the successful delivery of public construction projects. Utilization of SEM in the understanding of the significance of various success determinants is an important contribution to the body of theoretical literature in construction management. Since the model includes constructs, SEM has been used for construct validation.\nSocial implications: The implications of this study are not limited to researchers and construction industry practitioners alone. The Ethiopian Government could adopt the results of this study to reduce/avoid additional cost incurred due to the poor performance of public construction projects which results in poor utilization and increased social and economic costs. Furthermore, the study may also help the government efforts to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public funds for construction projects which are an ongoing concern of government and of the international development community.\nOriginality/value: This work is original and has neither been published nor under consideration for publication elsewhere. This study can add value to the construction professional in public construction project management as well as the Government of Ethiopia.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The performance of entrepreneurial ventures: Examining the role of marketing practices	[ "Entrepreneurship", "Marketing practices", "Market competition", "New ventures performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent years the issue of marketing in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has attracted a considerable amount of academic attention (O'Donnell, 2011; Simpson et al., 2006; Simpson and Taylor, 2002). However, there has been much less research related to the links between marketing and entrepreneurial ventures. While it is assumed that effective marketing is central to the success of new businesses very few researchers have studied the links with performance. Authors such as Styles and Seymour (2006) argue that marketing has contributed very little to research and theory development in the field of entrepreneurship. Most contributions to entrepreneurial marketing are based on \"traditional\" concepts such as the \"4 Ps\" (McCarthy, 1996). A number of authors have suggested that entrepreneurial marketing is an integrative construct which brings together ideas from both entrepreneurship and marketing (Webb et al., 2011; Carson, 1998; Fillis and Rentschler, 2005; Morris et al., 2002). Webb et al. (2011) integrate research on marketing activities, the entrepreneurship process and institutional theory to explain how institutional environment, including the market conditions, influence the marketing practices in entrepreneurial ventures. Our objective in this study is to examine a number of marketing practices in relation to the performance of new firms. The study will also consider the moderating influence of market competitiveness on the marketing practice-performance relationship.\nEntrepreneurial marketing: A detailed overview of how the field has evolved since the first marketing and entrepreneurship conference in 1982 is provided by Hills et al. (2010). A number of key events are identified including the first empirical study (1985), the first Journal of Marketing publication (1986), creation of the AMA special interest group (1989), publication of Carson et al.'s (1995) textbook, founding the Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship (1999) and a special issue of Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice (2000). As Hills et al. (2010, p. 8) conclude, \"There has been gradual growth over the years and there have been many steps which have advanced our knowledge and teaching at the marketing and entrepreneurship interface\". Nevertheless, they also acknowledge that there is still a substantial amount of work to be done on \"the conceptual and theoretical development\" of entrepreneurial marketing. In their paper Jones and Rowley (2011) develop a conceptual framework to guide the study of entrepreneurial marketing in smaller firms.\nResearch methods: Sample and procedures\nResults: The six factors illustrated in Table I, service quality/functionality, segmentation, market research, advertising, innovation and selective distribution, were highly reliable with Cronbach a scores ranging from 0.73 to 0.86. These results indicate that \"traditional\" marketing practices are appropriate for the study of new businesses. Table II provides means, standard deviations and bivariate correlations for the variables. The zero-order correlations indicated that whilst there is a strong relationship between individual marketing practices only some have a significant association with business performance. In particular, market research, product/service innovation and quality/functionality were all strongly associated with firm performance. It should also be noted that selective distribution, innovation, market research and advertising were all strongly associated with market competition.\nDiscussion: The present study investigated the extent to which new firms adopt a number of widely used marketing practices (Slater and Olson, 2001). Furthermore, we examined the impact of market competition on the relationship between the adoption of specific marketing practices and new firm performance. The identification of six marketing practices (Table I) confirms that conventional marketing practices associated with large businesses (Reynolds, 2002; Siu, 2000) are appropriate to the study of new, entrepreneurial ventures (Hogarth-Scott et al., 1996). This supports recent work which indicates that while very new businesses do adopt traditional marketing techniques such as market research and competitor analysis they also rely on intuition and informality (O'Donnell, 2011; Phua and Jones, 2010). The results show that even after controlling for a number of characteristics related to the entrepreneur (gender, age and level of education) and the business (age and industry sector), adoption of market practices make a significant contribution to variations in new venture performance (Qureshi and Mian, 2010). In other words, irrespective of firm age and industry sector, market practices account for a considerable proportion of variations in the performance of newly established businesses.\nConclusions: The importance of this study is that it identifies the influence of marketing practices in the context of very small entrepreneurial businesses that were less than two-years old. The study also considers the moderating impact of market competition on those marketing practices. Despite the growth of interest in entrepreneurial marketing in the last 20 years there are very few studies which have empirically examined the influence of marketing practices on the performance of new businesses. In this study all of the businesses had been operating for less than two years and so we are able to provide unique insight into the role marketing plays in entrepreneurial ventures. There are a number of notable factors including the very low-level financial investment in the businesses (approximately PS7,200) and the low levels of turnover (PS13,770). This suggests that firms in this sample had very little scope for investment in either R&D or advertising.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Despite the importance of marketing to the success of entrepreneurial ventures very few researchers have studied the links with new business performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine a number of marketing practices in relation to the performance of new firms. Furthermore, the study considers the moderating influence of market competitiveness on the marketing practice-performance relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Both postal and web surveys were utilized to collect responses from 128 entrepreneurs in the early stages of business creation. The data were subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factory analyses to establish the marketing practices in new ventures. These results were then subjected to hierarchical regression analysis to study the marketing-performance relationship. Further analysis was conducted to explore the moderation hypotheses.\nFindings: The results demonstrate that some practices generally associated with marketing - selective distribution, market segmentation and advertising - have limited impact on performance in new ventures. In contrast, other practices such as product/service innovation, market research and service quality and functionality - do help establish competitive advantage. The results suggest that marketing practices associated with \"entrepreneurial behaviour\" and not \"hard\" marketing techniques drive new venture success. The results also support the moderation hypotheses confirming that market conditions help explain the role of marketing in new venture success.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper offers a new theoretical framework to better understand the marketing-performance relationship in new ventures and offers suggestions as to the specific conditions for effective use of various marketing practices.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the first attempts to explore the underlying mechanisms that support marketing practices in new ventures. It reveals the hidden dimensions of the marketing-performance relationship and thereby makes a contribution to both the marketing and entrepreneurship literatures.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Investigation on firm efficiency: evidence from selected Asia-Pacific countries	[ "Technical efficiency", "Data envelopment analysis", "Asia-pacific", "Scale efficiency", "Firm efficiency", "Pure technical efficiency" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Asia-Pacific region, as named, encompasses the countries in Asia as well as the Pacific in a very large geographical area. This region has a wide diversity in terms of societies, cultures, economies, politics, religions, corporate governance models, etc. (Kimber and Lipton, 2005). Nevertheless, the interdependence among the countries in terms of the various natural resources, trade or business and finance has expanded the economy of the Asia-Pacific. The Asia-Pacific region has outpaced many other regional economies, and experienced a remarkable economic growth over the last four decades (Cubbage and Brooks, 2012). In other words, Asia-Pacific region therefore has become the essential leader of the growth of world economy (Lee and Heshmati, 2009). Therefore, throughout the years, a great of attention has been paid by the practitioners and researchers on the countries of Asia-Pacific region context. Moreover, the Asia-Pacific region encompasses the developed and developing countries in Asia and Pacific with a wide diversity of institutional context (Kimber and Lipton, 2005). As a result, the average firm efficiency between the developed countries and developing countries could be differ (Jarboui et al., 2013).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Firm efficiency or TE\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data selection and data sources\n4. Results and findings: 4.1 Efficiency of the firms in selected Asia-Pacific countries\n5. Conclusion: This paper examines the firm efficiency in the selected developed and developing Asia-Pacific countries over a seven-year period (2009-2015). Firm efficiency is estimated by employing the non-parametric DEA under the production approach. During the period of study, the firms in selected Asia-Pacific countries exhibit a moderate level of TE and hence, the firms in Asia-Pacific still have a long way ahead. Additionally, the firms in Asia-Pacific experience reduction of TE, particularly the immediate three years after global financial crisis year 2008 which is 2009 to 2011. Nevertheless, the TE of firms increases in the relatively stable proceedings year of 2012-2015.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the firm efficiency or technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) in the selected developed and developing Asia-Pacific countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample consists of a sum of 700 firms in selected developed and developing Asia-Pacific countries over the period from 2009 to 2015. The non-parametric data envelopment analysis under the production approach is used to investigate firm efficiency.\nFindings: On average, this paper discovers that the firms in selected Asia-Pacific countries are moderately efficient. Scale inefficiency (SIE) is found to be the dominant source of firms' technical inefficiency. The analysis of return to scale shows that the large firms tend to operate at decreasing return to scale level, while the small firms tend to operate at increasing return to scale level.\nPractical implications: The findings from this paper provide significant insights to the policy makers and firm managers in promoting the efficient firms of Asia-Pacific countries.\nOriginality/value: The present paper conducts a critical analysis on return to scale in the firms sector of Asia-Pacific context, which is ignored by the past studies on firm efficiency since the analysis of return to scale is mostly emphasized on banking sector. The precise nature of SIE is important for a firm to be efficient in achieving the firm's primary goals of profit maximization and sustaining market competitiveness.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Time-based responsive logistics for a maintenance service network: A case study of an automated teller manufacturer	[ "Case study", "Distribution network", "Maintenance service", "Logistics system design", "Spare parts logistics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Spare parts logistics is a complex operation and requires a set of strategic decisions such as planning for spare parts demand, inventory policy decisions and setting-up a time-based responsive logistics network of warehouse facilities, all connected to the after-sales service support (Cohen et al., 1999). In line with Cohen et al. (1997) the main challenge is to deliver the necessary spare parts for required maintenance service within the committed time.\n2. Literature review of spare part logistics: A strategically balanced and well-aligned spare parts logistics network can help enterprises to add value for their customers and build up loyalty (Huiskonen, 2001). Spare part logistics includes market-orientated planning, implementation and execution of supply and distribution, along with information flows between the company and its network partners (Wagner et al., 2012). Spare parts logistics target a demand-driven and minimal cost provision of needed items for maintenance of installed equipment to assure the fulfillment of after-sales contract conditions agreed with the client (Nowicki et al., 2008).\n3. Case study approach: A case study method is applied in this research to examine this complex area of logistics in-depth, since this method is suitable for investigating and analyzing upon the arising nature of the \"how\" and \"why\" questions (Voss et al., 2002) that this research requested. Moreover, this case study aims to observe the spare parts logistics processes in the company in a particular supply chain environment, namely, the Russian Federation market, in order to investigate the reasons of logistics failures. In this research, a single holistic case study approach was selected for addressing the research objectives, as a proper methodology to understand a phenomenon in a particular environment, which is the spare parts supply chain environment of Russian Federation market (Baxter et al., 2008).\n4. Research findings: Before the analysis of possible reasons of spare parts delivery delays and, as a result, SLA failures in the case study company, it is important to discuss the research context characterizing the supply chain environment.\n5. Conclusion: This research work considered an after-sales spare parts logistics problem in a specific supply chain environment with unpredictable demand pattern and time-critical service required. The high technology product manufacturer located in Russia was engaged for an empirical single case study in order to test the theoretical framework, to disclose nuances of logistics organization within a transition economy context, to find out the reasons of spare parts logistics failures in the case study company and to develop heuristics solutions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the main reasons for spare parts logistics failures and address logistics distribution design in order to achieve the desired level of after-sales maintenance service.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research is based on an empirical case study on a large corporation providing worldwide with retail banking hardware, software and services. The case study focuses on the automated teller machine (ATM) part of activities, with a focus on the spare parts distribution and after-sales service network in the Eastern Europe.\nFindings: The proposed network solution of multiple distribution centers with short-cut distance saving approach will enable the case study company to redesign their spare part logistics architecture in order to achieve short response time. Research findings reveal possible spare parts delivery delays and thus the service-level agreement failures with clients in the case study company.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research covers a particular supply chain environment and identified research gaps. It discusses a time-based responsive logistics problem and develops a conceptual framework that would help researchers to better understand logistics challenges of installed equipment maintenance and after-sales service.\nOriginality/value: This case study research shows the \"big picture\" of spare parts logistics challenges as vital part of installed equipment after-sales and maintenance service network, as well as emphasizes how the unique context of a market like Russian Federation can set-up a distribution network efficiently. Strategies applied to handle such service-level failures, reverse logistics aspects of repairable and non-repairable spare parts to such large ATM after-sales service network based on this longitudinal case offer value for similar scale companies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of JIT-II-selling on organizational performance	[ "Just in time", "Market orientation", "Organizational performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The just-in-time (JIT) philosophy is making a transition from application in the production functions of manufacturing, purchasing, and design to application in the marketing function. Generally, JIT is a pull-based system (Kros et al., 2006) designed to align the production and business processes throughout the supply chain to the changing demands of the chain's ultimate customers (Green and Inman, 2005). As Koh et al. (2007) point out, successful organizations must now integrate and collaborate with supply chain partners to maintain competitive advantage. The quality of the linkages between the buyers and sellers throughout the chain are crucial to the success of the supply chain partners (Green et al., 2005). Past research efforts have assessed the effects of JIT buyer/seller linkage strategies (Claycomb et al., 1999a, b; Germain et al., 1994). Germain et al. (1994) measured the effect of JIT-selling on organizational structure, Claycomb et al. (1999a) assessed the effects of JIT-with-customers on organizational structure and performance, and Claycomb et al. (1999b) incorporated JIT-selling as one of the dimensions of total-system-JIT, as they investigated the impact of total-system-JIT on inventory, organizational structure, and financial performance outcomes.JIT II is a purchasing-related application of the JIT philosophy with implications for marketers. Lance Dixon, purchasing executive for the BOSE Corporation, developed the JIT II approach to minimize purchasing costs as sales increased (Greenblatt, 1993; Dixon, 1992). Dixon (1998b) describes the JIT II approach and offers multiple anecdotal examples of enhanced organizational performance resulting from JIT II implementations (Dixon, 1999, 1998a, b, c, 1997, 1994, 1992). While JIT II was originally developed to improve purchasing performance, sellers have embraced it and have adopted a JIT-II-selling approach designed to generate additional sales (Dixon, 1998a). Sellers who adopt a JIT-II-selling strategy employ tactics that develop on-site, single-source relationships with customers for the purpose of integrating fully empowered sales representatives within the customer's purchasing process.Little, if any, empirical evidence regarding JIT II exists. Virtually all literature relating to the topic is practitioner-oriented and appears in trade journals. As an empirical assessment of the relationships between JIT-II-selling, market orientation, and performance, we seek to verify the anecdotal evidence. This is possibly the first effort devoted to empirical research on the topic of JIT II.JIT-II-selling is a new construct that has not been specifically addressed in the JIT literature. We, therefore, offer a definition and description of the strategy as one that supports efforts by manufacturing organizations to increase their focus on customers and improve their ability to respond to changes in customer demands. More specifically, we assess nature of the relationship between market orientation and JIT-II-selling and determine whether market orientation mediates the relationship between JIT-II-selling and organizational performance. Generally, it is proposed here that implementation of a JIT-II-selling approach strengthens the strategic link between the production and marketing functions and further leverages the impact of a market orientation on organizational performance.Data from a sample of 166 manufacturers were collected. The sample frame from which the sample was taken included managers from large US manufacturing organizations. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to evaluate the relationships between JIT-II-selling, market orientation, and organizational performance and the mediating impact of market orientation on the JIT-II-selling and organizational performance link.\nReview of the literature: A review of the literature was conducted to identify articles focusing on the relationships among the JIT-II-selling, market orientation and organizational performance constructs. The literature contains no specific mention of JIT-II-selling but does include citations describing the JIT II approach (Dixon, 1999, 1998b, 1997). Accordingly, the relationships between JIT-II-selling and market orientation and JIT-II-selling and organizational performance have not been previously assessed empirically. The relationship between JIT II and organizational performance was anecdotally supported (Dixon and Porter, 1994). The relationship between market orientation and organizational performance is well established in the literature (Cano et al., 2004; Green et al., 2005).Market orientation\nMethodology: A two-wave mail survey methodology was adopted to collect data from managers working for large US manufacturers who are likely to have knowledge of their organization's marketing and production capabilities. The data collected were assessed for non-response bias following a methodology recommended by Armstrong and Overton (1977). The general process for scale assessment recommended by Garver and Mentzer (1999), Ahire et al. (1996), Hinkin (1995), and Dunn et al. (1994) was followed to assess the JIT-II-selling, market orientation and organizational performance scales for unidimensionality and reliability and convergent, discriminant and predictive validity. The mediation hypothesis was evaluated using structural equation modeling following the methodology recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986).\nResults: The sample\nConclusions: Generally, a JIT-II-selling strategy requires that sales representatives establish single-source, on-site relationships with buyers and that sales representatives become fully integrated within the customer's purchasing process. This full integration enhances the selling organization's ability to generate and act upon customer intelligence related to current and future needs - the selling organization's market orientation is strengthened. Managers and marketers understand the importance of adopting a market orientation philosophy throughout their organization. A JIT-II-selling strategy offers an alternative for practical implementation of the market orientation philosophy. Firms that have adopted a market orientation and JIT manufacturing, JIT purchasing and JIT design strategies have done so with the expectation of incrementally improved organizational performance. Adoption of a JIT-II-selling strategy is an additional logical step in the progression and, as study results support, may lead to incremental improvement in organizational performance.The evidence that increased market orientation leads to improved financial and marketing performance is irrefutable (Cano et al., 2004). The question for manufacturing managers, therefore, is: \"What strategies and tactics can and should be adopted that will improve my firm's market orientation?\" JIT-II-selling is such a viable strategy. Through this study we provide practitioners with a definition and description of JIT-II-selling that can serve as the basis for developing a JIT-II-selling strategy that extends the JIT philosophy through the production functions to the selling function. This strategy facilitates the strengthening of the seller's market orientation by adopting tactics that result in single-source, on-site relationships with customers that result in the full integration of empowered sales representatives within customer's purchasing processes. While the stronger supply chain linkages benefit both seller and buyer, The JIT-II-selling strategy is initiated and implemented by the seller rather than the customer. Rather than reacting to demands from customers, JIT-II-sellers \"sell\" potential and existing customers on the benefits of full integration.JIT-II-sellers are directly involved in the new product design and introduction efforts and in the replenishment decisions of their major customers. They have electronic access to the product flow and product demand information of their major customers. Further, their customers provide JIT-II-sellers with relatively precise and timely demand and delivery schedules. JIT-II-selling relationships are \"hand-in-glove\" relationships that immerse sellers in the purchasing, inventory management, and logistics processes of their customers. Firms with a strong market orientation generate, disseminate, and act upon market intelligence about customer's current and future product demands (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). Through a JIT-II-selling strategy, sellers are no longer gathering the information at arms length but in real-time. They are empowered by their customers to take immediate actions in response to demand changes. In short, JIT-II-selling is a market orientation strategy.From the purchaser's perspective, why would a JIT purchaser spend time, effort and money to develop and maintain a supplier when JIT-II-sellers are already offering to fill customer's JIT needs and provide the desired relationship? Based on the results of this study a recommended agenda for purchasing firms would include seeking supplying firms that are willing and able to do what it takes to become a single-source supplier and are willing and able work to achieve a long-term, and possibly on-site, relationship. Sellers utilizing a JIT-II-selling strategy may provide a \"ready-made\" solution to the supply chain management needs of many buying firms.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - In response to the just-in-time (JIT) II purchasing strategy developed at Bose, sellers in the manufacturing sector have become JIT-II sellers. The purpose of this study is to test the propositions that implementation of a JIT-II-selling strategy strengthens the strategic link between the production and marketing functions and leverages the impact of a market orientation on organizational performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data related to JIT-II-selling, market orientation and organizational performance were collected from 166 managers of large US-based manufacturing companies and analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach.\nFindings: - Results indicate that market orientation fully mediates the relationship between JIT-II-selling and organizational performance.\nPractical/implications: - Manufacturers adopting a JIT-II-selling strategy to enhance a market orientation philosophy can expect improvements in organizational performance.\nOriginality/value: - This study is the first to describe and define the JIT-II selling construct and to empirically assess its relation to market orientation and organizational performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Keeping it real - supporting learning through workshops in small and medium-sized exporters	[ "Learning methods", "Small to medium‐sized eneterprises", "Action learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Decision-making in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) tends to be heavily concentrated on the business leader, especially where the leader is also the business owner. This means that learning and development at the top level in SMEs has great potential for influencing the growth and development in these businesses and consequently in the economy as a whole.\nWhat have we learned?: First, that SME leaders will attend learning events, even two-day events, but that they must deliver very high value in return. High value experiences unlock the recognition in SME leaders that learning can deliver what they need. Importantly this encourages further development for the individual and for others in the business.We have learned that a \"compulsory\" approach to learning gets people there if the carrot is strong enough and can be an important tool in breaking the SME cycle of key individuals not giving over enough time to strategy, reflection and planning and consequently failing to break out of short-sighted engagement with what is operationally immediate. This is a major inhibitor to growth.Third, two days is the minimum amount of time needed to make a real difference in this context. We experimented at one stage with a one-day workshop which simply failed to deliver the same results. Our current view on this is that it simply takes a couple of days for people to move their thoughts away from the day-to-day and create real focus on strategy.SME leaders are fascinated by other people's businesses and enjoy the role of the \"consultant\", questioning, challenging and offering support and advice to others. This process not only engages them with other businesses but asks them to question some of their own pre-conceptions and beliefs.Diversity in a group of businesses is very powerful raw material. Experienced individuals will readily share knowledge with the less experienced given the right conditions. The less experienced members of a group draw thoughts and opinions out of the others which, once expressed are open to challenge and debate. Service-based businesses have an outlook from which businesses offering a tangible product have much to learn. And vice versa.We have learned that the vast majority of SME leaders relish this approach and given the opportunity are avid learners in this more formal setting. They operate in difficult and competitive markets in which they survive on their wits. They are highly motivated to gain knowledge which will really help them if it is offered in an appropriate way.\nConclusions: The workshop is outstandingly successful with around 96 per cent of the delegates rating it as good or excellent, declaring it a worthwhile investment of their time and being prepared to recommend it to others. But what of the 4 per cent? Analysis of those who rated the workshop as average or below suggests that some individuals simply do not like the workshop style of learning and would prefer something more conventionally structured. Frequently these are individuals who are already highly structured in their approach, perhaps coming from a consultancy or relatively academic background.Naturally the evolution of the workshop continues. We are increasingly recognizing the power of the workshop as a tool for analyzing and recognizing future development needs in a business. Before they come onto the workshop, the businesses pass though a diagnostic. This enables the advisor to \"sort the wheat from the chaff\" and recognize which businesses will benefit from going forward on to the \"Passport to export programme\" and which will not. But it is a snapshot of the business at a moment in time. The workshop allows us to see the businesses in action, gain a deeper understanding of their decision-making and commitment which in turn gives us a closer feel of the pathway which might be right for them in the future. We are looking forward to this aspect of our work which will allow the workshop to develop its future role within the overall \"Passport to export programme\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to examine the use of workshops in delivering learning, particularly with regard to the \"Passport to export\" programme and its plan to help SMEs succeed in the export markets.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Looks at how decisions regarding presentation and schedule of the workshops were made.\nFindings: - The workshop is outstandingly successful with around 96 per cent of the delegates rating it as good or excellent, declaring it a worthwhile investment of their time and being prepared to recommend it to others\nOriginality/value: - Encourages decision makers to undertake learning thereby influencing the growth and development in these businesses and consequently in the economy as a whole.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does access to finance alleviate poverty? A case study of SGSY beneficiaries in Kashmir Valley	[ "Microfinance", "Poverty alleviation", "Financial inclusion", "Inclusive finance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Banking sector outreach is considered as an important indicator of economic development and it significantly varies across countries. The variance of the banking outreach can be easily understood by looking at the Financial Access Survey Data, 2011, which indicates that while in Cyprus there are more than 100 (103.86) branches per 100,000 people, there is just less than one (0.66) branch per 100,000 people in Democratic Republic of Congo. The corresponding figure for India is 10.64 branches per 100,000 of population (World Bank Group 2010). Enough evidence suggesting the strong relationship between financial development and economic growth is documented in the existing literature (King and Levine, 1993; Beck et al., 2000; Beck and Levine, 2004; Levine, 2005; Klapper et al., 2006). Financial sector development promotes pro-poor growth, and it impacts economies in ways that contribute to reduction in poverty and inequality, and promotion of inclusive growth (G-20 Financial Inclusion Experts Group, 2010). Beck et al. (2008) argue on building inclusive financial system for the economic development; they further argue that financial exclusion acts as a barrier to the economic development. It has also been argued that in countries having greater outreach, firms face lower obstacles, thus suggesting the creation of a favourable financing environment as a pre-requisite to the economic growth (Beck et al., 2007).\n2. Research methodology: 2.1 Methodology to impact assessment\n3. Results and discussions: 3.1 Sample characteristics\n4. Conclusions: The study attempts to understand the impact of financial access on the poverty of participants/beneficiaries of financial inclusion programmes. Here the study carries with itself a recall limitation and also non-matching of control group. Within these limitations, the results show that access to finance helps in effectively reducing multidimensional poverty, except education of children. The results also indicate a possible mistargeting of the programme under study or government programmes meant for poverty reduction through financial inclusion.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to question and analyse the basic tenets of financial inclusion and to understand the relationship between access to finance and poverty reduction. The paper attempts to elaborate the importance of unrestrained access to finance in building an inclusive financial sector, which is believed to reduce poverty by enabling poor and excluded people to participate in the economic process by employing their skill sets, labour and innovations in the productive activities of the economy, thereby not only increasing their own welfare and standards of living but also contributing at very high marginal returns to the overall economic growth.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study evaluates the progression of the participants/beneficiaries of National Rural Livelihood Mission Scheme (erstwhile Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana Scheme) across various dimensions of poverty by making use of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).\nFindings: The results suggest that the participation has in fact lead to increase in the standard of living, thereby reducing multidimensional poverty. Further, the results suggest that participation does not reduce deprivations in the \"education\" dimension, whereas in all other dimensions reduction in deprivations is significant. The results also suggest that the programme under study seems to be seriously mistargeting by allocating the programme to non-poor sections rather than absolute poor.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study has been conducted without following the participants over a longer period of time. The study has adopted a pre-post methodology, collecting the responses at only one point using a reflexive quasi-experimental design which leads to a recall limitation.\nOriginality/value: The paper tries to evaluate the impact of access to financial inclusion through a new perspective - the MPI. The paper examines the targeting of government-sponsored programmes and the utility of such intervention in the changing milieu of financial services.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Transforming collective knowledge into team intelligence: the role of collective teaching	[ "Organizational learning", "New product development", "Project teams", "Knowledge management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: New technological development quickly renders current products obsolete. Thus, it is imperative for firms to streamline new product development (NPD) by proficiently leveraging project teams. Recognizing the pivotal role of knowledge management in NPD, scholars have stressed that NPD teams must endeavor to enhance their team intelligence (Akgun et al., 2008; Murray and Chao, 2005). Team intelligence, which embodies a team's information-processing and responsive capabilities, fuels team learning and in turn affects NPD creativity and performance (Akgun et al., 2006). Academics have stressed that team/group intelligence is the key capability enabling some team/group to outperform others (Addas and Pinsonneault, 2016; Makarius and Larson, 2017). Given that team intelligence is a function of knowledge acquired (Akgun et al., 2008), it is plausible that a team can improve its team intelligence by obtaining requisite knowledge from other teams. In practice, effective knowledge transfer between project teams is conducive to NPD efficiency. Specifically, knowledge generated during previous NPD projects can be used in new projects in emerging and potential markets (Frank et al., 2015). Moreover, knowledge transfer activities between project teams often occur when a firm transforms a technological platform to families of products (Frank and Ribeiro, 2014; Lynn, 1998), or when they are located in disparate geographic regions (Gibson et al., 2007; Nobeoka and Cusumano, 1995). Previously created knowledge serves as the \"platforms\" on which a company can expand into new product markets (Kim and Kogut, 1996), enabling it to sustain or upgrade its competitive advantages. Several such past cases prove that many firms are able to capture emerging markets because they can successfully transport knowledge between projects and capitalize on it. For example, Huang (2013) reported that the success of the Asus Transformer tablet, Asus's most important creative breakthrough, was ascribed to knowledge transfer between NPD projects. In 2009, although Asus failed to develop its own smartphone, its mobile phone project conveyed created knowledge to its laptop NPD project. Subsequently, the project successfully developed two new products, Transformer Pad and PadFone, which allowed Asus to enter the telecommunication markets. Indeed, in a technology-intensive industry such as information technology, large companies have multiple R&D teams for concurrent NPD projects. Knowledge exchange between NPD project teams has been considered an NPD process (Frank and Ribeiro, 2014). As this exchange involves highly technical language and procedures, the knowledge transfer process is deemed interactive and social in nature.\n2. Theoretical framework: NPD has been perceived as a knowledge transformation process in which the acquisition and creation of knowledge is essential (Atuahene-Gima and Murray, 2007). In particular, team social processes are involved in NPD, which entails coordinating separate cognitive activities of people (Tsai and Ghoshal, 1998). To effectively engage in learning, NPD teams must function as integrated wholes (Akgun et al., 2006; Madhaven and Grover, 1998). The socio-cognitive perspective is proposed to elucidate on how these separate cognitive activities are integrated into a consistent whole.\n3. Method: 3.1 Sampling\n4. Analyses and results: Because the normality of dependent variables leads to the normal residuals, it is necessary to estimate the normality of the dependent variable before estimating parameters. We, thus, checked the skewness and kurtosis of all the variables. Kline (1998; 2005) suggest that if the absolute value of skewness is smaller than three and the absolute value of kurtosis is smaller than 10, the data can be considered as normally distributed. As the maximum absolute values of skewness and kurtosis are 0.46 and 1.55, indicating that the data conform to a normal distribution.\n5. Discussion and implications: 5.1 Theoretical contributions\n6. Limitations: We must note several limitations in the study. First, the data were collected from only one industry, thereby limiting the generalizability of our findings. Second, we did not examine whether the effect of T-shaped skills is different at various NPD stages; the contributions of each functional expertise may vary depending on the NPD stage (e.g. the idea generation or pre-launch stage). Third, the use of cross-sectional design precludes a causal inference. The role of focal constructs and moderators and their consequent effects would benefit from more stringent, longitudinal research. Fourth, our sample size is rather small because it is hard to pair teams in a firm. Further research should follow Stevens's (1996) recommendation indicating that 15 participants per predictor are needed for a reliable regression equation in social sciences. Finally, we controlled for only a limited set of factors of team intelligence because other potential antecedents of this variable still await identification by future studies (Dayan, 2006).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the pivotal role that collective teaching plays in knowledge transfer between new product development teams. This study develops a theoretical model of collective teaching, where team intelligence is its consequence and learning orientation cognitive skills are moderators.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a questionnaire survey of 156 pairs of new product development project teams of information technology firms, the authors used partial least squares to test the study's hypotheses.\nFindings: The findings reveal that the use of collective teaching is positively related to team intelligence of recipient teams. In addition, T-shaped skills of source teams exert positive moderating influence on this relationship and so does a learning orientation of recipient teams.\nResearch limitations/implications: First, the sample firms used in the study are from the IT industry, which is characterized by extremely short product life cycles, thereby limiting the generalizability of the study's findings. Second, the authors did not examine whether the effect of T-shaped skills is different at various NPD stages; the contributions of each functional expertise may vary depending on the NPD stage (e.g. the idea generation or pre-launch stage). Third, the use of cross-sectional design precludes a causal inference. The role of focal constructs and moderators and their consequent effects would benefit from more stringent, longitudinal research. Finally, the authors controlled for only a limited set of factors of team intelligence because other potential antecedents of this variable still await identification by future studies.\nPractical implications: This study suggests that the implementation of collective teaching can enhance the capacity of a project team as a whole to manage and innovate information, namely, team intelligence. The study's findings also suggest that the management must recognize the significance of teams' learning orientation and thereby proactively develop teams' learning culture by redesigning work, reward systems or performance evaluation to promote learning. Additionally, it is prudent for managers to reconsider their recruitment criteria to incorporate T-shaped skills.\nOriginality/value: This study represents the first step in developing an empirically grounded framework linking collective teaching with team intelligence. Additionally, the authors confirm that team intelligence is a four-dimensional construct.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An expanded model of variety-seeking behaviour in food product choices	[ "Consumer behaviour", "Brand loyalty", "Consumer choice", "Food consumption", "Brand management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Consumers in highly developed food markets are confronted with a wide range of alternatives (van Trijp and Steenkamp, 1990). Many reasons could incite consumers to switch between products and brands (Lattin, 1987; Berne et al., 2001; Inman, 2001). Switching behaviour has been categorised as derived or direct variation in product/brand choice (McAlister and Pessemier, 1982). Derived switching comprehends variation in purchase behaviour as a result of external motivation, such as a change in the marketing mix of specific products or a change in the consumer's taste. Direct variation is argued to imply that the consumer seeks variety in product/brand choice motivated by the change itself. This article will concentrate on this direct, intrapersonal motive to switch between products (McAlister and Pessemier, 1982). In general, this motive is called \"variety-seeking behaviour\" (VSB). As consumers make their purchase decisions based on intrinsic and extrinsic reasons, it is important to know that in the context of food purchases \"the most common extrinsic quality cues are the price of the product, the store in which the product is bought, advertising claims about the product, and the brand\" (Grunert, 2002). In addition, this motivation seems to reflect the consumers' assumption of the food products' quality (Banovic et al., 2010). Further works (e.g. Bredahl, 2003) have shown that the brand is the predominant criterion for consumers' product choices (Bredahl, 2003, investigated beef). Another argument for the high relevance of analysing brand switching tendencies can be seen in its effect on demand elasticities and the extent of competition in the market (Chintagunta et al., 2001), whereby the highly competitive nature of the food market can be discerned.Based on these arguments, our study will describe VSB in the context of brand switching (direct variation). Two core approaches to measuring VSB will be explained. The main advantages of these models are simplicity, convenience, and, consequently, practicability. However, these approaches can be considered simplification models, measuring VSB on a very rough basis. Consequently, an improved, expanded VSB model will be presented, combining both approaches in order to raise the explanatory power of the VSB model in that sense that the predictive power of the expanded VSB model will be improved. The model will be tested with real world household scanner panel data (product categories: fruit yoghurt, fruit juice, and chocolate; panel data from 2007 to 2008 provided by GfK Austria for the Austrian food market). The evaluation in three different product categories will help to better evaluate the validity of the expanded VSB model in comparison to the existing ones.\n2. Theoretical background of VSB: 2.1 A basic typology of VSB\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Existing VSB models\n4. Empirical analyses: 4.1 Empirical data\n5. Conclusions and discussion: Based on the excellent model fit of SB with respect to Smax and SS, it can be concluded that the expanded VSB model SB is able to cover both, the number of brands (used in Smax) and the number of switches (used in SS). A higher reliability of SB than of Smax and SS can be assumed based on the comparison of the two years of the panel. The correlation between the years does not equal 1; thus the households' switching behaviour is not identical in both years. This supports Bawa's (1990) conclusion that the degree of VSB may differ at different times. In addition, participating in a panel may also influence shopping behaviour. The validity tested by the correlation with BPF shows that SB has a higher explanatory power than Smax, and, in two out of three product categories, than SS. Thus, our research hypothesis is supported by our results.The \"fuzzy\" areas of the metric values of SB between variety-seeking and variety-avoidance probably are caused by a more or less unsteady, occasional VSB. For most households, we calculated SB coefficients within this \"fuzzy\" area; the whole distribution followed a normal curve. This outcome is consistent with the Givon's (1984) results. The households showing a moderate (and even occasional) VSB are responsible for most of all purchases. Therefore, they are important to be considered in all marketing decisions even though their behaviour is not as predictable as that of households showing variety-seeking or variety-avoidance in their shopping behaviour.Some limitations need to be addressed in future research. Based on the limitation to heavy users in this study, future research may reproduce the calculations with datasets including all users to see if there are differences between light and heavy users. To judge the metric size of SB, further product categories may be analysed, as the approximations are limited to the selected food products.The presented expanded VSB model is still basic and includes only a limited set of variables (brands, switches, and total purchases). Other variables, the residual b in Figure 1, could further improve the validity of our VSB model. In total, the expanded VSB model developed herein and tested on real world panel data is promising. It would be interesting to improve this approach by including marketing variables (price, promotion, display, etc.) as well as personal psychographic variables (e.g. attitudes, values) or socio-demographic variables. While the first type of variables and socio-demographic variables are included in scanner household panel data, psychographic variables are less available in such, especially since they are person-specific while panel data are gathered on a household level. This might be an important issue for future research activities. In summary, the simplicity and practicability of the expanded VSB model in connection with validity (with respect to brand loyalty) and reliability are the main advantages over other VSB models. Accordingly, it can be applied in all product categories and markets where panel data are available. Thus, SB is a significant improvement of the existing models used in market research. SB provides an estimation of VSB as the switching between brands based on the utility of switching, and independent of consumer satisfaction. The output of SB can be used to estimate purchase probabilities. A follow-up model including other variables shall be developed in future research to assess true VSB effectively.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to introduce and evaluate an expanded model approximating variety-seeking behaviour (VSB), which is defined as the phenomenon that consumers switch between brands because of the utility gained from the switch itself.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - As a theoretical basis, two existing approaches, the switch (S) and the successive switch (SS) models, were examined and adjusted. The integration of both approaches led to the expanded \"switch of brands\" (SB) model. SB was tested empirically using panel data for a highly developed food market (the Austrian food market for three product categories, i.e. fruit juice, fruit yoghurt, and chocolate, with data for 2007 and 2008).\nFindings: - The integration of S and SS into the expanded SB model succeeded. Based on an annual comparison, the reliability of the SB model was tested. Since the results can be reproduced, it can be determined that the SB model is reliable. To test the explanatory power, a variable assessing brand loyalty (\"brand purchase frequency\") was introduced. Correlation analyses showed that the expanded variety-seeking model is more appropriate for approximating VSB than either S or SS.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The SB model is still very basic, integrating only three variables. Other influencing variables have to be considered to further improve the significance of the SB model.\nPractical implications: - The expanded VSB model can be applied in all product categories and markets where panel data are available. It helps to analyse panel data in view of consumers' variety seeking and brand switching behavior.\nOriginality/value: - The expanded variety-seeking model (SB) is easy to implement and gives valid information on VSB. It can be used for marketing decisions, especially in connection to brand management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

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