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Exploring the field of open innovation	[ "Innovation", "Business planning", "Research and development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Innovation is identified as the main driver for companies to prosper, grow and sustain a high profitability (e.g. Drucker, 1988; Christensen, 1997). The focus in the academic literature lies on \"how to innovate\" and \"how innovation processes can be managed\". A recently proposed and popularized model for the management of innovation is based on the need for companies to open up their innovation processes and combine internally and externally developed technologies to create business value. This notion of \"open innovation\", was first proposed by (Chesbrough, 2003a, b) and has quickly gained the interest of both researchers and practitioners, illustrated by a number of special issue publications, dedicated conferences and a rapidly growing body of literature.Chesbrough argues that internal R&D no longer is the invaluable strategic asset that it used to be due to a fundamental shift in how companies generate new ideas and brings them to the market (Chesbrough, 2003a, b). In the old model of closed innovation, firms relied on the assumption that innovation processes needed to be controlled by the company. Changes in society and industry have led to an increased mobility of knowledge workers and the development of new financial structures such as venture capital, causing the boundaries of innovation processes to start breaking up (Chesbrough, 2003a). Chesbrough defines open innovation as: \"a paradigm that assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as the firms look to advance their technology \" (Chesbrough, 2006a, p. 1). In an open innovation process, projects can be launched from internal or external sources and new technology can enter at various stages. Projects can also go to market in many ways, such as out-licensing or a spin-off venture (Chesbrough, 2003b). Focus lies on the transformation of the previously solid boundaries of the company to a semi-permeable membrane that enable innovation to move more easily between the external environment and the internal R&D processes. A central part of innovation process is also to organize the search for new ideas that have commercial potential (Laursen and Salter, 2006).The ideas of open innovation originated from experiences from open source software (OSS) development where new principles for development projects were identified (e.g. Gruber and Henkel, 2006; West and Gallagher, 2006), and initially a lot of literature was based on technology transfer and spin out/spin in, but the scope has rapidly broadened. Today, open innovation is becoming a paradigm that connects research from various parts of management sciences. The term is still being debated and many authors agree that open innovation has a much broader application than first proposed by Chesbrough (e.g. Piller and Walcher, 2006).The purpose of this paper is to review the emerging research field of open innovation. It aims at synthesising the understanding of open innovation so far, but also at depicting the major tendencies of research and suggesting potentially important fields of investigation. This paper builds on two main studies. First, a literature overview of the publications on open innovation published in key databases until 20 November 2007 was conducted. Since the expression was coined as late as 2003, much ongoing research is still not found in the publications. In a second study, researchers in the open innovation field were asked about the frontier in open innovation research. The results from the two studies were analyzed and synthesized. Based on the results, two dimensions that distinguish open innovation from other innovation activities were identified and a model for different alternatives will be presented. Finally, some key areas for further research are proposed.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Method\n3. Asking the researchers: Because of the slow pace of academic publication, research behind published papers is typically done years before. To arrive at an understanding of the questions currently being addressed in the field, a number of established researchers were asked to define what they consider the most crucial questions for future research.\nMethod: In the spirit of distributed innovation, 15 researchers in the open innovation field were approached and asked to help define the research frontier in open innovation. To identify the researchers, the team searched in two different ways. First, through the literature analysis, and through the experience of attending a number of academic conference sessions on open innovation, five important researchers were identified. A first round of e-mails was distributed to these researchers, asking for their opinions on four questions (see below), among those one that involved tips on the most influential thinkers in the field. The answers to this question yielded ten additional researchers that were asked in a second round.The researchers were asked the following questions:* What do you think are the reddest and hottest issues in the open innovation field in terms of theoretical depth?* Who do you consider the most important and/or innovative thinkers in the field today?* Where do you find the red and hot issues in the open innovation field in terms of tools and methods?Nine researchers (from the UK, Denmark, France, Germany, Austria and the USA) answered the questions and thereby helped to identify a number of core issues and questions that people in the field are currently thinking about. The aim was not to use the results as the basis for generalizations for the entire community of researchers within the field, but to use these individual researchers' perceptions as valuable indications. Therefore, the sample of \"only\" nine respondents is not considered a problem. The responses count for the view that the respondents represented.3.1 Thematic analysis of the research frontier\n4. Synthesis of the studies: Comparing the themes that were generated through the reading of the literature with the themes put forward by the researchers, as shown in Figure 1 it is clear that the researchers call for a deepening of the open innovation concept in many respects.The comparison reveals that:* Several of the researchers point to open innovation as a collaborative process between different parties, rather than as a market for ideas. The different definitions have started to diverge to include many more aspects than those first described by Chesbrough (2003b).* The critical perspectives are approaching, questioning the value of open innovation, (see also the conference paper from Dahlander and Gann, 2007) exploring the limits of the concept.* There is an increased acknowledgement of the negative sides of open innovation and the identification of situations and circumstances where the model is more or less beneficial.* The literature study revealed several practitioner accounts of open innovation, and many empirical case studies. The researchers call for more systematic studies cross organizations. They also call for more research on the specific parts of a model for open innovation, and on the specific problems involved in opening up the innovation process, including NIH and the sourcing issue.* Researchers also stress the role of management much stronger than what is reflected in current publications. They propose issues on the role of leaders in changing organizations to become more oriented towards open innovation, as well as a need to understand the individuals that participates in the open innovation scheme - what is the motivation to engage in practices beyond the scope of current work?Building on the insights provided from the published literature and from the opinions of the expert researchers, two dimensions can be proposed that distinguish open innovation processes from other innovation processes.\n5. The new dimensions of open innovation: In current definitions, open innovation is described as an internal process that is becoming more dependent on external knowledge and external actors, but it still considers innovation as an internal process. Also, it does not indicate the number of collaborating parties to which the innovation process is opened up but this distinction can help the understanding of how innovation processes change. This paper argues that exploring these two dimensions, the locus of the innovation process and the extent of collaboration, can be of help for further investigations of open innovation.5.1 The locus of the innovation process\n6. Conclusion: The purpose of this paper was to review the emerging research field of open innovation. It synthesizes the current understanding of open innovation, but also depicts the major tendencies of research and suggests potentially important fields for future investigation. Further, this paper aimed at contributing with an increased understanding of the field of open innovation research, focusing on the authors that apply the very term. A number of key themes have been identified in literature. Also, some of the most well published researchers in the innovation fields were asked about their opinions on the central research issues. A comparison showed a tendency towards a broader definition and application of the term, a growing critical perspective, and a concentration on theory development and managerial implications. The paper also suggested two dimensions, the locus of the innovation process and the extent of collaboration, as a model to understand open innovation further. These dimensions have an important impact on both the human side of open innovation and the organizational side of innovation, areas that were highlighted as important directions for further research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to review the emerging research field of open innovation and identify where the field is going as well as suggest future fields of research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - All academic papers and books published until November 2007 under the label of open innovation were systematically reviewed. Also, nine key researchers were asked to contribute with their opinions on the research frontier.\nFindings: - A number of key themes in the research were identified, and conclusions on the underlying structure were drawn. This reveals that there is a tendency towards a broader definition and application of the term, a growing critical perspective, and a concentration on theory development and managerial implications.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper suggests that the locus of the innovation process and the extent of collaboration should be used as two dimensions in a model to further understanding of how open innovation develops. These dimensions have an important impact on both the human and the organizational side of innovation, areas that are highlighted as important fields for further research.\nOriginality/value: - Despite the interest in the open innovation topic, a comprehensive review of the academic publications in the area does not seem to exist. The review and the conclusions drawn support the understanding of the growing field.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Impact of externalities on sustainable development: evidence from public-private partnerships in Kazakhstan and Russia	[ "Public-private partnership (PPP)", "Public services", "Market failure", "Externality", "Sustainable development", "Kazakhstan", "Russia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Transitional countries are becoming increasingly interested in implementing public-private partnerships (PPPs) to attract private financing for implementation of traditional government responsibilities. The latter includes construction and operation of transportation infrastructure (roads, railroads, airports, sea ports, bridges and tunnels), housing and utilities infrastructure (water treatment, sewage facilities and housing construction) and social sector development (construction and maintenance of schools, kindergartens, hospitals and recreational objects) (Bovaird, 2004; Bult-Spiering and Dewulf, 2006; Grimsey and Lewis, 2004; Kakabadse et al., 2007; Kabashkin, 2010; Urio, 2010; Mouraviev et al., 2012).\n2. PPP project descriptors: The article uses examples from three PPPs:\n3. Theoretical framework and approach: From a public economics perspective, governments intervene in the economy to correct a market failure which is a situation where a private market cannot provide public goods or handle externalities (Hyman, 2002; Rosen, 2002). Scholars argue that a market failure often occurs with either positive or negative externalities (Stiglitz, 2000; Ulbrich, 2003).\n4. The PPP impact on availability of public services: PPPs are able to provide a service much sooner simply because the funding comes from private investors, while the government budget does not permit project financing. However, multiple evidence exists to argue that a PPP project often costs more compared to a government in-house provision or the cost of contracting out (Hall, 2008; Morallos and Amekudzi, 2008; Mouraviev, 2012). A few factors drive up the total PPP costs - higher interest rates for private borrowing, anticipated inflation, risks that a private company perceives as important and a mark-up, i.e. the private sector partner profit (Sadka, 2007; Hall, 2008; Morallos and Amekudzi, 2008; Urio, 2010). As a rule, a private firm is able to obtain a loan at a much higher interest rate compared to government financing because a bank associates a project with a number of risks and adds a risk premium to the interest rate (Hall, 2008; Morallos and Amekudzi, 2008). Additionally, the long-term nature of PPP projects also increases the interest rate because of the significant inflation risk during a lengthy period such as 30 years. For example, in the concession for construction and operation of 11 kindergartens in the city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan, approved for 14 years, the government assumes the annual inflation rate at 6.2 per cent, which is much higher than inflation in industrialised nations (\n5. The PPP impact on lenders' perception of the government: In Kazakhstan and Russia, the governments heavily influence the banks' motivation to finance PPP projects, as the governments foster the PPP development and are interested in their services. Banks provide financing for quasi-private projects that are, in essence, the government-initiated and government-funded projects because at the end, the government pays the bill. For example, in the kindergartens' PPP in Kazakhstan (that we discussed in the previous section), parents will pay a much smaller part of the PPP project cost (39 per cent of the total), compared to the government's share (\n6. The PPP impact on monopolising the service: With the use of a PPP, the government may create a monopoly for the long term. It may be a monopoly for the core PPP service and/or for a related (non-core) service. An example of the latter comes from an ongoing PPP project in Russia. In Ryazan, a city of more than 500,000 people, located about 190 km southeast of Moscow on the Oka River, the local government has approved a PPP aimed at construction and operation of a viaduct - an automobile road overpassing the railroad. This viaduct will replace an older free railroad crossing. A traditional railroad crossing in Russia is a no-frills facility with a bar that opens and lets the cars cross the railroad for a few minutes. It then shuts and typically cars have to wait a long time (e.g. 30 minutes or longer) before they cross the railroad, whether there is a train or not, because of the safety requirements.\n7. PPPs and sustainability: Considering the links between PPPs and sustainability, a few areas require investigation including the PPPs' impact on business development, jobs, environment, poverty eradication, local community and government. While partnerships clearly foster more business and job creation, their impact on poverty eradication, environment and local communities is ambiguous (Hodge and Greve, 2005; Bult-Spiering and Dewulf, 2006; Hall, 2008; Varnavskiy et al., 2010). Researchers and practitioners should assess the impact on a case-by-case basis within the project-specific context. However, an analysis of the PPPs' impact on the government allows delineating some commonalities between Russia and Kazakhstan as follows.\n8. Conclusion: In the concluding section, we first delineate the results of the study and then discuss the broader impact of PPPs (as the government tool for collaboration with the private sector) on sustainable development. We then draw insights into PPP value creation for its stakeholders as a way to overcome negative externalities and ensure greater economic and social sustainability.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the influence of public-private partnerships (PPPs) on social and economic conditions in Kazakhstan and Russia from a public economics perspective, namely, through the lens of a market failure and PPPs' negative externalities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on the concept of a market failure and using the externalities perspective, the paper investigates whether partnerships are instrumental in solving market problems, which is illustrated by the evidence from ongoing PPP projects in Kazakhstan and Russia.\nFindings: Results show that citizens face expansion of monopolistic trends in the service provision and decreased availability of public services. Additionally, the government support to partnerships recreates a negative externality in the form of a higher risk premium on loan interest rates that banks use to finance PPPs. The partnerships' impact on sustainable development often appears detrimental, as they significantly intensify the struggle between sub-national governments for increased transfers from the national budget.\nPractical implications: The government agencies must incorporate the appraisal of the PPP externalities and their effects on the society in the decision-making regarding the PPP formation.\nOriginality/value: The authors suggest that, although government is interested in PPPs' positive externalities, in reality many negative externalities may offset the positive spillover effects. As a result, the partnerships' contributions to economic and social sustainability remain controversial. Extending the value-for-money concept to incorporate the assessment of PPP externalities might significantly enhance the partnership conceptualisation by more comprehensive and accurate assessment of PPPs' economic and social value.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How lead investors build trust in the specific context of a campaign: A case study of equity crowdfunding in China	[ "China", "Entrepreneurial finance", "Equity crowdfunding", "Early-stage investors", "Competence and relational trust" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Crowdfunding is a global phenomenon and operates in almost every country in the world (Rau, 2017; Bernardino and Santos, 2016). It has experienced demonstrably rapid growth in the number of platforms and amounts of capital raised globally, since emerging in 2011 (Bruton et al., 2015). The development of equity crowdfunding (ECF) platforms offers an important source of finance for early-stage innovative ventures (Grilli et al., 2018; Lin and Viswanathan, 2015). This innovative approach entails an attempt to raise a small amount of capital from a \"crowd\" in exchange for business shares of a firm through an online platform (Belleflamme et al., 2014; Ahlers et al., 2015). The financial innovation has created new channels for prospective investors to invest in new and early-stage ventures and in a simplified way (Harrison, 2013). It also lowers the cost of entrepreneurial finance (Massolutions, 2012; Harrison, 2013; Baldock and Mason, 2015). Prior studies have acknowledged a mix of professional and amateur investors active on ECF platform (Vismara, 2018; Astebro et al., 2017). Literature on ECF suggests that crowdfunding investors are inadequately equipped to overcome problems associated with information asymmetry and perceived uncertainties. Amateur investors typically lack the experience and capability to perform extensive due diligence (Ahlers et al., 2015). Bernstein et al. (2017) found that existing lead investors seem to have little influence on follow-on investors' screen decisions, whilst other studies suggested that follow-on investors herd after professional investors (Astebro et al., 2017). Such inconsistent findings, based mainly on evidence recorded in a platform, suggest a need to investigate the unobservable decision-making processes of ECF investors and gather in-depth evidence from multiple sources.\nContextual literature: Equity crowdfunding\nThe case of AngelCrunch: This study focuses on AngelCrunch that was one of the first three ECF platforms established in 2011 in China. It is the fastest-growing ECF platform in China from its inception in 2011 through rapid growth to slow down since late 2016, just like other Chinese major ECF platforms, in terms of numbers of projects and registered investors. By January 2017, on this platform 4,000 qualified investors meeting the platform's criteria were registered. The full eligibility criteria include CNY[1] 500,000 of annual total income, or CNY 1m of savings, or CNY 2m of market value of investment, or CNY 10m of market value of estate properties; and professional/work experience due to which they are well aware of extreme risk undertaken. The qualified investors are institutional VCs, BAs, experienced entrepreneurs, and wealthy individuals with professional qualifications and relevant work experience. AngelCrunch had raised CNY 1 trillion for 230 new and early-stage venture investment projects (see Table I) by August 2015, representing two-thirds of the CNY 1.54 trillion for 333 projects raised by ECF platforms in China as a whole over the same period. However, like all of its competitors in China, it has subsequently experienced a slowdown in terms of the amounts of capital raised and the number of projects funded since early 2016. Additionally, the platform's staff decreased from 97 in 2015 to 43 in early 2017.\nResearch design: Data collection\nFindings: Operational model evolution\nDiscussion: This study explores how lead investors build interpersonal trust in the entrepreneur for making an early pledge in the specific context of a campaign. This work contributes to the entrepreneurial finance and crowdfunding literature in several aspects. First, it provides insights into the process of building trust for decision making in related to both lead and follow-on investors. Prior studies on signalling information have investigated what drives the success of ECF campaigns without examining lead and follow-on investors' determinants separately (Block et al., 2018; Bernstein et al., 2017; Ahlers et al., 2015; Vismara, 2016). The findings of this study show that lead investors are not only VCs and experienced angels but also established companies and experienced entrepreneurs. As is the case with angel investing activity and syndicated deals, lead investors who make an early pledge of at least of 30 per cent of the risk capital required, and monitor the investee firms on behalf of other investors (Agrawal et al., 2016). In contrast, follow-on investors are allowed to invest a small amount of capital in a start-up. Consequently, lead investor's process of building trust in the entrepreneur differs from that of follow-on investors. Lead investors start by working on selective signalling information published online and establish competence trust in the founding entrepreneurs for selecting ventures for due diligence. The selective information (e.g. reputations of the universities at which founding entrepreneurs/teams have studied) offers a fundamental basis upon which lead investors can figure out the changing job costs and reputation costs, operational skills and relevant expertise, all of which contribute to competence trust building (Bernstein et al., 2017; Kromidha and Robson, 2016; Wilson and Martin, 2015). As one interviewed lead investor stated: \"I am investing in people who are key to business success, and have to meet them before offering a relatively sufficient amount of capital, and signalling a good call to follow-on investors\". The analysis of the empirical evidence suggests that lead investors then rely on physical interaction with an entrepreneur as a useful tool of performing due diligence for building competence and relational trust. Physical interaction is a useful tool for lead investors to work out unobservable information for building competence trust to mitigate uncertainty identified. It also establishes a sense of cooperation between lead investors and the founding entrepreneurs.\nLimitations of current research and avenues for future research: In common with previous research, this study is constrained by the data sets available. This work was only able to gather data on completed deals rather than the entire pool of early-stage firms to have received a pledge or the entire pool of early-stage firms considered by lead investors. The sample does not allow for the examination of unsuccessful campaigns, their characteristics of selective information of founding entrepreneurs, and the role of a lead investor. This work only managed to gather data about the identity of the lead investors, with limited information about the follow-on investors. Future research could collect data on all of the campaigns considered by lead investors, and test the role of competence and relational trust in making a pledge. Although the data of this research cover a period of seven years from the platform establishment (2011) to the current period of study (January 2018), this work is limited by the size and scale of in-depth interviews and first-hand observations. Future research could explore the role of the interactions between lead and follow-on investors in arriving at follow-on decisions.\nPractical implications: In addition to contributing to literature on entrepreneurial finance and trust theory, this study has implications for platforms, investors and policy makers. First, the findings of this study demonstrate that understanding the importance of trust in the crowd might help platforms to manage the campaign process more effectively. Recognising the strong role of lead investors' perceptions and attributions in the decision-making process might help platforms to engage with both lead and follow-on investors more efficiently. Knowing the embedded problems related to the much smaller number of investors involving in and investing in a project might help platforms to make strategic choices for attracting follow-on investors. Second, this work highlights the limitations of the virtual world alone to build such trust and manage problems associated with information asymmetry between entrepreneurs and investors in the context of a campaign. Using a mix of virtual and traditional methods of building such trust works for lead investors, but might change the approach from ECF to syndication. Finally, policy makers should be award of the strong role of trust in the investment decisions, and build a framework where platform, investors and start-ups are encouraged to share more valuable information online for trust building.\nConclusions: This study offers early insights into competence trust and relational trust building on which early-stage lead investors rely to arrive at investment decisions, as well as early insights into the follow-on investors' decisions being the influence by the behaviour and reputation of a lead investor. The selective and formative information about founding entrepreneurs and the start-up idea enables lead investors to build initial competence trust for their screening decisions, but has its limitations in terms of developing competence and relational trust that they rely on to make a pledge. Physical interactions between entrepreneurs and lead investors help to perform due diligence through which both competence and relational trust are built. Second, for early-stage follow-on investors, most of whom are not professional, their perception of a lead investor and his/her pledges together with the selective and formative information published online determine their investment decisions. Managers of ECF platforms could help early-stage lead investors, who are yet to make successful investments, develop their public profiles on the platform. As the ECF platform evolves, it may be strategically wise to offer intermediary services to assist lead investors and co-investors, rather than making promising business offerings to a large number of early-stage investors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of trust in the unobservable decision-making process of lead investors and follow-on investors in the specific context of equity crowdfunding (ECF) campaigns.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This work employs a case study approach. The author conducts a three-year inductive field study of Chinese ECF - AngelCrunch. The author gathered both campaign and platform-level data from the selected case covering a period of seven years from 2011 to 2018. The data set used for this study includes the characteristics of 189 online campaigns, 25 face-to-face interviews with the platform managers, early-stage investors and entrepreneurs, first-hand observations and quarterly reports on online campaigns supplemented with informal interviews with the authors for the reports.\nFindings: The findings from this study provide early insights onto the unobservable decision-making process of ECF investors. It demonstrates that lead investors use both selective signalling information and physical interactions with the entrepreneurs to build competence and relational trust on which they rely for making an early pledge. It also shows that follow-on investors differ from lead investors in the process of building trust for decision-making. Furthermore, this work uncovers the role of ECF platforms in facilitating the process of building interpersonal trust for the decision making, with challenges to maintain the notion of platforms in raising a small amount of capital from a large crowd.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study is constrained by the limited scale of qualitative elements available. The findings of the study have implications for platform managers, investors and policy makers.\nOriginality/value: Building on entrepreneurial finance and trust theory, this work demonstrates how lead investors build competence and relational trust on which they rely to make an early pledge in the context of ECF. The perception of a lead investor and the commitment together with the selective and formative information by the entrepreneur/s are key in follow-on investors' decision making. This study uncovers that crowdfunding enables additional and valuable information to be assessed by crowd investors to manage extreme risk and uncertainty occurred in early-stage investments. This work also demonstrates that virtual world has its limitations to build interpersonal trust for managing extreme risk.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Evolution of a worldwide production network	[ "Agile production", "Automotive industry", "Globalization", "Production management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: A giant merger wave crossed several traditional businesses during the last decades (Mueller-Stewens and Lechner, 2003, p. 288). Many companies were seeking their fortune in establishing global links particularly in the triad and upcoming markets. This wave emphasizes the already existing observation that competition requests a network of business partners - a partnership not linked to nations or regions anymore but increasingly has become global (Ohmae, 1989, 1995). Dwindling trade barriers, products being only an online mouse-click away and declining logistical cost support the goods and services flow and vigorously expose a fundamental principle: the location with the best efficiency ratio gets the task assigned to \"produce\" these goods and services and deliver them on a worldwide scale.But it is the extent of allocating the goods and services to certain regions around the globe marking the difference. In a world still with regional boundaries the flow of free capital along with fixed assets to more favourable locations is limited. The consequences especially for the labour market might be balanced: the one business segment loosing capital/assets along with jobs might be equalized by new enterprises creating new jobs (Kaplinsky, 2005, pp. 26-51). On the other hand whenever these regional boundaries vanish a totally linked world shows much more consequences: When free capital or fixed assets move, it sometimes affects whole nations or regions instead of only cities or particular regional spots. Together with jobs moving to other regions an adaptation process like in the labour market with its wage level adjustment is triggered for both regions - the winning and the loosing one. But it takes place with a distinctive time lag particularly long for wage adjustments in the labour market (Sachs and Larrain, 1993, p. 488f; Samuelson and Nordhaus, 1998, p. 569f) and quite quickly for interest changes in the capital market. This lag also reflects the overall stickiness of a national/regional economical system to adapt to new challenges. Nevertheless, the speed of aligning to the new market equilibrium is the key issue for profitable company growth.Turning from macro- to a microeconomical level this lag expresses the managerial decision where and how to \"produce\" goods and services. Particularly the question, how to?\" encompasses all production categories from single product manufacturing to serial production to mass production. Taking a mature industry like automotive manufacturing the current question arises how to network the disseminated production facilities.The scope of the paper is aimed at answering this question by generating a strategy-aligned network based on operational equations related to quality, time and cost. By comparing the automotive industry (passenger cars) with the agile manufacturing approach the particularities of this industry sector are worked out. The findings and further research fields get summarized in the conclusion. Generally, the paper strives to add an empirical example in the discussion about how to network in the automotive industry, respectively, passenger cars and whether a worldwide agile manufacturing approach is applicable as a factory on demand (Lee and Lau, 1999). The methodology is based on literature and empirical analysis reflecting internal and external benchmarking with other European-based car manufacturers.\n2 Production structures in the automotive sector: 2.1 Strategic perspectives of a globalized production\n3 Conclusion: The tremendous overcapacity and the net price corrosion as shown, e.g. in the USA have led the automotive industry as a whole into a dramatic redesign. In former days not only feasibility but also politically embedded decisions about opening a new factory location formed the argumentation: owing to favourable economical circumstances set by the government a manufacturing unit had been settled in one country. After ending of these subsidies many of the companies made a location hopping to move on to another favourable location within another nation.The main contribution of this paper is directed at rationalizing foreign direct investments in automotive manufacturing units: the plants arising have to be strategically embedded in a corporate as well as functional sense along with an operational justification based on cost/earnings. A further contribution is given by the concrete transfer of the globalisation and the agile strategy to the automotive sector (passenger cars). Future research involves the technological standardization of vehicle production across several OEMs. Another research area is opened up by questioning how much customization of a passenger car is really needed and requested by the customer. Since, product- and process-related research fields have to be tackled by emerging 3PM or existing OEM the final question comes up: who is going to take the steering wheel?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is the design of a strategic-operational decision support to justify a specific network configuration. Based on cost/earnings equations regarding quality, time and cost restrictions, the equations on the operational level get linked to the business strategy of globalisation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology is based on literature and empirical analysis reflecting internal and external benchmarking with other European-based car manufacturers. Thus, it combines theoretical aspects with practical evidence.\nFindings: - The findings include a comparison of the traditional production strategy with an agile production. As shown for this industry sector, the future concentration of production will be with third party manufacturers (3PM) or in certain cases still with the OEM.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Further, research is embedded in comparing the agility approach with the different cultural elements like power distance or uncertainty avoidance, particularly for the automotive industry as one of the few globally favoured industry sectors. Another research field is addressed with the degree of customization: how much is really appreciated by the customer and therefore needs a flexible manufacturing approach?\nPractical implications: - The practical implication lies in the decision support to design a global network of manufacturing locations. Moreover, the practitioner gets an insight for the limits of agility in the automotive sector.\nOriginality/value: - The value of this paper is given by bridging the scientific approach and practical constraints resulting in a state-of-the-art decision-making for network design in the automotive industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Aircraft turbines time-to-failures process modeling using RBF NN	[ "Neural network", "Maintenance strategies", "Weibull analysis", "Failure rate function", "Quality maintenance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Reliability of modern aircraft engines is highly affected by failure prediction methods of their critical parts. When these engines are operated in severe desert conditions, the high temperature, pressure and velocity of the intake air may increase the effect of sand erosion on the engine critical components, such as high-pressure turbine blades, and gearboxes. It has been found that the precise and accurate predication of component life plays a pivotal part in preventive maintenance which not only cuts down the maintenance cost but is also necessary to enhance both aircraft safety and reliability.\n2. Literature review: There is a large body of research on modeling of reliability of aircraft system components for different types of failure. Most of this research was based on a Weibull distribution to predict the component life, utilizing discrete-stressed volume approach (Zaretsky, 1987). Later, Al-Garni et al. (1998), Sheikh et al. (1996) investigated more accurate modeling using Feed Forward, Back Propagation ANN. Results showed better representation of actual failures than two- or three-parameter Weibull distributions. BP networks were found to be more accurate on the component level as well as on the system level (Al-Qutub and Al-Garni, 1999; Al-Garni et al., 2007; Tozan et al., 2006; Qattan, 2013). The work enabled customizing maintenance plans to suit different operator conditions.\n3. Back propagation model: The back propagation ANN utilizes some criterion function to maximize the performance by continuously varying the network weights through gradient descent algorithm. The aim is to train the network to strike a compromise between the ability to respond correctly to the training input patterns and the capability to produce a response that accurate to the similar input.\n4. Radial basis function (RBF) modeling: For RBF type of neural network, the hidden unit's activation is based upon the displacement between the input prototype and the input vector. This RBF technique employs a nearest neighbor type of classifier for detection of anomaly and this model, an expansion of the standard RBF, was produced using nominal data. In this technique, the anomaly detection system compares the data with RBF model as soon as it enters the system. The data are divided into nominal and anomalous based on the boundaries of the model and it is considered as anomalous only if it does not fall within the boundaries of the model. This type of approach is very common and has wide applications in advanced military aircraft subsystems. The order of statistics of the model and suitable choice of the RBF are two fundamental requirements for RBF. An RBF for detection of an anomaly is selected after considering these requirements:(6)\n5. Results and discussion: The data of general turbine failure data over a period of 30 years was provided by a local operator in the Arabian Gulf Area. Table I shows the collected failure number, percentage and causes. Associated with each failure point is the number of hours till failure. The initial Weibull analysis shows a very good linear fit to the data with an index of fit R=0.989. The two parameters of Weibull should be suitable to produce a strong fit for the failure for the goodness of this high index. In this case, the two parameters are a=7,465.32 and b=1.92276.\n6. Conclusion: In this work, an RBF NN model is developed for the modeling of engine turbines operating in desert conditions. The accuracy of the trained model is determined by a comparison to earlier methods of BP NN and Weibull distribution. Trying several values for the number of neurons shows that ANN employing four neurons in the input layer produces much more accurate results, as represented by the percentage difference from actual recorded data, than ANN with three neurons in the input layer. Moreover, it is found that an intermediate neuron number of 20 produces reasonable accuracy without much increase in run time. The RBF modeling of failure data showed capability to predict next failure events with reasonable accuracy when trained using previous failure events. RBF NN presented a great amount of reliability in terms of reducing the sum squared error to the least possible value. Hence, it has the potential to formulate a preemptive guideline for overhaul necessities and turbine failures corresponding to an optimum level of turbine reliability.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to formulate a specialized artificial neural network algorithm utilizing radial basis function (RBF) for modeling of time to failure of aircraft engine turbines.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The model uses training failure data collected from operators of turboprop aircraft working in harsh desert conditions where sand erosion is a detrimental factor in reducing turbine life. Accordingly, the model is more suited to accurate prediction of life of critical components of such engines. The used RBF employs a closest neighbor type of classifier and the hidden unit's activation is based on the displacement between the early prototype and the input vector.\nFindings: The results of the algorithm are compared to earlier work utilizing Weibull regression modeling, as well as Feed Forward Back Propagation NN. The results show that the failure rates estimated by RBF more closely match actual failure data than the estimations by both other models. The trained model showed reasonable accuracy in predicting future failure events. Moreover, the technique is shown to have comparatively higher efficiency even with reduced number of neurons in each layer of ANN. This significantly decreases computation time with minimum effect on the accuracy of results.\nOriginality/value: Using RBF technique significantly decreases the computational time with minimum effect on the accuracy of results.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Re-locating accountability through technology: From bureaucratic to electronic ways of governing public sector work	[ "Information technology", "Citizens", "Accountability", "E-government", "Bureaucracy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Information and communication technology (ICT) has been extensively used in governments around the globe mediating government procedures, officials' work practices and modes of interaction at both inter and intra-governmental levels (Blackburn, 2016; Buffat, 2015; Ciborra, 2005; Horrocks, 2009; Moon, 2002; Pors, 2015). Electronic or digital government, as it has come to be known, displays great variation depending on the purposes it serves and the way in which it is defined, orchestrated and carried out (Moon, 2002; Yildiz, 2007; Zhang, 2002). For instance, e-governing has been initiated in some countries (such as the UK and the USA) in order to reform the public sector, and in other countries (such as China and Singapore) with the intention to exercise political power and reproduce authority (Hand and Ching, 2011; Zhang, 2002). Nevertheless, many e-government initiatives display similar features; their function is underpinned by ICT intended for integration of public processes, standardisation of work, digitisation of information and is surrounded by a rhetoric of citizen centricity that aims to improve accountability (Ciborra, 2005; Cordella, 2007; Kim et al., 2009; Moon, 2002).\nLocating accountability: Originating from financial accounting and book keeping, accountability has received considerable attention in the past three decades due to its diffusion into other spheres of social practice and contexts such as public sector organisations (Power, 1999; Strathern, 2000a). Accountability is located in the practice of narrating and justifying activities. This practice typically involves an accountor and an accountee (Bovens et al., 2014; Chan, 1999; Mulgan, 2000; Neyland and Woolgar, 2002; Parker and Gould, 1999; Roberts and Scapens, 1985; Yakel, 2001) and is accompanied by evaluation of accountor's practices against certain standards or criteria (Bovens, 2010; Chan, 1999; Klenk and Pieper, 2012). These can be legal standards that officials need to meet, such as the constitution and the law (Bovens et al., 2008), procedural standards that prescribe how public processes need to be performed and performance requirements that identify outputs and outcomes (Gendron et al., 2001; Jos and Tompkins, 2004; Parker and Gould, 1999; Ryan and Walsh, 2004; Yang and Rho, 2007). These standards construct different types of accountability, for instance, financial accountability (Yang and Rho, 2007) implies accountor's responsibility for efficient use of resources. Compliance with standards, and the possibility for sanctions that non-compliance implies, illustrates the relation that accountability has with auditing (Roberts, 1991). As Power (1999) argues to make one accountable means to make one give auditable accounts. Similarly, Neyland and Woolgar (2002) define accountability as the rationale for audit: the reason that holds actors liable to account for their practices by turning to approved means of assessment, verification and measurement. This practice-based perspective to accountability constructs \"individualising\" effects in as long as it subjects accountors to the standards they have to meet and simultaneously renders them objects of examination and evaluation against the achievement of these standards (Roberts, 2001).\nLocating accountability in bureaucratic public sector: The function of the public sector works on the basis of principles and values that originate from a bureaucratic organising modality. Weber's ideal type of bureaucracy constitutes a classic example of how public sector is organised across countries (often independently of their political systems) and a reference point for many e-government initiatives. The latter typically intend to constitute a departure from bureaucracy or an electronic version of it (Bovens and Zouridis, 2002; Cordella, 2007; Vanhommerig and Karre, 2014). Weber presents bureaucracy as a modern institution whose function is underpinned by legal-rational authority and organisational principles and a culture that conditions accountability (Weber, 1948). According to Weber, the office is accompanied by distinct jurisdictions and responsibilities for which its holder, expert at a particular jurisdictional area, is rendered accountable (Blau, 1970). The office is underpinned by rules and the law, which define what is allowed (and what is not allowed) under certain circumstances (Olsen, 2006; Weber, 1948). This renders bureaucracy a formally rational-legal environment that provides a standard mode of working, a rationale behind actions and decisions and a \"way of conducting oneself within a given life order\" (DuGay, 2000, p. 74). The holder of the office is rendered accountable to peers and to citizens for abiding by the bureaucratic law and for acting in accordance with regulations (DuGay, 2000). Even in the cases when the law and rules become contested or inapplicable, the formally rational environment and the expertise of officials are supposed to suffice for guiding their behaviour (Weber, 1948).\nAccountability in a digitalised public sector: E-government is the deployment of ICT, broadly defined to include online platforms and portals, e-voting systems, online consultation and social media in the provision and sharing of information, in the communication among public organisations and between public and non-public organisations and citizens and in the reorganisation of public sector work (Belanger and Carter, 2012; Danziger and Andersen, 2002; Dunleavy et al., 2008; Giritli Nygren, 2010; Moon, 2002; Silcock, 2001; Vanhommerig and Karre, 2014). This paper focusses on the reorganisation of public sector work in the light of digitalisation and on its implications for accountability. It examines three manifestations of digitalization of public sector work: re-structuring of public sector work, re-organisation of public information and knowledge and re-orientation of the relation between citizens and public officials. These constitute fundamental changes evidenced by both academic and policy research (see Andrews et al., 2016; Buffat, 2015; Pors, 2015; Giritli Nygren, 2010; Giritli Nygren et al., 2013). Digitalisation does not have the same scale and impact on all public services. For example, work whose performance is specified, tasks are routinized and operational freedom is restricted such as taxation, bookings of healthcare appointments, reimbursement and back office operations such as the processing of applications for driving license renewal are all automated (Giritli Nygren, 2010; Giritli Nygren et al., 2013). Non-routine and usually professional work remains largely intact, although studies report attempts to standardise it (Ref to be added). Street-level bureaucrats' work is more hybrid in the sense that a part of it is routinized and thus amenable to standardisation and automation whereas another part relies on the use of discretion and autonomy in face-to-face interactions with clients (Andrews et al., 2016). According to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO, 2009), around 15 per cent of front line workers in the public sector in the UK are involved in paperwork, clerical tasks and data requests, tasks which as the report suggests can be automated by technology. This study considers street-level bureaucrats' work because it focusses on horizontal accountability and thus on how officials' interactions with citizens are reconfigured by digital technology and on how degrees of work standardisation and autonomy play out in the digital government and impact on accountability.\nRelocating accountability: from bureaucratic to electronic government: This section discusses the shifting location of accountability as governments move from bureaucratic to electronic modes of governing public sector work, and specifically the work that street-level bureaucrats do, and the implications of such shift for horizontal/social accountability. This section discusses this shift by making a comparison between work in bureaucratic and in digital government and how this impacts accountability. Table I provides a brief illustration of the main analytical points made in the following sections.\nConclusions: This paper argues that electronic governing has shifted the location of accountability in public sector. It shows that e-government entails significant changes in how public sector work is organised by digitalising structures and information. The paper shows that these changes do not necessarily bring better or worse accountability results but change the sources of accountability. Specifically, it shows that in bureaucratic public sector, accountability was hierarchical, embedded in a legal-rational modality of working and fostered by a culture of impersonality whereby every citizen was treated as a case. In the e-government era, accountability is inscribed in the technology and its embodied standards, sets up horizontal relations whereby officials are held accountable for the right use of technology, of digital information and of the handling of technological interfaces whereas citizens are seen as knowledgeable consumers and co-producers of digital information responsible for bringing the government to account.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of e-government for horizontal/social accountability (to citizens) by looking into its shifting location. Its main purpose is to show how the introduction of information and communication technology in the public sector changes how public sector work is organised, shifting the traditional sources of accountability and to discuss the implications of those changes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study comes from desk-based research that brings together the literature on electronic government and accountability studies and situates them in the context of a bureaucratic public sector.\nFindings: It shows that e-government entails digitalization of public sector work by restructuring work, re-organising public information and knowledge and re-orientating officials-citizens relation. It argues that in the e-government era accountability is inscribed in the technology and its embodied standards; is a horizontal technological relation that renders officials accountable to the handling of digital interfaces; and renders citizens co- producers of digital information responsible for bringing the public to account. The paper shows that these changes do not necessarily bring better or worse accountability results but change the sources of accountability bringing shifts in its locations, thereby rendering it more precarious. The paper ends by discussing the implications of digital accountability for good public administration.\nOriginality/value: With the unprecedented level of attention currently being paid to \"digital government\" at the moment, this is a timely paper that seeks to address the accountability implications of these shifts. The study offers a practice-based, relational definition of accountability and a Weberian account of bureaucratic government, followed by an exploration of ways in which this is being challenged or replaced with a new informatisation enabled/supported by new \"technologies of accountability\".\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Toward a learner-centered system for adult learning	[ "Social networks", "E-learning", "Integration", "Adult learning", "PLE", "VLE", "Learning networks" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In 1984 the Open University of the Netherlands (OUN) was established as an institute for open higher distance education for adult learners. Its major goals were to offer adult learners a second chance to higher education and to provide an alternative route to higher education in order to reduce the load on costly traditional, face-to-face education. To meet these requirements OUN adopted a typical distance-teaching model with a high degree of freedom for its students. The dominant pedagogical model was that of guided self-study: steering and guidance were embedded within the study materials delivered to students, so that very limited interaction between teachers and learner was required. This model contrasts with modern social constructivism approaches emphasizing the importance of social interaction for the acquisition of knowledge and skills (Schunk, 2012).\nContexts for adult learning: Adult learning is determined by a mixture of contexts in which learning happens. A typical scenario in the daily life of an adult learner may look like this:\nA model for an integrated learning system: The concepts of learning networks\nImplementation of the model: OpenU\nDiscussion: In this paper we have introduced a model of an e-learning system that integrates the concepts of VLE, PLE, and SNS for the adult learner. It puts the learner in control of his/her learning supported by a personal context (personalized workspace) for managing the learning process. From within this personal context a learner can access instructional as well as (social) peer contexts that allow for formal as well as informal learning activities in order to develop knowledge and competences. The model is rooted in the learning networks concept that was elaborated, implemented, and tested in the European TENCompetence project.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an e-learning system that integrates the use of concepts of virtual learning environments, personal learning environments, and social network sites. The system is based on a learning model which comprises and integrates three learning contexts for the adult learner: the formal, instructional context, the personal context for learning management, and the social peer context. The paper outlines how the Open University of the Netherlands (OUN) implemented this model in the OpenU system and has piloted this system within the field of a MSc Program in the learning sciences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper describes the design and development of an integrated e-learning system following an ADDIE-based strategy and shows how the resulting system has been piloted.\nFindings: The result of the design and development process is an integrated e-learning system that was piloted with the OUN.\nResearch limitations/implications: The limitations of the paper are that the paper reports only on the learner perspective. The paper does not report on the implication for faculty and staff. Additionally, a key question that needs further research is how the integrated approach will affect learner dropout rates.\nOriginality/value: The value of the paper is that it provides an integrated e-learning approach, bringing together the personal, formal as well as informal context into one system.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A cross-cultural study of interfirm power structure and commitment: the effect of collectivism	[ "Collectivism", "Supply chain management", "National cultures", "Korea", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: Interfirm commitment has been the focus of a substantial amount of attention in the relevant business-to-business marketing literature. Interfirm commitment is defined as an enduring desire to maintain a valued interfirm relationship (Gilliland and Bello, 2002; Hadjikhani and Thilenius, 2005). Interfirm commitment has been previously identified as a critical factor in interorganizational cooperation (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) and mutually beneficial interorganizational relationships (Gundlach et al., 1995; Dwyer et al., 1987). Thus, identifying the causal factors of commitment might help exchange parties to develop cooperative relationships with their partners.The results of previous studies (Frazier, 1983; Frazier and Antia, 1995; Gaski, 1984; Kim and Hsieh, 2006; Kumar et al., 1995a,b) have suggested that power structures, such as high bilateral power magnitude and low power asymmetry between dyadic partners, are relevant to the conception and continuance of interfirm relationships. We concur that one's power position vis-a-vis the partner's is a crucial consideration, but assert that it is not the sole cause of relationship commitment. We also note that all of the aforementioned studies based their conclusions on survey data collected from Western countries, wherein collectivism is not the dominant cultural value (Triandis, 1995; Hofstede, 1991; Kabadayi and Ryu, 2007).The previous literature suggests that interfirm commitment tends to be higher in Eastern countries, such as Korea, than in Western countries, such as the USA (Hofstede, 1991). However, the majority of inter-organizational studies have not clarified the factors that generate inter-organizational commitment in Eastern countries. Although a few interfirm variables have been identified previously as necessary factors for the development of commitment, some examples of which are trust (Morgan and Hunt, 1994), power magnitude, and asymmetry (Kumar et al., 1995a,b), only a relatively few studies have investigated the influence of macro-environmental factors such as national culture, which might explain the differences between East and West.As the global economy expands, exchange parties in Korea may be expected to establish interfirm relationships that mirror their socio-cultural orientation, just as the cultural patterns pertaining in US firms are reflected in the manner in which they transact business (Kim, 2003). Thus, the lack of consideration of cultural effects on inter-organizational commitment limits the confidence with which one might generalize relationship characteristics when evaluating exchange parties from dissimilar cultures (Doney and Cannon, 1997).Collectivism defined as the extent to which the members of a society see themselves as a part of a group (Triandis, 1995), is a well-established concept in Eastern countries, but not in Western countries (e.g. Triandis, 1995; Hofstede, 1991). One is not surprised to learn that previous studies of distribution channels conducted in Western countries have focused on inter-organizational relationships (i.e. power structures, trust, conflict etc) and have overlooked the fact that relationship commitments can also be internally driven by, for example, deeply-seated collectivistic values. The principal objective of this study, then, is to gain a greater understanding of the influence of national culture on inter-organizational commitment. Specifically, we evaluate the relative influences of collectivism and interfirm power structures on interfirm commitment in both high and low collectivistic cultures. Understanding how different cultures bear differences in the factors that determine interfirm commitment is essential for marketers who are operating in globalized marketplace.Indeed, firms operating in Eastern countries, where group-solidifying collectivistic values hold sway, can commit to a business partnership without requiring a superordinate power position. A theoretical ground for this proposition was elucidated by the renowned sociologist, Peter Blau (1960, 1977). Blau posited that prevailing cultural values and social norms can disguise the influence of structural effects. Thus, in cases in which individuals in a relationship have internalized collectivistic values, the external structural effects on group solidarity are rendered invisible. On the basis of Blau's (1960, 1977) theory of social structure, we contend that the effects of interfirm power structure on commitment are mitigated significantly in a highly collectivistic society such as Korea[1]. On the other hand, one may also expect that dyadic power structures should exert preemptive influences on commitment in a low collectivistic society such as the USA. In the next section, we provide the theoretical framework and the research hypotheses.\nTheory and hypotheses: Interfirm commitment\nResearch methodology: Response surface approach\nAnalysis and results: Hypotheses tests\nDiscussion: While previous studies on the US channel relationship identified interfirm power structures in distribution channels as a primary determinant, these power effects were not, at that time, evaluated in Eastern countries. This study assessed the impact of power structures on interfirm commitment in both high and low collectivist countries. This research introduces the concept of collectivism and demonstrates the centrality of national culture in explaining interfirm relationships; Korean companies' commitment was determined to be driven principally by collectivistic cultural values. They tend to maintain high commitment levels toward their relationship partners, even in the face of high power asymmetry. By way of contrast, the US manufacturer's asymmetrical power relationship with its supplier negatively influences the manufacturer's commitment, a result consistent with the earlier findings of Kumar et al. (1995a,b). US manufacturers are structurally committed to equally powerful suppliers, but their commitment to a weak partner is not guaranteed. Therefore, collectivism has proven to be a moderating factor in interfirm commitment.Our results show that the bilateral power magnitude between a manufacturer and its supplier was relevant to the manufacturer's commitment. However, the relationship between bilateral power magnitude and commitment was more complicated than a monotonously positive relationship. Further analysis via a response surface approach demonstrates that increases in the supplier's power contribute to manufacturer's commitment, particularly under high bilateral power conditions. Under low bilateral power conditions, manufacturers were shown to become less committed to a relationship. These findings supported the predictions made by bilateral deterrence theory: there may indeed be a positive relationship between power magnitude and commitment between symbiotic powerful players, as the high power magnitude lays the groundwork for a more cooperative or integrated relationship (Bacharach and Lawler, 1981). These results are also consistent with the implications of social exchange theory (Emerson, 1962). According to social exchange theory, a supplier's power in a dyadic relationship with its buyer (manufacturer) is predicated on the dependence of the buyer. The manufacturer depends on its comparable supplier to achieve its goal, which deters the manufacturer from engaging in opportunistic behavior in its relationship with its powerful supplier.Managerial implication\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study seeks to introduce the concept of collectivism, and to assess its impact on interfirm commitment in both high and low collectivist countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In evaluating the effects of bilateral power structures on commitment, the paper utilizes polynomial regression and the response surface approach.\nFindings: - Collectivism influenced a manufacturer's commitment to the relationship with its supplier only in Korea, but collectivism did not influence a manufacturer's commitment to the relationship with its supplier in the USA. On the other hand, for the USA sample, significant main effects of manufacturer power and supplier power, as well as a significant interaction between manufacturer power and supplier power on interfirm commitment were detected.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The results demonstrate that the bilateral power magnitude between a manufacturer and its supplier was germane to the manufacturer's commitment. An increase in the supplier's power contributes to manufacturer's commitment, particularly under high bilateral power conditions. Under low bilateral power conditions, manufacturers were shown to become less committed to a relationship.\nPractical implications: - It is important for global companies to understand the prevailing national culture. US companies operating in Eastern countries, such as Korea, should consider these cultural differences and manage their interfirm relationships on the basis of their long-term perspectives.\nOriginality/value: - This study facilitates a greater understanding of the influence of national culture on inter-organizational commitment. Specifically, it evaluates the relative influences of collectivism and interfirm power structures on interfirm commitment in both high and low collectivistic cultures.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Effects of sound in offices: subjective experience vs objective assessment	[ "Office buildings", "Noise pollution", "Decision making" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: This study addresses the usability of research on sound in offices in the planning, design and management of modern workplaces. It is a pilot study meant to define the key parameters to consider when investigating further the issue of using research in the decision making on facilities planning and management.Access to scientific research in order to support the decision making in the choice of building elements and systems is gaining importance. For time reasons, it is often limited to the use of abstracts or to compilations in matrix aiming at giving an overview of the topic to the decision-makers. This applies among others to acoustics-related research or research on the effects of sound on office work.Consequently, the objective with this paper is to investigate to what extent there is a correlation between objective measurements and subjective rating in the use and experience of office premises from the point of view of sound, out of a limited sample of abstracts. Hopefully, it will facilitate the incorporation of office-focused working environmental research in the field of facilities management and, by that, improve working conditions in offices.\n2 Methods: Three successive searches were conducted in week 4/2002 in PsychInfo using the following key words: \"environment + indoor + noise\", \"office + environment + indoor + noise\", respectively, \"office + noise\". The search resulted in 87 abstracts of journal articles and books dealing with the topic. A read-through of the material with the specific intention of finding papers that dealt with \"the effects of noise on office work\" reduced the material to 36 posts. In order to reduce the sample to situations representative of the diversity of tasks included in office work, records addressing specialised office settings where a single task is dominant under the working day were discarded.By eliminating studies dealing with, for instance, air-traffic control or data processing, the sample reflects traditional office settings, were a complex mix of activities are taking place under a day. A final selection using the criteria \"strict relevance to noise in offices\" and \"use of both subjective and objective assessment of the effect of sound\" led to 11 abstracts, dating from 1956 to 2000.2.1 Review of abstracts\n3 Discussion: Few of the abstracts use standardised assessment strategies. This impairs comparison between studies, and in some way the benchmarking of knowledge and insights gained in each. Even fewer abstracts reflect realistic, continuous conditions where not only individual performance but also interaction between office workers is monitored. In regards of the requirements put presently on offices to support collective processes and knowledge spreading, it is surprising to see that interaction and collective performance are not more used as dependant variables when it comes to the effects of sound. After all, office work is intimately related to the capacity of organising and managing people towards common goals, mostly at a specific setting. This could be more taken into by research.\n4 Conclusion: We may summarize that there is no simple, linear correlation between objective assessment and subjective experience of the effects of sound in the office. In other words, the expectable, objective implications of the future sound environment (described in research) might not reflect the subjective experience or expectations related to the same sound environment. This suggests that end-users and external design consultants in office projects might not understand each other well. End-users express traditionally an opinion, a judgement on an existing situation or on what they can foresee of an alteration of their working environment (subjective experience, perception). External design consultants and facilities professionals will to a large extent relate their choices to quantifiable elements, to which research contributes to a large extent (objective assessment).The divergence between the two - sometimes contradiction - might lead to inappropriate or unclear decisions in the accommodation of work. This would be even worse in situations of time pressure typical of large new construction or major refurbishment projects. Undoubtedly, research provides reliable data from which decisive orientations can be made regarding the construction, the refurbishment, or the maintenance of offices.Equally, end-user spontaneous reactions provide valuable information on expectable issues to be taken care of in the new facilities. Research provides models and concepts around which end-user reactions can be collected and discussed.Adoption of new work styles and changes in the work environment are challenging processing for management. For instance, shift from cellular office model to open plan solutions raise many questions on the sound environment: privacy, disruption, annoyance, etc. These questions have been for many years investigated in research. Also, they are raised by the end-users in principle in every office project today. If not discussed and taken into consideration, these questions could jeopardise the adoption of new work styles. Undoubtedly, facility managers here have a role to play as mediators between research and the end-users of the facilities. For the facilities manager, research will provide an objective framework to refer to when moderating the opinions, complaints and wishes from the employees. By referring the experienced situation to comparable situations addressed in research, new perspectives could hopefully be found, and thereby lead to improvement of working conditions in offices.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To guide facilities professionals regarding the use of scientific research and provide an objective framework in the decision making on facilities planning and management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Eleven abstracts of scientific studies addressing the effects of sound in offices are reviewed and discussed. The correlation between subjective experience and objective assessment is investigated. The study indicates that subjective experience seldom parallel the objective assessment of the effects of sound in offices.\nFindings: - Few of the abstracts use standardised assessment strategies. This impairs comparison between studies. There is seldom convergence between end-users' view on the workplace (subjective experience) and the view of designers and facilities managers (objective assessment). This might make communication difficult between the users and professionals in projects.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This pilot study needs to be extended to a larger sample to confirm the results. Also, it indicates the need of measurement procedures and metrics that better correlate to the subjective experience of sound, to facilitate comparison between field studies.\nPractical implications: - This paper will help workplace managers and/or designers to make a better use of research in the decision making. It should not be used alone and should not replace the involvement of staff in the implementation of new work styles.\nOriginality/value: - This paper stresses the importance of both research and end-user involvement in design and management of workplaces. Also, the role of facilities managers as mediators between research and the end-users of the facilities is emphasised.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding performance drivers of third-party logistics providers in mainland China: A replicated and comparative study	[ "Business performance", "China", "Distribution operations", "Corporate strategy", "Modelling" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: China is a manufacturing center which plays a critical role in global supply chains. However, as a developing country, China's logistics costs are nearly double that of Western countries (Tian et al., 2008). Therefore, it is critical that Chinese companies reduce their logistics costs. More companies continue to outsource their logistics activities to third-party logistics (3PL) providers to reduce their logistics costs (Gadde and Hulthen, 2009; Lau and Wang, 2009). 3PL is becoming a source for companies to gain competitive advantages by reducing logistics cost, enhancing core competency, and improving service quality (Huo et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2006).China's logistics industry is experiencing rapid development and plays an increasingly important role in China's global economic development. China's total logistics expenditures had an average annual growth of about 25 percent from 2000 through 2007 (Wang et al., 2008), reaching 19.5 percent in 2008, which represented 18.1 percent of China's gross domestic product in 2008 (National Development and Reform Commission, National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, 2009). In 2008, logistics contributed about Renminbi 2 trillion of China's value added (16.5 percent from the servicing industry) and had an annual increase of 15.4 percent (National Development and Reform Commission, National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, 2009).Though the 3PL industry in mainland China is important, little is known about Chinese 3PL providers, especially their environments, operations strategies, and performance (Huo et al., 2008; Zhao et al., 2007). Not only is the research on mainland China's 3PL still in its infancy (Lau and Wang, 2009; Wang et al., 2008; Zhao et al., 2007), but the practices of 3PL in mainland China are not well examined (Wang et al., 2008, 2006). To the best of our knowledge, there is only one study addressing operations strategies of mainland China's 3PL (Wang et al., 2006), and no research was identified that has examined the influence of the competitive environment on 3PL strategies and practices. Although China's entry into the WTO in 2001 and the opening up the logistics markets at the end of 2005 allowed its logistics industry to grow at an even faster rate, the added competitive challenges from global players and increased uncertainties of China's transition economy have led to a more complex competitive environment in China's logistics market. To meet the mounting requirements of reliable, speedy, and flexible delivery to global customers, mainland China's 3PL providers have to reengineer their operations and revisit their competitive strategies. Therefore, the research on the relationships among competitive environments, operations strategies, and performance is important and urgent.As a world-class logistics leader, Hong Kong has a highly developed logistics industry and has a significant influence in Asia-pacific areas. Wang et al. (2008) stated that Hong Kong's logistics industry is a developed and mature industry. The expertise and experience accumulated in the long-time development of Hong Kong's logistics may set up an excellent reference for mainland China's logistics industry. To transfer Hong Kong's experience to mainland China's 3PL providers, the replication research of Hong Kong's logistics management in mainland China's context and the comparative research on these two contexts are needed.Frohlich and Dixon (2001, p. 543) argued that:[...] theoretical discovery is not the final goal of research, and the principle of replication is widely recognized as the hallmark of scientific knowledge. Theory building must be followed by rounds of verification and elaboration. They typically endorsed replication as a necessary part of research.In addition, Wang et al. (2008, p. 49) specifically argued that:[...] the comparison (between Hong Kong and mainland China) can shed light for mainland China 3PL providers to learn the valuable expertise and lessons from the logistics development of Hong Kong so that mainland China logistics can develop better strategies to avoid the pitfalls that occurred in the logistics history of Hong Kong.Therefore, this study is designed to replicate and compare Huo et al.'s (2008) model to the mainland China's context. Huo et al.'s (2008) model examined competitive environments, operations emphasis, and business performance of Hong Kong 3PL providers, which is an important and urgent research topic for mainland China's 3PL providers.In the next section, the literature on operations strategies, competitive environment, functional involvement, and business performance is reviewed, followed by a presentation of the research model and hypotheses. Then, a description of the research methodology and data analysis is presented, followed by discussion and managerial implications. Finally, conclusions and limitations are presented.\n2 Theoretical background: 2.1 Huo et al.'s (2008) overarching framework\n3 Research model and hypotheses: The conceptual model (Figure 1) and hypotheses are the same as used by Huo et al. (2008). Along with detailed discussion in Huo et al. (2008), the present study provides further elaboration on these hypotheses.The first set of hypotheses relates to the influence of competitive environment on operations emphasis. In Huo et al.'s (2008, p. 777) study, they argued that \"competitive environments force companies to form an appropriate operational strategic response, either through a low-cost or differentiation emphasis, to gain competitive advantage\". This argument is quite consistent with prior studies. For example, Ward et al. (1995) found that there was a strong relationship between environmental factors and operations strategy. They also reported that given perceived environments, high and low performers used different operations strategies. Badri et al. (2000) replicated Ward et al.'s (1995) study using a sample of manufacturers and found strong relationships between environmental factors (e.g. labor availability, competitive hostility, government laws and regulations, political concerns, and market dynamism) and competitive priorities. Similarly, Amoako-Gyampah and Boye (2001) conducted a study among 78 manufacturing firms in Ghana and found that perceived competitive hostility had the highest influence on operations strategy choices, as well as a direct effect on low cost, quality, and flexibility. Sinkovics and Roath (2004) found that competitor orientation had a positive impact on operational flexibility in 3PL industry. Recently, Ward et al. (2007) found that the companies adopting a hybrid strategy combining both cost leadership and differentiation faced the highest level of environment dynamism, while the companies adopting a pure cost leadership strategy faced the lowest level of environment dynamism. Wiersema and Bowen (2008) found that foreign competition was a significant factor explaining the degree and scope of international diversification of US firms. These studies have shown that when facing higher competition, uncertainties, and challenges, companies will have a stronger emphasis on operations strategies so that the companies can better respond environmental changes. Therefore, we propose:H1a. Companies facing more operational challenges will have an increased low-cost emphasis.H1b. Companies facing more operational challenges will have an increased differentiation emphasis.H2a. Companies facing higher local competition will have an increased low-cost emphasis.H2b. Companies facing higher local competition will have an increased differentiation emphasis.H3a. Companies facing higher international competition will have an increased low-cost emphasis.H3b. Companies facing higher international competition will have an increased differentiation emphasis.The second set of hypotheses address the relationships between functional involvement, operations emphasis, and performance. Huo et al. (2008) asserted that the higher functional involvement in the formation of business strategies, the more likely the company to adopt an appropriate strategy. The literature has widely reported that companies with different functional involvement into the formulation and planning of company's business strategy had different operations strategic postures and different contributions to business performance. For example, Fawcett and Fawcett (1995) found that the roles of purchasing, logistics, and operation functions in the formation of competitive strategies were different. Sum et al. (2004, 2001) found that companies paying more attention to business strategies had a high level of functional participation in the formulation and planning of their business strategies. Recently, Qi et al. (2009) found that functional involvement was positively related to cost, quality, delivery, and flexibility strategies in Chinese manufacturing industries. Moses and Ahlstrom (2009) also reported that function invlovement played a crucial role in effective decision making.Furthermore, functional involvement is a fundamental element of supply chain integration (Flynn et al., 2010; Zhao et al., 2010). The logistics services are provided based on the cooperative relationship between 3PL providers and users. If 3PL providers have a better functional involvement (internal integration), they will be more likely to have a higher level of cooperation (external integration) with 3PL users (Zhao et al., 2010). In addition, both internal and external integration may lead to operational performance (Flynn et al., 2010), thus functional involvement may improve performance of 3PL providers. Therefore, we propose:H4a. Companies having higher functional involvement will have an increased low-cost emphasis.H4b. Companies having high functional involvement will have an increased differentiation emphasis.H4c. Companies having higher functional involvement will have better cost performance.H4d. Companies having higher functional involvement will have better service performance.The last set of hypotheses are about the relationships between operations emphasis and performance. Numerous research has examined the relationship between competitive strategies and firm performance (Amoako-Gyampah and Boye, 2001; Christiansen et al., 2003; de Lima et al., 2009; Garrido et al., 2007; Narasimhan et al., 2005; Ward and Duray, 2000). These studies reported that there were strong positive relationships between operations emphases and operational and financial performance, and between operational and financial performance. For example, Butler and Leong (2000) found that the emphasis on cost containment and service delivery consistently yielded superior business performance. Ward and Duray (2000) developed a conceptual model of manufacturing strategy with consideration of environment, competitive strategy, and business performance. They found that competitive strategy acted as a mediator between environment and manufacturing strategy, while manufacturing strategy acted as a mediator between competitive strategy and business performance. Aranda (2003) reported that service operations strategy had a significant positive and direct effect on service delivery performance. In a recent logistics study on 251 3PL providers in Hong Kong, Panayides (2006) found that innovation capability positively influenced logistics service quality, which in turn led to improved financial performance. In addition, numerous studies also reported that higher operational performance could lead to better financial performance (Panayides, 2006, 2007; Panayides and So, 2005). In sum, the literature has shown that appropriate operations strategies help companies improve business performance. Therefore, we propose:H5a. Companies pursuing a low-cost emphasis will have better cost performance.H5b. Companies pursuing a low-cost emphasis will have worse service performance.H5c. Companies pursuing a low-cost emphasis will have better financial performance.H6a. Companies pursuing a differentiation emphasis will have worse cost performance.H6b. Companies pursuing a differentiation emphasis will have better service performance.H6c. Companies pursuing a differentiation emphasis will have better financial performance.H7a. Companies achieving better cost performance will have better financial performance.H7b. Companies achieving better service performance will have better financial performance.\n4 Research methodology: 4.1 Data collection\n5 Data analysis: 5.1 Analysis strategy\n6 Discussion and managerial implications: 6.1 Operational and financial performances\n7 Conclusions and limitations: This study replicates and compares Huo et al.'s (2008) study on Hong Kong 3PL providers, aiming at better understanding performance drivers of mainland China's 3PL providers. The results suggest that mainland China's 3PL providers should pay attention to both the internal and external environment when they formulate their operations emphases. Either low-cost or differentiation emphasis may improve the financial performance of mainland China's 3PL providers, while only differentiation emphasis enhances financial performance of their Hong Kong counterparts. In underdeveloped 3PL industry in mainland China, low-cost emphasis may also maintain a reasonable service performance, which in turn leads to a better financial performance. In contrast, in the developed 3PL industry in Hong Kong, low-cost emphasis may deteriorate financial performance.This study enriches the literature on China's logistics and operations strategy, as Zhao et al. (2007) stated that there were very few studies on China's logistics from theoretical perspectives. In addition, the results also provide valuable insights for managers to better understand mainland China's logistics. The comparative results offer mainland China's 3PL providers valuable lessons accumulated from their peers in Hong Kong. These lessons may better prepare mainland China's 3PL providers for their strategic transitions in the near future.There are several limitations in this study, which also open up venues for future studies. First, future research may extend the generalization of the results to regions with different social, economic, and culture backgrounds. The generalization can help better understand logistics behaviors in different environments. Second, future research can investigate the effect of time through a longitudinal study, as the current study was cross-sectional by design. A longitudinal study may help to better understand how logistics behaviors change over time along with social development, economic growth, and cultural shifts. Third, the model tested in this study is far from conclusive; future research may explore additional factors which may influence strategies and performance in 3PL industries. Additional studies also expand the research scope by incorporating factors such as technology adoption, information sharing, strategy formulation, operations practices, and benchmarking. Last, this study did not separate companies into high and low performer groups or 3PL provider categories across customer segments or industry types. Future studies could also shed light on a better understanding of the differences between high and low performers, or different 3PL provider groups, and the process that may transform a low performer to a high performer.\nAcknowledgement: This research was funded by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-09-0301) and the Program of \"211 Project of University of International Business and Economics\", and Centre for Supply Chain Management and Logistics, Li & Fung Institute of Supply Chain Management and Logistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper's aim is to replicate and compare Huo et al.'s study to better understand performance drivers of third-party logistics (3PL) in mainland China and to disseminate Hong Kong 3PL providers' experience to mainland China's peers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A structural model is estimated to test the construct relationships using data collected from 105 mainland China's 3PL providers. The results are compared with the results of Huo et al.'s study of Hong Kong 3PL providers.\nFindings: - While the operations emphasis of low cost may still be effective for mainland China's 3PL providers, it may result in worse financial performance for Hong Kong 3PL providers. In mainland China, low- cost emphasis is affected by local competition, but not by operational challenges, while it is influenced by both local competition and operational challenges in Hong Kong. Operational challenges have a positive impact on low-cost emphasis in Hong Kong, but no impact in mainland China.\nOriginality/value: - The study enriches the literature on China's logistics and provides mainland China's 3PL managers valuable insights from the business practices of their Hong Kong peers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
BIM adoption model for small and medium construction organisations in Australia	[ "Technology", "Decision support systems", "Building information modelling", "Construction planning", "Information and communication technology (ICT) applications" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1 Background\n2. Literature review: 2.1 BIM in SMOs\n3. Model development: The methodology adopted in this study to develop a reliable BIM adoption model for construction SMOs comprises of three steps. In the first step, a comprehensive list of potential factors influencing the adoption decision of new technologies and operations is compiled through a comprehensive review of the literature on technology adoption and BIM implementation. The identified influencing parameters form the variables of the proposed model, where BIM adoption is taken as the most critical variable in measuring an organisation's decision of adopting BIM and the associated level of implementation. In the second step, a conceptual model is proposed through cause-effect analysis to identify logical links between variables and the adoption decision. The basis of the conceptual model comes from the literature reviewed in addition to the interviews conducted in our study. In particular, the identification of important variables to consider in the proposed model was achieved after interviewing Australian SMOs. The variables were then refined through a rigorous analytical procedure involving CFA and SEM. Links between the variables were established using path analysis. In the third step, results of the survey, which was conducted on the relevance and importance of variously identified influencing parameters to the adoption decision, are used to estimate the strength of links and validate the proposed model. The methodology and findings of each of the above steps are presented in the following sections.\n4. Data analysis and results: 4.1 Survey design and analysis methods\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Analysis results interpretation\n6. Conclusion: A systematic quantitative and qualitative study was conducted to identify the main factors affecting the BIM adoption decision in small- and medium-sized construction organisations. The BIM adoption model for SMOs was validated using the results of a survey conducted among 80 Australian construction SMOs including organisations that are using BIM and organisations that have not ever used any BIM tools before. Statistical multivariate analysis using SEM was used to analyse the relationship between measured variables and latent variables in the proposed BIM adoption model. Results of the SEM indicate that four proposed variables, namely AMo, PBen, KSup and SCap are critical during BIM adoption decision making, while a multicollinearity analysis revealed the independence of latent variables, hence proving the model as a viable source of input for SMO decision makers when it comes to BIM implementation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a model for building information modelling (BIM) implementation at small and medium-sized construction contractor organisations (SMOs). The proposed BIM adoption model assesses BIM implementation benefits, costs and challenges faced by SMOs. Correlation between BIM adoption in SMOs and the associated impacting factors, including knowledge support and BIM adoption motivation, is captured through the model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A literature review of BIM adoption in construction was first presented. Research data, collected from 80 SMOs in Australia through a conducted survey, are then analysed. Descriptive analysis and structural equation modelling were used to investigate SMOs' understanding of BIM, and to qualify the correlations among the proposed latent variables impacting BIM implementation at SMOs, respectively. Additionally, this study used kh2 test to compare differences between BIM users and non-BIM users regarding BIM understanding, interested applications and attitudes towards implementation benefits and challenges.\nFindings: Potential benefits associated with BIM implementation are a major motivation factor when it comes to BIM adoption at SMOs. In addition, existing staff's capability in using BIM tools positively affects the establishment of an organisational knowledge-support system, which determines the decision of adopting BIM eventually. Ultimately, there is a need for further emphasis on staff engagement in the implementation process.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results presented in this paper are applicable to SMOs in the building sector of construction. BIM implementation at organisations involved in non-building activities, including civil works and infrastructure, needs to be assessed in the future.\nPractical implications: The results indicate that rather than placing the focus mainly on benefits of BIM implementation, successful implementation of BIM in practice requires adequate effort to assess implementation problems, establish knowledge support and engage staff in using BIM.\nOriginality/value: Results of this study provide an insight into the adoption challenges of BIM in SMOs, given that the focus of previous studies has been mostly placed on BIM adoption in architectural firms and large contractors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The joint effects of IT resources and CEO support in IT assimilation: Evidence from large-sized enterprises	[ "IT human resources", "IT infrastructure resources", "IT assimilation", "CEO support", "IT business spanning capability", "Large-sized enterprises" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: IT assimilation generally refers to the success achieved by enterprises in effectively using IT to support business strategies, activities and goals (Armstrong and Sambamurthy, 1999). By emphasizing the embeddedness of IT applications into business processes and incorporating IT into business practices, IT assimilation enables enterprises to realize the business value of IT (Larsen and Myers, 1999; Mu et al., 2015). However, an increasing number of managers of large-sized enterprises have frequently stated that they have not obtained any business value from IT since the failure rate of IT assimilation is high (Liang et al., 2007). For this reason, the question of how to enhance IT assimilation among the large-sized enterprises has attracted the attention of researchers and practitioners.\n2. Theoretical development: 2.1 IT resources\n3. Research model and hypothesis development: Figure 1 presents the relationships among the constructs that are investigated in this study. According to the RBV and contingency theory, IT resources influence IT business spanning capability as well as the IT resources-CEO support interaction affects IT business spanning capability. The proposed hypotheses are elaborated as follows.\n4. Research method: 4.1 Data collection\n5. Analysis results: 5.1 Measurement model\n6. Discussion: 6.1 Implications for research\n7. Conclusion: Our research contributes to IS studies by investigating the joint effects of IT resources and CEO support in the IT assimilation process. We found that both IT infrastructure resources and IT human resources positively affect IT business spanning capability. This result implies that these two types of IT resources can be used to enhance IT assimilation in large-sized enterprises. Moreover, we find a negative synergy or substitution relationship between IT infrastructure resources and CEO support, which underscore the great importance of considering the nonlinear relationship between these key constructs. Our results reveal that CEO support does not directly influence IT assimilation but interact with IT resources to influence IT business spanning capability. The influence of IT infrastructure resources on IT business spanning capability decreases significantly and even becomes insignificant in the presence of high levels of CEO support, whereas the effectiveness of IT human resources remains significantly positive with high levels of CEO support. This result also implies that IT infrastructure resources may exert a significantly positive effect on IT business spanning capability only under low levels of CEO support, thereby explaining prior inconsistent findings on the effectiveness of IT infrastructure. In the IT assimilation process, IT executives in large-sized enterprises should carefully select appropriate types of IT resources, and highly effective IT resource types, such as IT human resources, should be employed in the presence of high levels of CEO support.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the joint effects of different types of IT resources and top management support. Especially, the authors attempt to mainly examine a negative synergy or substitution relationship between IT infrastructure resources and CEO support, and a positive synergy or complementary relationship between IT human resources and CEO support among the large-sized enterprises.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A research model that integrates IT infrastructure resources, IT human resources, CEO support and the degree of usage of IT for business objectives (i.e. IT business spanning capability) is developed. Based on a sample of 112 large-sized enterprises, partial least squares is used to analyze the research model.\nFindings: Whereas the positive moderating role of CEO support in the effectiveness of IT human resources is insignificant, CEO support and IT infrastructure resources have a substitution relationship in predicting IT business spanning capability. Furthermore, the results can explain under which conditions IT infrastructure resources insignificantly or significantly affect IT business spanning capability in large-sized enterprises. Specially, IT infrastructure resources significantly affect IT business spanning capability only when CEO support is low. Thus, in the presence of high CEO support, IT executives in large-sized enterprises should prioritize developing highly effective IT resources, such as IT human resources.\nOriginality/value: This paper highlights the joint effects of two critical IT resource types (i.e. IT infrastructure and IT human resources) and CEO support in the IT assimilation process among the large-sized enterprises, ultimately contributing to information systems theories and practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Effects of valuation variance and inaccuracy on Nigerian commercial property market: An empirical study	[ "Nigeria", "Commercial property", "Property valuation", "Inaccuracy", "Property market", "Valuation variance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Background to the study: Property valuation is generally defined as the art or science of estimating the value of a property for a specific purpose or interest at a particular point in time, taking into account all the features of the property and all the underlying economic factors of the market, including the range of alternative investments (Baum, 1984; Millington, 1994; Ajayi, 1998; Aluko, 2000; Olusegun, 2000). It is an economic concept, a process of estimating the likely market price of a property if it is offered for sale (Isaac and Steley, 2000). Valuation is actually a problem-solving imperative as it is demanded for various purposes such as mortgage, sale, purchase, compensation, insurance, merger and acquisition. Baum and Macgregor (1992) note that the client's demand centres on objective advice which places property valuation in the context of a wider economy using the vocabulary and analytical techniques of other markets. In the absence of continuously traded, deep and securitised markets, commercial property valuations perform a vital function in the property market by acting as a surrogate for transaction prices (Adegoke, 2008). As with asset prices in the equity and bond markets, property asset valuations are central to the interrelated processes of performance measurement, acquisition and disposal decisions (Adegoke, 2006).\n2. Literature review: Commercial property market is defined as any medium through which \"cluster of rights\" in commercial property is being exchanged (Baum and Crosby, 1988). It could also be a system of transaction between landowners, land users and estate agents. Commercial property market appears disorganised in comparison to the market for stocks and bonds (Adegoke, 2006). Much of these situations arise from the unique nature of real property as a commodity. Olaleye (2008) describes commercial property market as localised and the products heterogeneous. The study describes further that a property market is an amalgamation of hundreds, if not thousands, of specific market segments that have their own conditions, problems and opportunities. Crosby (1986) considers stratified demands as characteristics of property market - properties are being constructed, acquired or used for specific purposes, so that while market for one use may be very active, the market for the other use may be slow. It is the peculiar nature of a property and the property market that necessitate valuation. If the property market were to be perfect, there would be no need for valuation (Aluko, 1998). Havard (1995) notes that valuations are central to all performance indices and that property investment market cannot operate unless reliable and accurate valuations are produced. Commercial property valuation is very complex and there are many potential reasons for its unreliability or circumstances that induce great risk (Babawale, 2006). Crosby et al. (1998) as cited in Adegoke (2006) do examine a number of cases, looking largely at the differences in the opinions of expert witnesses. The following are considered as factors that contribute to excessive valuation variance:\n3. Research methodology: The target population for this study is estate surveying and valuation firms located in Lagos Metropolis. This are the only professionals saddled with the responsibility of carrying out valuation of any kind in Nigeria. In Nigeria, the profession of real estate valuation is being regulated by two complementary bodies: the Estate Surveying and Valuation Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON), the only statutory body established by Decree No. 24 of 1975 now Cap E13 Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004; and the NIESV, a professional organisation established in 1967 whose interest is to take care of land profession in Nigeria. The Institution has five categories of membership: student, probationer/graduate, associate, fellow and honorary members. It is only the associate and the fellow that are professional members who are qualified to practise. However, to become an associate member (ANIVS) of the institution means that the person has served in an approved office as a graduate/probationer for a period of not less than two years after passing the final examination approved by the institution and after having registered with the ESVARBON. One can only become a fellow (FNIVS) of the institution after the completion of ten-year post-qualification programme as an associate member with evidence of having made positive contribution to the growth of the profession.\n4. Data analysis and interpretation: As earlier discussed, 163 questionnaires were administered among selected estate firms, representing approximately 60 per cent of estate firms in Lagos State. However, out of the 163 questionnaires administered, a total number of 146 questionnaires were returned and found useful. This represents 53.9 per cent of expected responses from the estate surveying firms in the study area which prove to be a good representation of the target population.\n5. Conclusion: In this paper, it has been established that skill, judgement, experience, relevant data, valuation methods have great influence on valuation variance and inaccuracy among other factors. Skill and experience have great impact on judgemental ability of valuers. The use of probationers, who are yet to be qualified as associate members as HOD and Manager, amounts to little professionalism which may contribute to valuation variance and inaccuracy. Assessment rather than invention in valuation too must be based on market evidence since valuation is an estimation of price of exchange in the market place and there is dearth of market data. If valuation estimates were subject to high degree of uncertainty, clients, especially investors that depend on value estimate would be subjected to a lot of danger. The valuation provided by valuers would suffer property indices in the market to become unreliable and would send a wrong signal to participants in the property market. By providing wrong signals to participants, inaccurate valuation could erode confidence in the operation of the property market thereby jeopardising the future of the industry as it could lead to misallocation of resources and distortions in the property market in the long run. Consequently, as a valuer could not perform his duty in a reliable manner, it would expose the valuer to negligence liability, loss of valuer's credibility and reduced valuer's integrity. Faced with continuous unreliable valuation, the likelihood exists that the property investing public might dump the services of estate surveyors and valuers in favour of services from other consultants such as accountants, financial analysts, engineers or quantity surveyors who the investors think may be able to provide more realistic and reliable estimates.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In the absence of continuously traded, deep and securitised markets, commercial property valuations perform a vital function in the property market by acting as a surrogate for transaction prices. The ability of valuers to make effective estimation of value is therefore a vital issue in commercial property market. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of valuation variance and inaccuracy on Nigerian commercial property market.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Questionnaires were used in collecting data from 163 randomly selected estate surveying and valuation firms in Lagos Metropolis with a record of over 60 per cent of the total population of estate surveying and valuation firms in Nigeria. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data collected.\nFindings: The results revealed that valuation variance and inaccuracy causes fluctuation in the price of property, sending wrong signal to the market participants and jeopardising the future of commercial property market. It also, exposed valuers to negligence liability, loss of valuers' credibility and reduction of valuers' integrity.\nPractical implications: The paper concluded that quality data bank system is needed to obtain accurate comparables which are the cornerstone of market valuation. Also, surveyors in the academia should revisit the techniques they have developed with a view to replacing or modifying them into a format that are easy to use by practitioners. The findings of the study will be of importance to estate surveyors and valuers, estate surveying and valuation firms, government agencies in charge of property taxes as well as investors in commercial properties.\nOriginality/value: The paper is one of the few attempts at examining valuation variance and accuracy in Nigeria. This paper examined the effect of valuation variance and accuracy on Nigerian commercial property market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Innoterms: a conceptual typology of attitudes that influence the implementation of adopted management innovations	[ "Attitudes", "Management innovations", "Innovation implementation", "Innovation-adopting organizations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nYour attitude determines your altitude - except in innovation implementation research?: Historically, researchers have recognized the role of attitudes for the generation of innovations. However, the importance of individual attitudes for the implementation of innovations has long been relegated to superficial status in scholarly research.\nManagement innovations - generate or adopt?: Most studies on innovation have focused on technological innovation (TI), referring to the introduction of new products or new production processes. However, there is another form of innovation called management innovation (MI) that is equally important, although under-researched. Management innovation (MI) refers to the introduction of non-production related practices, processes, programs, systems, or structures that are new to the organization or to its organizational sub-units (Walker et al., 2015).\nInnovation implementation - code accepted?: The reactions of employees during so-called road shows to introduce management innovations and those proffered in the privacy of their offices may be quite disparate and foreshadowing (of success or failure). This personal experience led to an interesting question:\nDelineating positive and negative innoterms: Innoterms are important for the following reasons:\nConclusion: Given that the typology is derived from accepted psychological findings and personal experience via an intuitive process, the need for empirical work should be evident. A potentially valuable avenue for the further development of the typology may be research on psychological safety, because if employees perceive that they may be punished or attacked for their views, they may be less likely to reveal their true attitudes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Aims to develop a typology of employee attitudes toward the introduction of externally sourced management innovations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Draws on reflection upon personal experience and conceptual reasoning to develop the innoterms typology.\nFindings: This paper suggests that addressing innoterms is integral to the successful implementation of externally sourced management innovations.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides a valuable framework for decision-makers to consider before the implementation of management innovations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Judicial exclusivity in actions against public authorities: civil procedure rule, O'Reilly and human rights	[ "Judicial review", "Exclusivity", "Human right", "O'Reilly" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: No subject calls out more loudly for reform than the unfortunate procedural dichotomy enforced by O'Reilly v. Mackman [...] Every admirer of the late Lord Diplock will agree that his speech in that case was a brilliant virtuoso performance. But the misfortune resulting from it is that procedural technicality [...] has become more dominant and more troublesome than ever [...]\nCivilian right to bring an action against public authorities - route options that is available prior to 1977: In the course of daily life, people enjoy facilities and services provided by the government, ranging from public transport, housing, licensing, town planning and many more. Various governmental departments were commissioned to administer the facilities and services in accordance to approved policies and procedures. There are protocols to follow to ensure efficient use of resources and equitable distribution. A civilian who is jeopardized by or dissatisfied with the public administration can seek redress, re-examination, rectification, declaration or justification from the public authorities (\"PA\"). PA is defined in the context of this essay as a body established by statute or exercise a public function[1]. Judicial review is an alternative mean of seeking redress for public decisions that is either unproportionate, irrationality or unreasonableness; illegal; or suffers from procedural impropriety. Priorto 1977, an aggrieved civilian has an unquestioned option to gain redress by way of judicial review or private remedies. Applicants who seek redress under the former must obtain a leave of court[2], whereas others who seek for declaration and/or other ordinary private law remedies proceed by way of writ[3] or originating summons[4] does not need a leave. Along the years, litigant has preferred private remedies instead of judicial review because the latter was seen as too restrictive, non-user friendly and outdated. Lord Denning once said in his 1949 Hamlyn Lecture entitled the \"Freedom under the Law\", that the prerogative orders (judicial review procedure) were \"not suitable for the winning of freedom in the new age. They must be replaced by new and up to date machinery by declarations, injunctions, and actions for negligence\".\nOrder 53 reform in 1977: The prerogative order route contains numerous procedural deficiencies such as complicated rules concerning locus standi[5], sensitivity of the identity of the party under review and lack of opportunity for applicant to discover[6] and to interrogate. This is grounded on the presumption that the fact of the case is not disputed, the applicant has ability to bring an action and he/she merely seeks review on the process of which the decision is derived. These pose unfairness in situation where the fact is yet to be settled. The presumption that all litigant has ability and avenue to bring action is flawed too. Applicant's opportunity to cross-examine is subjected to leave. Unfortunately, the grant of leave is uncommon. Applicant is also constrained by a short window of six months to seek certiorari[7]. Furthermore, the applications for prerogative orders could not be joined with any other remedies. This leaves the applicant without financial recourse. Applicant initiating ordinary private action does not face such limitations though the requirement of locus standi is equally stringent. But unlike prerogative remedies, interim relief is available. Applicant can claim for remedy in addition to declaration and injunction (join remedies). Applicant has the right for full discovery and is allowed to cross-examine.\nO'Reilly v Mackman [1983] 2 AC 237: This case concerns a riot that broke off in a prison. Following the commotion, some prisoners were sentenced to a period of solitary confinement and loss of the opportunity for early release. The prisoners commenced an ordinary action for a declaration that the decision by the Prison Board of Visitors was ultra vires[10] because they were not given a fair hearing. The House of Lords struck out the application by reason that it is an abuse of process when a right that is entitled to be protected under the public law is allowed to proceed through ordinary action. Instead, judicial review is a more appropriate channel having regard to all improvement made to the 1977 Order 53. Lord Diplock argued that a litigant who commenced an action by writ, in circumstance in which he could have applied for judicial review, is acting against public policy. Lord Diplock said:\nProblems arising from O'Reilly: The O'Reilly decision gives rise to at least two major problems. First, the difficulty involved in distinguishing between private and public matters. Second, if both elements are presence in a case, which route should be pursued?\nSalvaging the right to seek justice: Two opposing school of thought can be observed. On one side, the liberalist insisted on the right to seek justice; whereas on the other hand, the utilitarian finds that the minority is obliged to give way for the sake of the wellbeing of the larger population. The former attempt to balance between the doctrine of stare decisis[14] and right to justice. This dilemma is said to have gradually reduced since the beginning of the millennium through subsequent amendments of the Civil Procedure Rules (\"CPR\") and with the enactment of the Human Right Act (\"HRA\") in 1998.\nThe Human Rights Act: Since the beginning of this millennium, practitioner witness the gradual fading of the O'Reilly principle following the enactment of the HRA in 1998. Before beginning the discussion on HRA, it is worth reminding that the Parliament is the supreme law maker in a democratic system. The role of the Court is only to interpret the law in accordance to the Parliament's objective and to give force to those laws. There, however, has been decades long debate on whether judges can make decisions that stretches the meaning of the law exceeding its initial boundary. Advocates argued, while defending their stance on the respect for independence between the three pillars of power, that extended interpretation is at times necessary to fill the gap in law and to fit into the daily life of a civilian. The opponent, however, viewed this as a violation of the Parliament's autonomy. This explains the current position of judicial review procedure that confine only to subordinate or delegated legislations and avoided confrontation with the primary legislation. This coexistence balancing is desirable in theory but challenging in reality. In essence, the judiciary is dichotomous in nature with clear distinction between right and wrong, while the Parliament is a manifestation of political will.\nConclusion: As asserted by Lord Steyn in R (Jackson) v Attorney General (2005) others, the ECHR and HRA has radically changed the legal landscape in the UK. Although the decision in O'Reilly has been subjected to many criticisms, nevertheless, according to Lord Bridge in Roy, it should not be overruled. Lord Denning thinks that it is not equitable to allow litigant for cases like homelessness and immigration, to take private action against the authorities because:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to provide an account of the legal development concerning civilian right to pursue legal action against public authorities. Review includes historical recap of the state of law practiced prior to 1977 and the decision in the case of O'Reilly that forcefully limit individual's right to bring action. Despite its blatant disregard of the relevant statute, the O'Reilly decision remains a valid precedent. The essay then considers subsequent law reform and the effect of the Human Rights Act 1998 in limiting the applicability of the O'Reilly principle. The essay aims to benefit law students and non-legal lay person.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper adopts a hermeneutics positivism approach in considering relevant case laws that is precedent to the matter under discussion. Thereupon, an interpretivism approach is applied to examine subsequent reforms and its impact on civilian right to seek justice.\nFindings: Judicial exclusivity restrains right to seek justice, but is it not totally discredited due to public policy. UK membership in the EU is an obstacle to judicial sovereignty, but it is also an avenue to dilute exclusivity.\nSocial implications: This paper is presented in a simple easy-to-understand form that enable lay-person to understand the current state of law in matters concerning public law violation by public authorities and avenues available to them.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to reinforce understanding on the conflict between common law and statute, and current state of law concerning individual's right to access to the court of law in cases related to public laws and public authorities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The hologram effect in entrepreneurial "social commercial" enterprises: Triggers and tipping points	[ "Non‐profit organizations", "Classification", "Measurement indicators", "Entrepreneurial behaviours", "Entrepreneurialism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The empirical study of the entrepreneurial nature of organisations contained within what is often described as the Third Sector, is becoming more widely reported in both non-profit and for profit entrepreneurship literature (Thompson, 2002; Mort et al., 2003; Barendsen and Gardner, 2004; Pepin, 2005; Shaw and Carter, 2007; Klyver et al., 2008). This paper intends to report on elements of a research study completed in 2007, which examined the classification of not-for-profit organisations in an Irish context (Crossan, 2007). Through this study unique entrepreneurial behavioural patterns were identified within of one set of organisations compared to others adjacent to them on the classification continuum.The examination of characteristic indicators to aid classification of non-profit organisations, and the concept of organisations along the continuum behaving overly social or overly economic forms the basis for the report within this paper. Therefore, the paper will discuss briefly the classification models and measurement framework used to identify the characteristic indicators for classification, the methodology of the Study and then discuss the relevant characteristic indicators that allowed for a clear entrepreneurial differentiation between those organisations classified as social and those social commercial organisations along the Social Economic Continuum.\nLiterature: Classification systems and continuum models: identifying the hologram effect\nMethodology: In order to address the research questions, the study established two research objectives:1. to identify characteristic variables at various positions along the Social Economic Continuum; and2. to measure the level of social and/or economic focus within organisations along the Social Economic Continuum.The study began by carrying out a review of the extant literature and considered the following areas:* the range of definitional issues associated with the sector;* existing information of not-for-profits within the UK, NI and ROI;* a review and syntheses of relevant and current classification systems;* a review of measurement indicators applied through classification; and* the role of for-profit organisations and their social impact measurement indicators.On completion of the literature review the Study developed a conceptual Social Economic Continuum Model (SEC) as described above.In addition, having reviewed the measurement indicators and characteristics employed by both non-profit and for profit classification systems locally and international and a review of the extant literature (sited in Crossan, 2007) the Study created the Theoretical Measurement Framework (TMF) which provided the measurement indicators that would be tested through the empirical stage of the study.The measurement indicators used to classify and characterise social purpose aims and objectives, regardless of the sector of the organisation, were divided into 3 layers:1. the descriptor variables, such as legal structure, business model, staffing, trading activities etc;2. motivator variables, such as the purpose of the organisation or their social aims and objectives; and3. the behaviour variables, how the organisation actually performs in terms of meeting their social aims and objectives, and the behaviour variables acting as the true test to decided the position of any organisation a long a Social Economic Continuum.The Study employed a pragmatic sequential mixed method research approach. Having reviewed the extant literature and developed the regional contextual Social Economic Continuum Model and Theoretical Measurement Framework, the empirical activity began with a quantitative methodological approach. A questionnaire was devised, and with the support of four representative bodies supporting social enterprises within the region, a sample of 386 organisations was identified, and received posted surveys. The questionnaire received 118 responses and the data gathered was analysed using SPSS v.11. The subsequent stage of the methodology was to engage in-depth interviews with 17 of the sample organisations, both non-profit and for profit organisations, analysed using a Thematic Content Analysis approach (Saunders et al., 2000). The Theoretical Measurement Framework was employed at both the quantitative and qualitative stages, to ascertain and clarify the usefulness of each of the descriptor, motivator or behavioural indicator criteria in aiding the classification of organisations contributing to the social economy. Having completed the quantitative and qualitative stages, the findings were analysed and used to improve the TMF and the placement of organisations within the regional Social Economic Continuum.\nFindings and discussion: the hologram effect within \"social\" and \"social commercial\" non-profit organisations; triggers and tipping points: Within the Social Economic Continuum Model it was clear that there were characteristic indicators that delineated social non-profit orientated social enterprises, from those non-profit social enterprises that were outwardly more commercially driven and displayed entrepreneurial characteristics in their behaviour and attitude to management of the organisation. Through the analysis of the TMF indicators, it was possible to identify indicators that were key triggers or tipping points for the organisations to switch their management practices from overly social to overly commercial. Key indicators are discussed below and all indicators are referred to in Table I.Indicator - business model\nConclusion: The paper sought to explore the entrepreneurial dimensions and themes associated with overly economic orientated non-profit organisations. Distinct differentiations in social management behaviours and subsequent overly economic management behaviours and perceptions were identified between those non-profit organisations classified as \"social\" and those \"social commercial\" along the Social Economic Continuum. The theme differentiations between social and social commercial organisations are illustrated in Table I.Key themes included how non-profit organisations would describe their business models externally; whether they measured their tangible and intangible outcomes, whether they pursued professionalism within their governance structures over majority community representation; whether they perceive the assets of the organisation for the benefit of all or for the opportunity to create greater wealth for the organisation; if they perceive their organisational aims and social aims as one in the same and if they intend to develop networks to service their social purpose or to create greater value for the organisation. The entrepreneurial characteristics displayed are used by non-profit organisations to pursue their social aims and objectives primarily, and the \"trigger\" themes outlined affect non-profits to act in an overly economic and entrepreneurial manner; displaying the \"hologram effect\" of entrepreneurial social commercial non-profit organisations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper's purpose is to present qualitative findings describing entrepreneurial differentiations between non-profit organisations along a social economic continuum. The paper aims to focus on those non-profit organisations classified as \"social\" and those more entrepreneurial behaving organisations classified as \"social commercial\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The data were taken from recent research examining current classification systems and performance measurement indicators applied to not-for-profit and for-profit organisations in an Irish regional context. Having reviewed the extant literature on classification systems and measurement indicators for non-profit organisations, the social economic continuum model and theoretical measurement framework were developed. In order to test the models, the study employed a pragmatist mixed methodological approach; employing quantitative surveys and in-depth interviews.\nFindings: - The paper presents key entrepreneurial differentiating themes between \"social\" and \"social commercial\" organisations, and discusses the triggers that produce a \"hologram\" effect or style of management in the third sector.\nPractical implications: - The identification of entrepreneurial themes allows for the analysis of the non-profit organisations from overly social in their activities and presentation, to overly economic in their behaviour. It allows for a greater understanding of the management processes employed by non-profit organisations to create social value and meet their social aims and purpose.\nOriginality/value: - The paper carries out a unique inter-sector comparison of non-profit organisations to determine entrepreneurial differentiations amongst non-profit businesses employing entrepreneurial methodologies and behaviours to achieve social good.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gender and credibility in branded storytelling	[ "Gender", "Advertising", "Credibility", "CEO", "Storytelling" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: This study addresses the relationship between gender and leadership images in the context of storytelling advertising effectiveness. We examine how men and women audience members differently perceive the credibility of male and female CEOs in an ad. Despite longtime societal efforts to eliminate prejudice, fewer women hold business leadership positions than men (Litwin, 2018). Female leaders are challenged to appear both competent and likable (Ibarra et al., 2013), and studies reveal that gender stereotype shapes perception of business leaders (i.e. Rhee and Sigler, 2015). Such biased perception might go beyond leader-subordinate relationships in an organization, as modern business leaders are able to communicate directly to external publics through digital media.\nLiterature review: Source credibility and storytelling\nMethods: Participants\nResults: For H1, a three-way factorial Multivariate of Analysis of Variance was tested. A main effect of storyteller types (F (4,894) = 13.877, p < 0.001; Wilks' L = 0.886; e2 = 0.058) demonstrates that respondents perceived the highest credibility in the founder's story ad (Mfounder/authoritativeness = 4.01). Another main effect pertained to respondents' gender (F (2, 447) = 3.906, p < 05; Wilks' L = 0.983; e2 = 0.017), which means women perceived higher credibility in the speaker in the ad, regardless of the speaker's gender.\nDiscussion: The implications of this study go beyond storytelling advertising effectiveness and demonstrate how male and female leadership could be evaluated differently. Perceived authoritativeness of male speakers, not of females predicted participants' receptivity to a message. Conversely, participants' evaluation of the female leader's character had a significant impact on message credibility.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to explore gender differences regarding how men and women perceive the story of a CEO and a customer of different genders in audio advertising.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A Web-based three-way factorial experiment was designed with three storyteller types (founder's story, customer's story vs informational ad), story teller's gender (male voice vs female voice) and research participants' gender (men vs women). In total, 549 participants were recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk.\nFindings: Researchers found gender-based differences in how audiences evaluated messages from the founder versus the customer of a company. There was a relationship between a male speaker's perceived authoritativeness and audiences' favorability to the ad, but no such relationship when the speaker was a woman.\nPractical implications: A female voice elicited more favorable attitudes toward the non-story informational ad. In the customer's story ad, relatability between the speaker and the audience mattered. Participants perceived the ad as more credible and convincing when the gender of the customer in the ad was the same as their gender.\nSocial implications: Women showed more favorable attitudes toward the male founder's story compared to the female founder's story. In evaluating the credibility of the female founder, audiences cared about her character (likability) rather than authoritativeness (expertise).\nOriginality/value: This study enriches the gender-related advertising-effect literature based on role congruity theory. The research contributes to the understanding of how gender bias still shapes the audiences' evaluation of storyteller credibility.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Intention to unretire: HR and the boomerang effect	[ "Retire", "Unretire", "Ageing workers", "Career transition", "Retirement", "Employees", "Careers", "Older workers", "Canada" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The post second world war baby boom generation (born from 1946-1964) is now retiring en masse. In anticipation of global shortages of human resources many governments have changed their retirement policies to ensure continuing work productivity levels. Such policies might include an increase or even abolishment of mandatory retirement age. For example, recently France increased its retirement age to 62 from 60 and Canada abolished its mandatory retirement age of 65. However, recent changes in world financial markets have led baby boomers, and others who may have chosen earlier retirement dates, to contemplate a wider menu of retirement and employment options. Human resources policies must now rethink HR planning strategies as the transition into retirement can take many paths (Wannell, 2007).\nLiterature review: The concept of retirement\nMethod: Participants and procedures\nResults: Comparisons of remained retired respondents with previously unretired respondents\nDiscussion: Financial resources as both a push and a pull factor\nContributions to the literature: This research addresses a gap in knowledge concerning the intention to unretire. Previous research has addressed retirement as a final stage, however, academics are beginning to realize that simultaneous demographic changes related to an aging population, constricting labor supply of knowledge workers, early retirement, and longer lifespans, have synergized to create opportunities to re-engage retirees in the labor market. Recent global changes in mandatory retirement age, and the pension crisis, had also led to enhanced retirement choice, and at the same time led to increased financial concerns for boomers. Our empirical study provides new knowledge regarding the factors that push and pull retirees to participate in the labor market.Limitations and future research\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to identify antecedents of intentions to unretire among a group of retirees that included both those who had not returned to the workforce since their retirement and those who had previously unretired.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A cross-sectional survey collected data from 460 recent retirees between the ages of 50 and 70.\nFindings: - Results of hierarchical regression indicated that retirees are more likely to remain retired if they feel financially secure and have a positive retirement experience. Conversely, they are more likely to intend to return to the workforce if they experience financial worries, wish to upgrade their skills or miss aspects of their former jobs.\nPractical implications: - Aging boomers who anticipate early retirement have created a dwindling labor pool. Simultaneously, the global pension crisis has impacted on the financial decisions of retirees. A trend to abolish mandatory retirement and/or increase mandatory age in various countries provides individuals with more freedom in their retirement decisions. Accordingly, managers must be creative in their HR planning strategies to retain or recruit skilled retirees.\nOriginality/value: - Previous research has addressed retirement as a final stage, however, given simultaneous global demographic changes and economic concerns, this study provides new knowledge regarding the factors that push and pull retirees to participate in the labor market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Risk factors for project success in the Chinese construction industry	[ "Project management", "Risk", "Critical success factors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The business of creating and delivering \"projects\" has become an increasingly critical part of the business landscape. Governments and businesses alike employ project methodologies to achieve a transformation agenda or to bring new products to market. Some organizations adopt projects temporarily to achieve their aims, whilst others are dedicated project-driven organizations, who sell their specialist project-based skills to clients. The business of projects, however, can be a risky enterprise, and there are numerous examples of poorly conceived or managed projects, which have ended in cancellation or failure (Davies and Hobday, 2005). The need to plan for project risks, as well as the practice of risk management in projects is critical for successful outcomes to be realized (Chapman, 1997; Williams, 2005; Anantatmula and Fan, 2013; Teller et al., 2014). Scholars and practitioners are increasingly aware of the importance of project risk management (Raz et al., 2002) to the extent, Nicholas and Steyn (2008) claim project management itself is fundamentally risk management.\nLiterature review: Definitions of risk and project success\nResearch methodology: This is primarily a survey-based study, as a prelude we conducted ten telephone interviews to identify risk factors before distributing questionnaires for data collection. Data collection is mainly from China.\nResults: When asked about respondents' familiarity with the concept of risk management in projects, about 10 percent of the respondents admitted that they were not familiar with risk management (Figure 1). It is quite possible that they may not be familiar with the term but might be practising risk management without following formal RMPs.\nDiscussion: Our research results show that risk factors related to client (project funding problems and variation by client) are deemed to be the most important risk factors for Chinese construction projects in terms of achieving success. Thus, H1 is rejected. This is also confirmed by Zou et al. (2007) and Fang et al. (2004), who report high significance as well. Therefore, it supports past research that funding/payment shortage problems usually appear in overseas construction projects or in developing countries (Zhi, 1995; Frimpong et al., 2003; Baloi and Price, 2003).\nConclusion: We defined five risk categories using literature review findings and our results show that all of them are critical for the success of project management in the Chinese construction industry. Of the five risk categories, risk related to the client is found to be the most important relationship with project success. It involves project funding problem and variation by clients. Risk related to contractor is ranked second. It is desirable that contractors try to grasp and understand how to transfer knowledge into practice in every stage of project management. Risks related to designer, subcontractor, and government influence project success to a lesser degree. However, our results show that all the five risk categories should not be ignored, but they can be prioritized. Within the JMTM literature there is a growing body of research where \"projects\" provide the context of a scholarly investigation, yet the discipline of project management requires much more attention. This is particularly pertinent given both macro-level (e.g. evidenced-based policy and investment decisions) impacts and micro-level impacts (e.g. profitability and new innovations) that project management can have on shaping markets and societal benefits. The mitigation of risk through effective project management practice is a valuable area of exploration in the construction industry, and would benefit from further studies conducting international comparisons, or contrasting differences with other capital-intensive, large-scale complex products, and systems industries. In the near future, the construction industry may also look to understand and manage risks associated with disruptive new technologies such as additive layer manufacturing (Kothman and Faber, 2016; Bai et al., 2017).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: To achieve project success, an effective project risk management procedure is inevitable. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of risk factors on project success in the Chinese construction industry context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study by way of utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods has examined risk factors that are closely linked to project success in the Chinese construction industry.\nFindings: After a thorough survey and analysis, risk factors related to designer, contractor, subcontractor, client and government are shown to affect project success to some extent.\nOriginality/value: It is suggested that the present research may be made more generalizable by a larger, more representative samples across various industries and regions of China.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Edges of sustainability through numbers, themes and discourse: A critical analysis of theses and dissertations in Turkish higher education institutions	[ "Higher education", "Turkey", "Sustainability", "Sustainable development", "Postgraduate research", "Education for sustainable development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since the declaration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) in the World Summit in Johannesburg by the United Nations (The International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2012; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2008), many nations have started to invest money, time, and energy on education for sustainable development (ESD) with the intention of shaping the education of tomorrow globally. Although the DESD has ended, sustainable development is still a timely topic and seems to remain as a substantial concern on the global agenda for longer periods (Leal Filho et al., 2015). This is affirmed at any rate until 2030 by the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN, 2015). Although it appears customarily as a goal of business, non-profits, and governments, a shift towards sustainability should occur at three levels: personal, organizational, and social levels (Sterling, 2014). With all the initiatives and steps taken throughout the decade, a high priority is placed on an engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, one of whom is no doubt the higher education sector. As critical spaces for research, development, and innovation, higher education institutions are considered to be fundamental change agents for societal transformations. Therefore, their role in disseminating sustainability through different paths is undeniable and it is worth researching the themes and dimensions that surround the concept of sustainability within higher education institutions. Considering the unquestionable role of the \"research\" path in conveying messages on the issues that require urgent attention, in particular that of postgraduate theses and dissertations conducted in higher education institutions, this paper looks at the contributions of postgraduate research to the idea of sustainability from a developing country's side.\n2. Method: Adopting a mixed-method design, this study aimed to identify critical gaps in the conceptualization and interpretation of sustainability by investigating the postgraduate research (theses and dissertations) conducted with a reference to sustainability in Turkish higher education institutions and synthesizing the underlying themes and trends pertaining to sustainability issues in the local discourse.\n3. Findings: The findings obtained from the data analysis procedures are discussed under three headings: postgraduate research on sustainability through numbers, prevalent themes and dimensions of sustainability in postgraduate research, and conceptualization and contextualization of sustainability in Turkish discourse.\n4. Discussion and conclusions: One of the major conclusions to be drawn from the findings is about the dissemination of sustainability issues via theses and dissertations conducted in Turkish higher education institutions, which constitute only 0.2 percent of all the theses and dissertations completed within a ten-year period. It has already been discussed that there might be other theses and dissertations touching indirectly on one of the issues that sustainable development addresses; yet, it is for sure that those studies do not mention the concepts of \"sustainability\" or \"sustainable development\" in their titles, abstracts, or keywords. This insufficient number of direct references to sustainability appears as one of the barriers to the interpretation of sustainability from a broader perspective.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify critical gaps in the conceptualization and interpretation of sustainability by investigating the postgraduate research (theses and dissertations) conducted with a reference to sustainability in Turkish higher education institutions and synthesizing the underlying themes and trends pertaining to sustainability issues in the local discourse.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopts a mixed-method design. The sample (n=343) consists of the theses and dissertations conducted over a ten-year period in Turkish universities. Data analysis procedures include a quantitative investigation through numbers to address the level of value attached to postgraduate research on sustainable development; a content analysis on the focus and scope of each study to determine prevalent sustainability themes and dimensions frequently addressed in the studies; and a collocation analysis conducted on the texts of the studies to depict linguistic and cultural connotations of sustainable development in the local discourse and key terms that frequently collocate with sustainable development in the Turkish context.\nFindings: Neither a sufficient number of direct references to sustainability nor a substantial increase in the number of studies throughout the decade is depicted. Only one-third of Turkish universities steer postgraduate research on sustainability, which is not evenly distributed to various institutions across the country. Three-quarters of the studies are conducted within economy-related and engineering-related programs. The social dimension of sustainability is under-researched. The topics tend to ply between environmental and economic edges. Turkey, as a word, is collocated frequently with the concepts of external debt, current deficit, energy, policy, and EU. Linguistically, the concept of sustainable development is predominantly associated with economic growth in the majority of the studies. Sustainability is contextualized mostly with making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable and promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work.\nOriginality/value: The value of the paper lies in the paucity of studies tracking the research initiatives taken on sustainability, assessing research trends in postgraduate programs of higher education institutions, and looking into a global concept from a local perspective in a developing country, Turkey.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Iran public education and awareness program and its achievements	[ "Earthquakes", "Disasters", "Risk management", "Public education", "Schools", "Child welfare" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Iran, being located in high seismic hazard regions of the world, with frequent occurrence of devastating earthquakes, has experienced high human, social and property losses in past decades. Establishment of IIEES in 1989 and the Manjil earthquake of 1990 became a starting-point in the earthquake risk reduction activities in Iran, especially in the area of research, knowledge development, capacity building, vulnerability reduction and public (specially children) awareness and preparedness. Based on the achievement and experience gained from the 14 years of earthquake risk reduction activities, and lessons learned from the Bam earthquake of 2003, the long term \"Earthquake Risk Reduction Strategy of Iran-IERRS\" was developed and ratified with especial emphasis on effective implementation of the existing knowledge and regulations. In other words, the Bam earthquake became a new turning point in the history of earthquake risk reduction in Iran with more incentive and support. IERRS comprises several components such as: policy change, increasing the know-how, improving management quality in all related areas of risk, using the advanced technology, code enforcement, public awareness, and increasing the public preparedness for performing correct response during and after earthquake. It should be noted that the First Article of the IERRS emphasises the enhancement and promotion of the \"Safety Culture\" through increasing the awareness and preparedness of the policy maker and authorities; and the general public.\"Safety Culture\" considering the very young age structure of Iran (36 percent or 25 million of the total population are under 19) can only be effectively achieved if it gets started with children in schools. This young structure and their high vulnerability make the children and school the key component in the earthquake risk reduction activities. Earthquake preparedness education of children not only helps their safety during earthquake, but it can play an effective role in the dissemination of knowledge and preparedness among the society and family. It helps the sustainable process of public educational program to raise awareness, to create sensitiveness and belief on the \"facts of earthquake\" in order to take appropriate actions. Thus, the well thought and comprehensively planned earthquake safety education program based on the basic principles of simplicity, consistency, reliability, clearance without disrupting social and economic system, not only creates a safety culture, but also creates strong public will and incentive for an effective implementation of risk reduction actions in a country.Moreover, considering the fact that among the human losses, the loss and injury of children, as a binding factor of a family, can create long-term psycho-social disorder in the society; saving their lives should have the highest priority in any risk reduction program and school building safety can play an important role. With this observation, one of the first and important outcomes of the new strategy was the program for the strengthening and reconstruction of vulnerable schools based on the law that was proposed and passed by the Iran Parliament with the allocation of $4 billion.\n2. Disaster management education for the managers: With the objective of raising the awareness, knowledge and concern of the policy makers, authorities and managers on important factors (seismic hazard, vulnerability, management, etc.) contributing to the earthquake risk as well as the effective methods for its reduction and control, a special training program has been developed and it has been implemented in almost all provinces through the face-to-face discussion and training. The program contains information on the active faults, seismicity and seismic hazard of each province as well as the related physical, human and economic risk in the map forms. This program has been shown to be very effective in changing the city officials' and managers' view of earthquake and its risk.\n3. General public education: To achieve an acceptable level of preparedness for an earthquake, the public should first know the facts of earthquake and its consequences in order to become sensitive and interested in learning about the prevention measures. Thus the public education with the consideration of the socio-economic consideration of the target audience through scientific and reliable sources should focus on: risk communication, showing the benefits of prevention and risk reduction, creating incentives, how to be prepared, what is needed to be prepared, what to do during and after earthquake, first aid, and finally how to help the family and neighbors. In the entire program, it has been emphasized that the key factor in being prepared is prevention and living in a safe building, without which no actions can be effective and useful. The result of the program which was started in 1991 can be easily seen in the Iranian society. Today people are much more aware, a success in the first step of the preparedness; but there is still a long way to go to become a prepared society. The following sections present some of the program that has been developed for this purpose.3.1 Audio-visual\n4. School's earthquake education: awareness and preparedness: Creating an earthquake safety culture should only start with the children and schools due to the young age structure of Iran and the loss of school children during earthquakes, especially around 10,000 of them during the Bam earthquake of 26 December 2003; which had shown that the youth are among the most vulnerable groups of the society. From 29.71 percent of population of Iran which are between 5 to 19 years old (5-9 years: 7.81 percent, 10-14 years: 9.52 percent and 15-19 years:12.38 percent), more than 14 million students in more than 2,067,326 classrooms are distributed as shown in Tables IV-VI.This young structure and their high vulnerability make the children and school the key component in the earthquake risk reduction activities. Earthquake preparedness education of children not only helps their safety during earthquake, but it can play an effective role in the dissemination of knowledge and preparedness among the society and family. Finally, considering the fact that the loss of and injury to children can create long-term psycho-social disorder in the society; school building safety can play an important role in saving children's lives.4.1 Earthquake awareness and preparedness for all school levels\n5. Conclusion: The first article of \"Earthquake Risk Reduction Strategy of Iran\" is devoted to public awareness and preparedness and safety culture. The past studies and experiences in Iran and many parts of the world indicated that this objective can only be achieved through the implementation of a comprehensive, integrated and sustainable program toward the acceptance and understanding of the earthquake facts and believing in the safety and move toward preparedness and risk reduction. The paper provided a brief but comprehensive description of this program in Iran, with a special emphasis on the school safety program. The overall assessment, without any doubt, shows that Iranian people, specially the children, are much more knowledgeable, aware and concerned about earthquake safety. This claim can be seen in all aspects from the policy and legislation that have been passed for earthquake safety, to the allocation of funds and budgets, government supports, strengthening the public-funded buildings and infrastructures against earthquake; to the proper measure that they have taken during the recent earthquakes, especially during the March 2006 earthquake in Lorestan, which has caused the substantial reduction in human losses. The effect of school educational programs and other earthquake public education program has caused a strong will in the government and public in reducing the high level of risk in schools. The allocation of $4 billion for strengthening and reconstruction of vulnerable schools is a good example. However, there is still a long way to go to achieve a fully prepared and seismically safe community and for this stronger cooperation and participation of all of the society are necessary for enhancing the public safety. Finally, the authors strongly believe that the Iran experience is a successful one, and can be shared and learned from.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to provide a brief summary on the comprehensive earthquake education program for increasing the public awareness and preparedness for earthquake through an integrated educational program using all types of media, especially in the schools and amongst children.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper will provide an overview to the program on the disaster management education for the managers; general public; and especially children's earthquake safety education in schools. This priority could be better highlighted by looking at the wide coverage of schools as well as the young age structure of Iran.\nFindings: - There is still a is a long way to go to achieve a fully prepared and seismically safe community and for this stronger cooperation and participation of the whole of society are necessary for enhancing public safety.\nOriginality/value: - Finally, the paper strongly believes that the Iran experience is successful, one that can be shared and from which one can learn.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Food safety benchmarking between retail outlets in Greece	[ "Benchmarking", "Cluster analysis", "Food safety", "Ishikawa", "Polar chart", "Retail market" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Food safety and hygiene ensures the suitability of food at all stages of the food chain, by taking all the necessary measures during the preparation and processing of food. These measures are very important because they ensure the safety of food and that it is fit for human consumption (Baines et al., 2006; Pei et al., 2011). Food safety management systems are implemented in companies in order to achieve safety and quality in the food sector. Some food safety management systems combine food safety and quality in a framework of total quality management (Mensah and Julien, 2011), such as ISO 22000 (2005), IFS (2014) Food, British Retail Consortium (BRC, 2015) Food ), SQFI (2014) and the classic model of the Codex Alimentarius HACCP model (CAC/RDP 1-1969, Rev. 4, 2003). Though food safety management is obligatory in all European countries, the selection of the appropriate certification system is voluntary to implement. Therefore, food businesses which target to cooperate with dominant market players use to adopt certified FSMS in the food supply chain (Henson, 2011). For example, the BRC (2015) Global Standard for Food Safety was originally set by a trade entity in the UK in order to keep or gain supply contracts with retailers. Non-regulatory FSMS, as a complement or alternative to mandatory regulation, have become a much more prevalent component of the food safety control system of the global food supply chain (Chen et al., 2015).\nDesign/methodology: Aim\nResults: Primarily, the retail outlets were grouped according to the region of location. Using cluster analysis, the regions were benchmarked on the number of remarks per category of evaluation: ENV, MAT, MTH, PER and EQP. Regions with the shortest Euclidean distance seem to have similar profile of remarks according to the Ishikawa classification. There are three distinguishable groups of regions with similar profiles: Ionian Islands and Southern Aegean; Epirus and Western Makedonia; and Crete, Central Greece, Peloponnese and Western Greece (Figure 1). It should be mentioned though that the regions of Attica and Central Makedonia, which count with more outlets, are in a long distance and do not fit in clusters.\nConclusion: This study proposes methods for benchmarking the food safety between the retail outlets when complex data are provided, derived from questionnaires that are neither sophisticated nor balanced. With this methodology, it is possible to identify regions that have similar food safety profiles for the retail outlets. The basic principle of this study is to group non-conformities and remarks into five groups of causes: environment (ENV), materials (MAT), methods (MTH), personnel (PER), and equipment (EQP). A total of 1,455 audits were performed within one fiscal year for the outlets of a big retail company. The final 87,106 remarks of the auditors were classified according to the five categories of the cause and effect diagram of Ishikawa.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop and implement methods for benchmarking the food safety and hygiene between retail outlets at the same time or at the same retail outlets at different times.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A tailor made questionnaire for the collection of food safety and hygiene remarks was designed to be applied in a large chain of retail outlets. The remarks were classified in the five categories of the Ishikawa model (materials, methods, personnel, equipment and environment). The retail outlets were located all over Greece and the audits were performed in a one-year term. Food safety experts were used as auditors after a six-month training period. The data collected were subject to analysis of the benchmarking scores and to cluster analysis to identify regions with similar food safety profiles.\nFindings: Polar charts were used to illustrate the benchmarking scores for each of the five categories of evaluation per auditing period at the retail outlets. Another polar chart illustrates the benchmarking scores for each of the 12 regions of Greece. Cluster analysis demonstrates that some regions, like Ionian Islands and South Aegean, have similar profiles on food safety for the retail outlets.\nOriginality/value: The developed methodology can be used by retail companies with several outlets or by a group or an association of companies in order to identify problematic sectors and to set priorities while dealing with issues of food safety and hygiene. The work is limited to the Greek outlets but the methodology has potential application to every other country.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Antecedents of pregnant women's purchase intentions and willingness to pay a premium for organic food	[ "Organic food", "Purchase intentions", "Pregnancy", "Willingness to pay a premium" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In a competitive marketplace, food producers invest in new product development to differentiate themselves from the rivals. Particularly, organic food products with health and environmental claims attract the attention of health and environmentally conscious consumers and accordingly organic food producers benefit from this market opportunity in order to expand their market share and profits.\nPregnancy and organic food consumption: Pregnant consumers try to protect their unborn child from external factors and mostly they do this by paying attention to consumption (AbiGhannam and Atkinson, 2016, p. 453). Pregnancy causes a mental and physical change in the individual and this can cause change in the lifestyles and consumption habits. One of the most noticeable criteria regarding consumption is healthy eating. Past research indicated that pregnant women are sensitive to health and environmental issues. For them, healthy eating is one of the most important criteria to improve their babies' health. For example, a study conducted by Finch (2006), revealed that both buyer and non-buyer consumer groups emphasized that they were more likely to buy organic food products if one of the family members became pregnant. In a Cairns et al. (2013)'s qualitative study, some interviewees stated that they try to buy organic food for their babies. In a more recent study with interviews, AbiGhannam and Atkinson (2016) indicated that pregnant women who are aware of environmental issues try to purchase green products. Hjelmar (2011) also found that having children is one of the motives for parents to purchase organic food for their children's' health. Barrett et al. (2014) revealed that most of the pregnant women who were included in the survey stated that they try to exhibit environmental healthy behavior such as consuming organic foods. In the same study, respondents who strongly agreed that environmental chemicals are threatening were more likely to eat organic food, prefer food in safe plastics, purchase eco-friendly packages and they were less likely to eat fast food frequently. In another study, pregnant women associated organic foods with health and sustainable diet (Torjusen et al., 2012). In addition, in a research conducted by Laroche et al. (2001), it was demonstrated that married women with children are more environmental friendly.\nHealth consciousness: Health consciousness refers to \"the degree to which health concerns are integrated into a person's daily activities\" (Jayanti and Burns (1998, p. 10). Health-conscious consumers are worried about their health and they engage in healthy behaviors, such as eating healthy food products to maintain their well-being (Mai and Hoffmann, 2012, p. 317). Consumers are increasingly concerned about food quality and safety due to the health issues in the food industry (Arvanitoyannis et al., 2004, p. 93). Therefore, consuming organic food products can be considered a rational decision (Chen, 2009, p. 166). For example, Jayanti and Burns (1998) found that health consciousness influence preventive health care behaviors.\nEnvironmental concern: Air, water and soil pollution caused by growth in production, consumption and waste has led to an increase in consumers' environmental concern. In this context, marketing literature has increasingly paid attention to the concept of environmental concern.\nConsumer innovativeness: The concept of innovativeness has received considerable attention in consumer behavior field. Innovativeness has been conceptualized in two main views: global or innate (Tellis et al. (2009), and domain-specific innovativeness (Goldsmith and Hofacker, 1991). Innate innovativeness represents a broader domain and refers to \"a generalized unobservable trait reflecting a person's inherent innovative personality, predisposition, and cognitive style to interpret and combine information in novel ways and/or create solutions that differ from accepted conventions\" (Im et al., 2007, p. 67). In addition, Tellis et al. (2009, p. 1) defined customer innovativeness as \"a consumer's propensity to adopt new products.\" On the other hand, domain-specific innovativeness has been conceptualized as \"the predisposition to learn about and adopt to learn new products in a specific domain of consumer behavior\" (Goldsmith and Hofacker, 1991, p. 291). Domain-specific innovativeness suggests that \"consumers adopt innovations earlier than others if such innovations are in a domain of their interest but may be laggards in other domains\" (Persaud and Schillo, 2017, p. 133). Domain-specific innovators are considered as opinion leaders and they are also more knowledgeable about new products, have a greater interest in the product category, more exposed to media, and are frequent users of the specific product category (Goldsmith and Newell, 1997, p. 164). Several researchers have found that domain-specific innovativeness enhances the new product adoption (Hirunyawipada and Paswan, 2006) and reduces perceived risk (Aldas-Manzano et al., 2009). It is expected that pregnant women will be more likely to pay attention to innovative organic food products to obtain healthy eating. Therefore, in this study, the concept of domain-specific innovativeness was used to understand the role of innovativeness on purchase intentions and WTP for organic food products which can be considered as relatively new products among conventional ones.\nMethodology: Measurement\nData collection and sample: Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires from a convenience sample of pregnant women during April-August 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey. Before distributing the questionnaires, the objective of the study was explained. After checking the 295 returned questionnaires, 21 of them were discarded due to the missing values. As a result, 274 usable questionnaires were deemed for further analysis.\nAnalysis and results: In this part, empirical data were analyzed using two-step approach (Anderson and Gerbing, 1998). In this context, before testing hypothesized structural paths between the relevant constructs with performing structural equations modeling, 28-item, five-factor, covariance structured measurement model was evaluated in terms of construct validity and reliability.\nValidity and reliability: Measurement model was tested to ensure the construct validity and reliability. To evaluate construct validity, convergent and discriminant validity of the scales were examined. Measurement model fit indices are presented in Table I. The fit indices (kh2/df: 2.011, CFI: 0.97, NFI: 0.93, TLI: 0.96, IFI: 0.97, RMSEA: 0.06) are acceptable and this suggests that the model fits the data well (Arbuckle, 2006).\nStructural equations model: The proposed hypotheses were tested using structural equations model using maximum-likelihood estimation. Goodness-of-fit indices of the structural model are satisfactory (kh2/df: 2.38, CFI: 0.95, NFI: 0.92, TLI: 0.95, IFI: 0.95, RMSEA: 0.07). Standardized estimates for the structural model are shown in Figure 2. The estimated results reveal that all proposed hypotheses were confirmed.\nTheoretical contributions: The aim of this study was to investigate the antecedents of pregnant women's purchase intentions and WTP a premium for an organic food product. There are three main theoretical contributions emerged from this study. First, unlike previous studies, this research is focused on a niche market of pregnant women and aimed to understand the role of their health consciousness, environmental concern and innovativeness on purchase intentions and WTP a premium for organic food products. Pregnancy is a considerably special period for women. Therefore, it is crucial to understand organic food consumption of pregnant women. In this context, this research contributes to the understanding pregnant women's purchase intentions and WTP a premium toward organic food and creating interest on generally underestimated consumer segment of pregnant women in consumer behavior literature. Second, past research has ignored the role of innovativeness on the WTP a premium toward organic food products. This research fills this gap by introducing a conceptual framework to understand the role of innovativeness on pregnant women's purchase intentions and WTP a premium toward organic food. Third, examining the antecedents of pregnant women's WTP a premium for organic food contributes consumer behavior and pricing literature.\nManagerial implications: Considering pregnant women are sensitive to health and environmental issues, food producers, marketers and retailers should focus on pregnant women to inform them with advertisements and sale persons about the benefits (environmental and health) of organic food products in every aspects such as production, packaging, consumption (Minton and Rose, 1997, p. 45). In addition, negative results of consuming conventional food products to increase the environmental consciousness of the consumers (Park and Ha, 2012, p. 398) and consequently persuade consumers to try organic food products. As a part of a customer relationship program, customer loyalty card should be used to provide additional rewards such as gifts, points, coupons and discounts relating to organic food product purchases.\nLimitations and future research: There are some limitations of this study. The survey was conducted in Istanbul, Turkey and therefore, the generalizations of the results are limited to the convenience sample of pregnant women who participated in the study. Future research should be conducted in different cities with more pregnant women to gain additional insights. This study did not focus on a specific organic food product category. Therefore, it should be useful to compare different organic food products to deeply understand the role of product categories in pregnant women's purchase intentions and WTP. Future research is needed to distinguish different pregnancy periods to understand behavioral intentions of pregnant women.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of health consciousness, environmental concern and customer innovativeness on pregnant women's purchase intentions and willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for organic food.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In order to collect data, a field study was conducted using administrated questionnaires from a convenience sample of pregnant women in Istanbul, Turkey. A structural equations model was used to test the proposed hypotheses.\nFindings: Results indicated positive effects of health consciousness, environmental concern and customer innovativeness on both purchase intentions and WTP a premium toward organic food. Specifically, it was found that health consciousness had the greatest influence on purchase intentions and WTP a premium.\nOriginality/value: Unlike previous studies, this research focused on pregnant women and aimed to understand the role of health consciousness, environmental concerned and customer innovativeness on purchase intentions and WTP a premium for organic food.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A longitudinal examination of customer commitment and loyalty	[ "Customer loyalty", "Financial services", "Longitudinal", "Customer commitment", "Panel survey data", "Segmentation methods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Many research papers have studied the effect of customer commitment on customer loyalty. The theoretical grounding for the models of customer commitment proposed by marketing scholars borrowed from extensive research in organizational behavior (Jones et al., 2008, p. 473) in which the multiple components of employee commitment, its interplay and influence on outcomes such as employee turnover have been studied intensively (Klein et al., 2009). Customer commitment as a driver of customer loyalty became popular since the seminal work of Morgan and Hunt (1994) appeared in the Journal of Marketing. The electronic database Web of Science, for instance, reveals more than 2,600 citations in peer-reviewed journals for Morgan and Hunt (1994) of which two-third of citations cover a first time span of 15 years (1994-2009), and one-third of publications cover the recent contributions in the last three years (2010-2012). Hence, it is clear that the concept of customer commitment has increased in popularity over time.\n2 Theoretical background: 2.1 Changes in affective, calculative, and normative commitment and customer share development\n3 Research design: 3.1 Data collection\n4 Data analysis and findings: Our summary of the analysis and findings is organized as follows:\n5 Discussion, implications, limitations, and future research directions: For researchers and managers, it is important to gain insight into how loyalty develops over time, and to determine the drivers of change in loyalty. This study advances the empirical research regarding the relationship between the three-component model of commitment, and customer loyalty in several ways. First, this study reveals that, overall, the change in any dimension of commitment is positively associated with customer share development (supporting H1). Second, the analysis of customer segments and the examination of interaction effects demonstrate that it is misleading to assume that everyone will react in the same way to efforts that are designed to cultivate customer commitment (supporting H2). Further, we show that the best models that use only baseline variables are not very predictive. More precisely, change in commitment dimensions are needed to enhance the PVE in longitudinal models of loyalty. Finally, this study finds that among situational triggers, only job changes significantly impact share development, and this is a negative impact that only occurs for a subsample of the studied population. Still, the existence of such effects in other studies (Doyle, 2002; Roos and Gustafsson, 2007), and the widely used practice of customer life stage segmentation (Swift, 2000) indicate that situational triggers remain an important topic for further research. It may be that triggers take a longer time to affect SOW than the 14-month period considered here. Also, the changes in a customer's affective, calculative, and/or normative commitment levels may already capture the relevant effects that situational triggers have on loyalty behavior. Further research on this topic is warranted.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to provide the first longitudinal examination of the relationship between affective, calculative, normative commitment and customer loyalty by using longitudinal panel survey data.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Repeated measures for 269 customers of a large financial services provider are employed. Two types of segmentation methods are compared: predefined classes and latent class models and predictive power of different models contrasted.\nFindings: The results reveal that the impact that different dimensions of commitment have on share development varies across segments. A two-segment latent class model and a managerially relevant predefined two-segment customer model are identified. In addition, the results demonstrate the benefits of using panel survey data in models that are designed to study how loyalty develops over time.\nPractical implications: This study illustrates the benefits of including both baseline level information and changes in the dimensions of commitment in models that try to understand how loyalty unfolds over time. It also demonstrates how managers can be misled by assuming that everyone will react to commitment improvement efforts similarly. This study also shows how different segmentation schemes can be employed and reveals that the most sophisticated ones are not necessarily the best.\nOriginality/value: This research provides the first examination of models for change in customer loyalty by employing survey panel data on the three-component model of customer commitment (affective, calculative, and normative) and considers alternative segmentation methods.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The influence of CEOs' equity-based compensation on restaurant firms' CSR initiatives: The moderating role of institutional ownership	[ "Institutional ownership", "Corporate social responsibility", "Chief executive officer", "Equity-based compensation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an integral part of businesses around the world. A recent study reported that Fortune Global 500 companies spend approximately $15bn annually on CSR initiatives (Davidson et al., 2016). Although the restaurant industry is facing many challenges, such as high operating costs, high sensitivity to economic conditions, low profit margins, and relatively high risk (Jogaratnam, 2017; Ottenbacher and Harrington, 2009), CSR investment is considered an imperative because it has significant impacts on both internal and external stakeholders in various ways (Kang et al., 2016; Park et al., 2017a, 2017b). For instance, CSR initiatives can be used as an instrument for businesses to differentiate themselves from their competitors, especially in the restaurant industry, where inter-firm rivalries are intense (McWilliams et al., 2006). Moreover, restaurant firms can enhance their brand image and reputation through CSR activities designed to create a competitive advantage (Gupta, 2002).\nLiterature review: Definition and theories behind CSR\nMethodology: Sample and data\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion and conclusion: Conclusion\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Based on the agency theory and risk management perspective, this study aims to examine the relationship between CEOs' pay schemes and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in the restaurant industry. Specifically, the authors propose that CEOs with a higher proportion of equity-based compensation (EBC), which induces a greater propensity for risk-taking, are prone to indulge less in CSR. In addition, the authors investigate how institutional ownership moderates the proposed main relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study performs two-way fixed-effects models and clustered standard errors to test the proposed hypotheses.\nFindings: The results of the panel analysis show a significant negative effect of CEOs' EBC on CSR. Also, the authors found a significant positive moderating effect of institutional ownership between CEOs' EBC and CSR.\nOriginality/value: Given the lack of empirical studies that incorporate both agency theory and the risk management perspective, and given the importance of understanding the determinants of restaurant firms' CSR activities, this study expands upon the existing literature by showing the relationship between CEOs' compensation schemes and restaurant firms' CSR activities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Educating the metamanager: a new breed of leader	[ "Leadership", "Education", "Managers", "Arts" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: People working in organizations are all more or less familiar with the process of management and know something about the role of a manager. Some people even get to be managers!\nLearning to be a manager: There is more to managing effectively than is commonly assumed. It is a more complex activity than is often presented. Many of the people who give advice to managers on how best to manage (and this includes academics and consultants) have never managed anything of substance in their lives.To learn how to be a manager, one must ultimately do the job rather than read or talk about the job. The good news is that experience can be assisted and enhanced by education and training before or during the on-the-job process.We have many tertiary institutions now involved in the management education business and many training organizations and training consultants conducting management training both on and off the job. Organizations themselves are also recognizing the value of upgrading managerial skills and are prepared to do this through the use of short in-house programs. The strategic approach to training and development in some large enterprises has led them to run their own \"universities\". (It needs to be said, however, that in most Western countries, 80-90 percent of businesses are small. Yet it's mostly big-business employees and public sector employees who attend external education and training programs. Managers of small businesses tend not to attend formal training courses or, if they do, they are catered to by small business management associations or technical-level colleges.)The concern in the great bulk of this education and training is usually about the administration of a business and its specialist functions rather than about management per se - thus topics like planning, finance, marketing, staffing and the like, tend to make up the bulk of the curriculum.\nIs management education and training effective?: With so much attention being given to educating and training managers, why are we not getting better managers? An enormous amount of effort has been expended over the past 100 years or so to understand management and the managerial role, so why are we so bad at putting to use what we already know?This view is echoed by management writer Alistair Mant (1979) in his book describing his thoughts on the rise and fall of the British manager. He suggests that we do not need to spend any more on research into management but to put into action what we already know.Even the products of our prestigious management education qualification course, the MBA, are often criticized for not measuring up to the outcome standard noted in the advertising brochures. Much of the seminal work on management produced by people like Gouldner, Etzioni, Woodward, Follet, Argyris, Jaques, Mayo, McGregor and others would be far better learned, appreciated and, hopefully, implemented, if read in their original form instead of in expurgated summaries in modern texts.Despite the passage of time and the changing context of work, most of this material is as relevant today as it was when published. Admittedly it requires some adaptation as a result of context change but, by and large, the ideas and principles espoused have stood the test of time. I would even be so bold as to suggest that MBA students and managers at large would gain more insights into management by reading the 170-page book by Pugh et al. (1971) than many of the latter-day texts written mainly by the American or British academic fraternity and running to 600 or more pages each - a requirement to be considered \"worthy\". As one example among many, I note a 959-page book on organizational behavior (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004).On the positive side, our education and training of managers has come a long way in the past 20 or so years, but largely on the side of making managers better at the mechanics of administration rather than the broader aspects of management that usually determine, in the long run, managerial success.We still consider the process and the job in much the same way as we consider a trade with readily identifiable elements and with a rational and sensible foundation upon which to operate in what could be called almost a \"rote\" or \"pedestrian\" fashion.The major emphasis is on specialist technical functions and techniques and on \"how we do it now\" in marketing and finance and production and so on. The \"management wood\" gets overwhelmed by the \"technical trees\". We confuse the substance of management with its working tools.Even courses on organizational behavior, leadership and strategy do not seem to redress the balance. Technical disciplines and their quantitative and analytical elements still tend to dominate the approach to management favored by new graduates of either MBA or executive development courses.The dangers of such an approach were spelled out over 40 years ago (but obviously not heeded) by Clarence B. Randall, an American industrialist and presidential advisor, in his book describing management myths (Randall, 1962). He devotes a chapter of the book to the myth of the specialist and claims that unless the danger is seen in time, galloping specialization can bring any company to the brink of chaos.We have created, and are creating, specialists rather than generalists and breadth at the top cannot be built on a foundation of narrowness at the bottom!The major problem is considering management from a reductionist philosophical perspective. That is, it can be explained best by reducing it into its constituent technical parts and assuming that knowledge of these parts will enable us to understand the whole. However, this ignores the very complex nature of the manager role and the need to see it from a holistic perspective that would highlight the meta level that should be a prime focus of management education.The opposite of reductionist ideas is holism - the idea that things can have properties as a whole that are not explainable from the properties of their parts. It is my contention that study of the liberal arts would contribute to a holistic view of management and the manager role.\nA possible answer - metamanagement!: The specialist approach is fine as far as it goes, but if we stop there we are failing to recognize the dimension that has the potential to really lift managers out of the realm of expertise in technical disciplines and into the realm of expertise in what I call \"metamanagement\".Metamanagement is a higher or second level of management - as metacommunication is a higher or second level of communication. It transcends technical expertise and basic skill in planning, controlling, organizing and directing and involves application of a whole range of relatively intangible and qualitative elements that are easier to recognize and observe in action than to describe and learn. The metamanager must be a skilled and practical humanist able to offer meanings and value judgments on all levels.Thus, the second-level attributes that are needed to operate as a metamanager are:senses and feels as much as thinks and reasons;copes easily with uncertainty and ambivalence;has a sense of what living is all about and the values and beliefs that unite (and divide!) people;is willing to change direction and practice depending on new circumstances;initiates change as well as reacting to change - a feeling for history and progress;uses judgment based on future possibilities as much as past experience;treats people at all levels with empathy and understanding - is culturally and emotionally aware;is articulate and literate on a range of social issues as well as business itself;demands high achievement from himself or herself as well as others;is success oriented but socially and ethically concerned;demonstrates wisdom, tolerance and intellectual fortitude;stands firm against threats to quality, performance and required results;does not let day-to-day concerns distract from the long-term mission;applies the analytical, creative, persuasive and administrative components of the job with equal facility and sensitivity; and*understands what it means to be authentic and acts accordingly.Some people are natural metamanagers and can rise above the mundane aspects of the job to provide the sort of inspiration and leadership that is needed for continuing organizational success.From anecdotal evidence, some excellent examples of CEO metamanagers are Rod Eddington, recently of British Airways, Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, Steve Jobs of Apple, Andy Grove of Intel and Michael Chaney, recently of Wesfarmers in Australia.The typical approach favored by education and training institutions and by in-house trainers produces \"technicians\" with knowledge of the functions of business and organizations in general and often specialist technical expertise in one of these functions: human resource development, marketing, accounting and finance, production planning, information processing and so on.They rarely produce metamanagers even when the course work includes units on leadership, organizational behavior and the like. Even these so-called \"soft\" units are also taught from a techniques perspective which ignores the fact that the issues addressed do not easily submit to logic, reason and objective analysis. The teachers do get it right when they preach contingency management - answers depend on circumstances!\nHow can we produce metamanagers?: Clarence Randall stated that the remedy to galloping specialization is top managers with the breadth of vision only a liberal education can provide.He and others contend that exposing aspiring and incumbent managers to more liberal arts courses would go a long way toward introducing the intangible and qualitative elements that are missing from traditional management courses.Thus basic, and in some cases advanced, studies in sociology, anthropology, psychology, history, literature, philosophy and even comparative religion would give these people insights and understanding about the second-level attributes that are necessary to be a metamanager.For example, study of Iago's role in Shakespeare's Othello would give invaluable insights into the effects of naked ambition and organizational intrigue. A knowledge of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam would provide an understanding of many of the cultural aspects of Asian society which are necessary to do business successfully in Asian countries. Alfred North Whitehead's Adventures of Ideas, Daniel Bell's Work and its Discontents and Sophocles's Antigone are other examples of material that would help form a liberal arts curriculum.So, what do we do? It is time to build management education programs, including MBAs, around a core of liberal arts subjects as well as traditional \"what it is and how you do it\" subjects or to allow student managers the liberty of pursuing some of these management tributaries as electives or as research alternatives.We have tended to separate management from the mainstream of life and set it up as a unique entity with its own jargon, rituals and rites.Organizations of all types and the managers who work in them are part and parcel of the broader social system. Therefore, it's important that they incorporate knowledge about society and its functioning in their decisions - knowledge that should be made accessible to them through liberal arts courses taught as part of any formal management education program.Management is more an art than a science but in our efforts to make it more scientific we have ignored the arts legacy of the world, which would give substance to the artistic side of management.Each manager must have (or make) an opportunity to undertake the broad cultivation of mind necessary to correct and overcome the imbalances of performance that are created by specialization. The relationship between the liberal arts and management was explored many years ago by Goldwin and Nelson (1960), who made a plea for providing executives with opportunities for a liberal arts education. The book they edited contains articles by then top managers in industry and education who explore the type of leadership that is needed to handle the complex affairs of business. In addition, it gives the names of institutes that sponsored liberal education programs for executives and samples of the booklists used in such courses.One so named, the Aspen Institute in the USA, still runs executive seminars on what they now term \"values-based leadership\" (see www.aspeninstitute.org). In this seminar, participants come together to learn from each other and from some of the greatest thinkers of all time. They discuss philosophers and social theorists, revolutionaries and voices of conscience, historical figures and contemporary minds. They learn how to identify what others believe and why, gaining a deeper understanding of their own values and how to communicate their goals and beliefs. I would suggest that MBA programs in particular could benefit from inclusion of such material.Developing metamanagers will not be as easy as teaching people how to market goods and services or to operate a computer or to plan strategically but it would be worth the effort. Not the least of the difficulties would be to convince managers or MBA students, who typically have an analytical and quantitative mind set, that liberal arts study would be beneficial to their practice of management. For example, I have seen classes on business ethics phased out for lack of student demand when, in recent years, we have seen numerous cases of corporate fraud and corruption.Every manager usually begins his or her working life as a specialist, but the fact that a person qualifies as a specialist is no guarantee that when he or she becomes a manager he or she will be able to perform ably the task that needs to be done.The task entails more than just the commonly accepted process and people elements - to be truly effective and to operate at the metamanagement level requires acquisition of the knowledge and skill noted earlier in this article.If we can produce metamanagers then we need have no worries about the future improvement of our businesses and the criticisms of our managerial performance should diminish.As an example, the metamanager would be much better equipped to do business in Asia than the traditional manager. Business in Asia is built on intangibles like trust, respect, personal rapport and breadth of cultural feeling rather than on technical skill - the intangibles that the metamanager has a fine instinct to apply.Metamanagers have what I call an \"essential essence\" which gives you confidence in what they do, how they do it and where they are going. What managers and management educators need to do is recognize the fact that such people manifest the attributes of the well rounded, well read and liberally educated (formally or informally) person and insist that management education programs contain at least some content of a liberal arts nature.Clarence Randall, noted earlier, was also a contributor to the book by Goldwin and Nelson (1960). In his contribution, titled \"The cultivation of the mind\" he writes (p. 127):The truly educated man who lives worthily at no time permits material considerations to dominate his life. When serving a corporation, he never forgets that there are values that transcend tons of production and dollar value of sales. He knows that the end of life is not the production of goods as such, but an effort to make it possible for more human beings to pursue the good life, as they conceive the good life to be.Randall claims that the rewards for living worthily will go to those who, by cultivation of the mind and illumination of the spirit, reach the highest level of inner growth.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to make a case for the introduction of the liberal arts to management education curricula in addition to the traditional discipline subjects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The argument is based on the author's personal experience of many years teaching in MBA programs as well as working and consulting in business and commerce. It is also based on the value the author perceived in studying liberal arts subjects during the first year of his PhD in the UK.\nFindings: - The findings are largely subjective and qualitative but should not be discarded on this count. In common with Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the author would ask what is wrong with speculative, intuitive material unsupported by any real scientific study - particularly when speculating on man and behavior?\nResearch limitations/implications: - The obvious limitation on the argument made is that it is not based on scientific investigation.\nPractical implications: - The major implication for any application of the author's argument is that it would be difficult to source teachers with the knowledge, skill and experience to undertake the teaching or training required.\nOriginality/value: - While the idea of a liberal arts component being part and parcel of management education is not new, it has not been taken up by the modern establishment in any significant way. The books referenced in this article, which espouse the idea, seem to have disappeared into the mists of time and little else is left in the management literature but large tomes on the technical and behavioral disciplines, esoteric academic journal articles and popularist business writing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Supply chain drivers, partnerships and performance of high-tech SMEs: An empirical study using SEM	[ "Performance", "Supply chain management", "SME", "SEM", "Drivers", "High-tech", "Partnership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: High-tech small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to access external sources of information, knowledge, know-how and technologies, in order to build their own innovative capability (So and Sun, 2010; Lambert and Schwieterman, 2012; Bojica et al., 2017). Partnerships provide opportunities to access the tacit knowledge and other non-tradable competencies that are critical for pursuing innovation-based competitive strategies (Delbridge and Mariotti, 2009). For example, in a survey of Chinese manufacturing SMEs, Zeng et al. (2010) found that inter-firm cooperation has the most significant positive impact on the innovation performance of SMEs. One criticism of much of the literature on supply chain partnerships is that the focus of the research has been on the purchasing and logistics functions. Perhaps the most serious disadvantage of this is that other business functions have been overlooked. Clearly these need to be taken into account as effective supply chain management (SCM) should internally and externally integrate all the functions (Mentzer et al., 2001). Indeed, Croom et al. (2000) argued that suppliers and buyers do not merely exchange material assets. Suppliers and buyers also exchange financial assets, technological assets, information, and knowledge. This assortment of interactions calls for specific partnerships in different functional areas, such as \"marketing and sales\", and \"research and development\" (R&D). Indeed, several studies have reported the wider benefits supply chain partnerships may provide for the partners involved (Chan et al., 2003; Ellram and Cooper, 1990; Mentzer, 2004). The benefits of partnership are categorised as customer-related benefits (e.g. lead time reduction, market share increase, improved product quality), productivity-related benefits (e.g. material cost reductions), and innovation-related benefits (e.g. ability to implement new processes) (Cetindamar et al., 2005). When one examines supply chain partnerships for SMEs the limited previous research has on occasion cast doubt on the potential benefits (e.g. Vaaland and Heide, 2007). For example, Arend and Wisner (2005) revealed a negative relationship between SMEs' supply chain partnerships and overall firm performance. Such negative relationship might be because SMEs are relatively opportunistic and mostly concern short-term goals. On the other hand SMEs might benefit from SCM improving their core competencies through working with large enterprises. They can also leverage their competencies in innovation and new product development through access to the technological assets of their supply chain partners (Thakkar et al., 2012).\n2. Theory and hypotheses: SCM is defined as the systematic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the procedures operating between these business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain, for the purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole (Mentzer et al., 2001). In this definition, business functions occupy a central role.\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Population, sample, and data collection\n4. Structural model: In this part, the path analysis is presented and its findings are discussed. Path analysis (historically referred to as causal modelling) is a method to analyse direct and indirect relationships between a number of variables (Schumacker and Lomax, 2010). The main requirement for using a path method, the presence of a temporal ordering of variables, is met by the conceptual model. The hypothetical relationships between constructs (H1-H10) are tested with LISREL 8.80 (Joreskog and Sorbom, 2007), the result of which is depicted in Figure 2.\n5. Discussion: The purpose of this study is to determine the nature of the partnerships that SMEs make within their supply chain. It is acknowledged that SMEs are built around limited resources and the knowledge and capabilities of a few people, predisposing them to outsource as well as to form partnerships (Cooper, 2002). For SMEs, even more than for large firms, partnerships offer the opportunity to secure competitive advantages. However, previous research has on occasion cast doubt on the potential benefits of partnerships for SMEs (e.g. Vaaland and Heide, 2007). The influential study by Arend and Wisner (2005) even revealed a negative relationship between SMEs' supply chain partnerships and overall firm performance. This finding, however, was based on data collected from a survey among senior production managers only. Thus, it raises the question of whether different types of partnerships may have different outcomes; and this question formed the basis of this study and its contribution to the literature. Partnerships around specific business functions, such as R&D and production, in high-tech SMEs are investigated. Insight is gained in these so-called functional partnerships in SCM by investigating the drivers of these partnerships and the results of these partnerships in terms of performance. A unique model was developed to investigate the relationship between drivers, supply chain partnership, and performance for different business functions. Below first the drivers for different functional partnerships are discussed and then the effect of these partnerships on performance is explained.\n6. Scientific contribution, managerial implications, and future research: 6.1 Scientific contribution\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine high-tech small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) supply chain partnerships. Partnerships are considered at the level of business function rather than the entire organisation. Second, the drivers of SMEs to engage in partnerships are assessed to see whether functions engage in partnerships for different reasons. Third, performance per function is assessed to see the differential effect of partnerships on the function's performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this study, the relationship between the drivers of SMEs to engage in partnerships, four types of partnerships (marketing and sales, research and development (R&D), purchasing and logistics, and production) and four types of functional performances of firms (marketing and sales, R&D, purchasing and logistics, and production) are examined. The data have been collected from 279 SMEs. The proposed hypotheses are tested using structural equation modelling.\nFindings: The results indicate that there are considerable differences between business functions in terms of the degree of involvement in partnerships and the effect of partnerships on the performance of these functions. This paper contributes to research by explaining the contradictory results of partnerships on SMEs performance.\nPractical implications: This study helps firms understand which type of partnership should be established based on the firm's drivers to engage in supply chain partnership; and which partnership has a significant effect on which type of business performance of the firm.\nOriginality/value: The originality of this study is to investigate the relationship between different drivers to engage in supply chain partnership and different types of partnerships and different functional performance of firm in a single model.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effect of price as a marketplace cue on retail patronage	[ "Pricing", "Retailing", "Consumer behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The dynamic retail environment creates considerable challenges for marketers of products and services in the USA. Over the past two decades, changes in the competitive landscape of retailing have led consumers to develop patronage behaviors commonly referred to as cross shopping. Defined as the act of \"a single consumer patronizing multiple types of outlets which carry the same broad merchandise lines\" this phenomenon adds yet another element of complexity to the marketer's ability to formulate and implement strategy (Cort and Dominguez, 1977-1978, p. 6). Given the abundant choices of retail venues and diverse products and brands available to consumers, competition for patronage and loyalty continues to intensify.For many years marketing researchers have considered issues related to consumers' store choice across various purchasing situations. From early studies that examine traditional retail format choice (e.g. Bucklin, 1966; Williams and Dardis, 1972) to recent inquiry into the non-traditional internet format choice (e.g. Keen et al., 2004; Sharma and Krishnan, 2002) this literature considers numerous consumer-related and situational factors that impact store choice. Price-related behaviors represent an important area of focus within the stream of research on patronage behavior (e.g. Dawar and Parker, 1994; Richardson et al., 1994; Seiders and Costley, 1994). Considering the rapid evolution of retail formats (e.g. emergence of electronic retailers, and growth of discounters, value department stores and off-price retailers), it appears that retailers are focusing on elements of price and quality to lure consumers into their stores.The purpose of this study is to update and extend the research on the relationship between consumer price perceptions and retail store choice in an era of extremely demanding consumers and abundant retail choices. Because price is a widely noted variable in the choice to patronize a given retailer, and/or to buy products and services, identifying the linkages between consumer perceptions of price and their ultimate choice of retail format provides timely information to marketers and retailers related to this important element of the marketing mix. Further, drawing upon the literature on consumer price perceptions, a number of dimensions of price are considered for their impact across seven major retail format choices including: traditional department stores, value department stores, mass merchants, specialty stores, off-price retailers and internet retailers.\nReview of literature: Consumer price perceptions\nMethodology: Data were collected using a nationwide telephone survey approach on a cross-section of US consumers. The sampling method was focused on capturing consumers across an array of age groups, income levels, education levels, ethnicities, household sizes and regions of residence. A market research firm was contracted to administer the survey using professional telephone interviewers. The questionnaire was pre-tested in two phases including a paper and pencil administration among a small convenience sample (n=15) and a telephone administration carried out by the research firm (n=90). Following both phases of pre-testing, wording and question order issues were raised and resolved.Data collection was initiated during a three-week period in early fall 2004. Respondents were contacted until a substantial cross-section across the demographic variables was attained (n=503). The sample used for the current research (n=365) was drawn from a larger study based on whether or not subjects responded to the category of questioning related to price cues and patronage behavior. Drawing on methods used in past research, the current study used the apparel category as the product classification for examining the effect of price cues and format choice (McGowan and Sternquist, 1998). The apparel category presents the consumer with a number of format options that are typically positioned on some dimension of price including: upscale department stores, traditional department stores, value department stores, specialty stores, mass merchants, off-price retailers and the emerging internet formats. Given the variety of formats available to the consumer and the increased incidence of cross-shopping for apparel products, this category provides an appropriate context in which to test the focal research question.Measures\nResults: Sample characteristics\nConclusions, implications and future research: The results suggest that the four dimensions of the price cue are related to format choice as both a catalyst and a deterrent. Consumers that scored high on the price consciousness factor indicated frequent patronage of value department stores, off-price retailers and mass merchants. The same consumer did not indicate that they shopped over the internet, which is often noted for its efficiency and effectiveness in price search. The data indicated no adverse relationship between price consciousness and shopping in typically high price formats such as upscale department stores. Sale proneness, which represents the second negative cue in the study, was positively related to patronage of low price formats with the exception of the internet. The data also indicated that sale proneness was negatively related to specialty store patronage thus deterring patronage for this format.Prestige sensitivity and the price/quality schema represent price as a positive cue for patronage. The statistical tests suggest that prestige sensitivity positively impacts patronage for the upscale department store but is unrelated to specialty store patronage. Further, the data suggest that prestige sensitivity deters patronage for value department stores and mass merchants. Consumers from the high group for price/quality schema indicated significant patronage for upscale department stores and no significant patronage pattern for the specialty format or the lower price formats.Interpretation of the results confirms past thought and observation on the operation of price as a marketplace cue and extends the influence of these cues by examining each factor as both a catalyst and a deterrent for format choice (e.g. Dodds, 1995). Sale proneness and prestige sensitivity indicated an adverse relationship with patronage in typically high and low price formats, respectively. This finding underscores the importance of pricing strategy within the overall strategy of the retail firm. If consumers are using price as a driver for patronage, it is critical that the retailer align pricing strategy with the overall direction of the firm. Pricing strategy must be consistent with existing functional strategies that communicate the retailer's overall value proposition to the consumer including: promotional strategy, brand strategy and merchandising strategy.The data also reveal several noteworthy observations related to the specific formats. For three out of four hypotheses that tested consumer use of the price cue and patronage of the value department store format, results supported the predicted directions. This finding suggests that value department stores are capitalizing on the consumer that perceives price in a negative role. On the other hand, consumers who perceive price in a positive role through prestige sensitivity, indicated avoidance of the value department store. Taken overall, it appears that the value department store is communicating a clear message to the price sensitive consumer. Mass merchants and off-price retailers indicated similar patterns of results across the hypothesis tests which also indicate that these formats are more popular with consumers who perceive price in a negative manner.The study's results raise a number of questions that can be addressed through future research. With the proliferation of new retail formats, practitioners and academics in the retail industry need to understand the relation of price and non-price cues in the store choice decision. Our findings demonstrate that consumers react to price in their store choice at extremes (i.e. low price retail choice versus high prestige/price retail choice). What is not as clear in the results is how the consumer weighs the price variable in their decision to choose an internet retailer or a value department store or a specialty store, etc. that does not implement a clear pricing strategy. There are a number of streams of literature that could inform an extension of the current research including: consumer value perceptions, consumer quality perceptions, reference pricing and non price-related issues such as branding, retail location and store loyalty.The current research examined the effect of price perceptions on the choice of a single retail format in the apparel context. Noted in the literature review, the phenomenon of cross-shopping complicates the otherwise simple concept of patronage choice. Researchers have noted the incidence of cross-shopping in the apparel context (Cassill and Williamson, 1994) as well as in the grocery context (Fox et al., 2004). Research that examines the relationship of price perceptions to cross-shopping behavior can augment and update the body of knowledge related to store choice by incorporating combinations of format choice in a single investigation. Additional knowledge of the price and cross-shopping behavior relationship can provide valuable strategic direction in merchandising and pricing for industry incumbents that deal with cross-shopping on a daily basis.There are a number of limitations associated with the study's methodology that must be noted. As a part of a larger study on retail patronage, the sample drawn for the study was heterogeneous across age groups, income levels, education levels, household size, ethnicities and regions of residence. When initially testing theoretical constructs, it is often advantageous to capture a homogenous sample to ensure that sampling error does not confound relationships between focal variables. It is likely that the current study sacrificed a degree of internal validity for generalizability. Depending on the goal of future studies in this area, it may be advantageous to examine targeted samples to first understand the price and non-price drivers of their patronage behavior, and then expand this research to wider populations. In addition, apparel retailing was used as the context for the study. Although the context was intentionally selected for the number of formats that it offers to consumers, the findings may not hold in additional retailing contexts such as the grocery category or consumer electronics or predominantly service oriented contexts. Pricing practices specific to context such as every day low pricing (EDLP) versus hi/low promotional pricing in the grocery industry could confound the operation of the price cue as a motivator or deterrent to format specific patronage.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of consumer price attitudes, which operate as marketplace cues, on retail format choice across a variety of store types in the USA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A cross-section of US consumers (n=365) constitutes the sample for the study. The apparel category was selected as the study's context due to the variety of formats it offers to consumers. A telephone survey was used to investigate price perceptions and format choice across seven different retail formats. Respondents were grouped into high and low groups for each of the price cue factors. The groups were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for each price construct at each level of the dependent variable for format choice.\nFindings: - Findings suggest that price cues affect consumer format choice. Price consciousness and sale proneness tend to positively impact patronage of retail formats that implement low cost strategies, while prestige sensitivity and price/quality schema tend to positively impact patronage of retail formats that implement higher price strategies.\nOriginality/value: - As US retail markets continue to move toward saturation and consumers take advantage of price competition, understanding the role of price as a driver of retail choice is important for strategic planning. This is particularly important when communicating store pricing policy to the target consumer. The research extends previous price cue research, which focuses on products and brands, to the retail store level.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How does perceived corporate social responsibility contribute to green consumer behavior of Chinese tourists: A hotel context	[ "Emotion", "Identification", "Social responsibility", "Green hotel", "Customer-company identification" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Due to the nature of their services, hotels use a significant amount of energy, water and non-reusable products that may cause potential environmental damage (Han and Yoon, 2015). The practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for these hospitality providers is important and has received increasing attention among scholars (Bolton and Mattila, 2015; Kim et al., 2013; Kucukusta et al., 2013; Lee et al., 2013b, 2014; Martinez and Rodriguez del Bosque, 2013; Nyahunzvi, 2013; Park and Levy, 2014). Much of this research has focused on the relationship between CSR activities and financial outcomes (Inoue and Lee, 2011; Kang et al., 2012) or the impact of CSR on customer responses and behaviors toward a company (Grappi et al., 2013; Kim et al., 2013; Liu et al., 2014; Perez and Rodriguez del Bosque, 2015; Romani et al., 2013; Xu, 2014; Zhang, 2014). The primary focus of these studies has been on firm development, with very little attention to how CSR activities might elicit reciprocal socially responsible responses from customers.\nLiterature review: Stimuli: corporate social responsibility\nMediating and moderating effects: Mediating effects of consumption emotions and customer-company identification\nMethodology: Construct measurement\nAnalysis and results: Measurement model\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine consumption emotions and customer-company identification as mediating variables to explore the association of perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) on green consumer behavior in a hospitality-lodging context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a stimulus-organism-response framework, an integrated model is developed. The hypothesized relationships of the research model are tested using the structural equation modeling technique. Data were gathered from hotel guests at a UNESCO World Heritage Site in China.\nFindings: Perceived CSR directly affects positive emotions, negative emotions and customer-company identification. Positive emotions significantly influence customer-company identification. Positive emotions and customer-company identification partially mediate the relationship between perceived CSR and green consumer behavior. Hotel type was not found to be a moderating factor.\nResearch limitations/implications: Perceived CSR can act to influence consumers' behaviors more broadly via an increased likelihood of engaging in green consumer behavior. Implementing CSR strategies at the company level may provide additional benefits to society as a whole. The proposed relationships need to be replicated in other service organizations, segments and cultures to better assess the generalizability of the findings.\nOriginality/value: This study investigates the association between consumption emotions and customer-company identification, which has been missing in the tourism/hospitality literature. This study also extends previous CSR literature by examining the potential moderating role of hospitality type.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A longitudinal study of the efficacy of lean learning experienced through a simulated working environment (SWE)	[ "Higher education", "Lean production", "Learning", "Simulation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: There is increasing pressure on higher education institutions to ensure that graduating industrial engineering students are accomplished in the application of lean techniques. Industry expects that newly appointed experiential learning students and graduates exhibit a comprehensive understanding of these techniques and that they should be able to apply them in fairly complex situations.\n2. Literature review: The literature review covers two main topics, namely, lean and the teaching thereof. Lean is widely considered to be an effective competitive strategy in modern manufacturing (Hines et al., 2004). It is for this reason that lean is an integral part of the industrial engineering curricula in South Africa, and as such it is important that students graduating in this field are able to apply lean thinking.\n3. Methodology: Although literature related to SWE type teaching is increasing, there is little empirical evidence to confirm its efficacy. Most of the available evidence is anecdotal and the purpose of this research is therefore to provide an alternative view. The steps in the extended research process are shown in Figure 1. Alongside each step is a rough indication of the timeline followed.\n4. Results: Two groups totalling 46 students met the initial criteria for the study (step 1). The questionnaire was sent to each student from these groups via e-mail. A summary of the questions and results is shown in Table II.\n5. Conclusions and recommendations: Research findings, both from students and mentors, strongly support the continued and expanded use of the SWE as an effective means of teaching lean techniques and principles. Implications of these findings are important as, from a practical point of view, increased training of this nature should be encouraged wherever lean is taught around the world. Coupled with this practical outcome is a need to further develop the concept from a theoretical perspective. Additional research should be conducted in order to improve the actual exercises and by association the learning experienced. Providing students with an appreciation of the challenges faced by line operators was an unexpected secondary outcome of the exercise and may go some way towards developing the respect for people and their work that is so important for a lean practitioner. Mentor feedback relating to the ability of students to recognise problems requires further investigation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the efficacy of lean learning as experienced and demonstrated by a group of students who were exposed to a purpose built simulated working environment (SWE). The study expands on previous research aimed at establishing the student views of the new type of training by including the perceptions of the industry mentors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An SWE was developed to allow students to experience an assembly line environment and practice lean tools. The students' perceptions of the learning process and the perceptions of their industry mentors were then measured to gauge the success of the programme.\nFindings: Groups of students indicated that they believed their grasp of the basic lean concepts had been significantly enhanced through exposure to the SWE teaching exercises. The outcome of this initial study was endorsed by the findings of the second study that measured the perceptions of their industry mentors after a six-month experiential learning period.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research covered in this paper reflects only the findings of these two groups as they progressed from the SWE-type training to industry-based experiential learning. It is acknowledged that expanded research would be beneficial to not only verify initial findings but also to refine the lean learning experienced in the simulated work environment.\nOriginality/value: The paper describes a lean learning process that is more effective than current processes and could therefore be universally utilised to enhance the lean learning experience in higher education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
HR's strategic panacea: A Danish study of successful HR integration as business partner	[ "Human resource management", "Line managers", "Case studies", "Job evaluation", "Change management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Using J. Conner's and D. Ulrich's \"Human resource roles: creating value, not rhetoric\" (Human Resource Planning, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 38-49), Jeannette Lemmergaard (2009) examines the increasingly complex and challenging role that HR is playing in business today. In her article \"From administrative expert to strategic partner\", Lemmergaard analyses the transmutation of the HR role from an administrative people-centered function to pragmatists in strategic development.\nHR going forward: Lemmergaard's article is part of the ongoing examination of the need for HR to redefine, and justify, its role within a business structure. HR roles and expectations have become more varied and complex, and HR professionals are finding themselves being faced with a much wider array of work assignments and responsibilities. The thrust of the new HR philosophy is that it has much to offer an organization on a strategic and operational level, when allowed to work with counterparts in other departments.Conner and Ulrich proposed a framework in which HR could become a partner in an organization, rather than an adjunct. The engagement of HR experts in specific roles adds value to an organization by increasing its competitiveness. The authors identify four key roles for HR professionals that will not only facilitate HR's survival as a viable discipline in business, but will add value to an organization. These roles include the following:1. Partner in strategy execution. This role involves \"cooperating with both senior and line managers in focusing on how to ensure the overall needs of the organization\". This role emphasises the position of an HR director as a \"business partner\".2. Administrative expert. This is more aligned with traditional HR functions, such as management of staff, training, and hiring.3. Employee champion. This is an important role in emphasizing \"the needs of employees with the purpose of increasing commitment and capabilities\". Its purpose is to increase and encourage loyalty to an organization by concentrating on employee well-being.4. Change agent. This role is to help employees encounter, embrace, and institute change within an organization in the appropriate spirit, thereby facilitating an organization's ability to adapt to changes in its market. Ideally, the change-agent role should look to actually initiate change in a more proactive manner, rather than merely facilitate it.As Lemmergaard points out, \"[t]he sum of the four roles equals leadership... collaboration with other functions, ensuring corporate governance ... \". She also points out that in the future, there will most likely be a shift in the HR function towards the roles of strategic partner and agent of change.Complications arise when we consider the changing role of the HR manager, and potential conflicts with the responsibilities of line managers: how will the two positions work together if their responsibilities appear to overlap each other? Potential conflicts might arise over competing interests between roles within a business. Additionally, the employee-champion role might conflict with the strategic-partner role, as strategy might dictate that employee needs suffer at the expense of business development. Therefore, the article points out that only HR professionals who demonstrate proficiency in all the roles defined above will add value to an organization.\nCase study: Lemmergaard's case study was undertaken at a regional Danish full-service bank, which has a good reputation for customer care. The bank, based in the Funen district of Denmark, has a number of strategic partnerships, over 26,000 shareholders (most of whom are also customers), and roughly 600 employees. The employees are seen as valuable assets to the bank. The study was done through the use of several questionnaires sent to line managers within the Funen district, as well as in-depth interviews with the HR executive.The results of the study underlined the success of Conner's and Ulrich's model. HR is a highly valued function in this particular bank, with strategic responsibilities and tasks, administrative functions, an established role as employee champion and a change-agent. This particular HR's strongest role, according to the feedback from the study, is as employee-champion, while its weakest is as strategic partner. However, there is not much of a discrepancy between their scoring for the two roles, and therefore this case study seems to offer strong support to the model outlined by Conner and Ulrich.\nConclusions: The case study does seem to buck the general trend in perceptions of the functionality of HR in business. Lemmergaard observes that Danish business seems to be unusual in highly valuing the potential of HR to add value to an organization. Beyond Denmark, HR professionals are less likely to be included in the strategic process, reducing the role of HR to administration and implementation. In addition, it is true that HR functions \"do not always interact productively with line management\", a problem that the discipline will have to address with clearly defined organizational roles and responsibilities. If these problems are not addressed, then HR faces the possibility of being marginalized and ultimately outsourced.The case study therefore seems to demonstrate considerable hope and potential for the future direction of HR professionals. If an organization chooses to embrace fully an HR function that can perform the four major roles outlined above, it stands to develop a considerable competitive edge. Obstacles do remain, most specifically in its potential conflicts with line management; also, countries with a dimmer view of the potential of the HR function must be persuaded into a cultural shift in thinking, embracing HR as a tool for change and strategic development. This is a tough challenge, as HR professionals are struggling to make top management and colleagues appreciate the full extent of what they have to offer, but hope exists in the Danish model, and in the roles outlined by Conner and Ulrich.\nComment: This review is of \"From administrative expert to strategic partner\" by Jeanette Lemmergaard. It is an extensive review of established literature and theory pertaining to HR's movement towards strategic partners in the business world, and is supported by a case-study from a Danish bank. The author admits that the case-study is not necessarily representative of HR realities beyond Danish borders, but it does offer a good model of how HR can become a value-adding component of business strategy and implementation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - Using J. Conner's and D. Ulrich's \"Human resource roles: creating value, not rhetoric\" (Human Resource Planning, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 38-49), Jeannette Lemmergaard examines the increasingly complex and challenging role that HR is playing in business today. In her article \"From administrative expert to strategic partner\", Lemmergaard analyses the transmutation of the HR role from an administrative people-centred function to pragmatists in strategic development.\nPractical implications: - Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: - The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Logistics service triad for household waste: consumers as co-producers of sustainability	[ "Energy efficiency", "Value co-creation", "Logistics services", "First mile", "Household waste", "Quality of waste", "Sustainable logistics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Logistics services that bring products to households for consumption are produced in the context of supply chain structures such as urban logistics (Lagorio et al., 2016), omni-channel distribution (Hubner, Holzapfel and Kuhn, 2016) and responsive supply chains (Fisher, 1997). Although some of these downstream solutions are considered environmentally sustainable, a considerable amount of the products delivered end up as household waste. Accordingly, waste logistics becomes a crucial area for firms, consumers and local authorities (Bing et al., 2014; Monnot et al., 2014). Given the large amount of household waste generated daily, these efficient modes of delivery leave an enormous waste footprint; fast-moving consumer goods become slow-moving waste which prevents significant potential for energy and resource savings. Globally, more than 50 tons of household wastes are thrown out every second, an amount that could fill the world's largest container ship every 2 h. That number is expected to double by 2030[1].\n2. Literature and framework: This research builds upon the systems perspective (e.g. Lindskog, 2012), which underpins the interactive nature of waste management activities performed by different actors (Seadon, 2010), in this study conceptualised as service triads to capture the nature and various inputs for the service process (Wynstra et al., 2015). The roles of these actors build upon a service-dominant logic (SDL) that describes the co-creation of value through involving multiple actors that integrate resources (Vargo and Lusch, 2004, 2008).\n3. Method: A descriptive single case study design was chosen (Yin, 2009), where the context studied (Flick, 2014) is the operation process at the first mile of waste logistics at a selected geographical location in Sweden. The research problem was co-created (Van de Ven, 2007) together with the WSP and the MUN by reversing the logics of last-mile deliveries to the first mile incorporating SDL to this context. The research process can be described as \"casing\" (Ragin, 1992) in that the study evolved through interactions with the studied actors in the triad. This is in line with an abductive logic (Kovacs and Spens, 2005) in that empirical material was simultaneously developed and expanded while understanding value co-production.\n4. Findings: 4.1 Structures of the first-mile waste supply chain\n5. Discussion: This paper sets out to explore environmental sustainability in the first-mile of waste supply chains. Whereas the existing studies concern sustainability of the larger reverse logistics system for waste (e.g. Bing et al., 2014; Gomes et al., 2011), this study concerns actors in the waste service triad. Three key contributions to literature can be derived from the results and serve as input for further studies. First, the first-mile structures of waste collection and the moving and sorting activities within these structures have implications for energy efficiency in terms of managing energy-consuming logistics operations. Second, a higher quality of waste is achieved by consumer engagement in the first mile logistics results in waste being diverted from disposal and to the upper level of the waste hierarchy. Finally, the results combine actors in supply chains (Cooper et al., 1997), the systemic nature of logistics (Lindskog, 2012) and interdependence of activities and actors in the waste supply chain (Seadon, 2010) through the third contribution; actors' roles are explained by the concept of value co-production through which nature of interaction and type of value emerged as key dimensions. Herein, the transformation of the HH's role from being regarded in isolation changed to interaction with other triad members. Also, the results reveal the importance of value (Ramirez, 1999), within the service triad through the distinction of use-value and exchange-value.\n6. Conclusion and implications: This study acknowledges the importance of the first mile and the role of households in sustainable waste collection. The study can be positioned within the sustainability of waste logistics (Bing et al., 2016) and municipal waste (A-Jalil et al., 2016). Waste generation, collection and disposal are interdependent activities (Seadon, 2010), in which consumers at the household level of the reversed supply chain can play a different role in relation to other actors. Extending the system boundaries of waste collection to include household allows for a better understanding of roles and inspiring the use of more active vocabulary, such as \"value co-creation\" to explain the consumer's role in the waste service triad, thus contributing to a new perspective on the energy efficiency of these solutions. The extension from consumers as performers of activities towards co-producers of logistics services requires that these are understood as interactive units in the broader perspective of a service triad. Besides activities that link actors, the co-creative perspective acknowledges an enhanced view on resources and actors. Eventually, the consumer becomes a prosumer of the reversed supply chain, but to further develop this role, the consumers' ability and willingness to sort and move waste, sometimes by foot, to consolidating points such as waste containers must be considered. Increased quality of waste and first-mile logistics activity of moving can reduce the need for transportation and increase capacity utilisation during moving.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the sustainability of waste supply chains regarding the energy efficiency of first-mile waste collection systems and quality of waste. Roles of actors in the waste service triad are considered, particularly focusing on households.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Primary data are collected from respondents including municipality officers, waste service providers (WSPs) and households through brainstorming sessions, semi-structured interviews, site visits and a focus group. Secondary data are collected from official reports for validation.\nFindings: Findings reveal tension between the energy efficiency of waste collection logistics and the quality of waste collected. Households are co-producers of logistic services providing important inputs in the form of sorting and moving waste and raw materials into new cycles of goods circulating in logistics systems. Other actors in the logistics service triad are the municipality as regulator and the WSP acting as a reverse-logistics service provider.\nPractical implications: This study provides principles for policymakers and practitioners to evaluate the energy efficiency of waste management options, considering the quality of waste. Also, \"logistics services\" and \"quality of waste\" as concepts might provoke new thoughts on how to involve the consumer in resource recovery.\nOriginality/value: Few studies have focused on the end-consumer's role in waste supply chains. By considering waste as a resource and the consumer as the supplier of this input, this study provides a new way to think about logistics services for waste collection.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Market power and trade promotions in US supermarkets	[ "Promotional methods", "Supermarkets", "Food", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Trade promotions are an important element in the promotional mix of food manufacturers. They consist of an array of manufacturer incentives directed to channel members (e.g. retailer or wholesalers) rather than to consumers, aiming at influencing resellers' sales, prices and merchandising practices. Food manufacturers worldwide have increased the trade promotions offered to supermarkets in recent years. In Europe, trade promotions were more than 14 percent of manufacturers' gross sales in 2003 and are likely to grow substantially in the future (Lawrie et al., 2004). In the US, manufacturers have increased their trade promotions dramatically, reaching nearly 17 percent of average manufacturers' gross revenues (Joyce, 2005). Trade promotion spending of US manufacturers accounted for 52 percent of their average marketing budget (versus 25 percent two decades ago) and was their second largest expense after the cost of goods in 2002 (Cannondale Associates, 2003). Trade promotions are also growing in less-developed countries as a result of the rapid globalization of the food supply chain, in particular the internationalization of the supermarket sector (Reardon et al., 2007). Trade promotions are becoming more common in Asia, East Europe and Latin America, as multinational food retailers transfer their business practices as they enter new markets.In spite of their growth, trade promotion negotiations often generate conflict in the distribution channel, particularly in two major decisions: the budget and its allocation. Dreze and Bell (2003) discuss the economic incentives of manufacturers and retailers affecting trade promotion budgets. Manufacturers may desire to pass along a discount to a price- sensitive segment of shoppers, may wish to enhance brand visibility among target segments, or may need to move excess inventory. Retailers, on their part, often benefit from trade promotions because they build store traffic, increase margins, and because most costs and risks are accrued to the brand manufacturer.The allocation of trade promotions also depends on economic incentives of manufacturers and retailers and often generates conflict. In contrast to past \"cents-off\" discounts, trade promotion types became quite varied (Scheffman, 2002). Nevertheless, they can be divided into two broad groups: discount-based and performance-based. The fundamental difference is that discount-based trade promotions (primarily off-invoices) are temporary price reductions per unit on all goods ordered by the retailer while performance-based trade promotions are allowances per unit paid by the brand manufacturer on actual units sold by the retailer to the end consumer. Because of the greater freedom it affords them, retailers generally favor off-invoice promotions over performance-based promotions while the opposite is true of manufacturers (Dreze and Bell, 2003).The links between market power and trade promotions are of interest to policymakers because of their potential impacts on food supply chain performance and, ultimately, on food prices paid by consumers. For example, if promotional budgets are allocated to discount-based types, a retailer may not pass the entire discount to the end consumer. Moreover, in the context of market power, the industrial organization literature shows that when both the upstream (manufacturers) and downstream (retailers) firms have market power, each firm may reduce output relative to the competitive level, resulting in supply chain inefficiencies that may increase retail prices (Tirole, 1988).We employ a conceptual model developed by Rangan (2006) to develop hypotheses regarding the links between various dimensions of market power (size, brand and institutional) and trade promotion budgets and their allocation. Subsequently, we employ supermarket data from the US to statistically test the impact of market power on trade promotions. We find that that a manufacturer with stronger market power offers smaller trade promotion budgets; allocation to performance-based trade promotions increases with manufacturer market power; and allocation to discount-based trade promotions increases with retailer market power. Our findings are relevant to managers in the food industry because they can leverage market power to negotiate favorable trade promotions. They are also relevant to policy makers because trade promotions have raised concerns about their implications for the performance of the food supply chain and the resulting food prices paid by consumers.We organize our paper as follows: first, we develop a classification of trade promotion types between discount- and performance-based types. Second, we present a conceptual framework to link market power of manufacturers and retailers determine with trade promotion budgets and their allocation. Next, we explain our hypotheses, data and empirical procedures. Finally, we present our findings, conclusions and discuss managerial and policy implications.\n2. Classification of trade promotion types: Given the lack of standard terminology, we conducted in-depth interviews with executives from three manufacturer and three retailer firms to develop a richer classification. Subsequently, we classify trade promotion types into discount- and performance-based:* Discount-based promotions. These promotions are essentially off-invoice (temporary) price reductions in the normal price of goods subtracted from the initial invoice from supplier to retailer. The manufacturer gives these discounts on all cases received at retail warehouse, not on cases sold from the stores. Proof of performance is generally not a requirement for getting these discounts. Discount-based promotions tend to enhance retailers' ability to make discretionary use of these funds, increasing the probability of retailers' opportunistic behavior such as forward buying and diverting.* Performance-based promotions. These promotion types require a pre-specified level of retail performance. There are three main types of performance-based promotions, namely scan-backs, accrual funds and bill-backs. Scan-backs are negotiated discounts per case after a pre-specified level of sales performance has been completed and verified by scanning data. Similarly, retailers obtain accrual funds from suppliers for promotional spending based on each case of merchandise ordered and scanned at retail level. That is, retailers \"earn\" promotional funding only for cases sold through the stores. Once earned, supplier and retailer decide on allocation to particular promotion types. The manufacturer generally \"holds\" the funds as they accrue until the retail promotion is conducted. Finally, with bill-back promotional provisions, retailers \"bill\" a given, negotiated amount for each case of goods purchased from a supplier after performance has been completed. However, unlike scan-backs and accruals, these funds are paid on cases received at retail warehouse, not on cases sold through the stores.\n3. Conceptual framework: market power and trade promotion outcomes: The goal of our conceptual framework is to specify the impact of power structure between manufacturers and retailers on trade promotion budget and its allocation. We follow Rangan (2006) to identify four sources of market power (see Figure 1).According to Rangan (2006), one dimension of market power is the size or market share of the firm. Manufacturers and retailers with large market shares often have advantage over their rivals. The second dimension consists of market power of unique brands. Manufacturers often try to gain brand power through unique R&D, technology, product design, engineering, and branding while retailers try to do the same by branding their retail outlets and by having access to hard-to-reach customers and market intelligence. It is worth mentioning that brand power and market size power may not always be positively related. That is why it is important to differentiate these two different sources of market power. The third form of market power relates to institutional and legal protections through specific trading norms and informal business practices that exist in certain industries. Rangan (2006) discusses a fourth source of power associated to the ability to sell to (or buy from) alternative sources. We do not take into account this dimension due to lack of data for empirical testing.The outcomes of trade promotion decisions are the budget and its allocation between discount- and performance-based types. We follow Gomez et al. (2007) and assume that the budget and allocation decisions are simultaneous. We define \"percent trade promotion budget\" as the promotion dollars received by the retailer as a percent of the wholesale price. Similarly, we define \"trade promotion allocation\" as the percent of these dollars allocated to discount- and performance-based types.\n4. Hypotheses: 4.1 Trade promotion budget\n5. The survey instrument and operationalization of variables: 5.1 The survey instrument\n6. Empirical model: The estimated equations for the joint model described in Figure 1 are: Equation 1 where i, l, j, k represent retailer, manufacturer, product category and brand, respectively. The endogenous variables are the percent trade promotion budget (y1), and its percent allocation to discount- (y2) and to performance-based (y*3) promotions. The dependent variables are censored at zero and are identified with an asterisk. The vectors of explanatory variables include retailer i market power for brand k in product category j (Rijk); market power of manufacturer l for brand k in product category j (Mljk); and a vector of product category dummy variables (Zj). Specifically, these vectors of variables are:Rijk =[retailer market share, share of private label, retailer branding, allocation policies]Mljk =[manufacturer's brand market share, brand price premium, allocation policies]Zj =[dummy variables for coffee, ready-to-eat cereal, laundry detergent, frozen dinners].The endogenous variables are inter-related. Therefore, we assume that the error structure takes the form en,ij + en,ijk (n=1, 2, 3). The vector of error terms (e1,ijk, e2,ijk, e3,ijk) has multivariate normal distribution with mean 0 and variance-covariance matrix S, which needs to be estimated. In addition, we allow for heteroscedasticty of the regression disturbance and model it as a function of retailer and product category variables because each retail firm provided responses for three brands in two of the five product categories. Therefore, in each equation we include the random error component en,ij (n=1, 2, 3) to reflect the possible heteroscedastic nature of our data and express the variance of these error terms, en,ij (n=1,2,3) as an exponential function of the natural logarithm of annual retailer sales (RSi) and the vector of product category dummies (Zj).\n7. Results: We first discuss the estimated coefficients for the trade promotion budget equation and next the coefficients for the allocation equations. Table II shows all parameter estimates and standard errors of the joint model of budget and allocation of trade promotions.7.1 Trade promotion budget equation\n8. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that brand, size and institutional power of food manufacturers and food retailers affect trade promotion budgets and their allocation among discount- and performance-based types. Our results suggest that food manufacturers have relatively more control over their trade promotion budgets and can employ brand and size power to reduce the percent budget. In contrast, supermarkets may have more influence on the allocation decisions and leverage size, brand and institutional power to increase discount-based trade promotions and to decrease allocation to performance-based promotion types. Nevertheless, food manufacturers with institutional power have higher allocation to performance-based promotions. Overall, these findings suggest that neither food manufacturers nor supermarkets have a dominant position in the budget and allocation of trade promotions.Our findings have implications for food industry managers. Channel coordination is often facilitated when one of the parties of the supplier-buyer dyad in a dominant position exert market power. However, our results suggest that this is not the case of trade promotions in the supermarket food distribution channel. Therefore, trade promotions are and will continue to be a contentious issue between manufacturers and supermarkets because of their different promotional objectives. That is, the objective of food manufacturers is to maximize brand profits while objective of retailers is to maximize product category profits. Our results can help food firms (retailers and manufacturers) identify institutional, brand and size variables that may help them leverage their trade promotion negotiations.Our results are relevant to policymakers, in particular to the study of antitrust issues in the food distribution system. There is an increased interest of regulators in knowing whether trade promotion practices could be anticompetitive (Sullivan, 2002). For example, policymakers may be interested on the effect of a merger of two food manufacturers on retail prices (e.g. Hosken et al., 2002; Sudhir and Rao, 2006). In fact, with trade promotions retail prices do not necessarily reflect actual manufacturer pricing behavior. Further, if trade promotions hinder coordination in the food supply chain consumers may pay higher food prices. Our study may help regulators identify variables associated with market power (size, brand and institutional) that may affect trade promotion budgets and their allocation, which in turn influence the effective wholesale price paid, and retail price set, by supermarkets.Future research. The rapid globalization of food supply chains and the growing internationalization of food manufacturing and retailing are spreading trade promotion practices worldwide. Consequently, future research should address the influence of market power on trade promotion outcomes in countries with different regulations of promotional activities and different food industry structures. Further evidence from other countries may help policymakers identify appropriate regulation of trade promotions to improve channel coordination and performance. Empirical evidence from other countries may provide valuable information about the links between trade promotions and competitive behavior in food distribution.Our empirical results provide the basis for the construction of game-theoretic models to understand the negotiation process between retailers and manufacturers for trade promotion expenditures. These models should incorporate variables such as frequency of promotions and retailer's extent of forward buying and extent of pass-though (i.e. the extent to which trade promotions as passed on to consumers in the form of retail promotions). Our analysis is necessarily cross-sectional; but future studies should consider the inter-temporal relationships between budget and allocation. In particular, the effects of the allocation made in a previous year might influence the present year's budget as well as its allocation. A dynamic model will allow researchers to develop an understanding of the structure of the negotiation of trade promotions. Such a model will also enable one to test for possible reverse causality between such variables a trade promotion budget and brand position in retailer's product category.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Trade promotions are manufacturer incentives directed to retailers rather than to consumers, aiming at influencing retailer's sales, prices and merchandising practices. Although they are a growing element in the promotional mix of food manufacturers worldwide, trade promotions often raise concerns about their impacts on performance and coordination in the food supply chain, which in turn affect retail food prices. This paper aims to measure the influence of market power on the outcomes of trade promotions negotiated between food manufacturers and supermarkets.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper employs Rangan's conceptual model to develop hypotheses about the links between three dimensions of market power (size, brand and institutional power) and trade promotion budgets and their allocation between discount- and performance-based types. The paper employs trade promotion data collected from 36 supermarkets in the USA to statistically test these links.\nFindings: - The results suggest that brand, size, and institutional power of food manufacturers and retailers affect trade promotion budgets and their allocation among discount- and performance-based types. Food manufacturers have relatively more control over their trade promotion budgets whereas retailers may have more influence on the allocation decisions.\nOriginality/value: - The findings can help food manufacturers and retailers identify institutional, brand and size variables that may help them leverage trade promotion negotiations. The results are relevant to policymakers, in particular for the study of antitrust and performance issues in the food distribution system.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
From imitation to creation: the critical yet uncertain transition for Chinese firms	[ "China", "Innovation", "Technology led strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: For latecomer firms and nations like China who lag behind technology frontiers, technological learning is understood to be the necessary even if not sufficient basis for industrial development. Learning, borrowing Hobday's (1995, p. 32) definition, is the process by which managers and their firms acquire the contents of the \"black box\"; namely, the knowledge and capabilities by which inputs are transformed into economically and competitively valuable resources that support national growth and development.In the Chinese context, and given the current competitive challenge facing Chinese firms, it is particularly relevant to distinguish between these two types and stages of innovation. Otherwise, we miss the paradigm shift that represents a critical competitive challenge for an increasing number of Chinese firms and a major concern of the Chinese Government. Therefore, we see categorize adoption and minor modification of externally-developed technology as fundamentally imitative activities. In contrast, a firm's internal development (whether alone or in partnership) of new technology, resources and capabilities involves what we term creative activities. As some scholars have pointed out (Abegglen and Stalk, 1985, p. 146), successful imitation may be the basis for more pioneering and creative activities. We maintain, however, that the two activities require fundamentally different mindsets, behaviors and organizational capabilities, and that the challenges to shift from imitative to creative are not trivial.The purpose of this paper is to locate this strategic choice at the firm level - between imitation and creation-based competitive strategies - within China's evolving national context and technological learning process.This paper derives a parsimonious set of four dimensions to demarcate stages in the evolution of China's technological learning system: the government's strategic priority, nature of technology, the mode and the source of learning (Figure 1). In the following section, we describe five stages and the dynamics of the transitions between them that emerged from our analysis. Based on our distinction between imitative and creative activities, we group the first four stages within a general imitation paradigm, while the fifth stage represents a discontinuous shift to a creation paradigm. This fifth stage - characterized by global competitiveness, knowledge management and Chinese firms themselves as an important source of learning - is only emerging, but represents a development with far-reaching consequences not only for Chinese firms and industries, but those of other countries as well.\nEvolutionary stages: China's technological learning since the Chinese Communist Party took control of the country in 1949 can be divided into four historical stages - 1949-1960, 1960-1978, 1979-1991, 1992-2001 - and an emerging fifth stage: 2001-onward (Figure 1). Each of these stages represents a unique configuration of four dimensions - the government's strategic priorities, nature of technology emphasized, mode of learning, and geopolitical source of learning.Stage 1: 1949-1960\nEmergence of STAGE 5 and the creation paradigm: We are proposing that a fifth stage in China's technological learning has already begun, and that it represents a discontinuous change - with decidedly different imperatives and challenges - than the preceding four stages. As we discuss in the remainder of the paper, the fundamental change is from firm and national strategies based on imitating technology developed elsewhere, to strategies based on creating proprietary and competitively valuable resources and capabilities. Although we recognize that the timing and rate of transition to this new stage varies considerably by industry and even firm, China's entry into the WTO in 2001 is a meaningful demarcation at the national level. Like other major policy developments associated with prior stages, WTO entry signals a major development in the government's strategic objectives; namely, to see a growing number of Chinese firms emerge as global competitors. It has a clear policy of nurturing Chinese firms that will be competitive abroad, as well as domestic firms that can compete successfully against multinationals in China.Along with the change in the government's strategic priority of seeing more Chinese firms that can compete globally on the basis of innovation and creativity, the nature of technology that is important has also changed. Whereas earlier strategic priorities could be met by successfully drawing on a pool of technology developed by others, this new paradigm requires organizations to develop the capabilities to create their own technologies. These capabilities represent not standardized, codified operating procedures, but more tacit and ambiguous formal and informal structures and processes that create new knowledge and manage organizational knowledge effectively.Some Chinese firms have already recognized this new competitive requirement and have invested abroad as part of their own learning strategy. They are making outward-bound foreign direct investments in new modes of technological learning, beyond the traditional channels of equipment purchases and technology licensing. A small but increasing number of Chinese firms is acquiring firms or subunits of firms abroad to acquire both technologies and the capabilities that generate them. Lenovo's purchase of IBM's PC division in late 2004 is perhaps the most significant example to date. Chinese firms are also accessing advanced technology abroad by establishing technology listening posts or R&D labs and by forming alliances with multinationals, a trend that began in 1995 and that has been increasing significantly since 1999. Huawei, Lenovo, Haier and ZTE Telecom are examples of firms pursuing such objectives through R&D labs in the United States and Japan.Just as Chinese firms are investing abroad as well as within China to acquire proprietary technology and creative capabilities, Stage 5 is also marked by a rapidly increasing number of multinationals establishing R&D centers in China (Walfish, 2001; Von Zedtwitz, 2004). This expansion of activities in China by these firms represents an important shift in the motivation for FDI. The motivation in prior stages was to exploit the multinationals' ownership advantages (especially product or production technology and investment capital) along with China's cost-related (i.e. locational) advantages, especially production labor. Surveys of MNCs' reasons for establishing R&D facilities in China (Xue et al., 2002) confirm that most of these investments have been localization-focused, i.e. pursuing cost-reduction by using more local raw materials as components and by adapting products to local market needs. Some of these MNCs, however, have established R&D facilities in China not to serve the local market, but to tap China's pool of lower-cost and highly skilled R&D personnel (Wolff and Armbrecht, 2002).\nImpediments to the paradigm shift: The Chinese Government can certainly claim that it has made significant progress towards realizing its strategic objectives of industrialization, modernization and localization of value-added production, although there is still considerable variation in performance on these dimensions among sectors, industries and even firms in the same industry (White and Linden, 2002).The recent impressive export performance of Chinese firms and industries, even the electronics industry, has been a result of their excelling at an imitation strategy. Hence, along with their recent successes, the fundamental limitations of the imitation paradigm have become clear. Specifically, they are competing both domestically and in export markets primarily on price in low-margin industries (home appliances and consumer electronics), or the commodity end of high-tech sectors (i.e. computers, pharmaceuticals, telecommunication equipment), or OEM (garments, toys, watches, shoes and bicycles). Furthermore, their imitation strategy traps these firms in this market position, as captured in the now-popular phrase among policymakers and management researchers in China: technology imports, lag behind, import again, lag behind again. The lag refers to the inability of most Chinese firms and industries to compete based on innovation (e.g. creation) and thereby realize greater returns on capital.Why have Chinese firms, except for a few exceptions, not yet graduated from imitators to creators, as firms and industries in other late-learner nations like Japan and Korea were able to do earlier? This question has been a focus of Chinese and foreign researchers during much of China's transition period (Li-hua, 2004; Li-hua and Khalil, 2006; Wang et al., 2006; Chen and Fang, 2003). Reviewing the resulting body of work, six factors emerge as significant impediments to this transition. The first is the lack of adequate absorptive capacity within Chinese firms that have been acquiring technology from outside, whether the source is foreign or domestic (Bai and Xu, 1987).Even if a firm has some level of absorptive capacity or identifies a potential source of technology, however, a second factor in the Chinese environment - weak or uncertain protection of intellectual property rights and contract law - reduces a firm's access to more advanced technology. Foreign suppliers are understandably hesitant to transfer key technology - product, process and managerial know-how - to Chinese firms (Bosworth and Yang, 2000).The third factor that researchers have identified is government policy for technology imports (Ding, 1989). Preference has been given to technology import projects that correspond to the government's industrial priorities, and applicant firms were strictly screened to meet these criteria. Moreover, while the government has encouraged technology transfer clauses as part of technology purchase agreements, it has not pushed for provisions regarding the assimilation or local value-added innovation upon imported technology.The fourth factor is a lack of competitive pressures on firms in many industries, especially those dominated by state-owned firms (Xie, 2001a). Chinese firms in traditionally highly protected industries - including most heavy industries, the financial sector, and distribution - have been protected from direct competition from foreign firms with more advanced technology and innovative capabilities. These firms there lacked sufficient incentives necessary to undertake technological accumulation.Several scholars have identified weaknesses in related or supporting industries as a fifth factor inhibiting the successful adoption, assimilation and innovation upon acquired technology by Chinese firms (Xie and Wu, 1997a; Xie, 2001b).The legacy and continuing existence, albeit by different underlying dynamics, of China's disintegrated national innovation system (Liu and White, 2001) is a sixth factor that has inhibited the development of innovative capabilities within Chinese firms. Chinese R&D resources and personnel are primarily located in government-funded research institutes and universities. Any movement in scientific and technical personnel has been from these research organizations to their new commercial spin-offs and subsidiaries, what Gu (1999) includes as new technology enterprises. There has been no significant shift in personnel - whether in absolute terms or as a percentage of employment - from these research organizations to existing firms, especially state-owned enterprises. Nor have these firms been able to attract and retain such personnel, or effectively manage those they have to produce significant innovative outputs.\nImperatives: The critical technology of Stage 5 and the creation paradigm is not the mastery of codified technology, whether embodied in hardware (the technology of Stages 1-3) or standardized operating procedures (Stage 4). Mastery of these technologies will remain necessary at the implementation stage, but is not sufficient to compete based on creation. In order for Chinese firms to move beyond low-cost manufacturing of commodity products, research in both developed western contexts and the Asian late-learners shows that the critical technology will be embedded in organizations and give rise to new, proprietary product and process technologies.In the following sections, we provide a number of policy and managerial implications inherent in the shift to competition based on creation rather than imitation. Clearly, these are not recommendations for the entirety of Chinese industry; many firms are highly successful within the imitation paradigm, and the domestic and global business environment will reward firms that can compete based on these strategies. For the Chinese Government to realize its strategic objectives of seeing more Chinese firms being able to compete at the leading edge of their industries, however, there are clear imperatives for both policy and management. Moreover, these imperatives represent fundamental differences in structures, incentives and culture from those of the imitation paradigm, and this will be a major challenge to policymakers and managers attempting to make the transition.Policy imperatives\nConclusions: This paper has presented a framework for distinguishing among stages in the evolution of China's technological learning system since 1949. We have argued that the four stages during the period 1949-2001 are variations within an overall imitation-based paradigm. We have also proposed that since 2001 a fifth stage is emerging that differs fundamentally from the prior four and signals the tentative emergence of a creation paradigm. While Chinese firms in many industries have emerged as successful competitors within the imitation paradigm - relying on rapid adoption of production and managerial technology developed by others - the requirements for Chinese firms to compete within the creation paradigm, at the leading edge of an industry, are quite different. We have proposed specific policy and managerial imperatives in order for at least some Chinese firms to emerge as successful global competitors within the creation paradigm.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to consolidate prior research from policy and management domains to identify stages in China's technological learning within the imitation paradigm during 1949-2001, focusing on changes in the government's strategic priorities and policies and the nature, mode and sources of technological learning, then to contrast the firm and institutional features that have emerged under the imitation paradigm with those defining the emerging creation paradigm. The analysis leads to clear implications for both policy and management for the Chinese firms to make this transition and compete in higher value-added global industries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An overview and conceptual paper based on observations and literature review.\nFindings: - This paper derives a parsimonious set of four dimensions to demarcate five stages in the evolution of China's technological learning: the government's strategic priority, nature of technology, the mode and the source of learning. It identifies six factors acting as significant impediments to Chinese firms' transition from imitation to creation.\nOriginality/value: - In the first place, this paper provides managerial implications which are of great interest to Chinese practicing managers to manage their firms' transition from imitation to creation; second, the policy imperatives highlighted by this paper will help Chinese policymakers to design appropriate incentive mechanisms to enable Chinese firms to build up their competitiveness within the creation paradigm and thereby become global competitors. Meanwhile, this paper provides a systematic analysis on the evolution of China's technology development. This five stage-based framework will help practicing managers in China understand whether, which and when Chinese firms can make the transition necessary to compete based on the creation of proprietary resources and capabilities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Setting up a Grid-CERT: experiences of an academic CSIRT	[ "Data security", "Communication technologies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and motivation: Grid computing has often been heralded as the next logical step after the worldwide web. In \"The anatomy of the grid - enabling scalable virtual organisations\" (Foster et al., 2001), it is defined as \"controlled and coordinated resource sharing and resource use in dynamic, scalable virtual organisations\". Users of grids can access dynamic resources such as storage (for any sort of data) and use the computing resources (e.g. the central processing unit (CPU)) or special resources (such as scanners, microscopes, telescopes, robots, etc.) under the umbrella of a virtual organisation which \"enable disparate groups of organisations and/or individuals to share resources in a controlled fashion, so that members may collaborate to achieve a shared goal\" (Foster et al., 2001).Unfortunately the same facilities that allow grid users to collaborate and share resources also allow the impact of any breaches of security to spread very rapidly across the grid. Responding promptly to such incidents to detect, contain and repair the damage is therefore important both to preserve the operation of the grid and the privacy of information that is stored or processed on it. Most national research and education networks (NRENs) already have computer security incident response teams to respond to security incidents involving computers connected to the networks. This paper considers how one established NREN CSIRT is dealing with the new challenges arising from grid computing.Computer security incident response teams\nOrganisational challenges: The first challenge to be overcome when establishing any kind of CSIRT is making the CSIRT known to its constituency. This forms the base of all further activities. Without mutual knowledge, no incidents or vulnerabilities could be reported, nor could information be disseminated to the constituency. DFN-CERT is already well-known to its constituency, but this knowledge extends mostly to the local security teams at a site, not necessarily to the administrators and users of grids, although the later are not of primary concern here, as DFN-CERT only deals indirectly with end users through the local administrators or security teams. Further, it is not known to the security teams and grid administrators that DFN-CERT is dealing with grid incidents or has expertise in this area. The D-Grid initiative provides an excellent forum because it establishes an exchange platform for the grid communities in Germany. Making DFN-CERT known to the grid communities is thus a simple matter of introducing it into these forums.However, mutual knowledge alone is not sufficient for successful incident handling. The local site administrators must trust the CSIRT to handle confidential data and sensitive information properly. Building up this trust is the key problem with any the establishment of all CSIRTs. There is no patent recipe for doing this. DFN-CERT can build upon the good reputation from its other activities. However, care must be taken, as failures in the grid area could have a negative feedback on its other activities.Finding security contacts\nTechnical challenges: To handle the technical part of grid incidents, as well as to be able to pro actively help sites in securing their grid infrastructure, a CSIRT has to develop an understanding about the software used in the grids in their constituency.Grid software expertise\nConclusions: In December 2006, DFN-CERT officially started its Grid-CERT service in the framework of the D-Grid project. Since then, some incidents have been reported on cluster systems that are planned to be used in grid, but so far, no incidents were reported that could be classified as grid-related. However, many of the D-Grid communities are not yet fully operational, so this may change in the future. Other academic CSIRTs have had grid-related incidents; almost all of them were related to the loss of credentials (private X.509 keys) that could be handled with the existing frameworks of grids and CSIRTs.The D-Grid Initiative is an ongoing project and the establishment of CSIRT services for grids is still at an early stage. The establishment of communication channels to the various grid communities as well as gaining of knowledge about grid software has required DFN-CERT to make changes even though the basic principles of CSIRT operation remain the same.The establishment and piloting of CSIRT services for grids will evolve when the community projects evolve. One of the D-Grid projects has announced that it is considering the integration of DRM techniques into its security architecture. How this will affect CSIRT operations is currently unknown. Also, CSIRT operations are evolving too. Many CSIRTs are supplementing traditional incident reporting by sites and by other CSIRTs with automated reports generated from distributed sensors, like network telescopes, honeypots and intrusion detection systems. Also, CSIRTs are working on systems for the sharing of sensor information and a common analysis platform, with the final goal of building an early warning system. Grids as well as other new technological developments will have to be integrated into these platforms and special sensors for grids may have to be developed to achieve this.In the area of international cooperation, there has been much interest but few concrete results so far. Whether this will change over time when other CSIRTs or grid communities gain more experience remains to be seen. It seems to be too early to make final conclusions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Grid computing has often been heralded as the next logical step after the worldwide web. Users of grids can access dynamic resources such as computer storage and use the computing resources of computers under the umbrella of a virtual organisation. Although grid computing is often compared to the worldwide web, it is vastly more complex both in organisational and technical areas. This also extends into the area of security and incident response, where established academic computer security incident response teams (CSIRTs) face new challenges arising from the use of grids. This paper aims to outline some of the organisational and technical challenges encountered by the German academic CSIRT, DFN-CERT while extending and adapting their services to grid environments during the D-Grid project.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Most national research and education networks (NRENs) already have computer security incident response teams to respond to security incidents involving computers connected to the networks. This paper considers how one established NREN CSIRT is dealing with the new challenges arising from grid computing.\nFindings: - The paper finds that D-Grid Initiative is an ongoing project and the establishment of CSIRT services for grids is still at an early stage. The establishment of communication channels to the various grid communities as well as gaining of knowledge about grid software has required DFN-CERT to make changes even though the basic principles of CSIRT operation remain the same.\nOriginality/value: - The D-Grid project aims to establish a common grid infrastructure that can be used by other scientific domains. The project consists of six community projects and one integration project (DGI - D-Grid Integration). The DGI project will develop the basic infrastructure, while the community projects will build on this infrastructure and enhance it for the specific needs of their research areas. At the initial stage of the DGI project, the idea of a central CSIRT for all grids in Germany was seen as an advantage over having a CSIRT for each grid project, which would have replicated efforts and thus wasted resources. This paper gives an overview about the organisational and technical challenges and experiences DFN-CERT has encountered while setting up a CSIRT for the D-Grid communities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Impact of religion on the effectiveness of the promotional aspect of product packages in Muslim countries	[ "Advertising", "Cross-cultural marketing", "Environmental management", "Consumer ethics", "Customer satisfaction", "Contentious packaging", "Immodest packaging", "Islamic marketing", "Halal markets", "Advertisements and promotions to Muslims" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Nowadays, especially with the emergence of online shopping and the spread of self-service giant retail shops, packaging serves as an important promotional tool to inform, attract, and persuade customers. One way to increase the promotional effectiveness of products' packages in Islamic countries is to consider and to respond to the target market's socio-cultural forces. Said forces have a great influence on the Muslim members of these countries and on the way that they respond to a product, in terms of the attention given to it, their attitude toward it, and, ultimately, their buying decision. Primary among these socio-cultural forces is religion. Literature indicates that the Muslims' religious commitments and convictions have a significant influence on their perception of promotional material (Bari and Abbas, 2011; Saeed et al., 2001). This study seeks to investigate the influence of religion on the effectiveness of product packages in attracting customers' attention and forming their attitudes, preferences, and buying decisions. Put differently, the study's goal is to find out how Muslims respond to product packages, and in particular, those elements that they believe not to be in accordance with their religious values. Said elements are herein referred to as \"contentious packages.\" A contentious package is one that contains elements that are not in accordance with Islamic principles, such as imagery that may be deemed immodest, women or men in seductive poses or revealing what may be considered a fare amount of skin and so on. Such elements are strictly prohibited in Islam. In a sizable number of Islamic countries, one notices that a subset of products do in fact have contentious packages. These products include perfumes as well as women's socks, stockings, lingerie, shirts, and shorts.\nLiterature review: Literature indicates that package labels play an important role in influencing buyers' attitudes and buying decisions. For instance, some studies have investigated the impact of labeling when it conveys nutritional information (Kasapila and Shawa, 2011; Hieke and Taylor, 2012; Ippolito, 1999; Wansink and Huckabee, 2005; Garde, 2008; Seiders and Petty, 2004), ingredients (Lafebvre and Aynne Cook, 2013; D'souza et al., 2008), safety information (Tavernier, 2012; Boyce et al., 2013; Diamond, 2011; Schneider, 1977), and environmental information (Purohit, 2012; Sorqvist et al., 2013; Esther et al., 2004; Docecalova and Strakova, 2011). Other studies have investigated the impact that images, which are shown on a package have on consumers' buying decisions (Hoek et al., 2013; Romer et al., 2013; Kees et al., 2010), while others found that consumers associated the quality of a package with the quality of the product (Sehrawet and Kundu, 2007). Despite the fact that much of the information on a package is promotional (Mackey and Mitz, 2009), there appears to be a lack of studies that have investigated the impact of a package's promotional elements, such as design and label, on consumers' buying decisions. This study attempts to partially fill that gap by focussing on the impact of religion on the effectiveness of a package's promotional elements. Hence, this study's hypotheses are drawn from the literature, detailed below, along with pertinent Islamic principles from the Kuran and Sunnah.\nMethodology: The sample and the data collection procedure\nFindings: The first question intended to identify the amount of attention paid by Muslims to contentious packages. We found that 60 percent of the respondents claimed that they would give minimum attention to such packages, while only 10 percent stated that package contentiousness would not stop them from looking at the packaging of the product that they intended to buy. The remaining 30 percent reported that they would give such products some attention, that is, the attention needed to identify the product or read some necessary information on the label. A kh2 goodness-of-fit test indicates that the responses of Muslims related to their attention for contentious packages are significantly different at <1 percent level, as shown in Table I.\nConclusion: The role of packaging has expanded in contemporary society. The purpose of a package is no longer just to protect a product from damage, but also to promote it. Packaging has become a form of advertising, and companies around the globe are using packaging to catch the attention, and hopefully long-term patronage, of customers. The promotional aspect of package design has become extremely competitive, and firms must maintain a high standard of aesthetic appeal to ensure the triumph of a product or brand. Successful packaging requires including much more than the necessary product information. Superior packaging requires attractive graphics, eye-catching design, and labels that appeal to the tastes of the target market. It must be modern, and speak to the current trends, and it must be professional in order to assure potential consumers that this is a product or brand that they can trust. In short, effective package has a big role to play. It must attract customers' attention, generate positive attitudes toward the package and the brand, and convince customers to buy the product and even inspire long-term brand loyalty.\nPractical implications: Our findings indicate that the use of contentious packaging runs a high risk of tarnishing a company's reputation and appeal. Devout Muslims whose lives are governed by Islamic Law and the teachings of Kuran have a high propensity to consider such companies as promoters of vice, and will therefore likely boycott such companies in order to prevent them from, as they see it, corrupting the community. If advertising firms continue to fail in recognizing the profundity of these beliefs within Muslim communities, both their fiscal success and reputation run the risk of suffering substantial damage.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of religion on the effectiveness of product packages in attracting customers' attention, and forming their attitudes, preferences, and buying decisions. In other words, the study aims at finding out how do Muslims respond to product packages including elements believed to disagree with the Islamic values, in this study referred to as \"contentious packages.\"\nDesign/methodology/approach: To test the five hypotheses, the study recruited 300 young Muslims in Bahrain, chosen from the population of 14,000 students of the University of Bahrain aged between 20 and 25, 26 percent male and 74 percent female. The primary data were collected through personal interviews with the selected sample, using a specially designed questionnaire. The questionnaire included ten questions covering two personal questions for age and gender and eight other questions attempting to find out Muslims' responses to contentious packages in terms of attention, attitudes, buying intention, company image, and word-of-mouth.\nFindings: Findings indicate that use of contentious packaging runs a high risk of tarnishing a company's reputation and appeal. Muslims who live by Shari'a and the dictates of the Kuran will consider such companies to be promoters of fornication, and will therefore boycott such companies in order to prevent them from corrupting the purity and piety of the community. If advertising firms continue to fail in recognizing the profundity of these beliefs within Muslim communities, both their fiscal success and reputation run the risk of suffering substantial damage.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study send six important messages to multinational companies doing business in Islamic countries. First, Islam governs all aspects of Muslim life, including consumer behavior. Second, to prosper in Islamic countries, choose packaging that does not contradict or offend the principles and values of Islam. Third, recognize that much packaging that has proven to be effective in Western countries will not be successful in Islamic countries due to vastly different cultural environments. Fourth, a contentious package may result in a steep drop in the sales. Fifth, using contentious packages may damage the reputation. Sixth, you can attract more Muslims by using non-contentious packages.\nOriginality/value: This paper is of great value to companies who wish to expand their practice in Muslim countries. Its findings promise to improve advertising standards and to increase both company profits and customer satisfaction.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sunday is the new Saturday: Sunday trading reforms and its effects on family-run SMEs, employees and consumers	[ "UK", "Consumer motives", "Employees perspective", "Psychographic changes", "Reforms", "Small family businesses", "Socio-economic demand", "Sunday Trading Act" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A number of recent empirical studies have investigated relevant aspects of family-owned and managed small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the specific competitive challenges that they face in the global marketplace (Newbert and Craig, 2017; Measson and Campbell-Hunt, 2015; Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014; Nummela et al., 2006; Khan and Bamber, 2007). However, research studies that focus on marketing and operational perspectives in general and the implications of Sunday trading on family-run SMEs in particular are relatively scarce. There exists a notable paucity of research on the direct and indirect effects of Sunday trading upon SMEs, employees and consumers in Britain. Although, there have been some studies conducted in the UK by the government agency and various pressure groups (e.g. trade unions, retailers, councils and Members of Parliament), most of the specialist literature relates to a period that is prior to the introduction of the 1994 Sunday Trading Act. To bridge the knowledge gap, this research study sets out to explore pertinent arguments made in favour, as well as against, Sunday trading by a wide variety of stakeholders, including: academics, researchers, policy makers and business owner/managers since the Act was introduced in 1994.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 The impact of Sunday trading reforms on family-run small- and medium-sized businesses\n3. Research methods and sample: 3.1 Research design\n4. Findings and discussions: In this section, the findings are presented. The results of the interviews conducted with the family-run small business owners/managers, employees and consumers are discussed, before the outcomes of Survey analysis which was conducted amongst employee who worked for family-run SMEs and consumers.\n5. Contribution and implications: This is the first academic study to investigate the aforementioned challenges, benefits and likely impact of Sunday trading reforms on family-run SMEs, employees and consumers in the UK. The findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge by providing valuable insights into family-run small- and medium-sized businesses, employees and consumers' perceptions and attitude towards Sunday trading as well as its implications for family-run SMEs. It is important that the SMEs embrace the changing psychographic and socio-economic conditions, be proactive and cater to contemporary market demand in order to achieve competitive advantage and a strong position in the marketplace. A survey conducted by local councils and MPs also found that Sunday is now the second busiest day of the week, with 44 per cent of the people visiting the stores on Sunday (McCann, 2016). So, Sunday is the new Saturday. Thus, the family-run business needs to adopt the extended SEW model that is also beneficial to unrelated extended families stakeholders, i.e. employees, customers and community (Tauber, 1972; Newbert and Craig, 2017). The findings demonstrate that a paradigm shift is needed to meet and understand the changing market conditions. In not doing so, SMEs will risk lagging behind other businesses. By being proactive rather than reactive will be more beneficial, profitable and help maintain a competitive edge in the long run; thus, accomplishing the full potential of the inevitable change.\n6. Conclusion: In this research, perceptions of Sunday shopping were investigated from the perspective of three major stakeholders, i.e. family-run businesses, employees and consumers. The findings suggest that Sunday trading has resulted in positive impacts. In addition, the concerns and arguments made against the introduction of Sunday trading and the reforms are found to be superfluous and not relevant in the new millennium. Sunday is now the second busiest and most profitable day of the week. The study found strong support and demand for reforming the Sunday Trading Act. Hence, Sunday trading offers different types of benefits to consumers, employees and SMEs. These can be categorised into three major levels, i.e. primary benefits, ancillary benefits and ultimate benefits. Primary benefits refer to the most direct benefits offered by Sunday trading while ancillary-level benefits provide extra value. Finally, the ultimate benefit is the most critical and distinctive benefit. Ultimate benefits are derived from an outcome of the synergistic effects of both primary and ancillary benefits. Thus, reforming the Sunday Trading Act would help boost economy and would be beneficial to all of the major stakeholders. For SMEs, it would be profitable and help maintain a competitive edge in the long run.\n7. Future research and limitations: This research is primarily exploratory in nature and focussed on British Sunday Trading Act, and its impact on consumers, employees and SMEs. For future research, areas for additional research that would complement and strengthen the understanding include analysis of longitudinal data, conducting similar research in other geographic locations and European countries in order to understand the benefits and challenges of Sunday trading reforms. The future research should investigate specific strategies and tactics required by the SMEs to tailor their products and services on the shopper motives identified in this research. The future research should also test the elements of the benefits of Sunday trading for consumers, employees and SMEs model proposed in this paper.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers, family-run small businesses (small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)) and their employees' perceptions and attitude towards reform of the Sunday Trading Act in Britain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A multi-method approach was employed to collect data in this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 family-run small business owners/managers, 25 employees and 30 consumers. A survey was also conducted amongst 385 consumers and 279 employees. A convenience sampling method was used to collect data. Interview data were analysed by using content analysis and survey data were analysed by using descriptive statistics.\nFindings: The results demonstrate considerable support for extending Sunday trading hours. Most of the arguments against the reform were found to be redundant. The findings suggest that in contemporary Britain, the restricted Sunday trading hours are perceived to be outdated and inconvenient.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings demonstrate that a paradigm shift is needed to meet and understand the changing market conditions. This exploratory study is limited to the UK. Future research will be extended to other European countries.\nOriginality/value: This is the first academic study to investigate the current debate regarding the deregulation of the Sunday trading hours. This study highlighted the psychographic changes and socio-economic demand in the marketplace. Sunday trading offers different types of benefits to consumers, employees and SMEs. The study proposed an original model that categorised these benefits into three major levels: primary benefits, ancillary benefits and ultimate benefits.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effects of soft and hard service attributes on loyalty: the mediating role of trust	[ "Social interaction", "Customer loyalty", "Trust" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: Despite the relevance and significance of non-core (soft attributes such as social and relational attributes) and core attributes (hard attributes such as performance excellence of key service delivered) in service marketing, little research has been addressed to draw any definitive conclusions as to the relationship between these two types of attributes (Driver and Johnston, 2001). Moreover, little do we know how these two different kinds of attributes differentially influence trust and loyalty within a system of cause and effect framework. To this end, the goal of this research is to fill the void in the services marketing literature on the above two research questions. In other words, does social bonding between employees and customers affect customer's perceptions of the core service performance and what is the process by which these social bonding attributes such as employee-customer interaction quality and employee-customer characteristic similarity influence customers' loyalty towards the service provider? Is the process by which these social and relational attributes affect loyalty different from the way core service performance affects loyalty? We hope to address these inquiries from the present study.In service marketing, service providers deliver not only hard attributes but also soft attributes such as ambient atmosphere, close relationships with customers through interaction quality, and identification through creating and sharing greater similarities between employees and customers. Service managers expect and anticipate that these soft attributes, let alone the hard attributes, will exert a positive effect in retaining customers particularly in high contact and interaction service contexts. For example, hair salons provide not only a soothing and relaxing atmosphere to their customers but also train their employees to identify with and share greater similarities with their customers to continuously gain business. The successful coffee franchise, Starbucks, continuously innovates to deliver an outstanding coffee consumption experience by providing a relaxing atmosphere whereby customers can unwind and engage in a comfortable conversation (Kachra and Crossan, 1997). They also go out of the way to train their employees to obtain a confident level of coffee knowledge to engage in a quality interaction and share commonalities of the coffee consumption experience, especially, with coffee savvy customers.Drawing from social exchange theory and similarity attraction theory, this paper explores the effect of soft attributes (e.g. social and relational attributes that focus on social bonding) on hard attributes (e.g. core attribute performance) in a high contact service context, namely in the hair care service industry. This research also extends the key mediating variable model (KMVM) of Morgan and Hunt (1994) into the service sector by hypothesising that while core attribute performance and trust fully mediate the effect of soft attributes on loyalty, trust only partially mediates the effect of hard attributes on loyalty suggesting that hard attributes can directly impact loyalty.Morgan and Hunt (1994) in their seminal paper show that trust and commitment are key mediating variables (KMV) in a business-to-business relationship marketing context. We extend on this notion of trust as a key mediator and posit that the extent to which it functions as a mediator may depend on the type of antecedent under consideration. Although accumulated research exists especially in the channel and business-to-business context (Anderson and Weitz, 1989; Doney and Cannon, 1997; Ganesan, 1994; Kumar et al., 1995; Morgan and Hunt, 1994), relatively scant findings are available in the service context (see however Crosby et al., 1990; Moorman et al., 1992, 1993 for exceptions) on the different types of antecedents of trust and how these may have a direct or indirect effect on loyalty via trust.The result of this research is expected to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between soft and hard attributes. As a result, managers can better allocate resources effectively and appropriately by knowing that the performance of soft attributes positively influences the perceived performance of hard attributes. On the other hand, this paper is also expected to shed light on the limitation of soft attributes versus hard attributes in influencing loyalty via the extent to which trust is a mediator between the two types of attributes and loyalty.This paper is organised as follows. The next section discusses the theoretical background, social exchange theory and similarity attraction theory, and the research hypotheses. This is followed by the empirical results of the conceptual model used to test the hypotheses. Finally, theoretical contributions, managerial implications, limitations, and directions for future studies are discussed.\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: We argue in this paper that there are two types of attributes that contribute to developing trust (Driver and Johnston, 2001). Driver and Johnston (2001) report that predictors of service quality can be broadly categorised into interpersonal (soft) and non-interpersonal (hard) attributes. They extend the work of Johnston (1995) who shows an exhaustive list of service quality drivers. Some of the attributes classified as soft attributes are those that involve more personal or human contact and interaction such as attentiveness/helpfulness, care, courtesy, and friendliness. On the other hand, hard attributes comprise those such as competence, functionality, and reliability. Driver and Johnston's (2001) work provide support for relaters placing more importance on soft attributes and non-relaters putting greater emphasis on hard attributes in determining their service quality decisions. We next discuss the details of the soft and hard attributes used in our study.Within soft attributes, a distinction is made between interaction quality that underscores the relational and social connectedness between employees and customers and characteristic similarity that contribute in social bonding with customers (i.e. human); and atmosphere of the store (i.e. non-human). Conversely, hard attributes are mainly concerned with the quality of the core service provided which we refer to henceforth as perceived performance excellence (PPE). According to our conceptual model depicted in Figure 1, we propose two types of human related soft attributes, interaction quality and characteristic similarity with the service provider, and one non-human related soft attribute, store atmosphere.Drawing on the principle of reciprocity, social exchange theory, and the similarity attraction paradigm, these soft attributes are expected to positively affect PPE that we use as the hard attribute in our model. These soft attributes are also expected to have a positive effect on trust and an indirect effect on loyalty via PPE and trust. In other words, the soft attributes do not have a direct effect on loyalty but only an indirect effect through PPE and trust. On the other hand, PPE is predicted to have a direct effect on loyalty in addition to an indirect effect on loyalty though trust. Loyalty in this research is consistent with behavioural intention and captures a customer's predisposition to repurchase the service offering (Boulding et al., 1993; Dick and Basu, 1994; Parasuraman et al., 1991). Our loyalty construct also takes into account the resilience of this predisposition in the face of price increase (Fornell et al., 1996).The distinction between soft and hard attributes is consistent with what Gronroos (1984) asserts as technical quality and functional quality. Similar arguments have been proposed in the service marketing literature for a distinction between functional or core service and relational or social aspects of a service (Goodwin and Gremler, 1996; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2000). In the following sections, we discuss the relationships between the constructs of our conceptual model and derive relevant hypotheses.Interaction quality\nMethod: The hypotheses were tested using a survey with hair care services. Hair care service was selected for the following reasons. First, the nature of the service category carries a certain level of employee-customer interaction in terms of social bonding that is key to testing our conceptual model. Second, it has been used in past research on relationship building (Gwinner et al., 1998; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2002; Price and Arnould, 1999; Jones et al., 2002). Third, hair care service was a category that was sufficiently familiar for our survey respondents (college students) to provide reliable and quality data. Finally, it was a service category that both males and females used on a relatively consistent basis such that our empirical results would not be biased toward either gender.The attributes and benefit categories used in the survey were obtained using CIT, the critical incident technique (Bitner et al., 1990; Grove and Fisk, 1997; Hayes, 1998; Meuter et al., 2000). The CIT approach focuses on input from the customer to develop survey items (for a detailed explanation of the CIT, refer to Hayes, 1998). A convenience sample of ten doctoral students was asked to list five to ten positive experiences (likes) as well as five to ten negative experiences (dislikes) regarding their past or current hair care service provider. The interviews lasted approximately 15-20 minutes and were audio-taped for subsequent analysis. A total of 100 different critical incidents were obtained from these ten interviewees, ranging from 8 to 24 per interview. The critical incidents were then categorised by the author and a colleague into 39 distinct performance attributes which, in turn, were further categorised into the benefit-level constructs. The classifications were highly reliable (over 80 per cent agreement for both attributes and benefits) and disagreements were resolved through discussion. The benefits served as the antecedents of trust in our conceptual model. It should be noted that the attributes were identified by customers themselves rather than by the researchers.Table I shows the 13 attribute performance measures used to operationalise the benefits as latent variable antecedents to trust in our model. The benefit items were constructed using ten-point disagree to agree scales. Trust and loyalty were also operationalised as latent variables using the measures listed in Table I. They were collected using ten-point semantic differential and likelihood scales. The self-administered survey was completed by 191 undergraduate business students who earned course credit for participating. A total of 12 subjects were deleted from the analysis due to an excessive number of missing values. An additional three subjects were removed because they indicated that a family member or friend acted as their hair care provider. Consequently, 176 subjects were included in the final analysis. Males and females were about equally represented in our sample, with 51 per cent male and 49 per cent female subjects.\nResults: Measurement model\nConclusion: Theoretical contribution\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Drawing on social exchange and similarity attraction theories, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of soft attributes (e.g. social and relational attributes) on hard attributes (e.g. core attribute performance) in a high contact service context, namely in the hair care service environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This research extends the key mediating variable model (KMVM) of Morgan and Hunt by hypothesising that, while trust fully mediates the effect of soft attributes on loyalty, trust only partially mediates the effect of hard attributes on loyalty. Data were collected using the critical incident technique from 176 students.\nFindings: - Supports the fully mediating role of trust for soft attributes and a partially mediating role of trust for hard attributes.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Future research should test the model in contexts that involve less employee-customer contact and interaction.\nOriginality/value: - The study underscores the practical importance of investing in non-core (soft attributes such as social and relational attributes that focus on social bonding) attributes in addition to core attributes (hard attributes such as performance excellence of key service delivered) in service marketing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A new advertising effectiveness model for corporate advertising web sites: A relationship marketing approach	[ "Internet", "Advertising", "Advertising effectiveness", "Relationship marketing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Corporate advertising web sites are considered to be the key format of internet advertising and so far the main medium of an organisation to inform consumers about their products and services, build its brand image and influence in order to enhance purchase intention (Hwang et al., 2003). Over the last decade corporate advertising web sites have evolved from simple advertising content carriers to advanced integrated and interactive multimedia applications that incorporate multiple promotional, advertising and communication strategies. Effectiveness measures and evaluations on performance regarding corporate advertising or commercial web sites provide insight on consumers' requirements and perceptions and also generate rules and guidelines for successful web site design and development by the practitioners. The goal is to enhance usability, navigability and interactivity which are considered to be the dynamics of web site advertisements. However, it is always important to identify \"what matters the most\" to those exposed to corporate web sites. Previous research on corporate web sites' evaluation have proposed several methods, frameworks or sets of criteria to address quality factors and issues on web sites' performance (Fitzpatrick, 2000; Constantinides, 2004; Lee et al., 2005; Oppenheim and Ward, 2006). Some of the frameworks presented in the literature were also benchmarked or used as benchmark designs to evaluate corporate web sites within specific company types or of specific product categories, web sites within industry groups or across domestic, local communities and the global online environment (Simeon, 1999; Kim et al., 2003; Merwe and Bekker, 2003; Jenamani et al., 2006; Hong, 2007; Ahmed et al., 2006) in order to optimize and accomplish performance excellence (Welch and Mann, 2001).Specifically, regarding attempts on effectiveness measurements of this corporate advertisement format, research was focused mainly in their ability to fulfil advertising objectives and goals. The questions raised are whether these measures address the problem, as they do not take under consideration the corporate advertising web sites' role as integrated relationship marketing mediums.The aim of this paper, based on a thorough analysis of the approaches adopted by the existing effectiveness models, is to present a new conceptual framework that includes existing and new criteria to measure the overall effectiveness of corporate advertising web sites in terms of advertising and relationship marketing.\nEffectiveness of advertising web sites: The first attempts to evaluate web site as an advertising medium were significantly affected by academic research in traditional advertising. Specific indicators of advertising effects and evaluation criteria used in traditional advertising media such as advertising content, organisation of content and message strategy like entertainment and irritation (Ducoffe, 1996; Brackett and Carr, 2001), were \"borrowed\" and applied to measures of web site advertising effectiveness (Pavlou and Stewart, 2000). Although useful, this approach is inadequate to produce complete measures as it fails to take under consideration the unique characteristics of the medium (such as interactivity, unlimited time and space to communicate messages, navigability) and the active role of consumers during their visit at a corporate advertising web site (Hoffman and Novak, 1996; Novak and Hoffman, 1997; Hwang et al., 2003).The need for differentiation led to the identification and study of new quality factors and dimensions closely related to the capabilities of this new form of advertising. Chen and Wells (1999) based on the intermediate advertising effect of \"attitude toward the ad\" (McKenzie et al., 1986; Mackenzie and Lutz, 1989), introduced \"attitude toward the site\" as an indicator of web site advertising effectiveness and studied three factors as its main contributors: informativeness, entertainment and organisation. Dahlen et al. (2003a, b) proposed time and activity spent on advertising web sites as significant indicators of effectiveness based on their positive correlation to brand attitude. A lot of attention was also given to \"interactivity\" as it is an important structural factor of this form of advertising which affects the exposure of the audience to the advertising content and its attitude toward the site and the brand (Ghose and Dou, 1998; Coyle and Thorson, 2001; Liu and Shrum, 2002; Macias, 2003).Effectiveness measures led to web site evaluations that used methods such as qualitative interviews, user testing, benchmarking and even log analysing, pursuing to generate a well-established general approach for web sites' performance measurement. Specifically, benchmarking enabled user behaviour analysis across web sites of different product offerings (Jenamani et al., 2006) or the testing of specific criteria across specified web sites (Misic and Johnson, 1999; Welling and White, 2006; Gibb and Matthaiakis, 2007). Comparative analysis of an evaluation framework or effectiveness model on a sample of web sites of specified or different corporation and product types or marketing strategy allows the improvement of their performance based on specific factors, features and functions (Huang et al., 2006).Based on advertising web sites' effectiveness past research, it is evident that the majority of the effectiveness models were based on the isolation and analysis of variables strictly related to advertising objectives, such as quality of content and message strategy and do not incorporate or examine qualitative factors related to relationship marketing such as communication, feedback and customer support policies in terms of advertising effectiveness. Therefore, it seems essential to conceptualise and study both advertising and relationship marketing criteria in order to define the factors that contribute to the overall effectiveness of corporate advertising web sites.\nA relationship marketing approach: Relationship marketing is about retaining customers by improving communication, customer data collection and customer service quality (Kolesar and Galbraith, 2000; Wang et al., 2000; Rowley, 2005). Practitioners and academics shift their focus to examining factors and functions based on the unique characteristics of the web that enable effective online relationship with customers and partners (O'Tool, 2003; Szmigin et al., 2005). Keating et al. (2003), emphasizes on the significance of both service and relationship quality across online environment. However, so far companies adopting the internet for promotional reasons have not taken fully advantage of the web's ability to develop and support effective interactions with their customers (O'Leary et al., 2004). Specifically, in case of corporate advertising web sites, little attention has been given to their role as integrated relationship marketing mediums. However, it is evident that most corporate advertising web sites incorporate functions to improve customer satisfaction and enhance customer retention. According to Boisvert and Caron (2006) several types of web sites including promotional and transactional web sites could be \"relational\" web sites, \"oriented toward the development of relationships with customers\". One important element of relationship marketing framework within a corporate web site is the establishment of a dialogue (a two-way communication) between the company and the customers with the use of multiple online communication functions (Szmigin et al., 2005; Huang et al., 2006). Gathering feedback as in obtaining and extracting information from the customers is also important for effective interactive relationships (Geissler, 2001; Wisner and Corney, 2001). Consumers should be motivated but also be able to communicate opinions, comments and complaints effortlessly using appropriate facilities within the web site Wisner and Corney, 2001; Huang et al., 2006). In addition, customer support as in problem solving policies and after-sale services is considered to be an important component of interactive activities even for corporate sites that do not operate as distribution channels of products and services (Levenburg, 2006). The main question raised in terms of corporate web site effectiveness is whether relationship marketing components create or influence \"attitudes toward the site\"? Also, should effectiveness be measured beyond \"advertising concept\" and does relationship marketing strategy affects in any way the overall performance of corporate advertising web sites?\nProposed framework: This paper introduces a new effectiveness model for corporate advertising web sites to conceptualise and empirically test relationship marketing strategy and practice applied to the online environment. However, the proposed model does not support the idea of isolating one, two or at the most three variables, in order to examine thoroughly their contribution to specific advertising \"effects\". The main idea was to develop a comprehensive conceptual measurement model of criteria to evaluate the overall performance of a corporate advertising web site towards the multiple advertising and relationship marketing objectives of their establishment. The model extents existing research on advertising web sites effectiveness, by incorporating factors already tested and validated and by introducing new factors that apply to relationship marketing theory (Figure 1).More specifically, the proposed model is grounded on the following acknowledgments:* corporate advertising web sites should fulfil general and specific advertising objectives such as providing information and building images for companies and their brands;* the majority of advertising web sites incorporate activities and processes of relationship marketing that could affect consumers' attitude toward the site and the brand; and* unique characteristics of the medium such as, navigation, design, and interactivity contribute to the communication of promotional content and determine the overall performance of the advertising web sites towards their multiple promotional and communication functions.On the whole, it conceptualises several integrated criteria to investigate in terms of advertising effectiveness their contribution and significance towards specific objectives of advertising and relationship marketing strategies, taking into account the unique characteristics of the internet as the medium that supports their operation (Table I).Each criterion was analysed to features and functions, which define their concept and describe their application in order to better understand consumers' behaviour during their visit and determine their way of evaluating the site's performance toward each criterion (Figure 2). This enabled the capture of the impact of the main quality dimensions of each criterion based on the consumers' requirements and intentions.The validity and importance of each criterion were examined in relation to their contribution to creating or influencing intermediate and primary communication effects of advertising (Figure 3). Intermediate effects refer to reactions and actions that represent a positive or negative response to the advertising web site such as: \"attitude toward the site\" (Chen and Wells, 1999) which was measured in terms of \"revisiting intention\", \"word of mouth intention\" and \"overall opinion of the site\". Primary communication effects include \"attitude toward the brand\" and \"brand purchase intention\" (Percy and Rossiter, 1997).\nMethodology: The proposed web site effectiveness framework was benchmarked to two corporate web sites of different advertising message strategy. This would enable a comparative analysis of the subjects' requirements and perceptions towards the web sites' performance. It was a safe way to identify common grounds and strong differences of users' behaviour across web sites promoting different product and company types or applying different strategy to attract and retain users. Data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey.Advertising stimulus\nResults and discussions: The extended questionnaires' statistical analysis allowed the quantification of the qualitative factors in question and produced a great amount of data, which could not be presented explicitly. Therefore, the main conclusions based on the data analysis are presented.Descriptive statistics\nConclusions and future research: Because effectiveness of web site advertising is a complex and multidimensional concept, future research should focus on determining the features and functions that enhance their overall performance beyond strict advertising theory. Despite the different definitions of advertising effectiveness (Cook and Kover, 1997), it is a common statement that effectiveness is about fulfilling advertising goals. However, corporate advertising web sites are established not only to communicate advertising content, but also to meet specific relationship marketing objectives such as communication, feedback processes and customer service policies.The proposed conceptual model suggests that quality factors related to relationship marketing could be significant contributors to advertising effects under specific circumstances. Primary research results advocate that advertising and relationship marketing factors are both contributors to intermediate advertising effects. In addition their contribution could be strongly influenced by the consumers' requirements and needs. Also, they differ in contribution and significance across different types of corporate advertising web sites.To further extent this research additional measures are needed to weight the dimensions of the qualitative criteria included in the proposed model and develop a scoring model to measure the effectiveness of corporate advertising web sites. However, this study offers an insight on the effects of relationship marketing factors on the overall performance of this corporate advertising format and supports its dynamics as an integrated marketing tool.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present an effectiveness conceptual framework to evaluate the overall performance of corporate advertising web sites towards the multiple advertising, promotional and relationship marketing objectives of their establishment. Specifically, communication, feedback and customer support policies are examined in order to identify their contribution in creating or influencing advertising \"effects\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data from a questionnaire-based survey of 160 undergraduate and postgraduate students within the department of applied informatics are used to accomplish greater understanding of their perceptions and requirements towards the factors in question.\nFindings: - Findings reveal significant dimensions of the participants' behaviour based on their actions, activities, preferences and intentions. Also, the outcomes show a great impact of the relationship marketing qualitative factors in question on specific advertising effectiveness indicators.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The stimulus materials are limited to two corporate advertising web sites. Further testing to a wider sample of advertising stimulus of different product categories is required.\nPractical implications: - Effectiveness measures provide to practitioners a factual demonstration of consumers' use and intended use regarding functions and features incorporated by corporate advertising web sites and enable the optimisation of their execution.\nOriginality/value: - The paper introduces a new conceptual framework to support the contribution and significance of relationship marketing factors on the overall performance of corporate advertising web sites. This should be a useful approach for both academic researcher and practitioners.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Occupational power differentiates employee impacts under continuing change	[ "Justice", "Job satisfaction", "Organizational commitment", "Psychological contract", "Psychological distress", "Occupational power" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Healthcare is an industry in almost constant change (Greener, 2005; Rodwell and Teo, 2008), resulting in the public services being transformed over the last two decades across several countries such as the UK and Australia (Thomas and Davies, 2005). For example, in the Australian context, reforms include those from the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (2009). Studies examining these changes at the employee level have found that despite, or because, the changes are intended to increase efficiency and reduce costs, there are negative effects on employee-level outcomes (Brunetto et al., 2010; Korunka et al., 2003; Teo et al., 2012).\nMethodology: Participants\nResults: Medical practitioners\nDiscussion: The pattern of results observed in this study suggests that among both the medical practitioners and administrative staff, the psychological contract is important for work-related outcomes. Among medical practitioners, it appears the psychological contract is also important for health-related outcomes. With regard to organizational justice, contrasting past research indicating the two constructs are quite similar (e.g. Robbins et al., 2012), among these samples justice did not lead to similar outcomes. Only among medical practitioners did justice have any effect. NA led to work and health-related outcomes among both occupational groups. The differences in the pattern of relationships between the two groups indicates that occupational power influences the effects of the psychological contract and demonstrates the utility of investigating the psychological contract among employees within the healthcare industry.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether occupational social contexts differentiate the processing of changes in the employment relationship, as represented by the psychological contract. Specifically, this study investigates the impact of the psychological contract and justice, with negative affectivity (NA), on medical practitioners or administrative staff in healthcare.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Samples of 54 medical practitioners (30 percent) and 122 administrative staff (59 percent), primarily providing public services, responded to a cross-sectional survey. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analyses.\nFindings: Among medical staff, psychological contract obligations were associated with lower commitment and psychological distress, whereas fulfillment was associated with higher commitment and job satisfaction, yet higher distress. Distributive justice was associated with lower distress, and NA was associated with higher distress. Among administration staff, fulfillment was associated with commitment and job satisfaction, and NA was associated with lower job satisfaction and higher distress. Essentially, reforms are likely to have more impact on less powerful occupations.\nPractical implications: Psychological contract fulfillment is a key predictor of hospital employees' commitment and satisfaction, placing clinicians, particularly, under pressure. To retain employees, hospitals must keep their promises. Further, occupational power activates the role of obligations, with practitioners having negative outcomes and holding the organization to account until the obligations are fulfilled.\nOriginality/value: This study highlights the differential nature of the psychological contract among healthcare employee groups, with differences depending on occupational power.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The uncertainty mapping of ontologies based on three-dimensional combination weight vector space model	[ "VSM", "Similarity", "Ontology", "Semantic similarity", "Uncertainty mapping", "Vector space model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the raising of informatization level, the sediment of millions of data has been settled continuously, which is valuable and irreplaceable for scientific research and innovation. The data are consistent with features of the big data:multi-semantic, multi-temporal, multi-scale, multi-format, uncertain, complex structure and rapid growth rate, etc. These characteristics, however, have gradually become the bottleneck restricting data's storage, mining and further application. Ontology-mapping aimed at establishing relations between source ontology and target ontology to realize integration and sharing of heterogeneous information, which provides the means for fusion and intelligent interpretation of massive data resource.\n2. Preliminaries: In this section, we outline some correlative theories which will be used in this paper.\n3. Uncertainty ontology model: Uncertainty ontology model is the development of a classical ontology model of fuzziness and randomness. It can represent the uncertain information which the classical ontology model cannot represent. For example, when the gravity of fault location is high and magnetic force value is low, the fault is thrust nappe fault with a confidence level of 82 per cent. Based on the definition of certainty ontology model given in previous works, such as Gruber (1993) and Perez (1999), we give a new definition of uncertainty ontology which can consider the fuzzy subordinate and probability random relationship between concepts or instance to relation set or attribute set. Formally, we define uncertainty ontology as follows:\n4. An uncertainty mapping method of ontology concept based on three-dimensional combination weight vector space model, namely, VSM-PCR: Within the ontology, concepts, attributes, relations and instances are all stored in the computer as OWL text formatting. However, VSM can simplify lots of complex text processing into the vector arithmetic, such as ultra-compare, inquire and retrieve. Even though Tous and Delgado (2006) and Eidoon et al. (2008) used VSM to realize the ontology mapping, they did not think that concepts, instances, attributes and relations will affect the concept similarity calculation. The precision of their method also needs to be improved. As attributes can act as the detailed description of concepts and instances, it plays the pivotal role in the concept positioning and the similarity measuring. In this part, VSM-PCR method will be presented. Figure 1 shows the detailed process of the similarity between two uncertainty concepts (C, C') via using VSM-PCR:\n5. Instance analysis: We need to verify the effectiveness of the uncertain ontology mapping method VSM-PCR. For this reason, the proposed model will be applied to set up a mapping relationship between two geo-ontology concepts. In most cases, the threshold value is set by the experts in ontology domain according to the characteristics of fuzzy ontology model. However, the value also can be set according to the user performance requirement of mapping system. If the threshold value is too small, the system will build lots of mapping system. Even though the recall ratio will be improved, some of the mapping relation is not correct. It causes the decline of system accuracy. In contrast, if the threshold value is too great, the system will build few of mapping relation, the accuracy will be improved; meanwhile, the recall ratio will decrease. The threshold was finally set by several experts in this field and through repeated artificial trial. To test the performance of VSM-PCR, this article sets default threshold value of the system as 0.9. Because of the shortage of the existing domain ontologies, two ontologies were designed by ourselves according description about technical terms in \"Chinese geological thesaurus\", \"Geology Dictionary\" and respective forum. The establishing process of the two ontologies took into account both semantic feature and verbal distribution with a scientific significance. The two ontologies contain 159 concepts and 126 instances altogether. Both of them belong to lightweight ontology. We used fuzzy concepts \"reverse fault\" and \"reverse fault\". The two concepts are treated as research objects in ontologies PCO and PCO'.\n6. Related works: Yu-e Pan, Peng Liang and Keqing He (2007) proposed a new classification-based method for ontology mapping to pursue a cost-effective approach and implemented the prototype tool based on this method. In 2010, a data field-based ontology mapping approach was proposed to improve the effectiveness of large-scale ontology mapping tasks (Zhong et al., 2010). They used an approach that uses a lightweight similarity computing method to collect the initial relevance values between one ontology's elements to another. Then, the potential functions of a data field are considered to revise the significance of an ontology element according to its surroundings. Finally, the relevant sub-ontologies are found and extracted. Qin et al. (2013) proposed a new feature ontology mapping method for representing heterogeneous product feature model information semantically. An ontology-based feature representation model was built aiming at the difficulties in retrieving and reusing heterogeneous parametric feature models. An ontology-based feature model database was constructed to support the retrieval and reuse of heterogeneous parametric feature models. However, all the methods above cannot solve the ontology mapping of fuzzy concepts.\n7. Conclusion: This paper presents an uncertain mapping method of ontology concept based on the three-dimensional combination-weighted VSM, namely, VSM-PCR. It fully considers that the properties of ontology play a key role in measuring the similarity of concept. It expands the single VSM of concept meaning or instance set to the \"meaning, properties, instance\", a three-dimensional VSM. The model uses membership degree or correlation which is used to express the degree of uncertainty; as a result, a three-dimensional VSM is obtained. We finally provide an example to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of VSM-PCR method in treating the uncertainty mapping of ontology. VSM-PCR also has extensive applicability. The principle is to compute the similarity value of the structure (\"meaning, properties, instance\") of the two ontologies to realize ontology mapping, which need no domain knowledge, so the model can be applied to ontology mapping in any field. The future work will focus on exploring the similarity measure and combinational methods in every dimension.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to apply vector space model (VSM)-PCR model to compute the similarity of Fault zone ontology semantics, which verified the feasibility and effectiveness of the application of VSM-PCR method in uncertainty mapping of ontologies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors first define the concept of uncertainty ontology and then propose the method of ontology mapping. The proposed method fully considers the properties of ontology in measuring the similarity of concept. It expands the single VSM of concept meaning or instance set to the \"meaning, properties, instance\" three-dimensional VSM and uses membership degree or correlation to express the level of uncertainty.\nFindings: It provides a relatively better accuracy which verified the feasibility and effectiveness of VSM-PCR method in treating the uncertainty mapping of ontology.\nResearch limitations/implications: The future work will focus on exploring the similarity measure and combinational methods in every dimension.\nOriginality/value: This paper presents an uncertain mapping method of ontology concept based on three-dimensional combination weighted VSM, namely, VSM-PCR. It expands the single VSM of concept meaning or instance set to the \"meaning, properties, instance\" three-dimensional VSM. The model uses membership degree or correlation which is used to express the degree of uncertainty; as a result, a three-dimensional VSM is obtained. The authors finally provide an example to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of VSM-PCR method in treating the uncertainty mapping of ontology.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A review of the empirical research on teacher leadership (2003-2017): Evidence, patterns and implications	[ "Educational leadership", "Professional development", "Review", "Teacher leadership", "Teacher leader" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since the early 1980s, scholarly interest in teacher leadership has steadily increased and the knowledge base has grown significantly (York-Barr and Duke, 2004). During the early part of the second millennium, more scholars, in the field, turned their empirical attention to collective, shared or distributed forms of leadership (e.g. Gronn, 2000; Harris, 2003). As a result, teacher leadership research expanded and writings about shared or distributed leadership (Harris and DeFlaminis, 2016) dominated much of the contemporary writing in the field.\n2. Review process: This review of the literature is based on an analysis of 150 published works concerning teacher leadership in the period from 2003 to 2017. The purpose of this review was two-fold: first, to highlight some patterns of research on teacher leadership and second, to summarise and synthesise the contemporary empirical evidence on important aspects of teacher leadership. At the outset of the literature review, eight key criteria were established to shortlist works that were appropriate for review. These criteria are elaborated in Table AI.\n3. Findings: The next section of this paper focuses on the main findings from the review. The paper draws upon the selected 150 articles to examine contextual and methodological patterns of teacher leadership research; definitions of teacher leadership; and evidence on the enactment of teacher leadership, factors influencing teacher leadership and impacts of teacher leadership.\n4. Conclusion: The final section of this paper considers some implications from this review and makes some suggestions for further enquiry in the field. It is also important to highlight some limitations to this review. First, all the articles that mention one of the three key terminologies/phrases (i.e. \"teacher leadership\", \"teacher leader\" or \"teacher leaders\") in any parts of the publications and listed in any databases of the \"EBSCOhost Research Databases\" system were shortlisted for scanning for relevance in the first round. It is possible that articles that did not mention any of the three key phrases but offer relevant perspectives of teacher leadership were excluded from this review.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline key findings from a contemporary review of the international empirical literature focused upon teacher leadership. It synthesises what is currently known about the nature, practice, conditions and impact of teacher leadership and to outline patterns in the contemporary empirical research base.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This review is based on an analysis of 150 empirical articles published in Scopus/SSCI-indexed journals between January 2003 and December 2017.\nFindings: The paper draws upon this contemporary knowledge base to explore: contextual and methodological patterns of teacher leadership research; definitions of teacher leadership; and evidence on the enactment of teacher leadership, factors influencing teacher leadership and impacts of teacher leadership.\nOriginality/value: This paper highlights the progress and issues of the empirical research on teacher leadership since 2003 and identifies gaps in the knowledge base as well as areas for future scholarly enquiry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The optimum size of rotating qard hasan savings and credit associations	[ "Microfinance", "ROSCA", "QHA", "Optimum size", "Qarḍ contract" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The relative success of the microfinance industry in providing financial services and saving opportunities to the poor and its proliferation throughout the developing world have promoted the creation and development of Islamic microfinance institutions in many Muslim countries. A number of microfinance schemes that are compatible with Islamic rules have been innovated (Obaidullah and Abdul Latif, 2008). They are largely based on institutions such as zakah (almsgiving), khums (alternative Shari'ah financial obligations), waqf (endowment) and qard hasan (QH) (bona fide loan). In light of this revived interest and these efforts, the global Islamic microfinance industry is estimated to have grown at a five-year cumulative average growth rate of 19.7 per cent from 2013 to 2018 (Kustin, 2015). In addition, the Islamic Social Finance Report (2014) indicates that zakah collections have grown steadily over time. They have increased by 32 times over the past 10 years in Indonesia and by 27 times over the past 20 years in Malaysia. Hassan (2014) highlights the role of Islamic microfinance in alleviating poverty in his study of the Andaman Islands in India. He reports that cash waqf and zakah funds were distributed to the poor, and microfinance loans were offered to low-income farmers provided that they observe the Islamic rules of environmental preservation and waste avoidance.\nQard hasan as a universal mode of saving and finance: QH lending and borrowing is not foreign to people's conventions. In fact, it is common in most parts of the world as a group type of financial services that reduces the cost of lending, mobilises savings, facilitates monitoring and deploys community-based enforcement mechanisms.\nAlternative motives for joining Rotating Savings and Credit Associations: Besley et al. (1993) considered ROSCA as representing an institution for mediating funds between individuals who do not have access to the credit market. These associations transfer funds to meet life cycle needs and to purchase indivisible goods. Like all other microfinance groups, ROSCAs circumvent default problems by social sanctions on defaulting members as well as preventing them from further participation. Ambec and Treich (2007) report that the economic literature has been mostly driven by the durable good hypothesis that is put forth by the former authors. This literature asserts that the main benefit of ROSCAs is to allow an early purchase of a durable good. They further comment that the economic literature has recently complemented the durable good motive by a self-control commitment to save. A number of researchers have argued that at certain economic conditions individuals suffer from lack of self-control and time-inconsistency problems. Economic environment and social obligations impose impediments for households to adhere to a consumption budget which was originally planned. Ambec and Treich (2007) developed a new analytical model based on this hypothesis and derived verifiable propositions. They showed that ROSCAs mostly attract average-income individuals, as opposed to the very poor or very rich. Members are homogeneous within ROSCAs and the contribution increases with the income of members. Furthermore, they emphasize that these predictions are consistent with findings of many empirical studies.\nThe optimum size of qard hasan associations: The focus of studies so far has been on the income and saving motivation in ROSCAs. The effect of group size on the efficiency of saving behaviour in these informal financial intermediaries has not been carefully analysed by researchers. One important factor that facilitates access to ROSCAs is the openness of these institutions to new members. A new participant is welcome to the ROSCA if he can add more benefit than burden to the group and enhance the saving formation process; otherwise, he is denied acceptance. Therefore, it is crucial to find out how the members of ROSCAs determine their group size. It is most likely that homogeneous members form the group, but what is not clear is the number of them who do so. Furthermore, how the group size varies with changes in the income level of the members, the size of the pot and its duration remains to be analysed. These are the issues that will be dealt with in the following membership model, and a number of testable hypotheses will be put forth.\nFactors that have impact on the optimum size of qard hasan associations: Many factors affect the benefit and cost of membership in QHAs. Suppose a member's income increases and he decides to start a new venture. If the initial capital needed for investment is greater than the aggregate loan that is distributed in the association, he would leave the group and seek alternative sources of fund. It is reported in fact that as the income of ROSCA members increases they leave the group (Armendariz de Aghion and Morduch, 2010, p. 71).\nThe conformity of qard hasan associations lending with the qard contract: The extension of QH is very much praised in the Qur`an (Farooq, 2011; Sadr, 2014). Interest-free loans are, in fact, an example of this practice. However, QH in the Qur`an includes any decent value-creating activity in the form of charity, waqf, or contribution to enhancement of the poor's income, education, health or lodging. On the other hand, the qard contract like other stipulated contracts by the Shari'ah prescribes a set of privileges and obligations for the contracting parties. Privileges include the guarantee of the principal loaned and the ability to recall it at any time if the borrowing period is not specified beforehand. The creditor is not entitled to any contractually stipulated pecuniary or non-pecuniary benefit other than repayment of the principal. Based on these terms and conditions of the qard contract, the question is whether the lending to the association in return for obtaining a larger sum, sooner or later, is a violation of the qard contract or not?\nConclusion: ROSCA is a universally recognised microfinance scheme. Its indigenous equivalent in Muslim countries is QHA. The practice of interest-free financing in ROSCAs all over the Muslim and non-Muslim world manifests that the QH contract is an efficient and viable mode of finance. QHAs are financial intermediaries which promote rural and urban households' savings and channel them to the purchase of durable consumer goods and to investment projects. By pursuing this function, they constitute an essential part of the financial sector in both developing and developed economies and contribute to a steady process of economic development. Therefore, financial authorities should adopt all measures that facilitate formation of these associations and reduce the risk of their financial services. They also have the potential to become partners with formal financial institutions and provide financial services at very low cost to households in rural and urban areas. Being microfinance vehicles, they embed all the attributes of their conventional counterparts such as screening and monitoring of clients. They are thus capable of alleviating all problems of information asymmetry, both for formal and informal institutions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Several indigenous credit and savings schemes have been accredited recently in developing countries for the benefit of households and entrepreneurs alike. Famous among them are the Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) that exist in almost all continents currently. The rapid development of ROSCAs and their varied structures in many countries have been the subject of numerous studies. What has not been thoroughly analysed is the optimum size of these associations and the fact that lending and borrowing is without interest. The aim of this paper is to present a model that would determine the optimum size of ROSCAs and deal with the following issues: how the group size varies with changes in the income level of the members, the demand for the loan, the size of the collected loan and its duration. Further, the question of whether or not lending to the association in return for obtaining larger sums is a violation of the qard (loan) contract is dealt with, and several Shari'ah compatible formulations are provided.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Economic analysis has been applied to show the optimum size of Qard Hasan Associations (QHAs), which are the Shari'ah-compliant equivalent of ROSCAs, and the Shari'ah rules of the qard contract to illustrate the legitimacy of group lending.\nFindings: The major findings of this study are determination of the optimum size of QHAs, the factors that affect the size and suggestion of alternative legal forms for group financing.\nResearch limitations/implications: Inaccessibility to sources of data to test the hypothesis that has been put forth is the main difficulty encountered when conducting research on the subject.\nPractical implications: The paper concludes that the development of informal interest-free ROSCAs in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries is an efficient informal microfinance scheme and that it is compatible with Shari'ah rules.\nOriginality/value: The optimum size of ROSCAs and QHAs has been presented in this paper.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Continuity and change in the Sheffield armaments industry 1919-1930	[ "Directors", "Rationalisation", "Armaments", "Great War", "Sheffield", "Washington Naval Treaty" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As one of the key turning points in world history, the Great War is known to have caused widespread social, economic and political upheaval in the UK, while also having severe repercussions across various sectors of British business. Nowhere was the outcome of the conflict and its aftermath in the 1920s felt more acutely than in the armaments industry, and principally with companies residing in Sheffield. This small group of companies - Thomas Firth, John Brown, Cammell Laird and Hadfields -were steel companies with a specialist interest in armaments production and research, between them manufacturing armour plate, projectiles and gun forgings in the Edwardian period principally for naval purposes. Here, the selection of cases follows previous studies on the Sheffield armaments industry, focussing on steel companies with an interest in armaments and excluding Vickers, arguably the most well-known armaments company of the period, which despite having important steelworks in Sheffield was a national armaments company with an interest in steel (Corker, 2016). Beginning in the late Victorian period, each company highlighted and used a sophisticated, multi-faceted corporate strategy which embraced technological development, investment in bespoke production facilities, marketing materials for the sale of both products and patent rights and inter-firm collaboration with research and production. By the outbreak of the Great War, Sheffield was undoubtedly the world centre of armaments production and research, with licencing agreements and sales across the globe. Writing in the 1920s, John Brown's Chairperson Aberconway (1927, p. 61) estimated that before the Great War, Sheffield made about 70 per cent of all the armour made for British warships, and 70 per cent of war material made by private companies, including guns, gun forgings, shell and projectiles and steel for small arms. However, the Great War and its aftermath in the 1920s fundamentally changed the nature of the armaments business, rendering most of the strategies used by the industry inadequate and ineffective, each company attempting to adjust to the new post-War world they inhabited. As Hornby (1958, p. 25) has suggested, \"generally after 1918, it may be said, that with the loss of home and overseas demand, the armament industry reached the verge of extinction.\" In the view of Packard (2009), the armaments industry had an identity crisis after the Great War. The armaments producers also suffered a double blow because of a tandem decline in the steel industry. As Pollard (1992, p. 52) highlights:\nMethodology: The research was principally undertaken from a survey of the remaining corporate records of the four company case studies. The records for Brown, Firth and Hadfields were viewed at Sheffield Archives, Sheffield, UK, where all of the existent records for the period 1918-1930 were identified from the available finding aids. For Brown and Firth, the records have been extensively catalogued, and for Hadfields a box list is available. Once identified, the records were viewed and photographed for future examination. This process was repeated for the records of Cammell which are held in the Wirral Archives Service, Birkenhead, UK, where a basic listing of the records is also available. In the Hadfields, records copies of the annual general meeting (AGM) speeches were captured, and in the Cammell, records extracts from the Journal of Commerce of their company AGM speeches were also photographed. For Brown, their AGM records were unavailable in their corporate records and were sourced from The Times online archive and downloaded for further study. The records of Firths AGM meetings were also captured from their minute books in handwritten form. Finally, these records were supplemented with material from The Engineer trade journal records available from GracesGuide.co.uk, and Cabinet Records available from the National Archives online. Away from the archival capture, the photographed records were later viewed and cross-referenced to build a reconstruction of the business of each company and relevant data were extrapolated, including an overview of their directors, annual production and profit data and core information from minute books, AGM reports and correspondence. This data forms the core of this investigation as presented below.\nExternal change in the armaments industry 1919-1926: As the Great War progressed and the demands for munitions continued to mount, many within the industry prophesised that when peace came, whenever that may be, the armaments companies would face a difficult fight for survival. Brown's Chairperson, Baron Aberconway, understood these issues and predicted in early 1915 that:\nInternal continuity - armaments boards of directors 1919-1930: In contrast to the constantly uncertain and evolving external environment for armaments companies, internally the management of the armaments industry adapted very little to the new world they found themselves occupying in the 1920s. The boards of each armaments company before the Great War generally comprised a mix of relatives from a founding or second generation managing family, several internal appointments and a vital combination of armaments technology experts, ex-governmental and ex-military members. In these latter cases, this allowed each company and their board of directors to retain a close relationship with the supply ministries, vital for intelligence on future technological requirements or potential orders. Crucially, before the Great War, these boards were in a constant state of renewal. Once a director with technological expertise or important links to the government and the military retired or died, they were quickly replaced by a director with equal or greater connections, knowledge and established reputation for armaments research (Corker, 2016).\nRationalisation 1927-1930: With a turbulent external environment, managerial stagnation and uncertainty regarding the future role of armaments in the world, the business of all the companies in the industry began to decline during the 1920s and served as a prelude to future mergers in the industry. Away from Sheffield, Vickers' armaments business declined rapidly, the company last paying a dividend in 1923, while Armstrong paid no dividends from 1925, and Beardmore paid none for 10 years after 1921 (Warren, 1989; Davenport-Hines, 1984: Chapter 8). In Sheffield, the steel industry as a whole may have been in an even worse position than it found itself were it not for the rise in stainless steel production, a legacy of the research and development commitment of the armaments industry before the Great War (Sayers, 1950; Corker, 2016). Nevertheless, the 1920s were difficult for all the armament companies. Brown were hit hard after the Washington Treaty, their only brief revival occurring in the mid-1920s with the construction of two new capital ships. The official history of John Brown observed that in the 1920s, \"The Atlas Works produced some heavy armour for H.M.S. Rodney, but there was nothing else of much importance to record\" (Grant, 1950, p. 69). When Brown passed their annual dividend in 1926 it was the first time they had done so for 50 years, the company failing to pay another dividend for the rest of the decade (The Times, 1926). At Cammell, the company passed their dividend in 1923 and failed to pay one again before their merger into the English Steel Corporation in 1929. In the wake of the Washington Treaty, the business of the two Sheffield armour producers collapsed, yet the picture for projectile manufacture was equally gloomy. In October 1920, Firth's shell shops were shut down because of a lack of orders (Thomas Firth, 1920). Conditions changed and by the end of 1921 the company had PS200,000 of shell orders on hand from the Government, but the infrequency of demand influenced their profitability (Thomas Firth, 1921). In 1923, the dividend was passed for the first time, the downturn in their fortunes exacerbated by the difficult trading environment and a lack of government orders, and the company failed to pay a dividend again until 1927. Unlike their contemporaries in Brown and Cammell the company was able to resurrect their fortunes in the late 1920s thanks to a brief resurgence of demand for projectiles, but by 1930 orders had once again disappeared. Their ordnance output shrunk, and with a lack of commercial work to take up the shortfall, the dividend was passed once again. Hadfields also attempted to navigate the uncertainty of the inter-war period, but by 1930, they too failed to pay a dividend to their shareholders. In 1931, Robert Abbott Hadfield drew attention to the continued depression in trade, adding that \"A further handicap has been imposed upon some of our special lines of work by the general policy of Naval Disarmament\" (Hadfields, 1930). As will be demonstrated, Hadfields was the only company to survive the rationalisation movement in the armaments industry with their independence.\nConclusions: If the Sheffield armaments industry had been at its zenith in 1914, it was at its nadir in 1930. The fallout of the Great War and the uncertainty surrounding the future role of armaments in the world caused difficulty for all the companies involved. Government indecision and the Washington Naval Treaty certainly exacerbated matters, and internally the companies stuck to what they knew best with armaments, any alternative strategies not discussed or imagined and exit from the industry unthinkable. This curious mix of external change and internal continuity both contributed to the declining fortunes of the companies involved in the Sheffield armaments industry. While taking a decade to fully materialise, the rationalisation movement which fundamentally changed the structure of the industry was the ultimate outcome of the Great War for the group of armaments companies which had built their empires and fortunes in the Edwardian period. Considering the use of periodisation with the armaments industry also highlights some implications for using static or externally defined periods, namely, that while significant change can be observed outside an organisation, during the same timeframe, internally organisations can demonstrate significant continuity. As demonstrated with this case, the implications of this tension can ultimately impact the organisations involved. It is for future management, business and organisational historians to balance this conflict and consider if externally determined periods of history truly reflect the idiosyncrasies of the cases they investigate.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This article aims to explore the impact of the Great War on the Sheffield armaments industry through the use of four company case studies in Thomas Firth, John Brown, Cammell Laird and Hadfields. It charts the evolving situation the armaments companies found themselves in after the end of the conflict and the uncertain external environment they had to engage with. The article also examines the stagnant nature of armaments companies' boards of directors in the 1920s and the ultimate rationalisation of the industry at the close of the decade.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research design is based around a close examination of the surviving manuscript records of each of the companies included, the records of the speeches recorded by chairpersons at annual meetings and some governmental records.\nFindings: The article concludes by outlining how the end of the Great War continued to affect the industry for the following decade and the complex evolving situation with a changing external environment and continuity of management internally ultimately leading to mergers in the industry.\nOriginality/value: This article uses a number of underused manuscript records to examine the Sheffield armaments industry and explores the effect of a global mega event in the Great War on one of the most technologically advanced industries of the period.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Quality in construction management: an exploratory study	[ "Construction management", "Quality", "Developing country", "Housing industry" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Jung and Wang (2006) and Lam and Thomas (2006) stated that top managers have been focussing on the need for applying quality philosophies to achieve high performance levels among various components and procedures. There has been increased interest within the construction management community in exploring possibilities for applying quality knowledge gained from manufacturing and other industrial sectors to the problems of managing the construction process (Abdel-Salam and Gad, 2009). Unfortunately, contractors rarely have a realistic idea of how much profit they are losing by not attaining an acceptable level of quality. Turk (2006) stated that quality may sometimes be ignored in the construction industry in order to cut the costs and shorten the project duration. However, it is believed that the benefits of higher customer satisfaction, better quality products, and higher market share are often obtained following the adoption of quality by construction companies (Pheng and Teo, 2004). Recent events in developing countries coupled with restructuring of economics, emergence of the World Trade Organization and the rising price of oil are expected to yield an unprecedented growth in constructions. Consequently, a huge number of large scale projects are currently in planning and contract awarding phase (Wanberg et al., 2013). The construction industry has experienced growth during the boom that occurred in developing countries in the last decade encouraging investments in the industry and raising the importance of deploying management philosophies advancement to this industrial segment. The effects of quality on a business are numerous and have improved the productivity of design and project management and now have become vital to construction business to survive and have a competitive edge.\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Quality\n3. Research methodology: Due to the dearth of real data relating to quality in the Jordanian housing projects, the researchers use an exploratory method to identify the most related quality factors. The present aim of this study was identified: factors affecting quality in the Jordanian housing sector and their relative importance. This exploratory research includes two phases of extensive review of the literature and a survey questionnaire by personal interviews in the housing sector in Jordan. The research design started with identifying a research problem, and then it provided a review of the available literature in order to understand previous research in quality and relevant fields. This has led to a determination of the key aim and objectives, and then providing the initial conceptual framework for quality factors.\n4. Results and discussion: The responses indicated that the majority of contractors who participated in the study were 100 percent male and 49.1 percent with ages ranging between 41 and 50 years old. The contractors were well experienced professionals and were able to give reliable data. The respondents over five years of experience in the construction industry were 89.9 percent and over 49.1 percent of them had over a ten years experience. All of the respondents have graduated from high school and 72.7 percent of them hold bachelor degrees. Among the architectural companies, the large proportion is 65.4 percent of the respondents which were male and 34.6 percent were female. The statistical results show that about 55.8 percent were less than 40 years, 78.8 percent of them hold bachelor degrees, and 15.4 percent of the participants have completed graduated studies. About 11.5 percent of the respondents had less than five years' experience, 21.2 percent between six and ten years, 55.8 percent between 10 and 15 years, and 11.5 percent over 15 years.\n5. Conclusion and contributions: In this research, the concept of quality can be defined from the viewpoints of contractors and architects combined as: how closely the project conforms to its requirements and meeting the requirements of the designer, constructor, and regulatory agencies as well as the owner. This research contributes theoretically in providing a conceptual framework for quality factors in the quality field. Figure 2 illustrates the 13 factors showing the highest and lowest quality factors with business involving housing sector.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the relative importance of factors affecting quality. This is important where great expenditures of time, money, and resources are wasted each year due to inefficient or non-existent quality levels.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An exploratory approach is employed. After a literature review, six interviews are initially conducted with construction experts and then a simple survey of 328 questionnaires was administrated through structured personal interviews among contractors and architects in the Jordanian housing sector.\nFindings: The findings suggest that contractors and architects combined agreed that the highest important factors affecting quality are: human resource management, customer satisfaction, and construction specific factors. The findings also suggest that strategic planning, continuous improvement, resources are the lowest important factors. A conceptual framework encompassing the key quality factors is also developed.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research has important implications for different level managers at construction companies. By understanding the quality factors, managers can focus on the highest factors and catch up with their lowest important factors in order to maintain a balanced and integrated quality approach.\nOriginality/value: This is one of few studies that investigate the importance of quality factors. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper providing empirical evidence of the quality factors in construction management in a developing country.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring social media adoption in small to medium-sized enterprises in Ireland	[ "Small to medium-sized enterprises", "Ireland", "Action research", "Effectuation", "Permission marketing", "Social media adoption" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper addresses the current deficit in the literature on social media adoption within a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) context. The authors adopt an action research methodology and through in-depth case analysis of eight SME cases propose a theoretical model through which more effective social media adoption by SMEs can be better understood.\nSME context and personal contact networks: The context for this paper, the SME, is characterised by a number of unique and important factors which identify them as different from large companies and that emphasise the fact that they are not \"little big businesses\"; with all the attendant implications that has for our understanding of how those who own and manage such enterprises actually do business, (Carson et al., 1995). A key aspect of this practice and one germane to this research, has been the recognition of how critical \"personal contact networks\", (PCNs), are to the way that practitioners in SMEs do business, (McGowan and Hampton, 2006; O'Donnell and Cummins, 1999). For many, such networked relationships constitute a key business resource, one that is of particular importance in maintaining the core relationship between an SME and its customer base, (Bridge et al., 2009; Dubini and Aldrich, 1991).\nTechnology facilitated contact networks: the advent of social media: Research to date in the area of technology-enabled marketing is largely deficient and suggests that the primary motivation for increasing the role of technology in organisations has been to reduce costs and eliminate uncertainty (Kelley, 1989) as well as to standardise service through reducing the heterogeneity prevalent in the typical employee/customer encounter (Quinn, 1996). However, the accelerating growth in the deployment and integration of new technology into marketing activity raises key questions around managing quality in company-customer interactions and relationships (Durkin, 2013). While technology continues to make a dramatic and profound impact in industries and radically shapes how services are delivered (Bitner et al., 2000) little is understood more generally in marketing about the impact of advancing technology on customers; their expectations, perceptions and behaviours (Kietzmann et al., 2012; Dabholkar and Bagozzi, 2002; Walker and Johnson, 2005). Indeed, while recent industry research in Ireland, the UK and the USA indicates support for the view that at the level of marketing practice the value of technology-enabled marketing has now been recognised more fully, for all the enthusiasm displayed by practitioners in adopting such channels in business, the studies suggest that firms are weak in how they deploy such new technology in a marketing-oriented way, (IBM, 2011; Marketing Week, 2012).\nMethodology: In this study a deep and enduring engagement between the research team and eight SMEs over a period of two years, from 2009-2011, informed the emergence and development of a theoretical model. The nature of the deep engagement was at a company-specific level where the small firm client had sought consultancy support and professional guidance on whether and/or how to most effectively and efficiently adopt social media solutions in the management and development of customer relationships. Given this the sample of companies chosen was determined by their approach for assistance at that time and the sample can therefore be considered as \"convenience\" in nature.\nFindings of the research: towards a theoretical model: In order to assist with a customer-oriented approach to social media adoption in SMEs it is argued that the first level of understanding required is that related to the company itself, its operating environment and the profile of its existing customers.\nImplications and conclusions: The theoretical model explained above continues to be subjected to critical review in the highly competitive environment of business practice.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the current deficit in the literature on social media adoption within a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) context. The authors adopt an action research methodology and through in-depth case analysis of eight SME cases aim to develop a theoretical model through which more effective social media adoption by SMEs can be better understood.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this study a deep and enduring engagement between the research team and eight small to medium-sized firms over a period of two years, from 2009-2011, informed the emergence and development of a theoretical model. In this research, using an action research methodology, the authors examine the nature and character of the challenges being faced by SME owner/managers as they consider adopting and utilising social media for commercial advantage and the evolution of the model through this engagement.\nFindings: The insights gained from the case companies indicated a variety of different approaches to social media adoption which often varied by organisational context and staff competency level. A universally common motivator for thinking about social media adoption was that the case companies shared an anxiety were they not to adopt what was perceived to be a new essential tool for business growth. Little evidence was found in the cases of such adoption behaviour being driven by a purposeful or thoughtful agenda through which value could be added to the customer experience.\nResearch limitations/implications: Implications cluster around issues of customer orientation in the case companies under study and the extent to which owner/managers are seduced by the capability of new technology without thinking through the way in which such new technology might add value to customers. This raises an imperative for further research in the specific area of social media adoption behaviours in SMEs and more generally at the marketing/technology interface. Limitations of this study include the relatively small sample and the locus of the study being confined to Ireland.\nPractical implications: At the level of practice there are significant implications for decision makers in small firms to become more attuned to how technology can meaningfully add value to the customer experience. For educators, trainers and consultants there are implications for a more questioning and critical perspective to be undertaken when advising owner/managers on the merits of new technology adoption.\nOriginality/value: The paper adds to the growing literature in social media adoption but is distinctive given the longitudinal nature of the study and the evolution of a model that identifies and describes the issues uncovered in the world of the SME practitioner with respect to the new world of social media.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The EU as superordinate brand origin: an entitativity perspective	[ "European Union", "Brand evaluation", "Country of origin", "International marketing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Origin designations have long been recognized as relevant informational cues impacting consumers' evaluations of products or brands. Numerous studies have shown that a brand's origin designation can influence consumers' quality perceptions, as well as affective reactions and purchasing behavior toward the brand[1]. In this context, brand origin refers to \"the country which a consumer associates a certain product or brand as being its source, regardless of where the product is actually produced\" (Jaffe and Nebenzahl, 2006, p. 29) and constitutes an extrinsic cue, that is, a factor that does not directly affect a brand's appearance or performance (Olson and Jacoby, 1972).\nConceptual background: Entitativity\nMethod overview: To investigate our research propositions, we conduct four complementary between-subjects experiments, using different origin designations and fictitious brands as stimuli. We opt for an experimental approach to safeguard internal validity, that is, to ensure that any observed effects can indeed be attributed to the (different) origin designations rather than other confounding influences (e.g. brand familiarity or brand strength). Moreover, from a pragmatic perspective, using real brands as stimuli is problematic as \"Made-in-EU\" labeling is currently not mandatory (see Introduction section).\nDiscussion and conclusion: Countries may no longer be the only relevant entities along which origin effects have to be acknowledged. In an increasingly globalized market environment with fading country borders (Usunier, 2006), consumers may not only draw on specific countries but also on regional entities as information cues when formulating brand preferences and making purchase decision (van Ittersum et al., 2003). A first important contribution of our study is that superordinate designations such as the EU indeed represent distinct entities in consumers' minds which strongly impact their perceptions and intended behavior and this despite the fact that \"the image of an extensive, multi-national area, relative to the image of a single nation state within it, would be vague, impressive and poorly focused (Schooler and Sunoo, 1969, p. 887). From a theoretical perspective, the concept of entitativity thus introduces a new conceptual lens in origin research which - almost exclusively - has previously focused on the individual country as the unit of analysis.\nLimitations and future research: The present study focused on a specific superordinate entity (the EU) as brand origin to which a number of country-specific origin cues were compared. Future studies should consider other regional entities (e.g. ASEAN) as well as additional origin countries in order to further explore the concept of entitativity in the context of brand origin effects. Whether the context of the EU is unique, or whether other superordinate entities show similar effects on consumers' brand evaluations and purchase intentions is a question that obviously only further research can answer.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Drawing from the entitativity theory, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the European Union (EU) as a superordinate entity and investigate the extent to which a \"Made-in-EU\" designation leads to superior/inferior brand evaluations and through them to higher/lower purchase intentions than different country-specific designations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Prior literature and qualitative interviews with consumers are used to generate several propositions regarding the role of the EU as a brand origin. These are subsequently tested in a series of four experimental studies using a common design but different country-specific origins as stimuli.\nFindings: While a \"Made-in-EU\" designation is interpreted as a quality signal, linking a brand to the EU fails to generate positive affective associations. Furthermore, the exact impact of a \"Made-in-EU\" brand designation very much depends on the standard of comparison, that is, the specific country against which the EU is evaluated.\nResearch limitations/implications: Superordinate designations such as the EU can indeed represent distinct entities in consumers' minds which strongly impact their perceptions and intended behavior.\nPractical implications: Moving from a \"home country\" label to a \"Made-in-EU\" label is not advisable for owners of domestic brands. For foreign brands from EU countries with an unfavorable country image, adopting a \"Made-in-EU\" label is worth considering since it can strengthen quality perceptions. However, any quality advantage might be offset by weaker brand affect perceptions.\nOriginality/value: The concept of entitativity introduces a new conceptual lens in the context of origin research which - almost exclusively - has previously focused on the individual country as the unit of analysis.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cooperative purchase and use: a study of the ProQuest full text database of dissertations and theses (PQDT)	[ "Resource sharing", "Consortium", "CALIS", "Cooperative purchasing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The ProQuest Dissertations and Theses full-text database (PQDT) is the world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. It covers nearly three million searchable citations to dissertations and theses from around the world from 1,743 to the present day, together with over one million full-text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format. More than 80,000 new full-texts are added to the database each year through publishing partnerships with 700 leading academic institutions worldwide and collaborative retrospective digitization of dissertations through ProQuest's Digital Archiving and Access Program. Full-text dissertations are archived as submitted by the degree-granting institution. Some will be native PDF, some PDF image[1].\nCooperative purchasing of PQDT: China Academic Library & Information System (CALIS) has organized the PQDT purchase annually since 2002. Each participating member must purchase a fixed number of dissertations and theses each year; 200 for Chinese mainland members and 260 for Hong Kong members.\n3. The subscription and retrieval system of PQDT: To facilitate the subscription of dissertations and theses by members and maximize the shared resources, CALIS provides technical support and subsidized hardware for PQDT purchasing. CALIS has also developed the \"PQDT dissertation and thesis subscription system\", which avoids repeating orders and duplicating holdings for participating libraries. The system also facilitates member libraries management of their orders. CALIS plays an important role in guaranteeing the success of cooperative purchasing.\n4. The effectiveness of the PQDT consortium: PQDT is one of the most popular resource sharing activities of CALIS. Its key benefits are:\nThe contribution of CALIS to resource sharing: Firstly, CALIS provides the guidelines for on the development of PQDT, which has prompted libraries to invest in this resource. CALIS understands that dissertations and theses are unique resources within universities whether in China or abroad. During its development of Phase 1, CALIS offered subsidies to participating members for the purchase of PQDT and organized the cooperative purchasing activities. With the assistance of one million RMB subsidies from CALIS, the subscription of PQDT brought in another 70 million RMB investment from participants. There is no doubt that the initial subsidies mobilized members' enthusiasm to participate in cooperative purchasing.\nFurther consideration: The PQDT consortium has made remarkable achievements with the support, participation and cooperation of participant libraries. More and more dissertation and thesis resources can be accessed in the future; members' budgets were saved on the basis of the model of \"unlimited cross access\" and \"cost savings\". Correspondingly, PQDT has played an increasing role in teaching and research activities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: To purpose of this study is to describe and to demonstrate the value of a consortium purchase of the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses full-text database (PQDT) in China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors provide a first-person account based on their professional positions at the China Academic Library & Information System Administrative Center.\nFindings: That the PQDT database has steadily increased the use of theses in China with more institutions subscribing every year. The PQDT full-text database has become one of the most cost effective databases cooperatively purchased in China.\nOriginality/value: One of the few in-depth studies of the use of the PQDT database.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of knowledge management factors in organizational sustainable competitive advantage	[ "Information systems", "Knowledge management", "Intellectual capital", "Human capital", "Processes", "Organizational sustainable competitive advantage" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the knowledge era that we are living in, the management of intangible assets, namely the management of knowledge assets, has become crucial to organizational sustainable competitive advantage (CA). A sustainable CA derives implementation of a strategy that adds value (Barney, 1991), and depends on a strategic advantage which can offer favorable terms or block their ability to achieve superior results (Besanko et al., 2000).\n2. Theoretical foundations and conceptual model: 2.1 IC and KM components\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample and inquiry process\n4. Results: To test the model hypotheses proposed in this study, we perform a two-stage analysis. In first place, we perform a statistics analysis (with SPSS software) using exploratory factorial analysis in order to identify a clear factor structure among the research variables, and which variable give a major contribution to represent each construct.\n5. Discussion and conclusions: The study shows that HC, IS and PRO are, in this order, the organizational dimensions which represent the KM construct. Sustainable CA clearly distinguishes the financial and customers dimensions. The financial dimension is closely related with return on investments and business assets, growth sales and market share of organizations. The customers dimension is strongly associated with new products sales and meeting customers' expectations, in order to attract and retain them, providing a valuable customer base crucial for the success of business.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the relations among different knowledge management (KM) factors, such as human capital (HC), processes and information systems (IS) on organizational sustainable competitive advantage (CA), within the SMEs context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Structured questionnaires were distributed to CEOs and managers of Portuguese organizations through an electronic survey. Partial least squares software was utilized to analyze the data.\nFindings: The measurement model results identify and validate the dimensions of HC, processes and IS representing the KM construct. The structural model results demonstrate that HC and processes have a direct and significant impact on organizational CA, on the customer and financial dimensions, respectively. IS indirectly and significantly influence organizational CA, mediated by HC and processes.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample size includes mostly service business and SMEs. Other organizations sectors, such as industry, should be analyzed in order to develop a comparative cross-sectorial study.\nPractical implications: This study establishes suggestions for managers to make legitimate decisions concerning investments on knowledge assets and organizational capabilities that can foster business growth and sustainable CA within a SMEs context.\nOriginality/value: The authors propose a mediation mechanism showing that the relationship between IS and sustainable CA is not direct, but it is mediated by HC and processes. This mechanism points out some critical issues for the strategic knowledge and intellectual capital assets, as a source of organizational CA.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Food banks, welfare, and food insecurity in Canada	[ "Canada", "Welfare", "Food banks", "Food poverty", "Food insecurity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In Canada, food banks are organizations established by community groups to coordinate the collection and redistribution of donated foods to those \"in need,\" typically on an ad hoc, voluntary basis. There is no federal program to augment the supplies of food charities through commodity surplus redistribution; nor are there publicly funded, government-run food assistance programs. Food banks and other charitable food providers in Canada rely on food and cash donations from the general public and corporate sector, and they constitute the only public source of food assistance for people who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing household food shortages.\nMethods: We draw on data from the 2011-2012 Canadian Community Health Survey to describe the prevalence and severity of household food insecurity among households reliant on social assistance. This is a cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of approximately 120,000 Canadians, aged 12 years and older, excluding Aboriginal Canadians living on reserves, individuals living in institutions or who do not have a residence, residents of some remote regions, and members of the armed forces. Household food security status is assessed with the 18-item Household Food Security Survey Module. The experiences of food insecurity captured on this module range from worry about running out of food before there is more money to buy more, to the inability to afford a balanced diet, to going hungry, missing meals, and in extreme cases, not eating for a whole day because of a lack of food and money for food. In coding responses, we considered any affirmative response as an indication of some level of food insecurity, but determined moderate and severe food insecurity with the classification framework developed by Health Canada (2007b).\nSocial assistance in Canada: In Canada, the term \"social assistance\" is used to encompass both the income assistance programs available to working-aged adults who are considered permanently unable to work because of medical conditions and \"welfare,\" the income support program of \"last resort\" for working-aged adults. The income is intended to meet the basic needs of individuals and families who have exhausted all other means of financial support. The delivery of social assistance programs falls under provincial/territorial jurisdictions, and these programs vary markedly across jurisdictions both with respect to their provision of cash and in-kind benefits (Tweddle et al., 2013).\nFood bank operations: In the first national survey of food banks, conducted in 1989, 72 percent of 378,000 people who had been served in March of that year were on social assistance (Davidson, 1989). The Canadian Association of Food Banks (later renamed Food Banks Canada) began repeating this survey annually in the late 1990s. By that time, the scale of food bank operations had grown substantially and the proportion of clients who were on social assistance began to fall, but it has remained at or above 50 percent (Figure 2). In March 2013, the 4,743 organizations included in Food Banks Canada's annual \"HungerCount\" provided groceries to 833,098 people through food banks and 4,341,659 meals through soup kitchens, shelters, school breakfast programs, and other venues (Food Banks Canada, 2013). Half of those helped by food banks were on social assistance.\nSocial assistance, food banks, and food insecurity: In the absence of recent population-based surveys that have included assessments of food bank usage, it is impossible to examine food bank use among social assistance recipients and assess its relationship to food insecurity. However, some insight can be drawn from a study of food insecurity among the sample of low-income families in Toronto outlined above. Almost 80 percent of families reported some experience of food insecurity and most families remained food insecure over the one year of follow-up insecurity (Loopstra and Tarasuk, 2013). Consistent with national data, those reliant on welfare were much more vulnerable to severe food insecurity than others (Kirkpatrick and Tarasuk, 2009). Despite the extensive, well-established food charity system in Toronto, in both the baseline and follow-up interviews less than one-quarter of families reported having obtained any assistance from a food bank in the past year (Kirkpatrick and Tarasuk, 2009; Loopstra and Tarasuk, 2012). The odds of using a food bank increased with severity of food insecurity suggesting that families turned to food banks when their circumstances reached a point of greater desperation. The low rates of food bank utilization observed are consistent with earlier reports of the relationship between measures of food insecurity and food bank use nationally (McIntyre et al., 2012a; Rainville and Brink, 2001; Vozoris and Tarasuk, 2003), suggesting that food banks have only ever served a small fraction of the number of Canadians struggling to get the food they need. (A recent examination of food insecurity in the Paris region of France yielded a similar observation, suggesting that the discrepancy between the problem of food insecurity and the provision of food charity may be endemic to the design and delivery of these services (Martin-Fernandez et al., 2013).)\nAdvocacy: In addition to providing charitable food assistance, food banks claim an active stake in social welfare in Canada, and this has been true since their inception[2]. On their web sites and routinely in their publications, the national association of food banks and some of the larger food banks make recommendations for social policy change \"to seek solutions that address the root causes\" of hunger (Food Banks Canada, 2013), including calls to revolutionize social assistance. Many smaller food banks also try to incorporate advocacy activities into their work, but the investment of precious resources in advocacy often must be weighed against the never-ending work of soliciting donations and distributing food assistance (Wakefield et al., 2012). Even if they aspire to do more, food banks are restricted in their allocation of resources to advocacy by federal legislation limiting to 10 percent the amount of resources that a charitable organization can allocate to political activity (Industry Canada, 2002).\nImplications: Food banks have come represent de facto policy on the management of impoverished individuals' food needs in Canada. Yet there is no indication that this ad hoc, donor-driven system of food relief is able to compensate for the chronic household budget deficits arising from fundamentally inadequate income assistance programs. Furthermore, there is nothing inherent in the design or delivery of charitable food assistance programs in Canada that suggests this \"system\" is able to correct itself.\nConclusion: The critique of food banks presented here is not new. It has long been recognized that food banks are an imperfect response to household food insecurity, and that the needs for their services stem from policy reforms that have weakened social protection programs. However, Canada provides a useful case study of the potential for food banks to fill gaps created by inadequate social programs. Our examination of the abundance of research and monitoring data on food banks and food insecurity in Canada provides a cautionary tale for other countries. While the inability of food banks to respond effectively to the food needs of those reliant on inadequate social assistance programs is clear, the food bank legacy also appears intertwined with the social welfare state's deterioration in assuring adequate health and social security for its citizens. Moreover, current directions in social policy and food bank operations provide no indications that this problem will correct itself with more time.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Similar to the recent emergence of food banks in other affluent nations, the genesis and ultimate entrenchment of food banks in Canada has been tightly intertwined with the dismantling of the welfare state. Through an examination of Canadian data, the authors elucidate the implications of entrenching voluntary, extra-governmental, charitable food assistance programs as an adjunct to publicly funded social assistance programs. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Publicly available food bank reports, population health survey data, and the results of a study of low-income families in Toronto are reviewed to examine the food security status of social assistance recipients and their use of food banks.\nFindings: In 2012, 70 percent of households in Canada who were reliant on social assistance were food insecure. Social assistance recipients comprise at least half of food bank clientele and have done so for as long as this information has been tracked, but the assistance provided by food banks appears insufficient to alter households' food insecurity. Although food banks currently distribute over 200 million pounds of food annually, the scale of their operations pales in comparison to the food needs of those who seek their help.\nOriginality/value: In the 30 years since food banks began in Canada, there has been considerable research into this response, as well as extensive population monitoring of food insecurity. Canada provides an informative case study of an affluent country's long-term dependency on charitable food assistance and the impact this has on the food insecurity of those reliant on social assistance programs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Institutional barriers to women's employment in Saudi Arabia	[ "Women’s employment", "Institutional barriers", "Nitaqat", "Women agency" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: While Saudi Arabian women represent almost half of the Saudi population (Central Department of Statistics and Information (CDSI), 2013), their workforce participation has been historically low. According to the Global Gender Gap Index, Saudi Arabia was ranked 129th out of 136 countries in 2010, rising to127th in 2013 in relation to differences between males and females for economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival rates and political empowerment (World Economic Forum, 2013). In 2010, the Saudi female labour participation rate was just 18 per cent and accounted for only 9.2 per cent of the total labour force (CDSI, 2013). Moreover, despite the fact that there were more female undergraduates at university than males in the period 2012-2013 (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), 2013), women had a higher unemployment rate of 35 per cent compared to 12 per cent for men (International Monetary Fund (IMF), 2013). Clearly, Saudi is not utilising almost half of its available human resources which, as other Arab nations have recognised, is increasingly unaffordable in a changing economic context (Ghorbani and Tung, 2007). In 2011, the Saudi Government launched a major labour market programme, known as Nitaqat, to increase Saudi workforce participation, particularly that of women (Hertog, 2012). However, this is in the context of a society in which there are firmly entrenched legal, economic and cultural barriers to women's employment.\nWomen's employment in Saudi Arabia: A growing body of literature has addressed the lack of female participation and gender inequality in employment in the labour markets of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) (Yount et al., 2015; Sidani and Al-Ariss, 2013; Scott-Jackson et al., 2010). Key themes include socio-cultural restrictions, economic-legal factors and attitudes surrounding gender roles in Arab societies as explanations for women's limited participation in the workforce.\nImplications for change: structure or agency?: The impact of Nitaqat on Saudi women's employment can be understood by exploring the relationship between structure and agency. This requires exploring the role of both social structure and an autonomous of individual preference or choice (Giddens, 1984). Agency is understood as an individual's capacity to act independently and to make his or her own free choices (Barker, 2005). In another words, agency is the \"ability to make effective choices and to transform these choices into desired outcomes\" (World Bank, 2012, p. 150). The three domains for agency are decision making, freedom of movement and gender equitable attitudes (Yount et al., 2015). Structure refers to systems, such as social class, religion, gender, ethnicity and customs, which determine or provide the rules by which agency can be exercised. Structures are captured and shaped by \"institutions\" which govern the beliefs and behaviours of individuals, groups and organisations in a society (Bush, 1987). The relationship between structure and agency, however, is enmeshed in the sense that structures are formed as the result of countless individual actions and decisions made over time. At the same time, structures and institutions provide the limits and parameters for human agency. As Cruickshank (2003) states (p. 3), \"Structures are created by the actions of individuals in the past, and now have causal properties in their own right\".\nMethodology: In the conservative social of Saudi Arabia, any issue concerning women requires discretion and sensitivity. As such, there are limitations on both method and on sampling. Random sampling of relevant government officials, for example, is highly problematic, given the need to follow official protocols to meet with research participants. Quantitative methods, such as surveys, are also impractical, given the difficulties in communicating with women directly, and in eliciting reliable responses. Moreover, this research was exploratory in nature; hence, a qualitative approach was employed and individual, face-to-face interviews were conducted as the primary method of data collection (Creswell, 2013). Face-to-face interviews provided the means to gain in-depth information regarding gender issues and social matters that influence women's employment from the women's own perspective (Veal, 2005).\nFindings: Group 1: government officials\nDiscussion: This paper explores the relationship between the Saudi Government's attempts to increase women's participation rate in the labour market and the institutional barriers inhibiting women's employment in the private sector. We identify four key findings.\nTheoretical implications: This paper broadens existing literature on the institutional factors inhabiting women's employment in private sectors of MENA and GCC, addressing a gap in the literature relating to the uniquely restricted social context in Saudi Arabia. While there is a body of evidence regarding Saudi unemployment issues (Madhi and Barrientos, 2003; Sadi and Al-Buraey, 2009; Al-Shammari, 2009; Ramady, 2010) and the impact of Nitaqat (Koyame-Marsh, 2016; Javaid and Ahmed, 2015; De Bel-Air, 2015; Ramady, 2013), there is no identified research exploring the gender issues in relation to Saudi women's employment and their perspective on employment opportunities in private sector.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of the Saudi employment programme \"Nitaqat\" in addressing institutional barriers to women's employment in the Saudi private sector. The paper has a particular focus on the perspectives of unemployed women as the intended recipients of increased employment opportunities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper adopts a qualitative approach, drawing on findings from face-to-face interviews conducted with two groups of stakeholders, government officials and unemployed Saudi women.\nFindings: Four key findings are identified. First, the considerable cultural and regulatory barriers of a conservative society are resilient impediments to the success of Saudi employment policy. Second, discrimination against women is endemic in the Saudi society; however, it is largely unrecognised within the Saudi culture and often accepted by women themselves. Third, due to government regulations, cultural constraints and the gendered educational system, the private sector contributes to sustaining labour market segmentation through discriminatory practices. Finally, while a positive change is taking place in Saudi Arabia regarding women's employment, it is incremental and uneven.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides new insights into the institutional barriers related to the labour force participation of Saudi women from the perspective of Saudi women themselves.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Workplace learning to create social quality	[ "Case Studies", "Customer orientation", "Empowerment", "Field research", "Workplace learning", "Social services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: When researchers and practitioners are confronted with the dynamic complexity of the real world (Mahoney and Sanchez, 2004), it becomes evident how limited the ability of researchers and managers is to fully comprehend, describe, explain and (perhaps) predict the world as it is and as it is becoming. A mission of reconnecting theory-building from the outside and theory-building from the inside requires a process of interconnected research and practice in which interactions between managers and researchers have a purposeful focus on theory building. Dynamics in the organisational environment force universities to adapt, innovate and learn from real-world social issues and from learning in the workplace, connecting scholarly work with work in practice (Thijssen and Gijselaers, 2007) for the benefit of both improving practice and developing theory. Thereby combining relevance and rigor to contribute to closing the gap between universities and the world of work practice to create value through life-long learning (Thijssen et al., 2002).\n2. Method: This study is part of a time series design (Rosnow and Rosenthal, 2008) with the following research strategy:\n3. Results: Summarising the current state of the client's life-world as an effect of the current \"treatment\" indicates the following:\n4. Discussion and conclusion: This study focussed on workplace learning as creation for social quality and addresses the following learning problems: What are the perceptions of social quality by people who are living in a network of social exclusions on the domains of socio-economic security, social cohesion, social empowerment and social inclusion, and what are the social learning requirements for social service organisations in The Netherlands to improve social quality?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The present study aims to focus on workplace learning and understanding learning as creation (Kessels, 1995, 1996, 2001; Verdonschot, 2009; Billett and Choy, 2013) to bridge the gap between education and practice addressing the complex real world issue of poverty and social exclusion in The Netherlands. When researchers and practitioners are confronted with the dynamic complexity of the real world (Mahoney and Sanchez, 2004), it becomes evident how limited the ability of researchers and managers is to fully comprehend, describe, explain and (perhaps) predict the world as it is and as it is becoming. A mission of reconnecting theory-building from the outside and theory-building from the inside requires a process of interconnected research and practice in which interactions between managers and researchers have a purposeful focus on theory-building.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is an example of engaged scholarship as proposed by Van de Ven and Johnson (2006) and a baseline study of a time series design from 2001-2008 comparing the effects of a \"current treatment\" in social work in The Netherlands at t0; explaining the collaborative design between practitioners, innovation consultants and scholars of a \"new treatment\"; and measuring the effects on social quality at t1.\nFindings: The paper provides insight in the level of social quality of clients in a situation of poverty and social exclusion. Lessons learned from workplace learning as creation in social work practice provides input for improving work practices through training and development of social workers.\nResearch limitations/implications: Early notions for a potential new \"treatment\" have clearly not been fully dealt with in this baseline study. As stated this base-line study aims at overcoming the lack of insight in the client's life-world and open the black box to gain fresh insights. This is clearly just a first step of a much longer learning and creation process. Now that more insight in the clients life world is available, engaged researchers have proposed a new, more productive mindset of clients in a situation of poverty and social exclusion that they should not be regarded as a \"granite base\", but rather as \"architects and builders\" of their own life-worlds, with the social services as the \"main contractor\" to build trust, empower by helping to explicate personal survival strategies and planning for social inclusion (Van Damme, 1999). The limited number of respondents (N = 31) in this study is a limitation of this study, and findings cannot be generalised. Findings are no more than early indications and are not representative for other populations. Further research on a larger scale and in other research settings is needed.\nPractical implications: Implications are that design principles for a new and more participatory and socially oriented approach for workplace learning as creation should include the role of building trust in establishing relational quality between the public service organisation, other institutions and the client. First indications are that trust and empowerment may better enable clients in a situation of poverty and social exclusion to take charge of the design of their own lives and to construct and co-construct it accordingly. The role of actors from social services to build trusted relations, empower and co-construct an improved reality bear both elements of social learning, through dialogue (construct and co-construct knowledge = to know) and elements from social empowerment as part of the social quality concept (to act). Understanding the effects of the \"current treatment\" as input for workplace learning allows for an improved connection between practice and theory on workplace learning and social quality, thereby making a decisive contribution in closing the gap between real-world complex issues and education.\nSocial implications: A better understanding of the aspects of social quality and social exclusion from theory and from social work practice.\nOriginality/value: The original contribution of the research is the provision of insight into the complexity of workplace learning in social work when dealing with poverty and social exclusion. The focus on both the process of learning, as well as the outcome of learning, can be considered original.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Foreign direct investments, democracy, and economic growth in Turkey	[ "Turkey", "Democracy", "ARDL", "Foreign direct investment", "Cointegration", "C22", "F14" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Many developing countries that target economic growth tend to attract substantial foreign direct investment (FDI) to their economies. Some of these countries make changes in their market conditions that will improve the civil rights and liberties to attract better FDI flows. According to United Nations trade and development data, FDI flows to developing economies have increased significantly. In 2000, FDI flows were US$256 billion and by 2010 this number increased to US$617 billion, an increase of over 140 percent which is not easy to ignore. A cross-country study by Borensztein et al. (1998) supports this tendency in these economies and suggest that FDI flows to developing economies are more successful in advancing growth than domestic investments. Other theoretical and empirical studies have also accepted this theory that FDIs are essential instruments in contributing economic growth. (Alfaro et al., 2004; Bengoa and Sanchez-Robles, 2003)\n2. Literature review: 2.1 General literature review\n3. Data and methodology: 3.1 Econometric model\n4. Empirical analysis and discussion: 4.1 Bounds test for cointegration\n5. Concluding remarks: The intuition that the present paper empirically provides with an ARDL model is how improvements in democracy have a significant positive impact on FDI flows to Turkey. It is much clearer, particularly after the last military intervention that took place in the September of 1980. The results may also put forward that, in the long run, FDI inflows have spillover effects in Turkey's economy. Improved freedom with better political rights and more civil liberties in the country will have structured a stable government with better policies and institutions. In return, improved market conditions are provided for the foreign and domestic investors in the economy of Turkey. In this respect this paper satisfies the established need to study the democracy and FDI inflows link, which is necessary in an emerging market such as Turkey.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In the last decade, foreign direct investment (FDI) flows have increased dramatically in the world, especially in the emerging economies. Some of these countries make changes in their market conditions that will improve the civil rights and liberties to attract better FDI flows. The purpose of this paper is to test the linkage between democracy and FDI flows to Turkey.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The present study employs a bounds testing procedure developed (Pesaran et al., 2001) for cointegration analysis on six different long-run models with selected determinants of FDIs with yearly data from 1977 to 2011.\nFindings: The intuition the paper empirically provides how improvements in democracy have a significant positive impact on FDI flows to Turkey. The results may also put forward that, in the long run, FDI inflows will have spillover effects in Turkey's economy.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although one drawback in the study is having a small sample size of 35 observations, estimating six different long-run models is one way to overcome it. Thus presented results may be in short of simplification for some readers. This, however, opens an opportunity for future studies to further the proposal by employing in different models and/or longer data sets if possible.\nPractical implications: A stable government policies, more civil freedom, and sustained institution politics should not be ignored in Turkey given its geopolitical location.\nOriginality/value: This paper satisfies the established need to study of democracy and FDI flows link is necessary in an emerging market such as Turkey.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
To immerse or not? Experimenting with two virtual retail environments	[ "Simulation", "Online shopping", "E-commerce (B2B/B2C/B2G/G2C)", "Virtual world" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Traditional store retailers have long used retail \"atmosphere\" or environment stimulus cues, such as colour, music and aroma, to influence consumers' shopping behaviour (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). In recent years, several disruptive patterns have dramatically changed the retail industry, while pushing traditional retailing to evolve in terms of structure (Pantano, 2014). e-Retailers are using atmospherics to compensate for the lack of a physical environment, including graphics, visuals, audio, colour, video (Dennis et al., 2009; Eroglu et al., 2003) and, centrally to this study, three-dimensional (3D) virtual reality, which we term the \"immersive retail environment\" (Laria and Pantano, 2012). In this scenario, Bourlakis et al. (2009) identified metaverse retailing as an evolution of electronic retailing, representing a shift from a product orientation to a consumer experience orientation. User experience in retail settings emerges from the interactions consumers have with a product, environment and retailer, and it has a holistic nature involving cognitive, affective, emotional, social and physical responses to the retail environment (Verhoef et al., 2009). This experience might be influenced by both elements under retailer control (e.g. assortment, price, layout, etc.) and other factors that cannot be managed by retailers (e.g. shopping motivations, etc.). The adoption of technologies might influence these factors and encourage consumers to shop online.\n2. Literature review: Although 3D-based retail environments can potentially operate as stand-alone systems, it is only through virtual worlds that they have become more prominent as the latter extended their reach and importance. Social virtual worlds are immersive, persistent, shared, computer-mediated 3D environments, designed for real-time social interaction (in the context of varying applications such as education or business) and entertainment, where the users are represented by individual avatars (Bartle, 2004; Zhou et al., 2011). These worlds extend our physical universe by adding new dimensions and domains for economic, social and leisure activities (Papagiannidis et al., 2008). Not surprisingly, among these activities shopping, in various forms and shapes depending on the world's theme, features high in user preferences. Virtual commodities can act in essentially the same social roles as material goods, with users consuming virtual goods in order to express themselves and their identities, establish a social status, mark group membership, etc. (Lehdonvirta et al., 2009). Virtual retailing often resembles the traditional approaches, but is not bound by them and can go beyond them. When conduits between the real and the virtual exist, retailers are encouraged to consider such worlds as potential interfaces for their online arms. For instance in Second Life, one of the well-known social virtual worlds, it is possible to exchange real money for Linden dollars and purchase virtual good with them and vice versa. Many real organisations have entered such worlds, which first raised questions about the similarities and differences of the delivery of retailing in virtual worlds, in the bricks-and-mortar world, and on the internet and second whether retailing in virtual worlds would ever scale to become a future 3D platform for electronic commerce (Messinger et al., 2009). A few have even attempted to integrate their offline operations with the virtual world ones (Papagiannidis and Bourlakis, 2010).\n3. Method: A new virtual retail environment was developed for this study, offering more of a high level of presence prompted by the realistic interface and 3D graphics, enhancing the feeling of immersion in the system. The first phase of the study was to create a 3D virtual desktop application, which has been further compared with an immersive 3D application.\n4. Results: The following results have been generated using the partial least square (PLS) approach. Since the model in this study is a synthesis of earlier work, the literature suggests that PLS is a better approach compared with other SEM tools (Chin et al., 2003; Gefen et al., 2000; Reinartz et al., 2009). In this study, we used SmartPLS Version 2.0 (Ringle et al., 2005) to conduct the analyses including validity measures (Henseler et al., 2008). Tables II and III present the descriptive statistics of indicators, composite reliability, Cronbach's a, and standardised factor loadings. All our constructs were measured using a seven-point Likert scale. All standardised factor loadings are significant, most of the factor loadings are higher than 0.6, which is considered high (Hair et al., 1998), and the other three factor loadings are higher than 0.4, which is acceptable (Raubenheimer, 2004), indicating convergent validity. The composite reliabilities, and Cronbach's a of the constructs are all larger than the 0.7 threshold, indicating acceptable reliability (Boudreau et al., 2001).\n5. Discussion: Our work has filled a key gap in the literature by testing a theoretical, integrative model and developing a theoretical path which maps consumer behaviour leading to purchase intention. A cross-analysis of this integrative model/theoretical path within two virtual retail environments provided numerous theoretical and managerial insights for immersive environments, making a major contribution to this field of study.\n6. Conclusions, managerial implications and future research: This work has evaluated a robust model of purchase intention and demonstrated it to hold (for clothing purchases) not only in a 3D environment on a conventional computer platform but also in an immersive one, where participants wear special glasses and a data glove. Purchase intention is influenced by satisfaction, which is in turn influenced by enjoyment and engagement. Engagement in turn is influenced by utilitarian and hedonic value and the experience of product simulation or telepresence, which is composed of control, 3D authenticity, colour and graphics vividness.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of users' simulated experience in a virtual store and to show the subsequent impact of that experience on engagement. The outcome of that engagement is examined in relation to enjoyment, satisfaction and purchase intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The method comprised an experiment comparing users' perceptions of a standard 2D online clothing store with an enhanced, immersive one that aimed to provide shopping value approaching that of a traditional store by using a 3D experience where participants wore special glasses and a data glove.\nFindings: Results demonstrate the major role of telepresence components in simulated experience and the critical role of that experience, along with hedonic and utilitarian values, in engagement. Purchase intention is influenced by satisfaction, which is in turn influenced by enjoyment and engagement. Engagement in turn is influenced by utilitarian and hedonic value and the experience of product simulation or telepresence, which is composed of control, colour and graphics vividness, and 3D authenticity. In the immersive, 3D environment, experience is more associated with engagement and enjoyment, leading to greater purchase intention. The immersive, 3D environment, thus, has the potential to rival traditional shopping in terms of experience, resulting in higher sales for retailers and satisfaction for consumers.\nOriginality/value: This work has evaluated a robust model of purchase intention and demonstrated it to hold not only in a 3D environment on a conventional computer platform, but also in an immersive one, where participants wear special glasses and a data glove.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Climate change regulation: implications for business executives	[ "Climate change", "Climate change regulations", "Climate change reparation scheme", "Environmental regulations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The controversy regarding the causes and consequences of global warming has emerged as one of the most significant global social, political, technological, and economic issues facing businesses today; however, there are a wide range of views on the importance of climate change. India's Environmental and Forests Minister, Jairam Ramesh, even suggested that there is a continuum of perceptions concerning the impact of human economic activities on global climates including the \"climate atheists, the climate agnostics, and the climate evangelicals\" (Kissel, 2010, p. A17 emphasis added). No matter what camp one is in, most firms have recognized that dealing with carbon will impact on business activities. While there is no universally accepted perspective of the causes or impacts of climate change, there is a growing tide of international mandates by the public, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and governmental bodies to reduce CO2 emissions and that these mandates are expressed in emerging climate change regulations. This includes international treaties such as Kyoto, business-driven initiatives, and the emergence of carbon emission management systems such as the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS) (Egenhofer, 2007). Unfortunately, none have achieved their objectives due to the complex nature of the global climate eco-system, geo-political concerns, and economic pressures.\nThe framework: Adapted from works by Wiener (2001), Olmstead and Stavins (2006), Farber (2007) and Ramseur (2007), four fundamental issues emerge that must be addressed in every climate change regulatory scheme. These include:RQ1. \"Scope\" - the \"spatial\" complexity dimension (Wiener, 2001) - will carbon emission management systems be global or regional with each region (or nation) adopting their own standards and systems?RQ2a. \"Who pays\" - the \"causal\" dimension of complexity (Wiener, 2001; Olmstead and Stavins, 2006; Farber, 2007) - will the ultimate consumer be liable for the paying for the cost of carbon emitted in the supply chain (similar to a value added tax), or will each organization within the supply chain be responsible for the cost of their own CO2 emissions?RQ2b. \"Who pays\" - the \"temporal\" dimension of complexity - should the developed nations pay for the impact of their long term and historical carbon emissions - including some form of climate change reparations scheme, or should a redemptive model, forgiving all past sins of emissions, but require all to be accountable for emission from the day the regulatory framework is enacted?RQ3. \"Market- or compliance-based mechanisms\" (Olmstead and Stavins, 2006) - will the CO2 emissions system be market-based or a compliance-based regulatory system?RQ4. The addition of \"criteria\" - how can credence of the remedy be established (Ramseur, 2007) - what is necessary for a business initiative to qualify for as a creditable carbon offset?Figure 1 shows these fundamental issues.The specific regulatory action undertaken regarding each of the above issues can have vastly different impact on organizations. This suggests there is a strong incentive for commerce to proactively engage policy makers in the development of CO2 regulations and standards. While some firms may see involvement in framing regulation as an opportunity to immunize themselves from excessive and costly mandated oversight (Levine and Forrence, 1990), others will take this opportunity to shape the CO2 regulatory framework into a system that can be exploited to provide new economic opportunities and potentially create a strategic entry barrier exclude less responsive or smaller firms from competing (Eberlein and Matten, 2009; Mathews, 2008; Porter and Reinhardt, 2007; Rosen, 2001). Entrepreneurial firms will recognize and exploit opportunities that arise due to carbon regulations allowing these organizations to create new competitive market positions (Barrett, 2006; Nehrt, 1998; Orsato, 2006).Scope and spatial concerns\nImplications and conclusions: There is currently a lack of information and research about the implications of carbon offsets on firm and consumer behaviour (Miranda, 2009). Most companies generally recognize the need to adapt to changes related to environmental issues. These changes are not simply seen as constraints on the market, but rather the need to consider how environmental issues can be strategically used to achieve market and environmental advantage (Crane, 2000; Ginsberg and Bloom, 2004; Miles and Covin, 2000). Given the lack of a consistent long-term vision by policy makers regarding the issue of global warming, firms have a unique opportunity to provide input to shape regulation. This paper has attempted to illustrate the complexity and global nature of the nexus of climate change, carbon emissions, and commerce and offers a set of four fundamental questions that must be addressed in any climate change regulatory system. The paper offers a summary of the implications of various carbon emissions management alternatives in Table I.The regulatory scope of carbon emissions management systems\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to provide an overarching conceptual decision model that delineates the major issues and decisions associated with carbon regulations that will allow executives to better understand the potential regulatory schemes and implications that may be imposed in the near future.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors use the extant literature as the foundation to develop a conceptual model of the decisions pertaining to climate change regulation that face business executives today.\nFindings: - This paper suggests four major categories of issues that must be addressed in any climate change regulatory scheme. These include: \"scope\" - will carbon emission management systems be global or regional; \"who pays\" - will the consumer or will the supply chain be responsible for the cost of their emissions; \"market or compliance-based mechanisms\" - will the CO2 emissions system be market-based or a compliance-based regulatory system; and \"criteria\" - how can credence of the remedy be established - what is necessary for a business initiative to qualify for as a creditable carbon offset?\nResearch limitations/implications: - This paper offers a framework that categories the fundamental decisions that must be made in any climate change regulation. This framework may be useful in advancing research into any of the four categories of decisions and their implications on commerce and the environment. This paper is designed to be managerially useful and in that way does limit its ability to specifically advance many dimensions of research.\nPractical implications: - The paper offers executives for a simple model of the decisions that must be made to craft an effective climate change regulatory scheme. In addition, it suggests how these decisions may create exploitable economic opportunities for innovative and proactive firms.\nOriginality/value: - This paper adds value to the debate by clarifying the decisions that must be addressed in any climate change regulation scheme.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Education and training for successful career in Big Data and Business Analytics	[ "Appreciative inquiry", "Framework", "Big data and business analytics", "Education and training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years \"Big Data\" and \"Business Analytics\" (BDBA) have attracted burgeoning interest among practitioners and academia due their immense potential (Waller and Fawcett, 2013). Chen et al. (2012) explored how the possible impacts of \"Big Data\" extend to all facets of business. A study conducted by IBM Institute for Business Value in collaboration with MIT Sloan Review revealed the importance of data to business leaders (LaValle et al., 2011). The subject has been embraced in special issues in leading journals including Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Review, MIS Quarterly, with more to follow from International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Operations and Production Management and many others. However, despite increasing contributions, the field is still in its infancy. Waller and Fawcett (2013), in their seminal paper, identified the need for blending Data Science, Predictive Analytics and Big Data (DPB) in supply chain network design. The power of \"Big Data\" has also found immense application in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) domain, health, sports and may other sectors (LaValle et al., 2011). Bean (2014) recently commented on corporate trends (\"Big Data Fatigue?\"; http://sloanreview.mit.edu.pitt.idm.oclc.org/article/big-data-fatigue/) and the lack of proper understanding of \"Big Data\" among senior professionals who are gearing up for massive investment in \"Big Data\" analytics capability. Shah et al. (2012) questioned the investment policies of companies expecting significant returns on investment in Big Data, as this can be useless without appropriate training (Shah et al., 2012; Provost and Fawcett, 2013; Waller and Fawcett, 2013). However, most past studies revolved around applications of \"Big Data\" and its usefulness in various fields, with few examining the need for training to create a pool of talent who can work with \"Big Data\" (for an exception, see Waller and Fawcett, 2013).\n2. Importance of BDBA: BDBA is defined as \"an integration of data and technology that accesses, integrates, and reports all available data by filtering, correlating, and reporting insights not attainable with past data technologies\" (APICS, 2012). According to the Department of Business-Innovation and Skills (2013), BDBA is an emerging phenomenon which reflects higher dependence on data in terms of growing volume, variety and velocity. BDBA has been identified as one of the critical differentiators for any organization (LaValle et al., 2011) and much attention has been paid to its impact on organizations' values (Mithas et al., 2013; Sharma et al., 2014). Waller and Fawcett (2013) outlined possible opportunities in the field of supply chain management, and Chen et al. (2012) similarly outlined the possible applications of BDBA in predicting market behavior and further leveraging the associated opportunities. Other studies confirmed a positive relationship between BDBA and organizational performance (Anderson-Lehman et al., 2004; Davenport and Harris, 2007; Davenport et al., 2010; Wixom et al., 2013). Wixom et al. (2013) reported how a retailer maximized value from BDBA. Table I presents a non-exhaustive list of BDBA applications.\n3. Education and training in BDBA: Waller and Fawcett (2013) advocated for change in the foci of research and education to meet the growing challenge of BDBA, while Shah et al. (2012) argued that skill availability for exploiting BDBA to enhance organizational value is a serious issue that needs urgent attention. In response to such calls we have identified the research objectives that form the core of our paper. Our first objective is to identify the skills required for BDBA professionals based on a review of the literature and through appreciative inquiry (AI) approach, which is a quasi-ethnographic perspective.\n4. A framework for education and training for BDBA: The basic premise of our theoretical framework (see Figure 1) comprises three elements: education, BDBA skills, and demographic profile (age, gender, educational background, etc.). The right kind of education is critical to skill development and its effectiveness depends upon the training pedagogy (Katharaki et al., 2009). Here, it could be formal (i.e. university or college-based education) or non-formal (i.e. distance education, e.g. through webinar, Skype or video conferencing) depending upon the learners and their requirements. In our model we have identified training as a moderating variable, and controlled for the demographic profiles of the learners to further account for differences in learning ability.\n5. Discussion: The proposed theoretical framework (Figure 1) shows how education, moderated by appropriate training, can help to build the skills necessary for BDBA. To further generalize the outcome, we have identified demographic variables as confounding variables to avoid compromising the internal validity of the proposed framework. The education must be formal and informal, which depends upon the needs of the learners. Formal education modules must be designed for young graduates and undergraduates; informal education modules must be distinct from these and will depend on adult learners' requirements. However, these assumptions are based on our pragmatic approach. The conceptual framework needs to be empirically tested.\n6. Conclusions: \"Big Data and Business Analytics\" has immense potential to increase organizational value, provided that we have enough talent with sufficient hard and soft skills to meet the BDBA challenge. In this paper an attempt has been made to understand the skill set required for a successful career in BDBA. Although the subject has attracted burgeoning interest from academia and practitioners in recent years, hardly any literature, with the notable exception of Waller and Fawcett (2013), has focussed on the skills set required for a successful career in BDBA. We have attempted to extend previous work using AI to identify the skills required to excel in the BDBA profession. We have classified our analyses into two broad skills sets; first, hard skills, where most of those identified corroborate the skills identified by Waller and Fawcett (2013). Second, soft skills, which we derived using an AI approach supported by extant literature (e.g. Chen et al., 2012). Overall, we have attempted to answer pending calls of eminent scholars for education and training for BDBA (Chen et al., 2012; Waller and Fawcett, 2013). In response to this pressing need, we have attempted to develop a theoretical framework for education and training for BDBA. However, the proposed framework needs to be examined using survey data.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify Big Data and Business Analytics (BDBA) skills and further propose an education and training framework for a successful career in BDBA.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The present study adopts a review of extant literature and appreciative enquiry (AI) which is a quasi-ethnographic approach to identify the skills required for BDBA.\nFindings: The study helps to identify skills for BDBA and based on extant literature and AI, proposes a theoretical framework for education and training for a successful career in BDBA. Further research directions are outlined which can help take the present research to the next level.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper presents a theoretical framework, but it has to be validated through empirical data. This research will generate a lot of interest to develop a more practical framework and conduct empirical and case study research.\nPractical implications: The present study has outlined skills for BDBA. The authors have also proposed a theoretical framework which can further help an educational or training institute to embrace the framework to train young undergraduates or graduates to acquire BDBA skills. It may also motivate an institution to structure their curriculum for a BDBA program.\nSocial implications: This research is a timely one to develop necessary skills for being successful in BDBA career and in turn contribute to the well-being of business community and society.\nOriginality/value: This research is a novel one as there is no research done earlier on this new and emerging areas of research, namely, education and training for BDBA.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Remembered eating experiences described by the self, place, food, context and time	[ "Food", "Memory", "Eating", "Experience", "Nostalgia", "Positive remembered experiences", "Consumer behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Experience is the core of consumption [...] for one simple reason: experience is the decomposition of the individual's life (Addis and Podesta, 2005, p. 404).Research has suggested that in order to truly understand consumers' behaviour, it is necessary to acknowledge the role and constituents of consumer experiences (Lanier and Hampton, 2009; Quan and Wang, 2004), in particular remembered experiences, which refer to lived experiences that are stored in memory. In the context of food, the importance of stored experiences stems from three issues. First, food-related memories affect attitudes, such as food likes (Dijksterhuis et al., 2006; Letarte et al., 1997) and food acceptance (Maier et al., 2007). Second, remembered food experiences influence current and ongoing behaviour (Blake et al., 2007; Lupton, 1994), such as consumers' desire to relive an experience (Wirtz et al., 2003). Third, contemporary consumers are characterised by the search for nostalgic experiences (Holbrook and Schindler, 2003), wherein nostalgia here refers to emotionally laden food-related past experiences and memories, such as those from one's childhood (Desmet and Schifferstein, 2008; Holak and Havlena, 1992). Indeed these three issues, together with practitioners' interest in creating experiences that would remain in consumer memories (Lindgreen et al., 2009; Schmitt, 2003), imply that past food experiences constitute a relevant research topic. According to Blake et al. (2007), this is true especially as those experiences not only influence ongoing food-related behaviour, but may also reveal the nature of current behaviour.Despite the influential role of remembered eating and food experiences, the issue has so far received little scholarly interest. In particular, the nature of remembered eating experiences remains under-researched.Against this backdrop, the current study aims to explore positive pleasurable eating experiences stored in memory and to identify their nature. In particular, we aim to detect themes and dimensions that characterise these remembered food experiences. Hence, by taking consumers' past food-related experiences as a unit of analysis, the present study contributes to current food research in two main ways:1. it enables identification of the characteristics of such memories; and2. it proposes a conceptual framework for understanding what constitutes food-related experiences that are stored in memory and become memorable.By taking this approach, the study provides knowledge on interpreting consumers' ongoing food-related behaviour. It also offers guidance for the creation of food-related experiences, and thus creates a basis for experiential marketing. Furthermore, we propose that the act of eating constitutes lived experiences that, when stored in consumer memory, may become the key issue for understanding consumers' ongoing behaviour, and can be drawn upon to meet their needs for future experiences as well.We have structured the paper as follows: first, we describe the theoretical base of the study by discussing consumer experiences in general, and remembered experiences in particular. Then, we continue by examining the origins of pleasurable remembered food experiences, and summarise the scarce literature on the characteristics of food experiences. Due to the limited research on remembered food-related experiences, we draw upon broad literature within consumer research, tourism, and food. Second, the method, data collection, and sample are introduced. Third, analyses of the qualitative data are reported. Then, we present a conceptual framework of remembered food experiences. The paper concludes with a discussion on theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and future research suggestions.\n2 Positive and pleasurable food experiences stored in memory: Eating and food constitute a central part of consumers' daily lives, and not only for nutritional purposes (Lehtola et al., 2008): they also structure daily routines (Marshall, 2005), stimulate pleasure (Rozin et al., 2002) and, in particular, constitute lived experiences that influence behaviour.2.1 Consumer experiences\n3 Methodology: The explorative nature of this study required detailed and rich data; therefore, in order to elicit insights and to gain an in-depth understanding of eating experiences, a qualitative approach was adopted. Focus group interviews are particularly suitable for exploring phenomena in-depth (Hine, 2000). They are also acknowledged as a method for understanding behaviours related to food, as the method activates the participants and generates data based on the synergy of the group interaction (Morgan and Krueger, 1993). A focus group interview is unique in that it encourages the participants to interact and respond or comment spontaneously, which may provide more in-depth insights (Krueger and Casey, 2000). The participants' stories pointed out aspects that contributed to positive food experiences and the reasons why they had perceived the experiences as positive.3.1 Participants and procedure\n4 Findings: eating experiences: The first phase of data analysis resulted in four themes: childhood, tourism, family and friends, and homemade food. The themes are interrelated and closely linked to each other. Hence, although homemade food is an essential characteristic contributing to the themes of childhood memories and eating with family and friends, it also appeared as a primary theme.4.1 Eating and childhood memories\n5 Findings: eating experiences described by \"the self, place, food, context and time\": Further analysis of the themes resulted in the emergence of five dimensions, which we suggest as a way of conceptualising eating experiences. The dimensions represent clusters of features that explain the experiences. These dimensions characterise all past positive eating experiences, meaning that at least one of the features within the dimensions was present in the previous themes.Table II shows how the present study adds knowledge to the field of food research by focusing exclusively on positive and pleasurable eating experiences that are retrieved from memory. By looking at these experiences, we can concentrate on those aspects that are likely to lead to positive outcomes, such as a desire to relive an experience as a means of nostalgia: for example, revisits and repurchases. Furthermore, as our study focused on reconstructed and retrieved rather than ongoing experiences, it had a wide scope because the context was not predetermined to a particular eating setting (such as tourism or mundane eating behaviour).5.1 Eating as described by the \"self\"\n6 Conclusions: Experiences are central to consumers, and hence, it has become increasingly important for practitioners to take consumers' experiences into consideration when they strive to create added value for consumers' consumption situations. Despite food-related experiences being part of everyone's daily lives and activities, surprisingly little research has addressed them, even though research reports contend that past experiences involve useful information for understanding consumers' behaviour.As this study sought to gain an in-depth understanding of past positive and pleasurable food-related experiences, it particularly contributes to understanding eating and food experiences stored in memory. The findings that emerged provide insights into the nature of experiences that consumers perceive as meaningful and that remain in the memory.The conceptual framework in Figure 1 is based on our findings. It summarises the multifaceted and multidimensional nature of recalled eating and food experiences. When read from left to right the findings of the study are revealed. However, when the figure is read from right to left it offers guidance which uncovers what marketers could take into account when aiming to create food-related experiences.First of all, past studies imply that experiences are individual and related to an event or place (Helkkula, 2011; Schembri, 2006). We found support for this, and accordingly state that this concerns food-related experiences as well.Second, our study revealed that remembered, positive and pleasurable food-related experiences originate mainly from sensory, emotional, and social bases, as proposed by Dube and Le Bel (2003). These experiences had few intellectual aspects, and this may be due to the experiences being related to the consumption of food rather than preparation, which might involve more cognitive effort than the act of eating.Third, we detected four primary interrelated themes of experiences: childhood, tourism, commensal eating, and homemade food. This shows that these themes may be particularly likely to lead to enduring memories, and thus influence future behaviour, such as food preferences, a wish to relive an experience and revisit a destination, food-related practices and a search for nostalgic experiences, for example.Fourth, the evidence for the importance of family and friends provides insights into the nature of eating. Contemporary dining seems to suggest eating fast and alone (Moisio et al., 2004). Still, the memorised experiences are typically related to commensal eating. An interesting notion is that none of our participants recalled a food or eating memory that referred to a solitary context, such as the now-common practice of eating alone. Related to this finding is the fact that commensal eating may also influence food likes or acceptance, as individuals may be more likely to enjoy new types of foods introduced to them by family or friends. This finding provides insight into how new food products could be introduced to experience-searching consumers.Fifth, we identified several issues that are important from a marketing perspective: nostalgia, tourism, and homemade food. Nostalgic, emotion-laden experiences in particular were related to one's childhood. This means that marketers could take advantage of consumer lifecycles; for example, they could re-launch or market food products that a particular generation had consumed as children when these people become parents or grandparents and want their offspring to have eating experiences similar to theirs. The experiences related to tourism provide knowledge about the roles of eating and food experiences in travel. In particular, tourists are relatively open to new foods, which could also be drawn upon in marketing food products. For example, producers of local, authentic food products could strategically place their products in retail stores, hotels, and restaurants near tourists' travel routes to attract their attention. Eating and food experiences seem to hold such an essential role that they may indeed influence a tourist's decision to revisit a destination. Accordingly, understanding these eating and food experiences may be a key to creating a relationship with tourists (Rashid, 2003). We might also draw parallels with the findings of Lindgreen and Beverland (2009), who suggested that producers might try to construct authenticity by both operations and image. In other words, food marketers could emphasise past traditions, methods, or natural ingredients, and they could employ unique, nostalgic marketing. Lastly, it is apparent that homemade food evokes emotions and is valued, which means that homemade food is perceived as good. We believe that this finding is essential and describes the contemporary consumer. Hence, marketing efforts on convenience food could benefit from evoking these experiential values.Finally, based on our observations of the participants' eating experiences, the study suggests that dimensions of the self, place, food, context, and time characterise all past positive and pleasurable eating experiences. In other words, the multifaceted and multidimensional nature of recalled eating and food experiences means that at least one of the features within the dimensions was present in the detected themes. The study also suggests that these dimensions may be useful as a means of finding possible direction for marketing applications in various contexts and as a tool for targeting various marketing efforts in retail. It provides knowledge for interpreting consumers' ongoing food-related behaviour and offers guidance for the creation of food-related experiences, and thus offers a basis for experiential marketing.The study did not reveal any food-related memories experienced in a retail context. However, retail is a place where experiences do indeed occur, and as suggested above, the findings emphasise themes and dimensions that contribute to food-related experiences becoming memorable. Hence, these can be utilised within a retail context as well.\n7 Suggestions for future research: Although experiences are defined as personal and unique, we could detect similar experiences shared by the participants across the focus groups, which indicate relatively homogenous filtering and highly similar food perceptions. Although the study did not address the cultural aspects of eating and food, the participants' relatively homogenous observations suggest that eating experiences stored in memory are not only subjective, but may also be cultural (Marshall, 2005).Being an exploratory study, several research avenues can be detected for further understanding of food-related experiences. One is focusing on the detected themes, which could reveal knowledge as a basis for segmentation. For example, this could reveal knowledge about how to identify particular consumer segments that may be drawn to nostalgia-based food and eating experiences. Another is focusing on the dimensions that characterise the various themes, which could reveal a basis for understanding the nature of various food-related practices and experiences that become memorable.Finally, based on the observations of the participants' eating experiences, the study suggests that as the dimensions of the self, place, food, context and time characterise all past positive eating experiences, these dimensions may be useful as a basis for future studies on food experiences.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore remembered positive eating and food experiences, aiming to gain an understanding of the nature of these past experiences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Positive food-related experiences were gathered through focus group interviews. These experiences were inductively categorised into recurring themes and dimensions within the themes.\nFindings: - An analysis of the qualitative data led to the recognition of several themes involving eating that were related to childhood memories, eating related to tourist experiences, as well as memories of commensal eating and homemade food. The experiences were drawn together into dimensions to provide deeper comprehension of the observed themes. As a result, the study suggests that remembered eating and food experiences are characterised by the self, place, food, context and time.\nPractical implications: - The study provides knowledge on what constitutes memorable positive and pleasurable food-related experiences, which the consumer may even want to relive. Hence, the study helps managers understand the significance of providing food-related experiences that become memorable.\nOriginality/value: - The context was not predetermined to a particular eating setting, which resulted in a multidimensional framework of remembered experiences with several implications. The approach provided new insights into understanding the effects of positive and pleasurable food-related experiences.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do all SMEs practise same kind of marketing?	[ "Small to medium‐sized enterprises", "Marketing theory", "Marketing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Researchers widely agree that marketing in small firms differ from that of their larger counterparts (e.g. Fillis, 2002; Gilmore et al., 2001; Hill, 2001a; Coviello et al., 2000.) Small firm marketing has been characterised as haphazard, informal, loose, unstructured, spontaneous, reactive, built on as well as conforming to industry norms (Gilmore et al., 2001). Stokes (2000) adds that in small firms, marketing is used for the needs of the moment and only little attention is paid to plans, strategies and analysis. This is in contrast of marketing in large firms, which is seen as formal, planned and well structured.One reason for this difference is that small firms have certain limitations. Compared to their larger counterparts, small enterprises have limited resources related, e.g. to finance, time and marketing knowledge (Gilmore et al., 2001). Consequently, complex theories and sophisticated processes seem to be inappropriate in small enterprises (Hogarth-Scott et al., 1996). Furthermore, it is argued that owner-managers of small firms tend to view marketing narrowly. The role and potential of marketing is regarded often from a narrow operative perspective that is close to sales management (Moller and Anttila, 1987). It is even argued that SME marketers may consider marketing as a synonym of either selling or advertising (Marcati et al., 2008).Despite the differences, it has been noted that the basic marketing concepts, such as segmentation, customer orientation, targeting, positioning and seeking for competitive advantage apply to small as well as to large enterprises (Hogarth-Scott et al., 1996). Coviello et al. (2000) found empirical evidence that there are similarities in the intent of marketing decisions, the expected duration of customer relationship, the nature of customer contact and where firms invest marketing resources.Marketing thought and practices have, then, been compared between large firms and SMEs. Much less attention has been given to examining the possible differences within SMEs. They can, by no means, be considered as a homogenous group. Consequently, it is most interesting to have a closer look at what kind of perceptions and practices of marketing could be found in different SMEs.The aim of this paper is to get a deeper understanding of how the concept of marketing is seen and put into practice in SMEs. It is discussed how the subjective perceptions of small business marketers are related to the traditional elements of marketing. Ottesen and Gronhaug (2002) have studied how and to what extent managers understand and make use of theoretical concepts. According to them, the held concepts are important because they give focus, drive attention and contribute to what is noted. They argue further that managers may only partly adopt the meaning of the theoretical concept presented in the academic literature and that they can modify and construct theories and concepts, for example, to adjust them better to the context they are embedded. Therefore, it is important to start the study from the subjective perceptions of the SME marketers in order to understand better the actual practices of marketing in SMEs.The data were collected among three industries and, consequently, the results are compared between them. Furthermore, they are compared between different firm sizes and customer groups in order to examine whether the attitudes towards marketing and the use of marketing practices differ according to the firm size or the customer market they operate in.\nThe elements of marketing: During the last 60 years marketing thought has experienced several changes. It has evolved from production and sales centred into customer and relationship focused marketing. Instead of short-term individual transactions marketers have started to value long-lasting relationships. Interaction has proven to be more efficient than one-way communication and it has been realised that marketing is not a task of just marketing department but the whole organisation. (see Gronroos, 2006.)Marketing concept can be seen as a business philosophy, an ideal or a policy statement (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). Romano and Ratnatunga (1995) as well as Stokes (2000) adopt this idea of viewing marketing as a culture or organisational philosophy, but they widen the perspective and examine marketing also as a strategy and as tactics or methods. Marketing as a culture/philosophy refers to the values and beliefs a firm holds about the importance of the customers to their operations. Moreover, it includes the understanding that customer needs precede marketing and product or service development. Marketing as a strategy emphasises on how a firm competes in its markets and how it uses segmentation, targeting and positioning. Marketing as tactics/methods focuses on the use of marketing mix (4 P's: product, place, price, promotion); in other words, on the implementation of marketing strategy. Stokes (2000) adds a fourth dimension to this list of marketing: market intelligence. Market intelligence refers to Kohli and Jaworski's (1990) market orientation and means the organisation wide generation, dissemination and responsiveness to the information gathered about customers and competitors.It has to be noted that the definitions of marketing usually relate and interpret the marketing done in large businesses. There is no clear or unifying definition or theory of marketing in SMEs. (Simpson et al., 2006.) In the empirical part of this study, it is examined, how the perceptions of the marketers in small and medium-sized enterprises are related to these four elements of marketing:1. marketing as a philosophy;2. marketing as a strategy;3. marketing as tactics/methods; and4. marketing as market intelligence.Are the small business owners' perceptions in accordance with this traditional way of looking marketing?\nMarketing in SMEs: Marketing as a philosophy\nData collection method: The data were collected mainly through an online-survey. The respondents were selected from an internet based North Karelia company register. The survey was targeted to SMEs in three different industries (according to the standard industrial classification):1. manufacturing;2. real estate, renting and business activities; and3. other service activities (including, e.g. hairdressing as well as washing and dry cleaning).A systematic sampling method was used among those companies that had informed their e-mail address in the register. The sampling was performed in the way that about 30 percent of the firms in each industry were included in the sample. Consequently, online-survey was sent to 273 SMEs in manufacturing and to 291 SMEs in real estate, renting and business activies. In the industry \"other service activities\", only 13 percent of the enterprises in the register had informed their e-mail addresses, consequently, also postal questionnaires were used. Thus, 49 online-surveys and 64 postal questionnaires were sent to SMEs in other service activities. Altogether 679 questionnaires were sent to SMEs in the area of North Karelia. Some 107 replies were received giving a response rate of 15.8 percent. One of the replies was excluded because the organization did not operate in the selected area. Thus, 106 replies were analysed.\nFindings: Characteristics of the studied SMEs\nConclusions and discussion: It has been shown that traditional marketing theories fail to adequately account for marketing in small firms. The informal and sometimes chaotic nature of marketing carried out in SMEs may radically differ from the marketing guidelines offered in textbooks, but this has not prevented many of them from operating successfully in the markets (Fillis, 2002).The aim of this paper is to get a deeper understanding of how the concept of marketing is seen and put into practice in SMEs. Furthermore, it was studied whether SMEs in different industries and with different firm sizes and customer groups had diverging practices of marketing.From a general point of view, the respondents described marketing as a means to inform the customers about the firm, its products and services. The marketers in SMEs were also interested in creating and maintaining customer relationships. The main aim of marketing seemed to be to create sales. These results are in accordance with prior studies. For example, Marcati et al. (2008) found in their study that Italian SME entrepreneurs tend to consider marketing as a synonym of selling or advertising i.e. improving customers' knowledge of the firm and its products. Also Moller and Anttila (1987) argued that in SMEs marketing is viewed from a narrow perspective of sales orientation. Furthermore, Hill (2001b) and Hogarth-Scott et al. (1996) stated that SMEs tend to be sales focused, because the survival of the firm is often dependent on sales. In this study, marketing was seen as paving the way to sales or as the act of selling. Hill (2001b) adds that in the quest of sales the SMEs are very interested in developing meaningful and sincere relationships with customers. In this study, creating and maintaining customer relationships was seen as the second most important task of marketing.In the prior research of marketing, four elements of marketing have been found:1. as philosophy;2. as strategy;3. as tactics/methods; and4. as market intelligence (Romano and Ratnatunga, 1995; Stokes, 2000).In the North Karelian SMEs, the tactics/methods side of marketing was emphasized. Marketing communication and sales promotion were strongly highlighted. Still, other elements of the 4Ps or the marketing-mix were paid only little attention. Carson (1993) argued that the use of marketing in the form of 4Ps does not seem to fit SME operations. This appeared to be the case also in this study. The tasks relating to three of the 4Ps: questions related to product, price and place were ranked as the least important tasks of marketing.From the strategic point of view, creation, management and retention of customer relationships were seen as important. It has been said that in order to succeed the SMEs should have a clear understanding of the basic marketing principles and techniques that include, e.g. segmentation and differentiation (Hogarth-Scott et al., 1996). In this study, some of the respondents acknowledged the relevance of them in marketing.On the other hand, marketing as a philosophy or as market intelligence were present only in few of the answers. This concentration on marketing tactics and methods may be seen in accordance to the argument that marketing in SMEs is reactive and used for the needs of the moment without requiring much up front planning (see Stokes, 2000; Gilmore et al., 2001).The general attitude towards marketing in SMEs was examined by eleven statements. It is believed that attitudes can predict behaviour (e.g. Wiklund et al., 2003) and, thus, it is important to examine what are the general thoughts held by SME marketers as these thoughts may guide the marketing practices used in their enterprises. All the respondents acknowledged the importance of marketing. It was agreed that marketing is important and integral part of business operations. It was seen to help promote the products and services and to be useful to the business. In addition, every employee was seen as a marketer. On the other hand, marketing was not always used sufficiently and some acknowledged that they did not have enough knowledge of marketing. It could be stated, that contrary to previous studies of SMEs, the respondents in this survey did not seem to consider marketing as peripheral to their business operations (see Hogarth-Scott et al., 1996), but as the previous research show they may have a lack of expertise and knowledge of marketing (see Gilmore et al., 2001).Significant statistical differences were found in the attitudes towards marketing between the smallest and largest SMEs. When comparing firms operating in consumer markets or having annual turnover of under 100,000 EUR with enterprises in business-to-business markets or with annual turnover of over 100,000 EUR, the smaller firms in consumer markets seemed to regard marketing more as mere advertising. They agreed also more with the opinion that every customer is equally important to them. In addition, in medium-sized firms with 50-249 employees, marketing was done daily and it was considered as being an integral part and useful to their business operations. This was not felt as strongly in micro businesses with 0-9 employees. It seems that especially in the smaller SMEs operating in consumer markets marketing is adopted in some form but still viewed from a narrow perspective and regarded as not so fitting to their every day business operations.As the results showed, marketing thought and practices cannot be regarded as uniform within SMEs. They vary depending, e.g. on firm size and customer markets (see Hogarth-Scott et al., 1996; Carson, 1993). The population of this study was small, thus, it is necessary to examine further how and why these differences occur.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to get a deeper understanding of how the concept of marketing is seen and put into practice in SMEs. Furthermore, it seeks to examine whether the perceptions and practices differ according to the size, industry and customers of the SMEs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study was conducted among SMEs in three industries in eastern Finland.\nFindings: - Marketing was seen as a means to inform the customers about the enterprise and its offerings. SME marketers were also interested in creating and maintaining customer relationships. The main aim of marketing seemed to be to create sales. Marketing thought and practices cannot be regarded as being uniform within SMEs. The results show that they vary depending on firm size and customers.\nOriginality/value: - The study offers an insight into the little researched area of comparing marketing within SMEs. It brings empirical evidence of the perceptions of marketing and how they affect marketing management in small enterprises.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Parental leave length, social norms, and female labor market re-entry frictions	[ "Social norms", "Correspondence experiment", "Family gap", "Parental leave length" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A growing literature analyzes the relationship between time spent on parental leave and mothers' labor market outcomes. The consensus is that longer leaves are associated with reduced labor force participation and lower wages. This effect is, at least partially, attributed to human capital depreciation during time spent off the labor market. Policy recommendations following this finding range from setting optimizing the length of statutory parental leave to designing a flexible system under which mothers can choose how much time they spend on leave. This paper asks whether a flexible system allows mothers to optimize over the lost productivity margin.\n2. Correspondence experiment design: A correspondence field experiment was used to investigate how employers respond to job applications sent by female candidates with different parental leave histories and of different qualifications. Fictitious resumes were sent in response to actual job advertisements between December 2015 and July 2016. The authors recorded all attempts by the employers to contact the fictitious job candidates.\n3. Survey design: To get a better understanding of how the HR specialists form their beliefs about applicants based on the information provided in applicants' resumes, a survey with a subset of HR specialists different from those contacted in the correspondence experiment was conducted. The survey contained nine questions presented in three sections, and two questions on demographics. The survey was kept short to reduce the costs to the respondents, who were not remunerated for their participation (median response time: 12 min). To further reduce indirect costs, responder anonymity was maintained.\n4. Results: 4.1 Correspondence experiment results\n5. Conclusions: This paper analyzes employers' responses to job applications of women re-entering the labor market after a parental leave of various lengths. The authors use a correspondence experiment complemented with a survey among HR specialists not involved in the experiment designed to better understand the motives behind employers' decisions observed in the experiment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the role of employers in creating employment gaps among women returning to the labor market after parental leaves of different durations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use a controlled correspondence field experiment that orthogonally manipulates parental leave length and the quality of fictitious female job candidates. The experiment is complemented with a survey among human resource managers.\nFindings: High-quality candidates receive more interview invitations when applying after a short parental leave, while low-quality (LQ) candidates receive more interview invitations when applying after a typical three years long parental leave. Survey results suggest that the difference in invitations between short and typical leave treatments is driven by a social norm that mothers should stay home with children younger than three. Productivity gains from employing a LQ job applicant with a shorter career break might not be high enough to outweigh the adverse social norm effect.\nSocial implications: The presented results point toward the strong effect of prevailing social norms on job search prospects of women returning to the labor market after parental leave.\nOriginality/value: A correspondence experiment has not been used before to study the relationship between time spent on leave and the labor market prospects of mothers. It also extends research on social norms to the domain of hiring decisions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The smart leader: examining the relationship between intelligence and leader development behavior	[ "Leadership development", "Feedback acceptance", "Intelligence", "Leadership assessment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Leader development programs are frequently used as an educational tool in organizations and universities (Day, 2000; Squires and Adler, 1998). Specifically, the purpose of these programs is to infuse skill development into manager education programs in order to help the individual acquire non-classroom self-awareness and managerial skills. A key component of leader development programs is often that the individuals are given feedback based on an assessment and are expected to set developmental goals in response to the feedback.\nFeedback in leader development programs: According to the \"2009 Leadership Development Factbook\" (O'Leonard and Lamoureux, 2009), companies spend an average of $2,000 per employee participating in leader development. These programs are administered through the organization, external assessment companies, or contact with executive coaches (Day, 2000). Furthermore, they may be introduced for a variety of reasons, such as grooming individuals for leader positions or intervening for a manager on the verge of derailing (Day, 2000; Hogan, 1994).\nIntelligence and leader reactions to feedback: According to Gottfredson (1997), intelligence \"[...] has pervasive utility in work settings because it is essentially the ability to deal with cognitive complexity, in particular, with complex processing (p. 79).\" Gottfredson's research suggests that even small differences in intelligence predict one's ability to perform personal, social, and work duties, especially as duties increase in complexity.\nIntelligence and leader development behaviors: In leader development research, investigators commonly use participation in leader development opportunities as a research criterion (Maurer et al., 2002; Maurer and Tarulli, 1994; Noe and Wilk, 1993). For example, several studies have examined how different types of feedback, contextual factors, and some personality predictors are related to participation in developmental opportunities. In these studies, participation in leader development opportunities has been measured in a variety of ways, including asking participants to indicate which specific developmental recommendations they had completed since the receipt of developmental feedback (Jones and Whitmore, 1995), asking participants to rate their participation in on-the-job and off-the-job developmental opportunities (Maurer et al., 2002; Maurer and Tarulli, 1994; Noe and Wilk, 1993), and collecting objective records maintained by organizations (Noe and Wilk, 1993). However, most of this research has used generic measures of participation, such as self-report interest or number of hours spent involved in workshops or activities, without examining the benefits of the time spent in development or whether the time spent in development corresponds with the development needs of the participants. Furthermore, the majority of these measures are self-report measures, which may be influenced by the personality of the participants completing the measures. In the current study, alternative measures of goal-feedback correspondence and goal quality were created in order to circumvent these limitations.\nGoal quality: Based on goal setting theory, behavior change is most likely to occur when goals are set that are difficult to achieve (but attainable) and accompanied with specific steps (Locke and Latham, 1990). Thus, goal quality is measured as a rating of the difficulty and specificity of each individual's goals. As intelligence consistently predicts performance (Hunter and Hunter, 1984), we hypothesize that intelligence also predicts goal quality:\nGoal-feedback correspondence: It is important for several reasons to understand what factors influence whether individuals enrolled in leader development programs use and internalize the programs' developmental feedback. First, resistance to feedback is one behavior that distinguishes ethical and unethical leaders (Howell and Avolio, 1992), and some characteristics associated with unethical leadership are also associated with a strong resistance to negative feedback (Hogan, 1994; Hogan and Kaiser, 2005). Second, leader development has been suggested as one means to reduce managerial incompetence (Day, 2000). Third, one hallmark of leader development is that participants are given a large dose of feedback (Day, 2000). As leader development feedback is thought to be different from job performance feedback (Ryan et al., 2000), and as making sense of leader development feedback requires complex cognitive skills (Avolio and Hannah, 2008), we expect a positive relationship between intelligence and the use of leader development feedback:\nMethod: The data in this study was archival in nature and was based on data collected from individuals enrolled in executive MBA programs between January 2006 and December 2007.\nResults: Means, standard deviation, and sample size for each of the study variables are presented in Table II. Based on the examination of the zero-order correlations, H1 was not supported. That is, the relationship between scores on the intelligence measure and goal quality is not significantly different from zero (r=0.11, p=ns). In contrast, H2 was supported. Specifically, the relationship between scores on the intelligence measure and goal-feedback correspondence is positive and significant (r=0.22, p<0.05).\nDiscussion: In all, the results of this study suggest that intelligence is an important predictor of goal quality and goal-feedback correspondence of individuals enrolled in leader development programs. To be more specific, the measure of intelligence was positively related to goal-feedback correspondence. In addition, the relationship between intelligence and goal quality was significant after controlling for variance attributed to professional discipline.\nConclusion: Given the expense of leader development programs, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to the success of individuals enrolled in leader development. Based on the results of this study, intelligence matters in leader development. Consistent with others (Avolio and Hannah, 2008; Ceci and Papierno, 2005), we conclude that individuals who are higher in intelligence may benefit more from leader development programs than do individuals who are lower in intelligence. On one hand, this finding is important, in that using leader development may give a larger boost to intelligent individuals than to less intelligent individuals. On the other hand, the importance of this finding should be interpreted with caution. That is, the purpose of leader development programs is typically intraindividual. Thus, the amount of benefit experienced by one individual is independent of the experience of the other individuals in the program. So the fact that intelligent people may pay more attention to their feedback and create higher quality goals than less intelligent people does not mean that less intelligent people should not be enrolled in leader development programs. It is still likely that all individuals benefit in some way from the leader development experience.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between intelligence and behavior during leader development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: As part of a leader development program, a variety of measures are collected, including measures of intelligence and measures of performance (e.g. assessment center performance, a 360-degree appraisal). The participants are given performance feedback from a variety of sources then asked to form developmental goals. The goals are examined for goal quality and goal-feedback correspondence, and examined in relation to intelligence.\nFindings: Intelligence was positively related to goal-feedback correspondence. Intelligence was also related to goal quality after controlling for variance attributed to professional discipline.\nResearch limitations/implications: Personality, gender, age, and other variables were not included in this study. Other factors, such as the cultures of the organizations from which the individuals hailed, were also not included. Moreover, the conclusions were based on the behaviors exhibited in one leader development program. Future research should address these limitations.\nPractical implications: Leader development is expensive and is becoming more popular. The results of this research could help organizations better determine who is likely to benefit from the investment in leader development.\nOriginality/value: In addition, a unique method is presented in the study for measuring leader development behavior based on goal quality and goal-feedback correspondence. Generalizability theory is applied in order to determine the reliability of the measures.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring the entrepreneurial intentions of Syrian refugees in the UK	[ "Self-employment", "Entrepreneurial intention", "Entrepreneurship", "Ethnic groups" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the past decade, human migration has become an increasingly important and debated topic. Many countries have seen a steady increase in the number of asylum applications by individuals who have involuntarily fled their homes due to war, persecution or other dangers, and who seek formal status and protection as refugees. The UK in particular has experienced a surge in applications from Syrians fleeing the ongoing civil war. It is important to note that a distinction exists between asylum applicants and individuals granted refugee status. In the UK, formal refugee status gives individuals and their dependents permission to stay in the UK for four years (\"leave to remain\"). After four years, individuals can apply to settle in the UK permanently (\"indefinite leave to remain\"). Formal refugee status gives individuals the right to work and entitlement to the same benefits and government assistance schemes as all UK residents. Asylum applicants, on the other hand, are not allowed to work or claim most government assistance until their asylum claim is processed[1]. The focus of this paper will be on refugees rather than asylum applicants.\n2. Relevant literature: 2.1 Refugee entrepreneurship\n3. Methodology: This paper reports on data collected as part of a wider longitudinal study on refugee economic activities, including self-employment. Early data collected identified the need to more closely explore the issue of EI and thus this specific study was devised. An interpretive phenomenological research design was adopted to fully explore the complex interplay of factors shaping these activities within the context of individuals and their lived experiences. This approach is recognised to be particularly powerful when exploring how individuals experience particular phenomena, and has been used in other studies of refugees and their migration experiences (e.g. Shakespeare-Finch et al., 2014; Gangamma, 2017) and entrepreneurship more widely (e.g. Cope, 2011).\n4. Findings: As noted, the EI literature was used as an \"orienting framework\" for data analysis. Data will now be discussed based on five key themes that underpin both the EEM and TPB models of intention: perceived desirability/attitude (how favourable an individual is towards a behaviour); subjective norms (how favourable peer or referent groups are towards the behaviour); perceived feasibility/perceived behavioural control (how easy or difficult performing the behaviour is perceived to be); propensity to act (how likely someone is to take initiative and action); and the nature and strength of intention.\n5. Discussion: The data presented provide important insights into the nature of EI among recently arrived Syrian refugees in the UK. They demonstrate the complex interplay of factors shaping intentions and highlight the important role of personal experiences in developing strength of intention, thus making an important contribution to the EI literature.\n6. Conclusions: This paper has provided insights into the nature of EI among recently arrived Syrian refugees in the UK, including the role that the migration experience plays in shaping these intentions. It has highlighted that individual migration experiences shape perceived capabilities, which in turn shape an individual's perceived ability to start a business (and subsequently intention). It makes an important empirical contribution to the still-developing refugee entrepreneurship literature and to the EI literature by identifying the important link between lived experience and the personal factors underpinning EI.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Few studies have sought to explore the issue of entrepreneurial intention (EI) within refugees, despite wide recognition of refugee entrepreneurial potential. The purpose of this paper is to explore EI among recently arrived Syrian refugees in the UK, including the role that their migration experience plays in shaping these intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper follows an interpretive phenomenological research approach, contextualised within the EI literature. It draws on data collected from in-depth interviews with nine Syrian refugees, five of whom arrived independently and four of whom arrived via the UK Government's Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme.\nFindings: All participants were found to have strong perceptions of desirability towards entrepreneurship. Individuals who arrived independently demonstrated more confidence in their abilities, and in turn somewhat stronger start-up intentions. The findings indicate that the personal development of independent refugee arrivals linked to their migration experiences may help shape the intention to engage in entrepreneurship.\nResearch limitations/implications: As this paper draws on a small sample in a single geographic location, the findings presented are phenomenological, context specific and not necessarily applicable to other spatial locations or to other (refugee) groups.\nSocial implications: A number of practical and social implications are provided. Support interventions focussed on strengthening the perceived abilities and capabilities of refugees would be of considerable benefit.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides new and important insight into the nature of EI within a novel focal group. It makes a valuable contribution to the literature by considering the issues of context and process, specifically the relationship between personal forced migration experience and the perceived capability to start a business.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Bridging the gap between theory and practice in management accounting: Reviewing the literature to shape interventions	[ "Management accounting", "Interventionist research", "Bridging theory and practice", "Systematic literature reviews" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. The gap between management accounting research and practice: Management accounting research is often criticized for not having an impact on practice (Guthrie and Parker, 2017, p. 8; Malmi and Granlund, 2009; Lee, 2004; Swieringa, 1998; Inanga and Schneider, 2005). Management accounting is particularly vulnerable to such criticism because it is fundamentally an applied field, focused on providing solutions for practical problems of organizations (Tucker and Lowe, 2014, p. 398; Tucker and Parker, 2014. p. 105). Malmi and Granlund (2009) argued that academic researchers are primarily focused on writing for other researchers and not for practitioners (i.e. the users of accounting information, such as managers, workers and society), who might benefit from management accounting research to address practical issues. Practitioners in engineering, medicine and agriculture benefit from the (also in these professions sometimes problematic) nexus with the physical and biological sciences (Van de Ven and Johnson, 2006). Equivalently, producing management accounting theory that is more useful for practitioners implies that there should be a well-functioning nexus between the contributing disciplines (the social sciences) used by academic researchers and the management accounting tools and techniques that practitioners need to deal with practical issues. Anderson et al. (2001) proposed a classification of applied social sciences, consisting of four types and this classification is based on the following two dimensions: theoretical and methodological rigor (which is either \"high\" or \"low\") and practical relevance (also \"high\" or \"low\"). \"Popularist science,\" the first type, is low on theoretical and methodological rigor and high on practical relevance. \"Pragmatic science,\" the second type, is both high on theoretical and methodological rigor and on practical relevance. \"Puerile science,\" the third type, is neither rigorous nor practically relevant. \"Pedantic science,\" the fourth type, is high on rigor and low on practical relevance.\n2. Case setting, the start of the project and research objectives: The interventionist research project discussed in this paper was located in an automotive company, named Van den Udenhout (VdU). The project lasted from 2007 until 2011. At the start of the project, VdU owned four car dealerships (selling Volkswagen and Audi cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles), two bodyshops, a car lease company and a finance & insurance company, employing in total 291 people. VdU was organized in profit centers, where each profit center had its own manager, its own targets (sales volume and gross profit), its own monthly profit and loss account and its own three-monthly customer satisfaction score. Each dealership was organized into two profit centers: sales (new and used cars) and after sales (service and parts). In addition, VdU had the following profit centers: bodyshops, a car lease company and a finance and insurance company.\n3. Developing an intervention and the combined use of academic and normative theory: In developing the intervention, two decisions had to be made. First, theoretical knowledge about how the practical problem in VdU could be solved needed to be identified, discussed and selected (see Section 3.1). Second, the intervention had to be developed. There were several approaches which could be used to apply theoretical knowledge in practice and decisions had to be made about how the selected knowledge to solve the practical problem would be put into practice (see Section 3.2).\n4. The analysis of unforeseen effects of interventions: One and a half year after the workshops and interviews that were intended to support the implementation of the change, the author interviewed a selection of VdU's managers to evaluate the project. The results of this evaluation enabled the author to reflect on the effectiveness of the intervention and the way in which the theoretical knowledge from the prescriptive and the academic literatures that had been used in shaping the intervention had contributed to realizing the objectives of the change. In addition to the foreseen effects, the intervention also had unforeseen effects. There are several explanations why such unforeseen effects occur. As explained earlier, selecting theoretical knowledge for use in shaping an intervention is partly a heuristic, creative and even political process (Labro and Tuomela, 2003; Lukka, 2000, 2002). Some theoretical knowledge about how to solve the identified practical problem may be unacceptable for important stakeholders in the organization. Unforeseen effects of interventions can occur because selecting theoretical knowledge that is to be used in shaping the intervention is not a completely rational process. One explanation for unforeseen consequences could be that the theoretical knowledge selected to shape the intervention is inadequate to solve the identified practical problem, due to the heuristic nature of selecting such theories. A more fundamental explanation is that the social world is so complex and uncertain that much of the theory available in the (academic and the prescriptive) management accounting literature does not provide a sound basis for predicting the effects of management interventions and, as a consequence, unforeseen effects inevitably occur. By analyzing such unforeseen effects, interventionist research can contribute to the development of academic theory. In this analysis, theoretical knowledge additional to that used in shaping the intervention may be needed, as will be demonstrated below.\n5. Literature reviews of management accounting research: As discussed in Section 1.2, there are several approaches for taking theoretical knowledge into practice, ranging from specific actions with foreseeable effects (based on the most extreme form of positivist research) to suggestions about how to explore potential solutions to practical problems (based on interpretive research that explains, for example, the failure of management accounting change). An important lesson learned from the interventionist research project at VdU stems from the recognition that in this project the question of how theoretical knowledge could be taken into practice was addressed in a rather implicit manner. To take theoretical knowledge into practice in a more explicit manner in interventionist research, we need to consider the role and nature of literature reviews (see Section 3) and also how analyzing the effects of an intervention can provide the basis for explicating the project's contribution to existing knowledge (see Section 4). This section will propose a way to review the literature that could help interventionist management accounting researchers to adopt a more explicit approach for taking theoretical knowledge into practice. In proposing how such a review can be conducted, this section will take several steps. First, the process of conducting a literature review focused on the identification of theoretical knowledge that can be used in shaping an intervention will be discussed in Section 5.1. Second, Section 5.2 defines four specific approaches for taking the theoretical knowledge identified in the literature review into practice. Finally, Section 5.3 explores how the proposed approach for reviewing the literature can contribute to the process of knowledge creation in interventionist management accounting research.\n6. Concluding comments: Interventionist research aims both to solve a specific practical problem and to develop academic theory and, by doing so, it can potentially help to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Shaping the intervention is an important step in interventionist research, and theoretical knowledge is needed to do this. This paper has proposed a way of conducting a literature review that brings together the various forms of theoretical knowledge concerning the defined practical problem.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Although management accounting tools and techniques are developed to solve practical problems in organizations, there is a lot of criticism of management accounting research for not having an impact on practice. In interventionist research, the \"shaping\" of an intervention to solve a practical problem is an important step. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the findings of management accounting research can be reviewed to make them practically applicable in shaping an intervention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on the author's experiences with an interventionist research project.\nFindings: Systematic literature reviews, which are common in engineering and medicine, bring together the academic knowledge that can contribute to solutions for a specific practical problem, including a definition of the ways in which this knowledge can be applied. Inspired by the methodology for conducting such reviews, this paper proposes how interventionist management accounting researchers can use existing theoretical knowledge in shaping interventions that aim to solve a practical problem. After an intervention, the analysis of the intervention's unforeseen effects can provide a basis for the refinement of the theory identified in the literature review.\nResearch limitations/implications: Such a literature review can be organized according to four approaches to taking theoretical knowledge into practice. Unforeseen effects of the intervention can guide the selection of additional theory that helps to interpret these effects and refine normative and academic theory.\nOriginality/value: In management accounting it is uncommon to review the literature with the aim of shaping a solution for a practical problem. This paper explores how literature reviews that focus on a specific practical problem can contribute to bridging the gap between theory and practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Workplace learning for the public good: Implementation of a standardized, competency-based curriculum in Texas WIC	[ "Workplace learning", "WIC", "Implementation procedures", "Qualitative description", "Women", "Children", "Government agencies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: During 2008, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) identified a need for standardized, competency-based training designed specifically for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) employees. WIC is a multifaceted nutrition program designed to assist low-income pregnant women, new mothers and young children through nutrition education, counseling and access to nutritious food and health care (Texas Department of State Health Services, 2010). Texas WIC is a federally funded, state administered public service program that is comprised of more than 70 local agencies, including governmental and non-profit organizations, controlling more than 545 clinics. Each agency and clinic operates somewhat differently to meet their contextual and client-based demands. State level decisions are passed directly to the local agencies that in turn relay them to the clinics. However, decision incorporation and implementation varies as a result of clinic level factors (e.g. operating structures, human capital, environmental constraints).To train clerical staff as paraprofessional nutrition support staff, a University of Texas research team collaborated with DSHS to develop and implement a workplace learning project, the WIC Certification Specialist (WCS) Training Program. While the WCS position varies somewhat across local agencies, in general it requires an enhanced skill set (e.g. completing WIC certifications, counseling low risk participants and collecting anthropometric and biochemical data) that non-clinical WIC employees, such as clerks, are not expected to possess. The purpose of this research is to present all preceptors' (N=11) implementation experiences. Although centered on the same training program, preceptors' experiences varied due to each agency's local variations, but produced consistent themes concerning best implementation practices during each implementation phase (prior, during, and after). These findings have relevance for organizations that implement workplace learning programs across diverse departments and geographic settings. Workplaces have expanded across traditional vocational and geographical boundaries, making development of educational and training programs that present consistent lessons and standardize occupational-relevant knowledge and procedures essential.The WCS Training Program is intended to replace current locally-developed WCS training programs with standardized, state-approved competency-based materials. Previous WCS training material was not consistent across the state, and in some cases was outdated, contained inconsistent information and did not cover all the necessary training information. Overall, the certification of WCSs is designed to enhance clinic flow and efficiency and to improve clinical, office and customer service skills, as well as to bolster WIC paraprofessional employees' problem solving and critical thinking abilities.The WCS Training Program consists of 12 preceptor-administered self-paced modules. Preceptors are responsible for administering the training, testing and observing the candidates (i.e. the WIC employees undertaking the training), as well as assisting (i.e. answering questions and making themselves available for clarifications) the candidates throughout the training. The curriculum provides candidates the opportunity to build and enhance skills in rapport building, effective communication, anthropometric and biochemical data collection, classroom teaching strategies and best practices, ethics and professionalism. A number of learning tools matched to objective type and level, such as case studies, videos, hands-on activities, self-checks and module reviews, are used throughout the modules. To receive credit and advance to the next phase candidates must first pass a comprehensive exam, covering several modules, with a minimum grade of 80 percent and successfully demonstrate competency-based skills. The 12 modules are divided into four phases.The WCS Training Program addresses the persistent gap between formal education and required vocational (e.g. clinical) skills (Kolb, 1984; Anderle, 2008) and provides clerical employees basic education through supervised, self-paced workplace education and competency-based certification. This research project, while acknowledging the importance, relevance and impact of workplace learning program design and development at the state level, is primarily concerned with program implementation at the agency level. Specifically, this paper examines the preceptors' implementation experiences and their perceptions of implementation barriers and facilitators, best practices, and the training's impact on the workplace environment. To achieve these goals, a multi-method qualitative descriptive study (Sandelowski, 2000; Miles and Huberman, 1994; Bernard and Ryan, 2010) was designed to examine preceptors' experiences concerning workplace learning implementation and best practices.While extensive work has been done to evaluate and define workplace learning in various settings (c.f. Malloch et al., 2011), public institutions, including public health institutions, have received less attention. These organizations are vital community assets that are being forced to meet a larger, more diverse (e.g. age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status) population's demands on more stringent budgets. Such demands and budgetary restrictions are prompting governmental policymakers to call for more responsive and cost effective public institutions, often incorporating workplace learning programs. However, implementing workplace learning programs in public institutions, in particular WIC, has not received significant attention. As noted by Newes-Adeyi et al. (2004), WIC continues to be an understudied context. Further, little research examining workplace learning programs for non-physician health providers currently exist. This research addresses both concerns.\n2. Literature review: According to Matthews (1999, pp. 19-20), workplace learning focuses on both individuals and organizations:[... workplace learning involves the process of reasoned learning towards desirable outcomes for the individual and the organization. These outcomes should foster the sustained development of both the individual and the organization, within the present and future context of organizational goals and individual career development.The workplace learning described in this paper aligns with two of Hodkinson and Hodkinson's (2004) six types: planned learning which others know and planned/intended learning to refine existing capability. Workplace learning requires the integration of multiple theoretical approaches, since it is a multifaceted, complex phenomenon (Matthews, 1999; Marsick, 1987; Hodkinson and Hodkinson, 2004; Rylatt, 1994).Social cognitive theory was used throughout the workplace learning program's curriculum development and implementation processes. It was important to acknowledge each agency's specific social and professional context when designing and implementing the training program, since these factors directly influence the implementation processes. Diffusion theory (Ryan, 1942; Wejnert, 2002; Rogers, 2003) was primarily utilized to inform the adoption and implementation processes across a complex organization. Complexity theory, as a holistic approach, can address multifaceted processes with interactions on multiple levels (i.e. state level and local agency level).Diffusion theory was used to conceptualize the training program's transition process from state level development into agency level implementation and to capture how information matriculates and \"creeps\" (Weiss, 1980). Following Rogers' (2003) lead, diffusion theory was used as a meta-theory that incorporated several theoretical perspectives related to the overall concept of diffusion. Diffusion theory describes a process by which members of certain community (i.e. WIC agencies) adopt innovation (i.e. the workplace learning program) (Yates, 2001). Diverse disciplines, ranging from agriculture to marketing, have used diffusion theory to increase the adoption and implementation of innovative products and ideas (Surry and Farquhar, 1997). Specifically, four factors influencing the diffusion process were considered before implementing the program (Rogers, 2003):1. the innovation itself;2. the communication channels used to spread information about the innovation;3. time; and4. the nature of the Texas WIC community.While the authors recognize the importance of program adoption and maintenance (Glasgow et al., 1999), this paper is primarily concerned with program implementation. Organizational readiness for change, fit of the innovation to the organization, and employee acceptance of the innovation are key to implementation (Weiner et al., 2009; Rogers, 2003). Implementation policies and practices that influence the intervention's assimilation into the organization (Weiner et al., 2009, p. 297) include:[...] training and technical support, rewards or incentives, persuasive communications, end-user participation in decision making, workflow or workload changes, alterations in staffing levels or mix, new reporting relationships and/or documentation (e.g. correspondence such as faxes and emails with both preceptors and WCS candidates during the program), monitoring or enforcement policies/procedures.Complexity theory is particularly useful when evaluating workplace learning program implementation processes as it allows researchers to comprehend and account for complex interactions and multiple effects within nested systems. Texas WIC can be thought of as a multi-layered system composed of several interacting levels, including the United States federal government, Texas state government, Texas state agency (DSHS), local WIC agencies and local WIC clinics. These interact with each other to create, implement and regulate actions and decisions. Local WIC clinics are the lowest organizational level nested within the overall WIC system.Concepts from complexity theory, which are often applied to nested systems, can facilitate workplace learning implementation evaluation in multifaceted organizations. Structural determination refers to the constraints on elements within a system from the system as a whole, so a system's present state influences its near future state. However, the system is coupled to its environment, allowing for the influence of one system upon another (structural coupling) (Keshavarz et al., 2010; Kremser, 2011). Complexity theory allows the researchers to acknowledge and account for the roles and interactions among organizational and environmental agents, recognizing how their prior interaction patterns impact information diffusion, implementation and the training program's success (Anderson, 1999).Using the lens of complexity theory, WIC clinics can be thought of as \"social complex adaptive systems\" (Keshavarz, 2010). The interactions among the system's parts define the system as much as the individual parts, reinforcing the notion that complex systems cannot simply be thought of as the sum of its individual parts (Cilliers, 1998; Kremser, 2011). As a result, the researchers endeavored to understand the context of the training (i.e. the complex system), the implementation process and the effects of the system on the implementation process. Finally, the researchers assume that program implementation is directly related to candidate success and that workplace learning is more effective if programs are implemented in a strategic, workplace-appropriate manner. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of factors involved in effective implementation of a training program in a multi-level human services agency context.Research question and purpose\n3. Methodology: Sample and procedure\n4. Results: This study provided insights into the implementation process and showed support for continuing to examine training implementation from a complexity science perspective. All 11 preceptor interviews can be classified as extremely positive with interviewees praising the training materials' depth, presentation, cognizance of different learning styles and the materials' overall improvement compared to the previous non-standardized WCS materials (if any existed). Overall, the training materials were well received, and the preceptors found the training \"well worth it.\" One stated, \"I really like the structure of the WCS training and how all of them (WCS candidates) have the same materials, all the same resources.\"Some statements provided overall impressions of the training program, but the majority of data can be divided into three chronologically overlapping categories: prior to starting the workplace training, during the workplace training and after the training. In addition, evidence supporting the use of complexity science as an interpretive lens is presented, especially relating to the presence of multiple organizational levels. This serves to remind the reader that findings within the three categories have to be considered as the incomplete parts of a system's whole. Even though these findings present implementation barriers and best practices from individual perspectives, these practices are within a larger organizational system that can hamper and facilitate their success.Complexity science support\n5. Discussion: Inadequate program implementation has historically hampered initiative and program success (Nah et al., 2001; Russ-Eft, 2002; Fixsen et al., 2005; Hoeve and Nieuwenhuis, 2006). Deficient implementation can create a faulty foundation, which can obfuscate subsequent program aspects and workplace goals. This work considers several implementation criteria for successful workplace learning, such as appropriate leadership (i.e. role of the preceptor), the importance of accommodating workplace learning (i.e. planning), being conscious of workplace learning's impact on all employees, and presenting clear expectations.The findings point to the importance of creating and employing a flexible (Smith, 2003), yet chronologically bounded implementation process while incorporating best, albeit structurally determined, practices into the implementation process. The findings illustrate the benefits of presenting expectations, timetables and materials in a timely fashion and being sure they are clearly understood. In general, implementation processes must be dynamic, not stagnant, and continuously evaluated and adapted to reflect changing contexts.While this research identifies several implementation best practices, it recognizes how social context (Brewer, 2000) can impact a workplace training intervention's efficacy, the way a system and its levels deal with external factors, such as employee attendance, and ultimately how various levels consider and interpret the actions, decisions, and changes at other levels. However, one cannot guarantee how a system's levels will act, because, regardless of the degree of structural coupling, these actions are inherently unpredictable. While organizational science and theories of organizational change (Heward et al., 2007) attempt to account, predict and control for unpredictability, it can never be fully eliminated (Bolman and Deal, 2008). Ideally, persons in charge of program implementation processes should be able to recognize and learn from unpredictable events. Moreover, the evaluation results suggest the importance of addressing the unpredictability inherent in complex organizational contexts, reinforcing the need for flexible implementation procedures.In addition to identifying flexible implementation design as an important workplace learning component, this research identifies pre-planning, candidate selection, top-down managerial buy-in, open communication, preceptor knowledge and availability, establishment of clear expectations and timelines and the need to be cognizant of the impacts of decisions and policy changes at all relevant organizational levels. The WIC agencies in which these elements were apparent and consistent reported a more efficient and effective implementation experience. While this workplace learning was implemented in WIC clinics, it appears that these best practices would be transferable to other workplace settings, especially human service and public health organizations.As workplace learning trends enter or reenter the professional domain (Abrams and Berg, 2010), they impact how stakeholders and organizations conceptualize and ultimately implement training programs. Future researchers should note how popular trends, regardless of whether they have been rigorously substantiated, constrain and broaden potential action, and how ultimately these trends can be thought of as another contextual level to consider when designing and implementing workplace training programs. The professional landscape is never stagnant and, to enhance program implementation success, implementers should endeavor to understand how shifting organizational and environmental trends could redefine \"truths\" about their workplace learning contexts. Future workplace learning program implementations cannot directly mirror previous implementations as an awareness of ever-changing attitudes and settings that constitute \"the workplace\" are needed. However, research such as this can act as a starting point as well as a reference guide to future implementation processes since the identified best practices have potential applicability to a variety of settings and situations. Future researchers and practitioners may apply the best practices most relevant to their implementation context, while being receptive to potential, yet undiscovered, complementary best practices. This will enhance implementation and ultimately workplace training program success.Limitations\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to describe preceptors' implementation experiences after implementing a workplace learning program in Texas WIC (women, infant, and children) agencies and identify implementation best practices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This research used qualitative description methodology. Data collection consisted of 11 semi-structured interviews lasting approximately one hour with all preceptors who piloted a workplace learning program in five Texas local agencies to examine barriers, facilitating factors, best practices, and the workplace learning program's impact.\nFindings: - This research identified several workplace learning implementation best practices, including the importance of planning at multiple organizational levels, candidate selection, flexible implementation design, managerial buy-in, preceptor knowledge and availability, open communication, and the establishment of clear expectations and timelines.\nOriginality/value: - Examining implementation of a workplace learning program across a multi-level public health service organization using a multi-theoretical approach contributes to the existing workplace learning literature. Recommendations regarding implementation best practices are discussed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Global psychology: implications for cross-cultural research and management	[ "Dominance", "Acculturation", "Acculturation strategies", "Cross-cultural psychology", "Culture-blind", "Culture-bound", "Global psychology", "Indigenous psychology", "Intercultural psychology", "Prevention strategies", "Universalism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. The problem: When individuals, groups, and institutions seek to live, work, and operate effectively in other cultures, they carry with them assumptions, attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, motives, prejudices, stereotypes, and values that have been shaped in the culture in which they have been socialized. The study of all these facets of human behaviour are in the domain of the discipline of psychology; their shaping by cultural influences lies in the domain of cross-cultural psychology and their interactions across cultural boundaries falls in the domain of intercultural psychology (Sam and Berry, 2015).\n2. The goal: The goal is first to develop, and second to make use of, a global psychology. By a global psychology, I mean a psychology that is conceptually and empirically rooted in all cultures, and is based on what is common to our humanity. The very possibility of achieving a global psychology must be based on some vision of what we all share as members of humanity. This vision has emerged over the years, accompanying a gradual shift in interest in cross-cultural and intercultural psychology that has moved away from what is different between cultural groups and the behaviour of their individual members to what is similar among them (Poortinga, 2011). While the interest has remained on what differentiates individuals and groups from each other across cultures, there is now a much greater interest in what we share as members of one human community. This shift can be portrayed by comparing one of the first overviews of the field (Segall et al., 1990) and the third edition of a companion book.\n3. The way forward: An earlier examination of the culture-bound and culture-blind nature of psychology was the subject of my talk at a conference of the Sociedad Interamericana de Psicologia (SIP) entitled \"Interamerican or Unteramerican: Trafficking in International Psychology\". My title was intended to startle and to provoke discussion on the imbalance in the supply and demand of psychology internationally. Of course, it was a play on words. \"Inter\" implies that relationships between communities of psychologists take place among equal status parties, involving two-way communication, sharing, and cooperation. \"Unter\" implies relationships among unequal parties, involving dominance, and subservience. Similarly, \"American\" has two possible meanings. First, it can refer to all the peoples of the Americas (which is the use of the term in SIP). But it can also refer to the people of one country, which often refers to itself simply as \"America\" (short for the USA). The subtitle refers to trade in commodities (such as consumer goods and illicit drugs). There are two implications to the concept of trafficking. The first is to the notion of dumping, in which a commodity that is in great supply in one country is dumped into other societies, thereby overwhelming the other societies; it may also be delivered at a lower cost than in the original society. The second reference is to the transfer to other countries of commodities where the product may not be of any value, or may even be harmful to people in other societies. The commodity being referred to here is, of course, psychology, including concepts, empirical findings, journals, and textbooks. Specifically, the reference is to psychology that is produced in the western world (particularly in the USA), and that is made available to psychologists in other countries in large quantities and relatively cheaply. This supply side is well documented: overwhelmingly, psychology is produced in western societies and distributed to others (Danziger, 1990).\n4. Conclusion: In this paper, I have presented some criticisms of the dominant western psychology (WASP), and proposed that the achievement of a more global psychology may be within reach if we use some concepts and methods now available in psychology from both the dominant western sources and from those working in the rest of the world. A global psychology would be based on a sampling of behaviours in many cultures, using indigenous concepts and methods, and then examining them for their commonalities. The perspectives to be employed include using the distinction among process, competence, and performance; prevention strategies to avoid domination by western psychology; the intercultural strategies of separation and integration (while avoiding assimilation and marginalization); and the development of indigenous psychologies around the world, followed by comparisons among them.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Psychology, both as science and practice, has been largely developed in one cultural area of the world: Europe and North America. As a result, the discipline is culture-bound, limited in its origins, concepts, and empirical findings to only this small portion of the world. The discipline is also culture-blind, largely ignoring the influence of the role of culture in shaping the development and display of human behaviour. These limitations have resulted in the dominant position of a Western Academic Scientific Psychology (WASP) in relation to other cultural perspectives on human behaviour. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper draws on concepts and strategies in psychology (particularly cross-cultural and intercultural psychology) to propose some remedies to problems arising from the dominant WASP position. For example, of what relevance is such a limited perspective to understanding human activity in other cultures; and how can such a limited understanding serve the purpose of effective intercultural interactions?\nFindings: The eventual goal is to achieve a global psychology that incorporates concepts and findings from societies and cultures from all parts of the world, one that will permit a valid understanding of people within their cultures, and permit effective intercultural across cultures.\nOriginality/value: The paper presents some criticisms of the dominant western psychology (WASP), and proposes that the achievement of a more global psychology may be within reach if some concepts and methods now available in psychology from both the dominant western sources and from those working in the rest of the world are used.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Parental feeding practice is associated with child's body mass index in Thai school-aged children: A case study in Don Tum district, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand	[ "Body mass index", "Feeding practice", "Pressure to eat", "Restriction", "Thai children" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: All children should have access to the adequate nutritious food that could promote their optimal physical growth and development. Parents play a key role in their child's eating behavior and food intake. Emerging evidence indicated that parental control in child feeding could impede child's ability to self-regulate his/her food intake, particularly, when the child was exposed to the external cues, such as large food portion size (Fisher et al., 2007) or rewards (Remington et al., 2012) leading to increase food consumption. Additionally, restriction of unhealthy foods or snacks has been shown to increase child's food preference and intake of the restricted food (Hurley et al., 2011; Jansen et al., 2007). Pressuring the child to eat more has been observed to reduce food consumption and negative attitude on the food he/she was pressured to eat (Galloway et al., 2006). One study showed that girls' negative emotion about \"eating too much\" foods was associated with parental restrictive feeding practices (Fisher and Birch, 2000), and child's gender moderated the relation between restriction and body esteem in girls but not boys (Shriver et al., 2015). The association between parental feeding practices (PFPs) and children's weight status has been extensively studied and restriction was associated with either higher (Noor et al., 2012; Blissett and Bennett, 2013) or lower child's BMI (Campbell et al., 2010), while \"pressure to eat\" was associated with lower BMI in both preschool (Wehrly et al., 2014) and school-aged children (Cardel et al., 2012; Taylor et al., 2011).\nMaterial and method: The study was carried out in Don Tum, one of the districts in Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand, which is about 51 km far from Bangkok. Don Tum district comprised of eight sub-districts which covered 69 villages and had a populations of 47,553 people. The majority of populations were agricultural workers.\nResults: Table I shows the demographic characteristics of children's household. Of the total 227 parent-child dyads, 57.3 percent of parents were children's mothers, 16.7 percent were children's fathers, 19.8 percent were grandmothers/grandfathers and 6.2 percent were other relatives. The majority of parents completed education at primary and secondary school levels. In total, 26 percent of parents were farmers and labor workers, while 24.7 percent were administrative officers, 24.2 percent were housewives and 6.2 percent were the executive staff. Most households, i.e. 48.9 percent had five to seven household members and 71.8 percent of parents had one to two children. Regarding to the household income, it was revealed that 46.2 percent of households had income equal or less than 10,000 baht per month and 37.3 percent had income between 10,001 and 20,000 baht per month. Most households, i.e. 97.3 percent indicated that money expense for household's food and beverages was equal or less than 5,000 baht per month.\nDiscussion: The results from our study demonstrated that PFP, but not HHFIS, was associated with child's body mass index (BMI). Although mean body weight and BMI of boys and girls were not primarily different, it was observed that girls had better eating behaviors as indicated by higher eating score than boys. Higher proportion of boys who had improper eating behaviors like eating fast with having a large meal portion was found when compared to girls. This might be explained by the fact that the age between eight and ten would be the time in body esteem during physiological development (Ricciardelli and McCabe, 2001), with one previous study found no significant difference in body dissatisfaction between boys and girls (Ricciardelli et al., 2003), while another indicated lower satisfaction with physical appearance was associated with being female and parent perception of child overweight (Danielsen et al., 2012). We did not find any difference in HHFS between genders. The discrepancy of PFP providing to gender was of interest that parents use higher restriction and higher monitoring in girls than in boys. The study by Birch and Fisher (2000) in families with young daughters revealed that mothers' dietary restrictions and perceptions of their daughters' risk of overweight predicted feeding practices and daughters' eating behaviour. Feeding practice was also influenced by the parental concern about child's weight. Former studies indicated that mothers reported more concern for their daughters' weight (Crouch et al., 2007; Gregory et al., 2010), thereby, contributed to more restriction on children's food intakes (Gregory et al., 2010).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Parental feeding practice (PFP) plays an important role in child's eating behavior and weight status, but less information is available about its role in the Thai family setting. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of PFP on child's gender and body mass index (BMI).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Participants included 227 parents-child dyads from the suburban area of Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand. Children aged 9-12 years and parents who were either child's mother, father or grandfather/grandmother were enrolled in the study. Body weight, height, waist circumference and body fat were measured in all children. Eating behavior of each child was assessed by using child's eating questionnaire. Parents also provided their feeding practices in child feeding questionnaires. Information on household food security was also obtained from children's parents.\nFindings: There was significant difference in eating behaviors and home environment between child's genders. For child's eating behavior, mean total eating scores of girls were significantly greater (p=0.002) than that of boys and that the inappropriate home environment was more found in families of boys than girls. Regarding feeding practice, parents used more food restriction (p=0.008) and monitoring on child's eating (p=0.042) in girls than boys. Parents put more pressure to eat on the normal weight than obese children (p=0.001). Regression analysis revealed that, apart from parental BMI and household income, PFPs have a significant impact (15.6 percent explained variance) on child's BMI.\nOriginality/value: This study highlights the importance of being aware of child's gender and weight status when feeding practices were provided to them. Nutrition education for parents should take account for parents' perceptions and concerns as well as the modification of feeding practices to improve children's eating behaviors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Constructing a sustainable service business model: An S-D logic-based integrated product service system (IPSS)	[ "Reverse logistics", "Product service system", "Servitization", "Service-dominant logic", "Supply chain collaboration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Due to the keen competition intensified by the global trends such as rapid evolution of technologies, outsourcing, and product/service commoditization, the profit margins of the firms, especially in manufacturing, are squeezed tighter and tighter (Matthyssens et al., 2006). Suggested strategies for breaking out of the profit squeeze are numerous and are ranged from lowering the costs (for instance, supply chain strategies aimed at streamlining the operations and improving efficiency) to creating superior customer value (for instance, total solution concepts or value pricing). This paper is attempting to construct a new business model that offers firms a package of integrated solutions to increase customer-created value by lifetime and life-end services bundled with products. It is considered as one of the strategies to relieve the firms from the above mentioned difficulties. The core of the constructed model that is called product service system (PSS), is found totally in compliance with the main ten principles of service-centric service-dominant (S-D) logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004a, b; 2008a, b).\n2 Literature review: 2.1 Service-dominant logic\n3 PSS model is S-D logic-conformed: Summarizing the literature review, PSS model has the main characteristics:\n4 S-D logic-based IPSS sustainable business model: From the above descriptions, we understand that PSS business model can provide better financial performance and meantime autonomously induce certain degree of environmental protection effects. But the thing like PSS cannot be completely perfect, and there are always spaces to improve. Therefore, we would like to ask the questions:\n5 Conclusion: Servitization is a phenomenon for a manufacturing firm that the business weight moves more and more towards the service side on the Hill\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose is to conceptually construct a service-dominant (S-D) logic-based integrated product service system (IPSS) business model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The model is constructed through literature reviews and inferences.\nFindings: IPSS model is in compliance with the ten fundamental premises of S-D logic as well as conforming to triple bottom lines of sustainability.\nResearch limitations/implications: To convert a firm from goods-centric model to service-centric IPSS model is not easy. There are quite a few challenges to be overcome.\nPractical implications: There are many successful cases adopting service-centric business model. The key success factors are to be identified in the future studies.\nOriginality/value: It is the first paper discussing the sustainability of IPSS model and its relationship with S-D logic.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Older adults' perceptions and understanding of direct-to-consumer advertising	[ "Advertising", "Elderly people", "Pharmaceutical products" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: Background of direct-to-consumer advertising\nPurpose: The purpose of the current study was to investigate older consumers' perceptions of the effects of DTCA, their views in relation to the amount and type of information that should be provided in these advertisements, and their understanding of the information contained in typical US DTCA magazine advertisements.As this was an exploratory study, the research and analysis was guided by a series of research questions rather than specific hypotheses:1. Research question 1. How well do older adults comprehend the main messages in DTCA ads, and does this comprehension differ between short and long versions of the ads?2. Research question 2. What are older adults' attitudes towards the specific DTCA ads, and do these attitudes differ between short and long versions of the ads?3. Research question 3. What are older adults' attitudes towards the specific DTCA ads, and do these attitudes differ between short and long versions of the ads?\nMethodology: Participants\nResults: Research question 1: how well do older adults comprehend the main messages in DTCA ads, and does this comprehension differ between short and long versions of the ads.What medical condition does the drug treat?\nDiscussion: Both the long and the short versions of the advertisements were effective in conveying the basic elements of the medications (what they were for, what form they are in, and what are their main benefits and main risks or side effects). Interestingly, however, those reading the short version of the arthritis ad were more likely to nominate additional side effects than those reading the long version - further research could examine the extent to which this is a result of cognitive overload due to the large amount of information in the long version.The most surprising finding from this study was the lack of difference between the two groups in their assessment of the ads providing too little, or too much, information. That is, those who read the short version were equally likely to feel that their information needs were met, as were those who read the lengthy version.Given the minimal differences between the conditions in the accuracy of participants' recall of key pieces of information - such as the indications, contraindications, and side effects - it is possible that providing additional information may convey little additional benefit (particularly as information such as the less common side effects would presumably be provided by the individual's physician at the time of prescribing).In general, our participants' responses to the attitude questions provide limited support the arguments in favour of DTCA discussed in the literature review. That is, in general, our participants did not appear to be convinced that DTCA would help people to make better decisions about their treatment options. However, they did appear to be more supportive of the view that, in general, advertising of prescription medicines may help people have better discussions with their doctor about their health.Further, our participants did appear, in general, to share some of the concerns expressed in the literature about potential negative impacts of DTCA. For example, as posited by a number of critics of DTCA and discussed in the literature review, they were concerned that DTCA may cause people to ask their doctor for medicines that were not appropriate for them - with this view more pronounced among those who read the diabetes medication ad (possibly because of the larger proportion of participants with arthritis, who are likely to see arthritis medication as necessary due to its salience to their own medical condition). Further, again as suggested by the literature, they expressed the view that DTCA may make people rely more on medicines to solve their health problems; and, to a lesser extent, confuse people about what medicines are right for them and make them feel that they do not need their doctor's advice.\nResearch limitations/implications: The primary limitation of this study comes from the small sample size, although this is somewhat meliorated by the use of an older adult sample (mean age 67.4 years) for whom the issue is of high relevance rather than the usual, albeit large, student sample. Future studies could attempt to obtain a larger sample of older adults to test the generalisability of these findings.An important limitation comes from the nature of the advertisements themselves. For example, in the diabetes ad condition less than 30 per cent of participants were able to state the frequency with which the medication should be taken (regardless of whether they read the long or short version). While this study has generalisability to the real-world environment by using real ads, the determination of the optimal length and content of DTCA would require the development of experimental ads that vary the key content and presentation elements.It is also important to note that when responding to questions about the likely effects of DTCA, participants were answering a question framed in terms of what other people may do - not what they themselves would do - and thus may have been influenced by their perceptions of others' lack of knowledge.\nPractical implications: Given that the pharmaceutical industry in some countries, such as Australia, are lobbying for the introduction of DTCA - and that public health advocates in other countries, such as New Zealand, are lobbying for the banning of DTCA - there is an urgent need for research to determine the impact of DTCA on consumers and, if DTCA is allowed, the optimal form of such advertising.This study, whilst exploratory in nature, suggests that consumers (or at least older consumers) who have not been exposed to DTCA are not convinced of its potential benefits and are concerned about its possible negative effects. This issue need to be investigated with larger samples, and across different demographic groups. Further, it would be useful to compare the attitudes of consumers in countries with different regulatory systems (e.g. Australia which has never had DTCA, New Zealand which is considering removing DTCA, and the US which continues to allow DTCA).In those countries where DTCA is allowed (or being considered), there is a need for more consumer research to determine the extent to which people understand these ads, and the factors that increase or decrease their likelihood of attending to, and retaining, key items of information. The findings of this study suggest that, at least for older consumers, providing more information may not necessarily lead to better informed consumers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to investigate older consumers' perceptions of the effects of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA), their views on the amount and type of information that should be provided, and their understanding of information typically contained.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Participants were 97 adult members of a social/education group, aged 55 to 87, who completed a questionnaire during the group's usual weekly meeting. There were four versions of the questionnaire; two types of medication (arthritis versus diabetes) and two ad formats (short versus long).\nFindings: - There was little difference between the versions in the accuracy of participants' recall of key pieces of information, suggesting that providing additional information may convey little additional benefit. Participants reported limited perceived benefits of DTCA, and expressed concern that DTCA may cause people to ask their doctor for inappropriate medicines, rely more on medicines to solve their health, and become more confused.\nPractical implications: - This study suggests that there is a need to consider consumers' perceptions of benefits and costs of DTCA when deciding whether to introduce it (e.g. in Australia) or remove it (e.g. New Zealand). Further, at least for older consumers, providing large quantities of information may increase cognitive demands without producing additional benefits.\nOriginality/value: - The majority of previous studies of DTCA have used either student samples (with manipulated salience of information) or general population surveys. This study utilised a sample of older adults, including 55 per cent with arthritis and 13 per cent with diabetes. Further, as this study used US ads with an Australian population, one can be confident that participants' knowledge of the medications was purely from the ads read and not from previous exposure.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Healthcare experience quality: an empirical exploration using content analysis techniques	[ "Service quality", "Customer experience", "Healthcare", "Critical incident technique", "Patient experience", "Experience quality" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The quality of the experience of patients and their carers has become a central concern for the provision of healthcare services. In the UK, healthcare practitioners, researchers and policymakers are focused upon defining, measuring and improving the experience of patients and carers[1]. For instance, the leading report on health service performance uses patient experience as one of the two measures of hospital quality (DrFoster, 2011) and an influential policy paper by the Department of Health asserts that more emphasis needs to be placed on improving the healthcare experience for everyone (NHS, 2010). Moreover, the \"voice of the patient\" is being increasingly incorporated in service design initiatives. Traditionally, quality metrics have been based solely on available internal resources and patient needs were afforded limited attention in the configuration of the delivery of care (Gruber and Frugone, 2011). In recent years consumer-driven policy changes have emerged, with many countries implementing patient-centric approaches to define and evaluate healthcare quality (Raleigh et al., 2012). For instance, the UK National Health Service (NHS) applies the Experience-Based Design method, which involves patients in the design and improvement of the healthcare experience (Tsianakas et al., 2012). Finally, several studies suggest that the quality of the patient experience influences clinical outcomes, such as patient safety and clinical effectiveness, as well as operational efficiency (Riskind et al., 2011; Doyle et al., 2013). This evidence suggests that the patient experience concept has become a core building block of the strategy of healthcare providers and policymakers (Bate and Robert, 2007).\nTheoretical foundations: The concept of experience quality\nResearch methods: The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of experience quality in healthcare to inform a classification framework of experience quality dimensions. In pursuit of this goal we collected and selected 200 cancer patient stories. Each story described the experiences of patients and their carers. A content analysis of these stories was performed using CIT procedures to identify, classify and validate the dimensions of the experience quality concept in healthcare.\nFindings: a framework for experience quality in healthcare: The main outcome of this work is a classification framework for experience quality in healthcare, comprising 22 main categories and 51 sub-categories. Table II presents the main categories of the framework as well as the frequency of occurrences of positive and negative evaluations.\nDiscussion: Implications for theory\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to set out to explore how cancer patients and their carers perceive and evaluate the healthcare experience in order to develop and validate a classification framework for experience quality in healthcare.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical work is centred on the systematic analysis of 200 cancer patient stories published on an independent healthcare feedback web site. Using the critical incident method, the authors captured 1,351 experience quality data items. Three judges independently sorted and classified these data items.\nFindings: The authors identify and describe 22 main categories and 51 sub-categories that underlie the experience quality concept in healthcare and present them in a classification framework. The framework is informed through the categorisation of direct, indirect, and independent interactions. It also suggests a relationship between experience quality and satisfaction and loyalty behaviours.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study provides researchers with a foundation for the further development and validation of a measurement scale for experience quality in healthcare.\nPractical implications: The framework assists managers and healthcare professionals with the definition, evaluation, and improvement of the quality of the experience of patients and their carers.\nOriginality/value: The main contributions of this study lie in: first, a comprehensive classification framework for experience quality in healthcare; second, dimensions that extend existing health service quality models; third, dimensions that contextualise the generic concept of customer experience quality to healthcare.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Impression management in annual report narratives: the case of the UK private finance initiative	[ "Legitimacy theory", "Private finance initiative", "Impression management", "Annual report narratives" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Impression management originated in the social psychology literature concerning individuals (Goffman, 1959) and has been applied in corporate reporting, including the study of contested contexts such as adverse financial performance, corporate scandals, environmental disasters and major re-organisations (Merkl-Davies and Brennan, 2007). During such events, managers use corporate communication strategies to attempt to influence stakeholders' perceptions of the company (Hooghiemstra, 2000). These corporate communication strategies manifest in the discretionary financial, social and environmental narratives in annual reports (Deegan, 2002).\n2. Background and criticisms of UK PFI: PFI was introduced in the UK by the then UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont, in his 1992 Autumn Statement. This occurred against a backdrop of infrastructure deficits, particularly in the transport and healthcare sectors (House of Commons, 2011c; Shaoul et al., 2011), and an increased interest in private-sector management styles, labelled \"New Public Management\" (Hood, 1995). Following its introduction, the UK Government saw PFI as a way to secure infrastructure investment without putting pressure on State finances (Dawson, 2001; Toms et al., 2011). The tension between public-sector objectives to meet social needs, and private-sector goals of profit maximisation (Jones and Pendlebury, 2010) led to concerns that PFI was prioritising the needs of the private sector. Price et al. (1999, p. 9) criticised PFI projects as \"profit-making ventures for the private sector\". Criticisms intensified as the private sector secured high investor rate of returns on a number of PFI projects (National Audit Office, 2006).\n3. Legitimacy framework of corporate annual reporting: Suchman (1995, p. 574) defines legitimacy as \"a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions\". Legitimacy premises a social contract: that stakeholders permit organisations to exist if their actions are congruent with social values (Deegan, 2002). Aware of their stakeholders' perceptions, organisations respond to changes in their operational environment to prevent a legitimacy gap (Samkin and Schneider, 2010). Legitimation is the process whereby organisations justify their activities, by gaining or maintaining or repairing legitimacy (Suchman, 1995; Samkin and Schneider, 2010). The PFI private-sector companies must persuade audiences with conflicting needs, namely, their own shareholders who have self-serving profit motives; and other stakeholders in society, including the government and government departments, politicians and the public. This conflict plays out in the types of legitimacy the PFI private-sector companies seek. Suchman (1995) identifies three primary forms of legitimacy: pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacy. Pragmatic legitimacy is aimed at organisations' immediate audiences. In our case, there are two audiences: PFI private-sector company shareholders and external stakeholders, particularly those involved in public policy making. Pragmatic legitimacy requires the PFI private-sector companies to persuade their shareholders that, despite its contested nature, PFI continues to align with shareholders' self-interested need for financial returns and to persuade policy makers that PFI is a good public policy, which delivers value for money for taxpayers. Pragmatic legitimacy has three sub-forms: exchange, influence and dispositional legitimacy (Suchman, 1995). Our paper focusses on exchange legitimacy, which relates to perceptions of PFI's usefulness to shareholders who, in return, support their PFI private-sector firms. Influence legitimacy and dispositional legitimacy relate to audience responses/reactions, which we do not consider in this research. While pragmatic legitimacy is aimed at shareholders, the PFI private-sector companies seek moral legitimacy from other societal stakeholders. Moral legitimacy requires the PFI private-sector companies to persuade their societal stakeholders that the pursuit of PFI is the right thing to do from a moral perspective. We focus on organisational efforts to gain and maintain moral legitimacy from the accomplishments achieved through PFI (consequential legitimacy) and from the \"discrete routines\" followed in implementing PFI (procedural legitimacy) (Suchman, 1995, p. 581). Other sub-forms of moral legitimacy are beyond the scope of our research, including the organisational structure of PFI private-sector companies (structural legitimacy) and the charisma of their leaders (personal legitimacy). Both pragmatic and moral legitimacy \"rest on discursive evaluation\" (Suchman, 1995, p. 585), such as through the study of annual report narratives. Cognitive legitimacy involves the simple acceptance of an organisation based on the assumptions audiences have about organisations (Durocher et al., 2007). As our research focusses on the preparer perspective, we do not consider cognitive legitimacy.\n4. Research questions and methodology: This section outlines the six research questions and the approach taken to analyse PFI-related annual report narratives.\n5. Results and discussion: We discuss our results by reference to each research question, each section commencing with quantitative analysis, followed by discussion of the evidence.\n6. Conclusions: Understanding the source, extent and implications of corporate influence on PFI public policy is important, as the UK Government continues to harness private-sector investment expertise via PFI. We acknowledge that influences on the development of PFI public policy can come from different sources. Within government, political parties that accept its value can influence its progression by supporting the public policy with resources. External to government, the private sector plays a role in influencing PFI public policy. For example, PFI private-sector companies promote a positive image of the public policy through lobbying organisations (see footnote 3) and linking the delivery of modern public infrastructure to the success of PFI (Gosling, 2011). We address a further possible source of influence from the private sector - the use of annual report narratives to influence perceptions of PFI.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The UK private finance initiative (PFI) public policy is heavily criticised. PFI contracts are highly profitable leading to incentives for PFI private-sector companies to support PFI public policy. This contested nature of PFIs requires legitimation by PFI private-sector companies, by means of impression management, in terms of the attention to and framing of PFI in PFI private-sector company annual reports. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: PFI-related annual report narratives of three UK PFI private-sector companies, over seven years and across two periods of significant change in the development of the PFI public policy, are analysed using manual content analysis.\nFindings: Results suggest that PFI private-sector companies use impression management to legitimise during periods of uncertainty for PFI public policy, to alleviate concerns, to provide credibility for the policy and to legitimise the private sector's own involvement in PFI.\nResearch limitations/implications: While based on a sizeable database, the research is limited to the study of three PFI private-sector companies.\nOriginality/value: The portrayal of public policy in annual report narratives has not been subject to prior research. The research demonstrates how managers of PFI private-sector companies present PFI narratives in support of public policy direction that, in turn, benefits PFI private-sector companies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Social networking in an academic conference context: insights from a case study	[ "Communities of practice", "Knowledge transfer", "Web 2.0", "Collaboration", "Social networking (e.g. Facebook, second life)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Web-based collaboration has been researched extensively through a variety of perspectives emphasizing social networks, social media, social networking sites (SNSs) and social capital (Matzat, 2004). We regard these perspectives as complementary aspects of online social networks (OSN). For instance, social media emphasize the web-based technologies for sharing statuses, activities, perspectives and opinions between people (Hobson and Cook, 2011), while social capital emphasizes the social associations that are established in a voluntary manner, representing a culture of trust and tolerance and shared resources of networks which actors can draw on in order to advance their interests (Portes, 2000). Integrating these complementary views, it becomes clear that OSN have changed the nature of interaction and collaboration among individuals and organizations (Veletsianos and Kimmons, 2013). And yet it seems that academic researchers have not used OSN effectively in their main institutions of sharing knowledge, namely conferences and journals. This study examines how OSN can be used more effectively to support knowledge sharing among researchers.\nTheoretical background: Academics perception of social networking\nThe proposed conference-based OSN: Pilot study\nThe ECIS 2014 case study: Implementing the solution\nDiscussion: Social platforms facilitate communication among people and the establishing of communities that generate and share knowledge (McAfee, 2006; Kirchner et al., 2009; O'Reilly, 2012). OSN is a worldwide socio-cultural phenomenon which, from a technological perspective, has reached a critical mass of acceptance: \"To date, the use of OSN has reached an enormous scale and rivals the traditional World Wide Web (WWW) in terms of usage [... and] how deeply OSN have penetrated people's lives and transformed the ways they communicate\" (Berger et al., 2014). Given this wide general acceptance of social networks, we focussed on the usefulness of the systems rather than its acceptance (Benbasat and Barki, 2007; Xu et al., 2012). In particular, we studied the usage of a social platform in the context of an academic conference and elicited recommendations for improving its usefulness, from both technical and social perspectives. While researchers value a conference-based OSN as a means of learning about the papers that will be presented and the researchers who will participate in the conference, this was not reflected in their actual behavior. The case study reveals several barriers for engagement in a conference-based OSN. The findings suggest that these barriers maybe overcome by several means: providing a highly intuitive interface requiring minimal effort; integrating the OSN with other conference-based information systems; promoting the OSN by involving experienced and recognized researchers in the initial phases of the discussion; and integrating OSN into community-based activities such as reviews or best paper selection. Moreover, researchers would benefit from using the OSN if it becomes an on-going collaboration platform, which enables the creation of a professional community, whose members are familiar with each others' work and may collaborate in joint research activities. These findings are aligned with the general claim made by Budhathoki and Haythornthwaite (2013) that academics exhibit a heavyweight collaboration community, whose members need internal strong ties and a critical mass of participation in order to be motivated to contribute to the virtual domain. Members of the academic community pay attention to what others do within the community and what others think of what the contributor does, so the community should establish accepted norms and recognitions.\nConclusion: The research presented in this paper is part of a research program that aims to develop and study an OSN for researchers who participate in academic conferences. The OSN allows discussions to be created around accepted papers, starting prior to the conference, and thus facilitating knowledge sharing and collaboration among researchers. An OSN prototype was developed, based on both a literature review and a pilot study regarding users' expectations from such a platform, and implemented during the ECIS 2014 conference. The OSN platform provides means to handle tag cloud of shared folksonomy, manage user-profiles of researchers, create discussions regarding accepted papers and present relevant discussions to the researchers. Feedback on the OSN prototype reveals several possible improvements, potentially solving existing barriers for engagement, as well as a long-term vision for this OSN platform beyond a conference-based system.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a conference-based online social network (OSN) for academics' knowledge sharing and collaboration around and beyond a conference, while exploring the entanglement of the social and technical aspects of the system.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Following an exploratory study, an OSN prototype was developed and implemented in ECIS 2014. The usage of the OSN platform was monitored and in-depth interviews were conducted with seven of its active users.\nFindings: Academic researchers have positive attitudes toward using conference-based OSN. However, there is a gap between academics' perceptions and their actual behavior. Several barriers for engagement were identified, leading to technical and social recommendations, including the following needs: integrating the OSN platform with other conference information systems; addressing privacy concerns; allowing on-going collaboration; increasing OSN vitality; using the wisdom of the crowd; and promotion and its timing.\nResearch limitations/implications: The case study highlighted existing benefits, and identified potential future benefits from implementing a conference-based OSN. Future research is required to generalize the findings and evaluate the proposed strategies for enhancing user engagement.\nPractical implications: This study revealed the set of considerations that should be taken upon launching a new academic OSN, which are beyond the technical issues per se.\nSocial implications: The paper presents the expected benefits from, and existing barriers to using a conference-based OSN, and suggests recommendations for encouraging academics to engage in such OSN, in order to enhance long-term social interactions, knowledge sharing and collaboration among conference participants.\nOriginality/value: This is a first study to examine a conference-based OSN.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of Mean Time Between Disasters on inventory pre-positioning strategy	[ "Zimbabwe", "Humanitarian logistics", "Inventory pre-positioning", "Inventory swap", "Mean Time Between Disasters (MTBD)", "Shelf life" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: To save lives in case of a disaster, a timely response is critical. In fact, the first few days after the outburst of a disaster are decisive, since the likelihood of survival beyond that time window diminishes significantly (Salmeron and Apte, 2010). Keeping an inventory of emergency supplies (also referred to as inventory pre-positioning) can be an effective mechanism for improving the response time to disasters and increasing the capacity of relief operations, resulting in a better response to minimize human suffering due to lack of supplies (Duran et al., 2011; Rawls and Turnquist, 2011; Van Wassenhove, 2006).\nInventory pre-positioning strategy at MSF: Humanitarian organizations usually run development and relief programs simultaneously (Besiou et al., 2012). Development programs, such as supporting hospitals operations (e.g. providing medicines), are characterized by more stable and predictable product needs over a longer period (Besiou et al., 2012; Kovacs and Spens, 2007; Tomasini and Van Wassenhove, 2009). Development programs are at MSF referred to as regular programs. On the other hand, (emergency) relief programs, such as responding to cholera outbreaks, focus on response operations in the immediate aftermath of a disaster and are therefore typically characterized by a considerable uncertainty in needs (Besiou et al., 2012; Kovacs and Spens, 2007; Tomasini and Van Wassenhove, 2009). At MSF, emergency relief programs consist of emergency preparedness and emergency response. While emergency preparedness focusses on the preparation phase of a disaster, emergency response focusses on the response phase of a disaster.\nModel: The configuration of MSF pre-positioning strategy is determined by trading off two decisions as explained in the previous section:\nImplementation and validation: Cholera outbreak, Zimbabwe 2008\nResults: We present two outcomes of the model on the case of 2008 cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe. We present total costs of EPREP scenarios in Figure 3. The total cost of each scenario is calculated with the following equation:\nDiscussions and conclusions: Our research focussed on the impact of MTBD on determining a desired inventory pre-positioning scenario using a case from MSF. We identified the MTBD as a key influential factor in determining MSF inventory pre-positioning strategy configuration. The MTBD is analogous of MTBF in disaster preparedness. We formulated a trade-off model to show how MTBD affected the decision-making process of determining a desired EPREP scenario (i.e. pre-positioning strategy configuration) out of a set of predefined scenarios. The model was able to determine the relation of the decisions on transport mode and end-of-shelf-life policy and make comparison among decisions dependent on the MTBD, which is important to identify the preferred scenario.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the impact of Mean Time Between Disasters (MTBD) to inventory pre-positioning strategy of medical supplies prior to a sudden-onset disaster.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors developed a trade-off model based on the operations of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and implemented this in a spreadsheet-based platform to show the impact of MTBD on determining the pre-positioning strategy. This spreadsheet model identifies the most cost-efficient scenario out of a set of predefined pre-positioning scenarios. The authors implemented the model using a case study of a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe.\nFindings: The authors are able to show the impact of MTBD on determining the pre-positioning strategy. In addition, the authors also capture the trade-off decisions in transport modes and end-of-shelf-life policies. Moreover, from financial perspective, the authors show that an interaction between relief (emergency) and development (regular) programs can be beneficial.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors have some limitations on data access and availability. Some data (e.g. uncertainty in needs and lead-time) have to be collected for future research and, then, used to refine such decisions.\nPractical implications: The model can be used as a justification for selecting an inventory pre-positioning strategy based on MTBD.\nOriginality/value: The authors introduce relevant factors in humanitarian organizations practice that have not yet received attention in literature (i.e. MTBD, inventory swap, and trade-off decisions in transport modes and end-of-shelf life policies).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of food preservation on food waste	[ "Consumers", "Sustainability", "Food waste", "Frozen foods", "Food preservation", "Food value" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumers produce the greatest amount of food waste and loss in the food supply chains of developing and developed economies (Gustavsson et al., 2011). A recent pan-European food waste programme has identified consumer food waste as a major challenge (COST Action TD1203, EUBIS). The COST Network, EU network on food waste valorisation has given attention to solving the amount of consumer food waste produced through technological and policy interventions (Morone et al., 2017; Privett et al., 2016). Reducing all food losses will result in a more secure global food system and it is important for us to show how consumers can reduce food waste in households. This is where food preservation has an important role in facilitating this waste reducing action because it improves the utilisation of food. It has also been identified that understanding why food is wasted by consumers during meal occasions develops of waste reduction strategies that can be used for different foods and preservation methods (Martindale, 2014).\nResearch method: The Austrian market data was collected via an online survey carried out by the Institute of Marketing & Innovation, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) and Gesellschaft fur Konsumforschung (GfK SE) during July 2015 (GfK, 2016). The survey questionnaire obtained data from 2,800 participants on the frequency of their food purchases for fresh and frozen foods.\nResearch results: The amount of food waste produced in the sample of 2,800 Austrian households is shown in Figure 1. The data show that participants reported wasted 9.3 per cent of total fresh food purchased and 1.6 per cent of total frozen food purchased. Thus, the amount of reported food waste derived from the fresh foods is 5.8-fold greater than that of frozen foods in the 2,800 households assessed. This means that the six fresh food groups have a reported food waste that is 5.8-fold greater than comparable frozen food groups (see, Figure 1).\nResearch analysis: The goal of the research reported is to show how food waste behaviours connect many sustainability issues across the complex food choices consumers make when meals are prepared. Our research shows food manufacturers and food retailers occupy critical points in supply that can determine how these food consumption behaviours can be transformed into more sustainable ones. An important way of achieving this is through reducing the food waste associated with every meal.\nResearch conclusion: The research reported here shows purchased fresh foods have a six-fold greater food waste compared to purchased frozen food in a survey of 2,800 Austrian households. The research supports previous research conducted in the UK where a 47 per cent food waste reduction was demonstrated for frozen foods compared to fresh foods. This relationship shows maximal resource use is achieved for frozen food products that are manufactured for the convenience of being included in meals. The conclusion is that food manufacturers, food retailers and policy makers must consider the role of food preservation in delivering a sustainable diet. The decision matrix approach here provides initial guidance in new product development a basis for doing this and it is supported by data sets that have now been obtained in the Austrian and UK markets.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relationship between food preservation and reducing consumer waste is of value in developing sustainable meal options. The research reports insights into Austrian marketplace for frozen and fresh foods that have been obtained from a consumer survey.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The consumer survey methodologies indicate how preservation can change meal planning and lower food waste across frozen and fresh and ambient food purchases using freezing preservation methods.\nFindings: The results show food waste can be reduced by six-fold when frozen foods are compared with fresh foods.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study highlights the requirement for a greater understanding of the probability that specific foods will be wasted with respect to the frequency of purchase. This is a limitation of the current study that has been investigated by other researchers.\nPractical implications: This research has enabled the identification of different food waste amounts for different food product categories. The data presented could be used to guide food product development so that less consumer waste is produced.\nSocial implications: The research suggests a decision matrix approach can be used to can guide new product development and a model of this matrix is presented so that it may provide fit-for-purpose food preservation options for consumers.\nOriginality/value: This paper will continue to highlight the overlooked value of food preservation during processing and manufacturing of foods and their preparation in households.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Qualified ageing workers in the knowledge management process of high-tech businesses	[ "Knowledge creation", "Knowledge transfer", "Older workers", "Biotechnology", "Aerospace industry" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to Epingard (1999), \"the world of production is changing profoundly and the driving forces of development never cease to display themselves from the tangible towards information, whose rapid growth is such that we can no longer consider it as a simple auxiliary or aid facilitating exchanges\", but rather as an engine of the system of value creation within industrialised countries. In this sense, tomorrow's society will be one in which a workforce of knowledge workers predominates. This evolution is already tangible within the high technology sectors in Canada which has the highest growth of highly qualified jobs.The knowledge based economy is characterised by a strong increase in knowledge based externalities, as well as by a growth in change with respect to activities dedicated to innovation (Foray, 2000). This, along with the multiplication and extension of networks that ensure the large scale stocking and definition of information at ever-decreasing costs, erase traditional organisational boundaries to transform the world into \"an immense interconnected informational spider web\" (Epingard, 1999), thus entraining, within the western context, an organisational transformation involving reduction in structures (middle management), more flexible co-ordination and a modification in governance at the expense of the more aged workers.As part of this evolution, Canada now faces a set of socio-demographic constraints that could well hinder its competitiveness in the near future: a witnessing of the ageing of the active population, as well as a decrease in enrolment towards the scientific and technological fields within the younger generations. This double phenomenon partially explains the inadequate availability of expertise in face of the current demand within private sectors just when it is more than ever a source of competitive advantage.In this article, we propose to enter into the organisational reality of knowledge management, specifically of the ageing workers, within high technology firms within the province of Quebec. First, a review of statistics addressing the aged workers allows us to highlight the practical and theoretical issues of this work, as well as the research questions that derive from it. We then present the methodological approach adopted, followed by the exploratory results generated from our field investigations.\nResearch issues and questions: Ageing workers in the high technology industry\nMethodological approach: Our research questions will be investigated in the field of aeronautical and biotechnology firms which constitute important drivers of Canadian and Quebec economic development and innovation. Biotechnology firms contribute to Canada's international reputation, whereby they are ranked second in the world behind the United States, and ahead of Great Britain (Niosi, 2003). Close to 80 per cent of Canadian biotechnology firms are concentrated in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. Since several years, driven by the context of the pharmaceutical industry restructuration around biotech research, efforts by public authorities to support spin-offs, technological transfers, and knowledge development outside of universities have positioned Quebec as the sixth most important biotech hub within North America.The aeronautical sector is also an important contributor to the Canadian economy. In terms of total annual production, Canada ranked 3rd in the world behind the United States and the European Union (AIAC, 2004). In 2002, the sector generated 80,000 direct jobs. Quebec represents a major player in the industry due to the presence of numerous world class manufacturers and assemblers, whereby 70 per cent of Canadian R&D was realised in Quebec.Research phases\nResults of analysis: The results of the thematic analysis of the verbatim were filed in the following three ways:1. A chart of concept clusters useful for analysing the processes of knowledge creation/circulation embodied by ageing individuals.2. A presentation and an interpretation of the textual statistical analysis of the speeches of young and ageing workers helping to identify dominant dimensions of an eventual model for the evaluation of the intellectual capital of ageing individuals and the process of knowledge creation/circulation between generations.3. The highlighting of conditions related to the circulation of knowledge between different generations of actors within high technology firms that feed the key competencies of these knowledge intensive companies.Concept map as a first step for modelisation\nThe structuring dimensions of a model for the evaluation of intellectual capital of ageing individuals management in high technology firms: Statistical analysis of verbatim contents\nThe management of proximities for the creation/circulation of knowledge and memories: A generational gap exists between the ageing and younger workers expressed in terms of personal affinities (few \"points in common\", that is to say symmetry between centres of interest, personal preoccupations, etc.).The younger workers bypass their difficulty of integration via the detection of \"kindred\" within the organisation, that is, colleagues that share with them an organising proximity of similitude and belonging (Rallet and Torre, 2001), to exchange knowledge.The bringing together of the younger qualified and ageing workers is based much more on a functional proximity (physical proximity within company premises or relational proximity within a department) more or less organised by the initiative of the company and less from those directly interested. This phenomenon is less evident within small companies where the hierarchical line is less precise, or where a flat structure facilitates coordination.But independent of their size, firms do not seem to carry out, according to their employees, any specific actions to facilitate on the one hand the transmission of the organisational memory, and on the other hand, the updating of knowledge, more specifically that of ageing individuals.The process of co-construction between the young and ageing of the organisational memory occurs across shared contexts. In places of socialisation such as on lab tables, coordination meetings, joint client meeting activities, etc., the younger learn from the ageing via imitation, osmosis or natural contagion related to a physical proximity and facilitated by a capacity of observation. The constitution of teams, the pairing of competencies, and mentoring are all recognised practices useful for the transfer of this knowledge, but are not necessarily exploited at all levels of the company outside of the higher levels of management.Thus, confronted with a vacuum in expertise created by the absence of the ageing, numerous are the younger workers who deplore the pro-active way in which they had to substitute themselves to the hierarchy to themselves operate coordination mechanisms with the ageing (\"we have the feeling of missing key information\", \"we don't know what to answer to the client\"). Conversely, for the ageing, the process of updating is an individual as opposed to an organisational process. The companies that were studied did not seem to manifest any particular initiative to specifically maintain this intellectual capital.\nConclusion: Our observations illustrate the necessity for an evaluation tool for the management of knowledge circulation between generations of actors within high technology firms. This tool could inspire itself from Japanese approaches such as that proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). Their knowledge creation model is based on the dynamic integration of two types of knowledge; namely, explicit and tacit knowledge:1. Explicit knowledge, articulated in formal languages has been the dominant mode of knowledge treated in western philosophical tradition.2. Tacit knowledge, difficult to articulate by means of formal languages, consists of personal knowledge encrusted in personal experience, involving intangible factors such as personal beliefs and system of values. The knowledge of ageing workers (AW) is essentially tacit, embedded in their \"memory\" and their knowledge of the professional environment and in their relational knowledge instituted in networks of contacts. Capturing this knowledge and rendering it explicit for the younger individuals, involves thinking and becoming conscious of a managerial system that can initiate and enable the circulation of knowledge according to Nonaka's model, starting with its first mode: socialisation.In the spirit of the new economy, the capitalisation of knowledge is carried out across a transformation process of individual tacit and explicit knowledge into organisational knowledge and vice-versa. Emphasis is nowadays generally placed on explicit and expliciting knowledge in part to avoid an organisational dependency towards the employees. In other words, the knowledge must be filed on supports belonging to the company so that it can be independent of the individual. In the knowledge economy, by according a particular importance to tacit knowledge we rehabilitate the human being, not only as an indispensable element, but as the sole carrier of knowledge. Hence, the management field finds itself in front of the challenge of creating the conditions favourable to the creation of knowledge by individuals (such as the creation of proximities) and their transformation into collective and organisational knowledge.Our first explorations in the aeronautic and biotechnology sectors via in-depth interviews with both junior and senior participants reveal that even though the majority of managers are conscious of the importance of scientific, technological and administrative knowledge, their knowledge of social and relational knowledge (necessary for the capitalisation of knowledge) is often scarce. This relational knowledge consists of relational and communicational know-how's, the individual memory as an activation potential of organisational and human resource networks, and the experience of individuals as a capacity for decision-making and judgements.Within this managerial context where technical and scientific knowledge is valorised, the image of the ageing worker is associated to a member that has been surpassed by technological and scientific progress, thus representing little interest to a technological firm. This conception deprives the company of an important source of knowledge necessary for its development and competitive position. Ageing individuals, across their life and technical experiences, and their knowledge and contact networks accumulated with time, are very well positioned to reinforce this capitalisation.Evidently, further work is required in validating our observations across an enlarged population. Furthermore, given that different cultures may approach the issue of ageing workers from different perspectives, it is our intention to expand our work towards an international and comparative study. Our analysis could also be refined according to the \"type\" of job for which the heterogeneity has been studied by many, including Lesemann et al. (2003) (who characterises differently the \"competitive\" workers from the \"precarious\", the \"proteges\" from the \"excluded\", etc.).Despite these weaknesses, by focusing our analysis on highly qualified ageing individuals, we discerned a phenomenon showing that even within highly technological contexts knowledge management is far from systematically integrating all carriers of knowledge. This exploration of knowledge circulation processes with ageing workers will be pursued so as to operationalise the observed concepts within a practical evaluation guide of company practices related to inter-generational aspects of knowledge management for which we have decoded the basic dimensions, namely: the management philosophy (the managerial style at work, favouring projections and proximities), as well as the strategic analysis (knowledge and memory strategy, learning strategy), organisational analysis (information management system and knowledge creation process), operational analysis (places of socialisation), competencies (relational and communicational know-how, individual memory and capacity of judgement), and the role of the ageing personnel in the organisation (activation of organisational and human resource networks).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to aim to characterise the knowledge management process of the ageing human capital, within the sectors of aeronautics and bio-technologies in Canada.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology consists of: cross-search of literature towards the elaboration of a theoretical map; and collection of data involving semi-directed interviews followed by a thematic and statistical analysis of the textual data.\nFindings: - Management's knowledge of social and relational knowledge, especially those of ageing workers, appears to be scarce, thus resulting in ageing workers being perceived as surpassed by technological and scientific progress. This conception deprives the company of an important source of knowledge capitalisation. A model relevant to the evaluation of company practices related to inter-generational aspects of knowledge management should include six basic dimensions, namely: management philosophy (a managerial style favouring projections and proximities), strategic analysis (knowledge, memory and learning strategy), organisational analysis (information management system and knowledge creation process), operational analysis (places of socialisation), competencies (relational and communicational know-how, individual memory and capacity of judgement), and the role of ageing personnel (activation of organisational and human resource networks).\nResearch limitations/implications: - Further validation is required across an enlarged population, with the aim of operationalising the observed concepts within a practical evaluation guide of company practices related to inter-generational aspects of knowledge management.\nOriginality/value: - By centering the analysis on highly qualified ageing individuals, the authors discerned a phenomenon showing that even within highly technological contexts knowledge management is far from systematically integrating those recognised a priori as carriers of knowledge.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Methods in entrepreneurship education research: a review and integrative framework	[ "Education", "Entrepreneurship", "Methodology", "Enterprise education", "Research methods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Entrepreneurship courses and programmes appear to be a mainstay of modern higher education institutions, and they are increasingly attracting interest and intervention from policy makers and higher education management (Gibb and Hannon, 2006; OECD, 2009). Entrepreneurship is important for the process of value creation, job creation and general economic development. This understanding has more or less fully translated into the expectation that higher education institutions teach entrepreneurship and turn out an increasing number of graduates with a broad set of enterprising competencies, and the skills and ambitions to become entrepreneurs (OECD, 2009). Entrepreneurship education has thus transcended the boundaries of business schools and is now taught across faculties, to students with all kinds of educational backgrounds.\nReview of the methods of entrepreneurship education research: To explore the deployment of methods in current entrepreneurship education research, we conducted a systematic literature review of journal articles published between 2000 and 2012. This review is not exhaustive, but it covers a significant range of published studies on entrepreneurship education. To gain insight into the existing practices of research in entrepreneurship education the guiding question were: what methods are used to study different aspects of entrepreneurship education activities?\nFindings of the literature review: In the following, we present the main findings of our study. In the presentation we move from simple descriptive elements such as the development of publications over time and the distribution of publications across regions and journals. After the broad description, we look deeper into the methods used in entrepreneurship education research, in terms of methodological approaches, data sources and techniques for data analyses. Finally, we examine how dependent and independent variables are used in entrepreneurship education research.\nAn integrative methodological framework for entrepreneurship research: Our proposed integrated methodological framework entails four elements: the use of mixed methods, case studies as the preferred research strategy, the use of research teams consisting of insiders and outsiders and the use of multiple types of data.\nConclusion: Currently, entrepreneurship education expands into new institutions and it prospers in terms of theoretical content and teaching methods. Therefore, it is necessary that the concomitant research follow suit by embracing this increased heterogeneity while strengthening its commitment to methodological quality. Otherwise, entrepreneurship education research risks losing both relevance and legitimacy. In this paper we have tried to address this issue. First, we reviewed existing research, looking for patterns in the applied methods, in order to identify methodological strengths and weaknesses. Second, based on the review, we formulated a methodological framework indicating ways in which the current weaknesses can be managed and strengths leveraged. We argue that the solution is integration. Consequently, our framework integrates qualitative and quantitative methods in case studies. It integrates outsiders and insiders in research teams, and multiple types of data.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Research in entrepreneurship education faces substantial tensions and methodological challenges. Building on a review of extant empirical studies in the field, the purpose of this paper is to develop an integrative methodological framework for studying entrepreneurship education. Central questions are: What forms of entrepreneurship education research exist? Which data sources, research methods and approaches are used in this research? What are the methodological strengths and weaknesses of entrepreneurship education research? How can entrepreneurship education research be improved methodologically?\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper combines a literature review with a conceptual discussion. The review identifies 88 journal articles reporting empirical studies of entrepreneurship education published between 2002 and 2012. The literature is coded according to method used, type of study, data collection and analysis techniques. From the analysis of the reviewed literature, a conceptual discussion of the advantages and drawbacks of various methods is undertaken, and an integrated approach to entrepreneurship education research is proposed.\nFindings: Research in entrepreneurship education is fragmented both conceptually and methodologically. Findings suggest that the methods applied in entrepreneurship education research cluster in two groups: first, quantitative studies of the extent and effect of entrepreneurship education; and second, qualitative single case studies of different courses and programmes. Benefits and drawbacks haunt both clusters. Quantitative studies bring objectivity, comparability and generalizability, but show limited appreciation of the heterogeneity of the education they seek to measure. Qualitative single case studies are ripe with contextually sensitive descriptions and best pedagogical practices, but suffer from limited comparability and generalizability as well as severe biases of teacher-researcher conflation.\nOriginality/value: The suggested methodological framework builds on a systematic review of the research methods applied in extant entrepreneurship education research. It integrates qualitative and quantitative techniques, the use of research teams consisting of insiders (teachers studying their own teaching) and outsiders (research collaborators studying the education) as well as multiple types of data. To gain both in-depth and analytically generalizable studies of entrepreneurship courses and programmes, the suggested framework integrates the empirical sensitivity of qualitative techniques and diverse research positions, with the rigour of quantitative measures. The authors argue that studies of entrepreneurship education benefit from this integration. Furthermore, the authors describe a variety of helpful methods, explore the potential relation between insiders and outsiders in the research process and discuss how different types of data can be combined. The integrated framework urges researchers to extend investments in methodological efforts and to enhance the in-depth understanding of the dynamics and challenges of teaching entrepreneurship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of demographic factors on selected aspects of e-learning in higher education	[ "Higher education", "Blended learning", "Demographic factors", "LMS Moodle", "Public administration education", "Students’ perspective" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The growth of information and communication technology is bringing rapid and significant changes to the development of teaching and learning techniques. E-learning is emerging as the new paradigm of modern education (Bostrom, 2012; Islam, 2013). The rise in the usage of e-learning in the last two decades is due to the tougher competition between higher education institutions to attract students and meet their educational needs and goals (Clark and Meyer, 2011) and to support both face-to-face and remote course delivery without the constraints of time and distance (Park, 2009).\nEmpirical study: Data and methodology\nConclusion: The main goal of the paper was to present an analysis of the factors influencing the assessment of various aspects of blended learning. We examined the results received from students of University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Public Administration, where LMS Moodle is used for e-learning. The paper's primary contribution was to identify differences in the assessment of the aspects between various subgroups of students.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In higher education, a combination of traditional face-to-face learning and e-learning is becoming very popular. During their studies, students are enroled in several e-courses. They perceive various aspects of e-courses and show different responses when using teaching materials and learning in an e-course. The purpose of this paper is to measure such aspects from the students' perspective and explore the differences among various subgroups of students.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the survey, students expressed their opinions on 13 different aspects (a seven-level scale) of the e-courses in which they were enroled. In addition, the influence of some demographic characteristics was analysed. The authors used statistical tests (t-test and ANOVA) to compare the means among the analysed subgroups.\nFindings: The empirical results reveal some differences among the subgroups of students. Students' attitudes to blended learning increase significantly by year of study and decrease according to the amount of other non-study activities. Simplicity of finding materials in an e-course is the factor where male and female students differ significantly. This finding serves as a guideline for faculty management concerned with how to adjust blended learning to fulfil the various expectations of different student subgroups.\nOriginality/value: This paper's insights will be of value to individuals and institutions engaged in the e-learning process in higher education. In particular, the results will be helpful to the faculty management and teachers with the main task to increase the engagement of particular groups of students regarding the work in e-courses.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Balancing managerial and academic values: Mid-level academic management at a private university in Malaysia	[ "Malaysia", "Academic management", "Dean", "Managerial and academic value", "Private higher education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Massification, internationalisation and privatisation of higher education (HE) around the world have intensified the challenges faced by HE (Altbach et al., 2010). HE is facing intensified competition, increase cost per student and decrease per student funding (De Boer and Goedegebuure, 2009; Johnstone, 2011). HE is also increasingly being demanded to demonstrate accountability and efficiency, which are practices adopted from private corporations (Altbach, 2011; De Boer and Goedegebuure, 2009; Mercer and Pogosian, 2013). The need to behave like a corporation has challenged the traditional values of academia. While this phenomenon might be new to the public HE sector, the for-profit private HE sector has been referred to as operating like a corporate entity. For-profit private HE institutions are perceived to be more innovative, responsive and efficient but the need to survive and grow may pose greater challenges to academic values compared to public universities. Hence, this study focuses on a private HE institution.\nLiterature review: The changing nature of academic deanship\nMethodology: To obtain the answers to the research questions, this paper presents two successful case studies. Two faculties in a semi-elite teaching private university located near the capital city of Malaysia were sampled. The university was chosen as an exemplar of the private universities in Malaysia due to its success in transforming from a small private college to a semi-elite comprehensive university with more than 10,000 students. The deans of the two selected faculties took over the leadership position during the critical moment of transformation.\nFindings and discussion: With the usage of data gained, the following section describes the key challenges experienced by the deans in facing the competing managerial and academic values as well as how the deans have dealt with the challenges.\nConclusion: There is a growing demand for mid-level academic management, such as dean, to play the role of \"chief operating officer\" and academic leader. Deans are expected to represent the central university administration to implement the university's strategic plan and to achieve the university's financial and academic targets, while facing the fellow academics who demand autonomy. In order to bridge the top and lower-levels management, deans must be able to create alignment among the central administration, themselves and the academics by establishing a common ground.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Representing both \"central university administration\" and academics, deans are increasingly being confronted with the competing managerial and academic values. Being able to manage the competing values is pivotal to the success of a dean. However, there is dearth of research studying this. Considering the for-profit private sector may face greater challenge in dealing with the competing values, the purpose of this paper is to understand how deans in the private sector have managed this.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study was conducted using two exemplar faculties of a private university in Malaysia as sample. The main sources of data are one-year field work which is supplemented by eight years' archival data.\nFindings: The findings show that sustainable deans have found a common ground between the competing values. The common ground aligns the central university administration, the deans and the academics, and contributes to the sustainability of the faculties and university.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to addressing the ever-increasing tension between managerial and academic values experienced by the mid-level academic management especially at the for-profit private higher education institutions. The insights of this study enrich the existing knowledge in the area of mid-level academic leadership.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leadership beyond the glass ceiling: does ownership matter?	[ "Leadership", "Women", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and literature review: Many studies have looked at women and their leadership behaviors. For each study that says women make more effective leaders, another says that they do not (Barbuto et al., 2007). Understanding if the \"context\" in which leadership behaviors occur is a contributing variable to these different results may help explain the contradictions. Identifying the context in which women are more effective leaders is crucial to sorting through this seemingly contradictory evidence (Eagly and Carli, 2003). If organizations are better able to understand when women leaders are most effective, they may then be able to increase the numbers of women in the leadership ranks resulting in better organizational performance.Increasing the numbers of women in the workforce is important to organizations around the world. In particular, workforce diversity continues to be a focus for most large corporations. To determine current initiatives, a recent study found that globally, most large organizations (over $500 million revenue) view diversity as a priority and implement initiatives to promote diversity in the workplace (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2009). Further, the majority of organizations target their \"diversity and inclusion\" effort at women. Nearly 80 percent of the organizations responding to the survey viewed women as one of the \"most important groups to have in the organization's talent pool\" (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2009). Since women are viewed as the \"most important\" group for increased inclusion, how then do organizations attract and retain women while ensuring their effectiveness? Understanding how they lead successfully in different environments could contribute to increasing effectiveness, success and retention of women in organizations.Absent the diversity initiatives, the number of women in the highest level of organizations is increasing. Women-owned businesses are continuing to grow at an unprecedented rate. According to the US Census Bureau, \"the number of women owned businesses grew 20 percent between 1997 and 2000. For the past two decades, majority women-owned firms have continued to grow at two times the rate of all firms\" (US Department of Commerce, 2006). In addition, the contributions in sales of women-owned businesses have generated $1.9 trillion in sales and the number of individuals employed in women-owned businesses has passed 12.8 million (CFWBR, 2006). This growth, sales, and sustainability indicate a significant contribution to the US economy.This growth is evidenced in the corner offices of large corporations as well. Women have taken the helm of brand name US corporations resulting in them holding the position of CEO in six Fortune 500 firms (Fortune, 2009). In Fortune's \"2008 Most Powerful Women\" women are leading companies such as Wellpoint, Kraft Foods, Archer Daniel Midlands, PepsiCo and Xerox (Shambora and Kowitt, 2009).While some might say that these trends are long overdue, that does not mean they are well understood. One of the elements that may contribute to the professional advancement of women is that of leadership style. Leadership \"is critical to the health of a group, organization or society\" (Hollander, 1978). Therefore, understanding how women lead may help to explain the trend and support continued growth. What do we know about the leadership styles of women, whether they are business executives or business owners?Various research studies show, for example, that women tend to exhibit such behaviors as cooperation, collaboration, vision, relationship building, and empowerment (Loden, 1985; Bartol and Martin, 1986; Roueche et al., 1989; Helgesen, 1990; Eagly and Johnson, 1990). The behaviors are typical of what some call \"charismatic leadership\" (Bass and Avolio, 1990), others refer to as \"visionary leadership\" behaviors (Bennis and Nanus, 1985; Kotter, 1990; Kouzes and Posner, 1987). Yet research aimed specifically at examining these transformational leadership behaviors in senior management positions generally shows no notable differences between women and men in behaviors or characteristics (Langly, 1994; Davidson, 1995; Ernst, 1997). If we are to attain a generalizable model of women as leaders, it is important to understand why these research results do not document the transformational-type of behaviors of women.The concept of business ownership may provide a clue to understanding this inconsistency. Much research has shown that entrepreneurs differ from managers in significant ways (Begley and Boyd, 1987; Stewart, 1995; Envick, 1996). The research literature is, however, confusing because most researchers do not distinguish consistently and clearly between entrepreneurs and business owners (Wells, 1994). This study proposes that one of the elements that may contribute to the significant growth of women-owned firms is that of leadership style. Therefore, understanding how women lead as business owners or in the top position (CEO or President) may help to explain the growth and also support continued growth that may be transferable to other settings.It may be that when women are business executives, but not business owners of organizations, they feel pressured to refrain from exhibiting the kinds of behaviors and characteristics that they might otherwise use and that would be seen as transformational. However, when women are business owners and \"in charge,\" they may feel more free to exhibit such behaviors and characteristics, such as collaboration, participation, and empowerment and enhanced communication (Tibus, 1998). While some studies find no differences between the genders (Davidson, 1995), in other studies women appear to display and use behaviors characterizes as transformational in their interaction on the job to a much greater extent than do men (Loden, 1985; Eagly and Carli, 2003). This study examined the possibility that the factor of business ownership may account for these differences.The literature as it relates to women as leaders can be examined in three main research domains: transformational leadership theory, gender studies, and business ownership research.Transformational leadership theory\nMethodology: Research design\nResults: Of the 8,000 of people surveyed, 1,525 responses were received. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the demographic data. The t-tests determined the probability that the two means are the same (McMillan and Schumacher, 1993). The standard for significant difference for all t-tests is set at the alpha level of 0.05. To evaluate the data in terms of the research question, the data were sorted by gender, then further sorted and tested in terms of business ownership (Table V).T-tests were conducted, comparing the responses from women executives and women business owners. In particular, the overall scores, the cluster scores (i.e. in the areas of transactional leadership, transformational leadership behaviors, and transformational leadership characteristics) and each scale score was compared for the two groups (Table VI).\nResults: Clearly, there is a significant difference in overall leadership scores of women business executives and women business owners (p=0.034). Women business owners scored higher on the leadership measures used than did women business executives. A review of the clustered data reveals that certain TLP clusters also showed significant differences between women business owners and women business executives. With respect to transformational leadership behaviors and transformational leadership characteristics, women business owners scored significantly higher as compared to women business executives (p=0.038 and 0.021, respectively). Only with respect to transactional leadership was no difference observed between women business owners and women business executives.The differences in transformational leadership behaviors and characteristics scores can be further examined by looking at the specific scales that make up these two areas. A review of the scale data shows that women business owners scored significantly higher than women business executives on the scales of reward equity (p=0.019), communication leadership (p=0.001), creative leadership (p=0.033), confident leadership (p=0.041), and visionary leadership (p=0.021) (Figure 2).In sum, separating women into business owners and business executives results in a number of clear differences. Women business owners generally scored higher on transformational behaviors and characteristics as well as on the transactional behavior of reward equity.\nDiscussion and conclusions: The findings of this study are not unexpected - context does matter. This is an indication that context is a moderating variable for leadership, particularly whether it is more transformational or more transactional. If we are to increase the diversity of organizations by increasing the number of women, can we create an environment that emulates the very thing that attracts women to owning and/or leading their own business?Within the context of ownership, women report significantly higher scores in overall leadership, transformational leadership behaviors and transformational leadership characteristics. More specifically, looking at the scales that comprise these leadership constructs, women business owners scored higher on the scales of reward equity; communication leadership; creative leadership confident leadership; and visionary leadership. In sum, when women report on their own leadership behavior and characteristics, women business owners see themselves more \"transformational\" in their leadership than do their counterparts in executive positions.Care should be taken in assigning reasons for these findings. It may be, for example, that women perceived themselves to possess these \"transformational\" leadership behaviors and characteristics because of the influence of popular writings that describe women as possessing \"more transformational\" leader characteristics than their male counterparts. Additionally, differences may be a result of women who become business owners due to \"self-selecting\" out of the corporate business environment and into the business ownership environment. Still, these findings of this study do provide clear evidence that there are more specific differences in how women business owners perceive themselves as leaders compared to women business executives and others.While this study clearly indicates that the context of ownership is a factor in the way women perceive their leadership behavior and characteristics one can still ask about specific context dimensions. That is, what is it about female business ownership that produces these differences? To answer this question, it may, then, be important to know how women became owners and to understand whether women started a business or became owners through another means. This may help determine the specific characteristics of the context associated with the sort of effects found in this study.Another opportunity for further study is to understand how situations and environments affect perceptions and, more importantly, behaviors of women business executives exhibiting transactional leadership. Are specific aspects of \"context\" constraining them from behaving as transformative leaders? Or is there a self-selection bias, whereby women who are uncomfortable exhibiting transformational behaviors prefer to work in a corporate environment?Understanding how women lead - and what factors influence their leadership style - can be useful to corporate executives, public policy makers, and individuals concerned with the professional development of women. As the leadership role of women - whether as business executives or business owners - continues to grow, it becomes an important economic factor. Cultivating effective women leaders can then support the success of current and future business.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to compare the transformational leadership style of women business owners and those women in the top position of organizations with women executives who are not in the top leadership position of organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A quantitative approach using a population and business owners and executives from the private sector of the American Management Association.\nFindings: - The findings support the relationship between a woman owning a business or being in the top position and the increased use of transformational leadership behaviors.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper analyzes data collected in 1997 and the changes to the demographics may in fact be a limitation of the study.\nOriginality/value: - The study focuses on the importance of contextual considerations in the study of women and their use of transformational leadership.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Construction and validation of customer value co-creation attitude scale	[ "Value co-creation", "Retailing", "Scale development", "Customer attitude", "Service-dominant logic", "Service logic" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Unlike the traditional practice of value creation, the co-creation of value concept focuses on value-in-use and value in collaborative platforms through interaction (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004). The traditional practice of value creation, such as goods-dominant logic, considers firms as primary entities which create value during the production process of goods and services, whereas customers' roles are passive receiving value during the exchange of products or services (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004). However, the co-creation phenomenon focuses on the value-in-use concept where customers create value during consumption of goods and services (Gronroos, 2008). The current evolution of service-dominant logic (SDL) supports the co-creation phenomenon (Vargo and Lusch, 2004, 2008). According to SDL, value is always co-created, jointly and reciprocally, in interactions among firms and customers through integration of resources and application of competences (Vargo and Lusch, 2008). However, SDL cannot differentiate between the roles of providers and customers in value co-creation and considers co-creation as a metaphor (Gronroos, 2008; Gronroos and Voima, 2013). Service logic (SL) presents an alternative view on co-creation of value. This perspective provides clear role distinction of each actor (firm and customer). According to SL, the firm is a value facilitator, which embeds potential value in goods and services during planning, design, production and delivery phases (the providers' sphere). Customers are value creators who create value during the consumption process, e.g. value-in-use (the customers' sphere). Value is sometimes co-created when firms engage in direct interaction by influencing customers' value creating process and engage in dialogue (the joint sphere). Without the interaction between the customer and the firm, there is no co-creation of value (Gronroos, 2008, 2011, 2012; Gronroos and Voima, 2013).\nCustomer value co-creation attitude dimensions: Value co-creation, as explained by SL, takes place when customers and firms engage in direct interaction (Gronroos, 2011; Gronroos and Voima, 2013; Gronroos et al., 2015), where customers can decide whether to continue the interaction. According to the constructive theory of attitude, customer attitude towards engaging in interaction for value co-creation is spontaneous rather than retrieved from memory (Argyriou and Melewar, 2011). Thus, we define CVCCA as customers' willingness to engage in direct interaction with the firm for co-creation of value. Based on the SL literature, we extract three dimensions for CVCCA: interaction attitude, knowledge sharing attitude and responsive attitude.\nStudy 1: scale development of customer value co-creation attitude: As the CVCCA is posited to be multidimensional involving three dimensions, procedures recommended in scale development research were used (Gerbing and Anderson, 1988; DeVellis, 2003). Study 1 comprises item generation, content validity, testing for normal distribution and outliers, item analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA).\nStudy 2: validating the customer value co-creation attitude scale: The purpose of Study 2 is to examine the structure of the measurement model and the reliability and construct validity of the CVCCA scale items that emerged from Study 1. As mentioned, the service perspective of marketing considers value creation as customer creation of \"value-in-use\" (Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Gronroos and Gummerus, 2014). This emphasizes a phenomenological and experiential conceptualization of value which is recognized as \"value-in-context\" (Vargo et al., 2008). Value-in-context means that value is determined by place, time, situations and in the relationship between a firm and its customers (Vargo et al., 2008). For instance, in retail stores, customers determine and create value as \"value-in-context\" when they are exposed to interactions with the store environment, service employees and other resources (Wu and Liang, 2009) which build their experiential value (EV) perceptions (Mathwick et al., 2001). As Vargo and Lusch (2008, p. 7) state, \"value is idiosyncratic, experiential, contextual and meaning laden\" and is created in the experiential interaction of customers with service providers, the environment, goods, services or other resources during service encounters (Wu and Liang, 2009; Keng and Ting, 2009). Service encounters is where service is exchanged between firms and customers (Vargo and Lusch, 2008). In these encounters, three major factors determine EV: the environment (physical evidence), service employees and other customers (Wu and Liang, 2009). First, the EV is determined when customers interact with tangible or intangible elements in the service environment such as lighting, music, servicescape and other resources placed around them. The service environment largely affects customers' attitude and behavioural intentions (Wu and Liang, 2009). Second, the EV is determined through interaction with service employees to discuss needs and seek help for value fulfilment (Yuan and Wu, 2008; Wu and Liang, 2009; Keng et al., 2007). Third, the appearance, behaviour and perceptions of other customers determine the focal customer's EV perception (Bitner, 1992; Wu and Liang, 2009). The behaviour of other customers influence the focal customer's EV formation at a specific point in time (Brocato and Kleiser, 2005) which subsequently influence the customer's attitude and behavioural intentions (Keng and Ting, 2009). Despite recognizing that value is experientially and contextually perceived and determined by the customer during service encounters, extant research fails to describe how customers' EV perceptions emerge during service encounters and influence customer attitude to engage in value co-creation.\nDiscussion: The study makes substantial contributions in the value co-creation literature by developing a new scale for measuring CVCCA. Guidelines for scale development suggested by Churchill (1979) were followed. Literature on SL, value co-creation and constructive theory of attitude was reviewed to theorize the CVCCA construct. The CVCCA scale includes three dimensions: interaction attitude, knowledge sharing attitude and responsive attitude. Following the constructive theory of attitude formation, the study posits that customer attitude towards value co-creation is formed spontaneously based on the direct exposure of interaction with service providers. Value co-creation is only possible when customers have positive attitude towards value co-creation, which varies from context to context. When customers have a positive attitude towards engagement in value co-creation, they will actually engage in value co-creation. Thus, in addition to creating value-in-use, they will also co-create value as value-in-context. Nonetheless, if customer attitude is negative or there is limited interaction or response attitudes towards engagement with the firm, this will only create value as value-in-use and does not allow the firm to influence the value creating process. In addition, as mentioned previously, although a consumer may display positive interaction attitude and response attitude, the consumer may not have a positive attitude towards knowledge sharing, thereby not contributing to the co-creation of value. Therefore, our findings suggest that at times, although consumers may display partially positive attitudes towards co-creation of value, co-creation will not occur. All three attitude dimensions have to be present for value co-creation to occur. The empirical results validate the dimensions; thus, CVCCA is deemed as a multidimensional construct. This study, therefore, develops a valid and reliable scale for measuring CVCCA.\nTheoretical contributions: This study makes several theoretical contributions. Specifically, Study 1 generated an item pool based on a literature review of the SL and value creation literature and interviews with Malaysian hypermarket consumers. Study 1 also purified the measurement items and performed a reliability analysis of the scale and confirmed construct validity. Study 2 confirmed nomological validity by adding the two constructs of EV and CVCCB to the model. This research provides a theoretically sound and psychometrically valid scale which can be used to measure CVCCA. Based on the constructive theory of attitude formation, it is posited that customers' attitude towards value co-creation is formed spontaneously based on the context. Customers in some contexts engage in value co-creation, whereby they have a dual role in value creation, (i.e. value creators and value co-creators). However, in the context in which customers' attitude towards engagement in interaction with service providers is negative, they only create value as value-in-use but do not co-create value. Thus, the CVCCA scale is useful to measure customers' value co-creation attitude and customers' role in value co-creation.\nManagerial implications: From a managerial perspective, this study suggests that for actual participation of customers in value co-creation, favourable attitude towards value co-creation is necessary. The scale developed in this paper is useful to managers in measuring CVCCA. Findings further suggest that CVCCA is context dependent; therefore, it is pertinent in identifying in which situations customers are willing to participate in value co-creation. The CVCCA scale is valuable for service providers as they can assess when to approach customers and further assist them in creating value. Harris et al. (2010) caution practitioners about co-destruction of value, which should be of great concern to managers. Service providers need to identify situations in which interaction can be beneficial for co-creation and then enter into the customers' value creating sphere to co-create value.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this research is to develop a scale for measuring customer value co-creation attitude (CVCCA).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Scale development procedures are used for item generation, item purification and validation. Two studies are conducted. In Study 1, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis is used to generate and confirm the factorial structure of the CVCCA construct. Study 2 validates the scale on a large field sample.\nFindings: The study develops a new scale for measuring CVCCA. Results suggest that CVCCA is a higher-order construct comprising three dimensions: interaction attitude, knowledge sharing attitude and responsive attitude. Additionally, experiential value significantly predicts CVCCA, which subsequently leads to customer value co-creation behaviour confirming nomological validity of the scale.\nResearch limitations/implications: The CVCCA scale should be of interest for researchers in exploring factors and outcomes of CVCCA. The scale is useful to managers who are interested in measuring their customers' co-creation of value attitude and their willingness to engage in value co-creation behaviour.\nOriginality/value: This is the first scale using the service logic of marketing lens. The scale is found to be a valid and reliable tool to measure customer attitude to engage in value co-creation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Funding profiles of multisector health care alliances and their positioning for sustainability	[ "Funding", "Sustainability", "Mixed methods", "Alliances" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Collaborative forms of organizations (e.g. alliances, coalitions, networks) are increasingly viewed as an effective means of addressing complex, multifaceted health, and social challenges (Alper, 2014; Nicholson, 2013; Ward et al., 2006). Indeed, studies conducted in a wide range of settings - from the USA (Butterfoss et al., 1993; Chinman and Wandersman, 1999) and South America (Perry et al., 1998, 1999), to Africa (El Ansari and Phillips, 2001; Lazarus et al., 1998) and Europe (Barlow et al., 2013) - have explored these approaches to improving health and health care in local, regional, and national contexts. The advantage of these collaborative approaches, relative to independent and uncoordinated efforts, is that they are designed to address complex, systemic challenges (e.g. improving health, reducing homelessness) by leveraging the skills and resources of diverse stakeholders (Painter and Lavizzo-Mourey, 2008; Roussos and Fawcett, 2000).\nBackground and conceptual framework: Alliance funding profiles\nMethods: Study context\nQuantitative results: Sample characteristics\nQualitative results: The objectives of the qualitative analysis were to identify the goals and future challenges of the alliances following the end of a major program and describe alliance strategies for achieving these funding goals and the challenges the alliances have faced or anticipated facing while implementing these strategies. The following results are organized around these objectives.\nDiscussion: The primary purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the funding profiles of alliances and participant' perceptions of alliance positioning for sustainability. In support of this goal, a secondary purpose was to illustrate the types of real-world funding choices and challenges that the alliances face as they near the end of a multi-year grant program. Despite playing complementary roles in our study, these analyses collectively provide important insights into the potential implications of funding profiles on alliance sustainability and the practical issues that alliances may confront when changing their revenue portfolios. We explore these practical implications in the sections below by weaving together the quantitative and qualitative findings. Table III shows a more concise, consolidated integration of these findings.\nConclusion: Sustainability is an ongoing challenge for many nonprofit organizations due, in part, to their wide-ranging goals, participant-driven design, and funding environments. According to our research, too much dependence on grant revenues, in particular, may hinder an alliance's efforts to sustain itself and its programs. The study also sheds light on the processes that alliance leaders undertake in developing their funding profiles and the challenges they confront. Collectively, the findings help illuminate the complex relationship between alliance funding profiles and their value propositions and can help organizational leaders be more informed about their funding choices and the implications those choices have for the future of their organization.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between different aspects of alliance funding profiles (e.g. range of sources, dependence on specific sources) and participant' perceptions of how well the organization is positioned for the future.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A mixed method study in the context of eight alliances participating in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Aligning Forces for Quality program. Data collection approaches included surveys of alliance participants and semi-structured interviews with alliance leaders.\nFindings: The findings indicate that dependence on grant revenues, in particular, may be problematic for how well alliances are positioned for sustainability. While a number of approaches were identified to reduce dependence on grants, implementing these strategies presented more of a challenge for alliances due to the contextual demands of their external environment and a need to strike a balance between pursuing alternative revenue sources and fidelity to the mission and identity of the organization.\nPractical implications: Alliance leaders need to have not only a broad and accurate understanding of their external environment, but also an appreciation of the alliance's identity in that environment. Collectively, the findings can help organizational leaders be more informed about their funding choices and the implications those choices have for the future of their organization.\nOriginality/value: Collaborative forms of organizations (e.g. alliances, coalitions, networks) are increasingly viewed as an effective means of addressing complex, multifaceted health, and social challenges. For collaborative organizations that depend on the coordinated efforts of volunteers, addressing such complex issues is predicated on sustaining programmatic activities as well as the interest and participation of stakeholders over extended periods of time. This study sheds light on how leaders of these organizations may improve their prospects for sustainability.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Strategic value alignment for information security management: a critical success factor analysis	[ "Information security management", "Top management support", "Business alignment", "Critical success factor", "Organizational awareness", "Value alignment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Information is a valuable resource that is critical for an organization's success, but it is also vulnerable to a variety of attacks from both inside and outside of the organization (Lowry and Moody, 2015). With the growing threat and severity of security attacks, information security has become increasingly important to the survival of organizations. An organization's main objective is to provide valuable services to society. By doing so, it also generates profits or other benefits to the organization, as well as benefits to its employees and customers. Information is useful to help organizations to make better decisions and provide better services. Information security, however, is not directly linked to this mission. Rather, it deals with the negative aspects of security threats, which is something to avoid if at all possible (Liang and Xue, 2009). This often creates value conflict. For instance, managers who focus on using a company's resources for business competition may ignore security risks and optimistically think that these attacks will not happen (Rhee et al., 2012). This results from viewing information security as a burden and not wanting to spend money on it. In general, employees are expected to do good jobs to be rewarded. They may have value conflicts toward security and view security policy as unnecessary or interfering with productivity (Guo et al., 2011). From a customer perspective, the focus is to get good service conveniently. Therefore, customers may also view security measures such as complex password setting as headaches or the use of biometric identity authentication with privacy concerns (Breward et al., 2017). To improve information security, the key is to recognize such value conflicts and find a way to deal with them effectively. Literature has shown that the most proactive way to deal with value conflicts is to work toward value alignment (Lynn Fitzpatrick, 2007). Specifically, for security-related value conflicts, it is important to create value alignment for all the parties involved in information security management (ISM).\n2. Research background: 2.1 Value conflict and value alignment for information security management\n3. Research model and hypothesis development: Our research model (Figure 1) investigates how the CSFs contribute to the success of an organization's ISM from a strategic value alignment perspective. This ISM success model has five constructs, business alignment, top management support, organizational awareness, security controls and ISM performance, which are measured from four dimensions: business value, internal process, user orientation and future readiness.\n4. Research method: All constructs were measured by multiple items. As very limited empirical studies have been done on ISM at the organization level, few predefined scales were found for the social-organizational factors of ISM. Thus, new multiple-item scales were constructed for this study. Wherever possible, initial scale items were taken from validated measures in the existing literature, reworded to relate to the context of ISM. The items were scored on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).\n5. Data analysis: The research model was tested using partial least square (PLS) software, specifically WarpPLS 5.0 (Kock, 2015). Analyses were performed to evaluate both the measurement and the structural models.\n6. Discussion and conclusions: Findings from this study provide several theoretical contributions. First, using value alignment as a proactive approach to manage value conflict in ISM, we developed a theoretical model of the CSFs of effective ISM. This addresses information security issues at the organizational level, from a strategic value alignment perspective. Although literature has mentioned certain factors that may contribute to the success of ISM (Maarop et al., 2016), to the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive CSF model that has been developed and empirically validated in the field of ISM. Despite the extensive efforts on ISM initiatives, information security standards, policies, guidelines and procedures to guide organizations in implementing ISM, organizations are still exposed to security threats and risks because of ineffective ISM practices (Zammani and Razali, 2016). One possible cause of this phenomenon is that organizations are unaware of the factors that influence the success of ISM, especially the need for its value alignment with corporate strategy. Value alignment is necessary for effective collaboration which reduces unproductive conflict in organizations (Lynn Fitzpatrick, 2007). Our study made direct contribution toward this need.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Effective information security management is a strategic issue for organizations to safeguard their information resources. Strategic value alignment is a proactive approach to manage value conflict in information security management. Applying a critical success factor (CSF) analysis approach, this paper aims to propose a CSF model based on a strategic alignment approach and test a model of the main factors that contributes to the success of information security management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A theoretical model was proposed and empirically tested with data collected from a survey of managers who were involved in decision-making regarding their companies' information security (N = 219). The research model was validated using partial least squares structural equation modeling approach.\nFindings: Overall, the model was successful in capturing the main antecedents of information security management performance. The results suggest that with business alignment, top management support and organizational awareness of security risks and controls, effective information security controls can be developed, resulting in successful information security management.\nOriginality/value: Findings from this study provide several important contributions to both theory and practice. The theoretical model identifies and verifies key factors that impact the success of information security management at the organizational level from a strategic management perspective. It provides practical guidelines for organizations to make more effective information security management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Will artificial intelligence usurp white collar jobs?	[ "Artificial intelligence", "Machine learning", "Human resource", "Robotic process automation", "White collar workers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Research predicts that as many as one-third of roles could be taken over by technology, how does this change the shape of the workforce, and HR's role in managing it (Personnel Today, 2015)? Eminent English economist David Ricardo first raised the machinery question in 1821, that is, the \"opinion entertained by the labouring class, that the employment of machinery is frequently detrimental to their interests\" (The Wall Street Journal, 2016). Thomas Carlyle, writing in 1839, railed against the \"demon of mechanism\" whose disruptive power was guilty of \"oversetting whole multitudes of workmen\" (The Economist, 2016). The fear of machines taking over jobs thereby making humans redundant is not new. From the time of the Industrial Revolution machines have been replacing blue-collar jobs. However, in view of recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), has the time arrived for the demise of white collar jobs and how does this change the shape of the workforce, and HR's role in managing it? To answer this question, this paper looks at some recent studies and expert opinions.\nImplications for human resource practitioners: Clearly, a trend is emerging where AI is increasingly competing with humans in a wide range of cognitive tasks. According to The Economist (2014), since the 1950s, huge investments in capital equipment has caused the sharp decline of American share of employment in manufacturing from 30 per cent to less than 10 per cent. However, during the same period, jobs in services soared, from less than 50 per cent of employment to almost 70 per cent. It is therefore inevitable that firms would start to apply the same experimentation and reorganization to service industries. HR practitioners need to anticipate the impact of AI on their workplaces. HR departments may themselves be undergoing change as AI takes over some of the functions performed by people previously such as HR systems reporting or assistance with recruitment and selection. AI could also help to serve the line manager as their \"first port of call\" HR advisor and provide them with real time HR information that would make these line managers more effective. HR practitioners need to be up with the play with AI developments to be able to advise management of the possible changes to workforce in terms of nature of work, predict both the likely roles that employees will play and the optimal mix between human and machines in at the workplace. In essence, they must attempt to predict the jobs of the future as AI stealthily usurps white-collar jobs.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper highlights the risks faced by white-collar workers resulting from advances in artificial intelligence (AI).\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper explores recent research and expert opinion on the evolution of AI and its encroachment on white-collar jobs.\nFindings: This paper reveals susceptibility of white-collar jobs to AI.\nPractical implications: This paper guides HR practitioners in advising management on the possible deployment of AI to enhance productivity and the resultant impact in the roles that employees perform.\nSocial implications: This study draws attention to the risks associated with the deployment of AI and as a consequence the loss of white-collar jobs.\nOriginality/value: This study raises the issue of how AI could disrupt the workplace by usurping white-collar jobs and creates awareness of the need for people in vulnerable white-collar jobs to re-think their careers and for HR practitioners to manage the change that this disruption will bring.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Explaining India's current account deficit: a time series perspective	[ "Cointegration", "Current account deficit", "Twin deficit", "Financial savings" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The central goal of a country's macroeconomic policy is to achieve a simultaneous balance between internal and external sectors. While maintaining internal balance requires keeping inflation low and stable, and potential output or unemployment rate at desired levels, it is imperative that the current account balance (CAB) (especially, current account deficit (CAD)) be kept at a sustainable level to achieve the external balance. However, CAD is not considered as an explicit policy variable such as money supply or fiscal position, nor is it an ultimate policy target like output growth, inflation or unemployment rate. But, CAD is often viewed by policymakers as an important \"intermediate target\" that reflects the stance of a country's macroeconomic policies and doubles as a source of information about the behaviour of economic agents. As the actions and expectations of market participants in an open economy are reflected in the movement of current account, policymakers often stress the importance of this variable when explaining its behaviour - particularly from the perspective of the factors driving a CAD (and whether it is sustainable or not) - as well as while framing policies to keep it at a sustainable level.\n2. Does current account deficit matter?: The \"current account\" of balance of payments comprises the transactions between residents and non-residents in terms of goods, services and incomes. A deficit in current account always reflects in an increase in net financial claims of foreigners (i.e. increase in net capital flows or depletion in foreign exchange reserves). Alternatively, CAB can be derived from national accounts by deducting total expenditure (i.e. sum of consumption (C), investments (I) and government spending (G)) from gross national production (GNP). From this equation, one can derive CAB as the difference between gross national savings (S) and investments (I)[1]. In an open economy, S hardly matches with I, and thus lead to a current account imbalance.\n3. Trends, composition and dynamics of CAD in India: India was considered to be one of the most open economies in the world during the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century, after becoming an agricultural exporter, it still managed a trade surplus (Desai, 2003). During the colonial rule, India's external sector deteriorated but the country still remained one of the top 10 exporting countries in the world. According to the data compiled by Banerji (1961), India ran current account surplus in seven years during 1921-1938. However, it experienced a decline in its share of merchandise exports in the world trade from about 2.5 per cent in 1949-1950 to a mere 0.5 per cent by the late 1980s (Singh, 2009). This decline and glitches in macroeconomic policies followed during that period landed India in an external payment crisis. Indian economic policy witnessed a marked shift thereafter with massive liberalisation measures to promote trade, capital flows and, ultimately, economic growth.\n4. The way of financing CAD: Great attention has been paid in recent literature to examine the current account sustainability, by focusing on its composition and how the deficit is financed (e.g. Beim and Calomiris, 2001; Lane, 2004, 2005; Lane and Milesi-Ferretti, 2005a, b; Tang, 2006). In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the financing patterns of CAD in the Indian context. Although India has relatively low CAD, the trade deficits[5] continue to remain at a high level over the years and have been increasing steadily since 2004-2005. It is well known that India's CAD is low due to surplus in invisibles, including net surplus in services account as well as large workers' remittances inflows. The underlying risk here is that any layoffs in the overseas labour markets or a ban on visa by the USA, Europe, etc. could have an adverse impact on the CAB. This is because India receives a major part of the remittances from Gulf countries (37 per cent) followed by North America (34 per cent) and Europe (12 per cent)[6]. The past experience shows that a couple of crises in Dubai, the USA and Europe impacted the remittances inflows, though the effect was not significant.\n5. Econometric results on sustainability issues: In the Indian context, few studies attempted to examine the sustainability issues. Khundrakpam and Ranjan (2008) using an inter-temporal model found that CAB of India was inter-temporally insolvent during the pre-reforms period but has turned solvent during the post-reform period. According to them, this result is a reflection of significant liberalisation of capital account which helped in smoothening of private consumption. Goyal (2012) estimated the medium-term sustainable level of CAD for India is in the range of 2.4-2.8 per cent of GDP based on Domar's debt sustainability model. According to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF, 2013) external sustainability approach, the estimated threshold is marginally lower at 2.3 per cent of GDP. Holmes et al. (2011) employing a range of parametric and nonparametric tests for cointegration between exports and imports and a set of unit root tests for CAB, for the period of 1950-2003, found favourable evidence for India's current account sustainability since the late 1990s. Using a similar approach, Tiwari (2012) also concluded that CAD is sustainable as both non-oil exports and imports are strongly co-integrated.\n6. Concluding remarks: India's CAD has widened in last few years mainly because of the rise in gold and oil imports, and increase in investment income payments in conjunction with fall in investment income receipts, despite a large comfort provided by services sector and private remittances. Given large demand in India, it is difficult to control import growth. However, policy makers should focus on achieving phenomenal export growth so that a sustainable current account is maintained. With rising working-age and skilled population, India could focus more on high-value product exports rather than low-value manufactured items.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the issue of high current account deficit (CAD) from various perspectives focussing its behaviour, financing pattern and sustainability for India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To begin with the trends, composition and dynamics of CAD for India are analysed. Next, the influence of capital flows on current account is investigated using Granger non-causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) between current account balance (CAB) to GDP ratio and financial account balance to GDP ratio. Also, the sustainability of India's current account is examined using different econometrics techniques. In particular, Husted's (1992), Johansen's cointegration and vector error correction model (VECM) is applied along with conducting unit root and structural break tests wherever applicable. Further, long-run and short-run determinants of the CAB are estimated using Johansen's VECM.\nFindings: The study found that the widening of CAD is due to fall in household financial savings and corporate investments. Also, it was found that a large part of India's CAD has been financed by FDI and portfolio investments which are partly replaced by short-term volatile flows. The unit root and cointegration tests indicate a sustainable current account for India. Further, econometric analysis reveals that India's current account is driven by fiscal deficit, terms of trade growth, inflation, real deposit rate, trade openness, relative income growth and the age dependency factor.\nPractical implications: Since India's CAD has widened and is expected to widen primarily due to rise in gold and oil imports, policy makers should focus on achieving phenomenal export growth so that a sustainable current account is maintained. Also, with rising working-age and skilled population, India should focus more on high-value product exports rather than low-value manufactured items. Further, on the structural side it is important to correct fiscal deficit as it is one of the important factors contributing to large CAD.\nOriginality/value: The paper is an important empirical contribution towards explaining India's CAD over time using latest and comprehensive data and econometric models.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Copula based constant-stress PALT using tampered failure rate model with dependent competing risks	[ "Fisher Information Matrix", "Gumbel–Hougaard copula", "Dependent competing risks", "Partially accelerated life testing (PALT)", "Tampered failure rate model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Nomenclature\n1. Introduction: Accelerated life tests (ALTs) are frequently used in manufacturing industries to evaluate the reliability of products within a reasonable amount of time and cost. Test units are subjected to elevated stresses which yield quick failures.\n2. Copula: In this paper, we have used the concept of copulas to model dependency between two failure modes. The dependence structure relates the known marginal distributions of failure modes to their bivariate distribution (Nelsen, 2006). The kind of dependence structure comes from the choice of an appropriate copula.\n3. TFR model under constant-stress set-up: Bhattacharyya and Soejoeti (1989) proposed the TFR model in step-stress setting. Srivastava and Sharma (2014) have the TFR model under constant-stress loading for formulating optimum time-censored PALT sampling plan. The TFR model devised by them is explained next.\n4. The model: In this section, we develop the model for constant-stress PALT plan using TFR model with dependent competing risks. We find its life distribution function and obtain the likelihood function.\n5. Numerical example and sensitivity analysis: In this section, a hypothetical constant-stress PALT with two dependent competing causes of failure experiment using the TFR model is considered with the following data set: n=30, l1=1.2, l2=2.1, e=4, A=1.5, th=2.\n6. Conclusion: ALTs are frequently used in manufacturing industries evaluate the reliability of products likely to last for several years. The acceleration of life test may be carried out in a fully accelerated or partially accelerated environment. A test unit may have more than one causes of failure, such as mechanical or electrical. This paper focuses on formulation of optimal constant-stress PALT with two dependent competing causes of failure using the TFR model. Gumbel-Hougaard copula is used to model and measure the dependence between the life times of competing causes of failure. The optimal plan consists of finding out allocation in different chambers using D-optimality criterion. The exponential distribution and time-censored data have been used for the purpose. The method developed has been explained using a numerical example. Probability plots have been drawn and it has been found that exponential models used for failure modes are good fit to the given data. Cumulative hazard plots are drawn to examine change in relative dominance of failure modes with change in stress. The confidence Interval for the estimated values of the design parameters has been obtained and sensitivity analysis carried out. The result of sensitivity analysis shows that optimum plan is robust for small deviations in the true values of the design parameters.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Accelerated life tests (ALTs) are used to make timely assessments of the lifetime distribution of highly reliable materials and components. Life test under accelerated environmental conditions may be fully accelerated or partially accelerated. In fully accelerated life testing, all the test units are run at accelerated condition, while in partially accelerated life testing, they are both run at normal and accelerated conditions. The products can fail due to one of the several possible causes of failure which need not be independent. The purpose of this paper is to design constant-stress PALT with dependent competing causes of failure using the tampered failure rate model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Gumbel-Hougaard copula is used to model and measure the dependence between the life times of competing causes of failure. The use of the copula simplifies the model specification and gives a general class of distributions with the same dependent structure and arbitrary marginal distributions.\nFindings: The optimal plan consists in finding optimum allocation of test units in different chambers by minimizing the reciprocal of the determinant of Fisher Information Matrix. The confidence interval for the estimated values of the design parameters has been obtained and sensitivity analysis carried out. The results of sensitivity analysis show that the plan is robust to small deviations from the true values of baseline parameters.\nOriginality/value: The model formulated can help reliability engineers obtain reliability estimates quickly of high reliability products that are likely to last for several years.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Integrated reporting and narrative accountability: the role of preparers	[ "Insurance", "Accountability", "Integrated reporting", "Narratives", "Mode of cognition", "Report preparers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The emergence of integrated reporting (IR)[1] principles, frameworks and corporate practices (de Villiers et al., 2014, 2015, 2016; Dumay et al., 2016) has prompted divisive debate about whether and how such reporting standards might enhance corporate accountability. The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), the primary promoter of IR as an international voluntary disclosure practice, asserts that such emerging practices will \"enhance accountability\" by soliciting disclosures about \"how key stakeholders' legitimate needs and interests are understood, taken into account, and responded to through decisions, actions, and performance, as well as on-going communication\" (IIRC, 2013a, p. 18, SS 3.14). In this view, IR can \"[e]nhance accountability [...] for the broad base of capitals (financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural)\" (IIRC, 2013a, p. 2).\n2. Accountability and corporate external reporting: theoretical frame: With its multiple meanings (Sinclair, 1995), accountability regularly appears in accounting literature (Messner, 2009). A generic, sociological meaning refers to \"the giving and demanding of reasons for conduct\" (Roberts and Scapens, 1985, p. 447), which entails explanation, justification, and taking responsibility for one's own conduct (Roberts and Scapens, 1985). In exploring the content of accountability (i.e. accounts that an accountor provides to an addressee) and the social practice of giving and demanding accounts (i.e. procedures for providing accounts), critical/interpretative accounting scholars particularly seek to understand the experiences and practical engagement of actors involved in accountability relationships (e.g. Gray et al., 1988; Roberts, 1991; Messner, 2009).\n3. Accountability and IR: previous studies: 3.1 Narrative nature of IR\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Analytical approach\n5. The company and its IR: Founded in 1831, Generali is the largest insurance group in Italy and third in the world. Its headquarters are in the north-eastern city of Trieste. With 76,000 employees, 530 billion euro in assets under management, and 55 million customers, it is one of the 50 largest companies in the world. Generali offers services for the life and property and casualty insurance segments; it operates in more than 60 countries using more than 430 companies. It is the market leader in Italy, has a strong presence in Europe, and aims to increase its presence in Asia and South America. Generali belongs to the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.\n6. Findings: 6.1 Preparers' narrative mode of cognition\n7. Discussion: The idea that IR could enhance corporate accountability remains largely conceptual, rather than being explored in terms of experiences and the actual engagement of actors involved in accountability relationships. The present paper tries to fill this gap by empirically exploring how IR preparers experience accountability while preparing their IR. In particular, it investigates the IR as a potential source of socializing accountability towards investors and other stakeholders.\n8. Conclusion: In Generali, IR implementation involves a thorny reasoning process about how to discharge accountability. Preparers are particularly interested in addressing accountability tensions that derive from a contingent corporate strategy change and the inherent complexity of the insurance sector's business model. They believe that IR represents the perfect outlet for resolving these tensions. Their narrative mode of cognition drives them to craft the IR in a way that renders the contingent events comprehensible, recounting these events as under the control of the company's management. Some \"characters\" remain suppressed in constructing the IR value creation story; sustainability issues are not part of this story, whereas value creation, strategy, and the business model are considered crucial for explaining how the company deals with competitive challenges. As a result, the IR facilitates the socialisation of accountability effects, by enhancing the dialogue between the company and the IR's intended addressees. Although the stakeholders preparers address are not only financial ones, investors and the other financial stakeholders remain the key stakeholders whom interviewees mention when speaking about IR implementation. Preparers do not recognise the need to customise the IR according to the different expectations of financial and nonfinancial stakeholders.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The International Integrated Reporting Council claims that integrated reporting (IR) can enhance corporate accountability, yet critical and interpretative studies have contested this outcome. Insufficient empirical research details how preparers experience accountability while constructing IR; to fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to analyse how the preparers' mode of cognition influences the patterns of accountability associated with IR.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A functionalist approach to narratives helps elucidate the role that the IR preparers' narrative mode of cognition plays on accountability towards stakeholders. The empirical analysis particularly benefits from in-depth interviews with the IR preparers of a global insurer that has used IR since 2013.\nFindings: The preparers' narrative mode of cognition facilitates dialogue with IR users. It addresses accountability tensions by revealing the company's value creation process. Preparers' efforts to establish a meaningful dialogue with a growing variety of stakeholders through broader and plainer messages reveals the potential of IR as a narrative source of a socializing form of accountability. However, financial stakeholders remain the primary addressees of the reports.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper focusses on preparers' views; further research should integrate users' accountability expectations.\nOriginality/value: This paper offers new insights for dealing with corporate reporting and accountability in a novel IR setting.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Application of fuzzy preference relation for evaluating success factors of construction organisations	[ "Organization", "Construction", "Methodology", "Management", "Questionnaire survey", "Interview" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The construction industry of India accounts for about 8 per cent of India's GDP. Being the second largest industry after agriculture, it provides direct and indirect employment to the people of India. It is estimated that about 100m inhabitants will get direct employment by the year 2022. Apart from the direct employment, it also provides indirect employment opportunity through other manufacturing industry like cement, iron and steel, bitumen, chemicals, bricks, tiles, paints, construction equipment, etc. The construction sector is one of the fastest growing industries in India which is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of about 11.1 per cent over the last few years. The aggregate output of the construction sector was likely to increase from US$0.12tr in 2012-2013 to US$0.21tr in 2016-2017(US$1=INR65) (Planning Commission of Government of India, 2013).\nLiterature review: Like any other business, success is the ultimate goal of the construction organisations. There is a healthy competition in this industry due to the presence of a huge number of entrants. Achieving the success in such a competitive business environment is a very critical issue for an organisation (Arslan and Kivrak, 2008). There are many factors which lead to the success of an organisation; these are called success factors of the construction organisation. It is very tough for any construction organisation to concentrate on too many factors at a time due to their limited resources (Mbugua et al., 1999). Hence, it is necessary to identify those factors which are highly significant for their success by focussing on a limited number of factors rather than focussing on too many factors.\nResearch method: A questionnaire survey approach was adopted in two stages. The viewpoints of the experts engaged in Indian construction industry were used to apply factor analysis and the fuzzy preference relation (FPR). As the present study is quantitative in nature, the methods used to establish the trustworthiness of the study include internal validity, external validity, reliability and objectivity (Guba, 1981; Krefting, 1991). Internal validity ensures that the observed effect of the independent variable is real and not caused by extraneous factors. External validity indicates the extent to which the results from the research sample can be generalised to the larger population. Reliability test is conducted to verify the reliability of tools used for the study. Objectivity ensures that the interpretation of phenomenon under study is based on facts and is unbiased. For minimising the threat of internal validity and maximising the external validity, the authors randomly selected the samples (respondents) from a distinct population and collected the responses of the questionnaire in the standard condition which is discussed in detail in Step 2 of the research method. Cronbach's a test was performed to test the reliability of data and internal consistency within the attributes, which is discussed in Step 3 of the research method. The reliability and validity of research instrument, research statements and interpretation of results were also ensured by discussing with a small group of experts having more than three decades of experience. For retaining the objectivity in the research, the authors maintained distance from the research so that the findings are based on the data collected and not on the values, beliefs or opinions of the authors. The overall research method adopted in this study is depicted in Figure 1 and described in the following sections.\nReliability test: a test was performed on all the attributes with mean values 3.5 and above to check the reliability of data and internal consistency within the attributes. The value of a ranges from 0 to 1. Higher the value of a, greater is the internal consistency or the greater inter-criteria correlations and vice versa. As a rule of thumb, a>0.7 is acceptable (Doloi, 2009; Pongpeng and Liston, 2003). In this analysis, the value of a is 0.873, which indicates a good overall internal consistency of the attributes.\nResults: From Table X, project factor (SF-3) received the highest weight, i.e. 0.168, and was placed at the first position. Thus, the respondents agreed on the importance of the project factor. The availability of effective cash flow management plan, the effectiveness of project management in improving schedule, cost and quality of the construction project, and receipt of timely payment of bills as per contractual provision are measured at the construction project level and support the success of the project, and hence the name project factor. Effective cash flow management plan and receipt of timely payment are crucial for a construction organisation to run their businesses efficiently. As the project is the core of the construction business, the competency of the project management plays a vital role in the overall success of the construction organisation. Effective project management ensures better schedule, cost and quality performance of the project.\nDiscussion: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and rank the success factors and their attributes already identified through the previous research of the authors, which affect the success of the construction organisations.\nConclusion: The construction business is considered as one of the riskiest businesses in the world, and the goal of any business is to achieve success. There are several factors which affect the success of construction organisation. It is tough for any organisation to concentrate on too many factors for achieving success due to their limited resources. Hence, it becomes necessary to identify those factors which are critical to the success of the organisation. By doing so, an organisation can focus on a limited number of factors rather than focussing on too many factors. This study attempts to use FPR to find the relative weights of a set of success factors and their attributes affecting the success of a construction organisation engaged in real estate business. A questionnaire survey approach was adopted to evaluate the eight success factors and their attributes identified in the past study by authors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and rank the success attributes and success factors of the construction organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The viewpoints of the experts engaged in Indian construction industry were used to apply factor analysis and fuzzy preference relation with the help of a questionnaire survey.\nFindings: The findings indicate that project factor is the most important factor, whereas favourable market and marketing team is the least important factor. Among the success attributes, the availability of qualified staff is the most important attribute, and health and safety management plan is the least important attribute.\nResearch limitations/implications: Findings of this study are based on the viewpoint of the experts of construction organisations engaged in building projects in India.\nPractical implications: The study can be used as a yardstick for the top management of construction organisations to manage their resources efficiently and to develop a strategy to be successful in this business.\nSocial implications: Indian construction industry provides direct and indirect employment to the people of India. Hence, the success of construction organisation will contribute to the development of the society and ultimately the nation.\nOriginality/value: In the earlier studies, researchers have used various statistical tools to identify and evaluate the alternatives for the success factors of construction organisations, but very few of them have tried to assign weights to those alternatives. The simple ranking of alternatives using various statistical analyses, such as mean and standard deviation, relative importance index, etc., is not much useful unless their relative weights are known. With the help of the present study, the authors have tried to overcome the shortcomings of the previous research works.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Regulation and performance of non bank financial institutions in Ghana	[ "Performance", "Ghana", "Non-bank financial institutions", "Regulation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Building a sound financial system is an immense necessity for the economic development of a country. Banking institutions occupy a central position in the financial system of any nation, and are essential agents in the development process of market economies (Rajan and Zingales, 1998; Levine, 2005). Given the overall importance of banks to the economy and the level of trust customers place in banks, a slip in confidence could generate huge contagion effect and trigger runs and failures with disruptive consequences for the economy, and thus, government regulation and oversight is necessary.\n2. Evolution and regulation of NBFIs in Ghana: One of the initiatives of the Financial Sector Adjustment Program (FINSAC I and II) in Ghana was the development of NBFIs sector to supplement the efforts of the traditional commercial banks in providing credit to businesses as well as individuals. Following the licensing of several NBFIs during the Structural Adjustment Program and FINSC I and II, there was therefore the need to provide the necessary regulatory environment for the smooth operations of these NBFIs. In 1993, the Financial Institutions (Non-Banking) Law was passed to provide a legal framework for the new sets of financial institutions which were being established. These institutions included discount houses, finance houses, acceptance houses, building societies, leasing companies, savings and loans companies, venture capital companies, etc. (Anin, 2000).\n3. Literature review: The financial services sector in any economy serves as a catalyst for growth and development, and is therefore so sensitive and sacrosanct to the economy in terms of stability and growth that it must not be let loose by the government. It is not surprising in light of this fact that governments world over attempt to evolve an efficient financial services system not only for the promotion of efficient intermediation, but also for the protection of depositors, encouragement of efficient competition, maintenance of public confidence in the system, stability of the system and protection against systemic risk and collapse (Oladejo and Oladipupo, 2011).\n4. Methodology: This section specifies the model for the empirical investigation. It also discusses the sample, the data sources and the variables used in the study.\n5. Empirical results: This section discusses the results of the empirical study. The study first presents the descriptive statistics followed by the regression results.\n6. Conclusion and implications: In conclusion, the study that sets out to establish the relationship between NBFI regulation and profitability in Ghana emerged with the evidence that there exists a statistically significant positive relationship between minimum capital adequacy requirement of 10 per cent and profitability. This indicates that asking NBFIs to keep higher minimum capital adequacy ratio has resulted in improving their profitability. This suggests that capital regulation is an effective tool in enhancing the stability and the profitability of the financial services sector.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between regulation of non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) and their performance in Ghana.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis is performed using data derived from the Bank of Ghana Database during a five-year period, 2006-2010. Correlated panels corrected standard errors model is used to estimate the regression equation. Capital adequacy requirements and the restrictions on the ability of non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) to take deposits are used as proxies for regulatory pressure. The study also used the return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) as measures of NBFI performance.\nFindings: Results of the study emerged with the evidence that there exists a positive relationship between minimum capital adequacy requirement of 10 per cent and profitability. This indicates that asking NBFIs to keep higher minimum capital adequacy ratio has resulted in improving their profitability. This suggests that capital regulation is an effective tool in enhancing the stability and the profitability of the financial services sector. In addition, the paper finds a positive relationship between regulatory pressure in terms of restrictions on deposits and NBFI profitability. This means that non-deposit-taking NBFIs have improved performance. This indicates that restricting NBFIs in terms of deposit-taking rather goes to increase profitability.\nOriginality/value: The value of this study is in respect of its contribution to the extant literature on financial regulation and performance of NBFIs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Efficacy of China's strategic environmental management in its institutional environment	[ "Environmental management", "Environmental performance", "Institutional theory", "Institutional factors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Recent decades have seen China turning not only into the world's factory (Marsh, 2011) but also into one of the largest sources of pollution in the world (Economy, 2007; Xu and Lin, 2016). China's manufacturing industry is now widely recognized to be one of the major culprits behind this. For instance, China's industry accounts for nearly 60 percent of the nation's total energy consumption and over 50 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions in the world (Lin et al., 2014; Xu and Lin, 2016). Thus, a small percentage improvement in the efficacy of environment management (EM) practices among Chinese manufacturers is likely to contribute significantly to solving the global pollution problem. It is not surprising therefore that the Chinese Government has been exerting growing pressure on firms by encouraging the adoption of a range of EM practices (Zhu and Sarkis, 2006; Zhu et al., 2013). For instance, in 2008, it established a fully-fledged ministry called the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) to implement stricter regulatory policies such as \"Green GDP,\" \"China RoHS\" and \"Made in China 2025.\" These policies are forcing manufacturing firms in China to diffuse their operational-level EM practices into their corporate missions and plans (Lai et al., 2013; Chen et al., 2015). All this is making strategic EM increasingly popular in China.\n2. Literature review and hypothesis development: 2.1 EM and environmental performance\n3. Research methods: 3.1 Sample and data collection\n4. Results: Our analysis results indicate that the efficacy of strategic EM in the sampled firms is confirmed by the positive association with environmental performance (H1). We also find that the efficacy of strategic EM is significantly weakened by market pressure (H2), business turbulence (H3) and legal voids (H4), whereas it is significantly strengthened by structural-level governmental interference (H6). However, carbon policy (H5) and guanxi with government (H7) do not impact the efficacy of strategic EM significantly.\n5. Discussion and conclusions: 5.1 Discussion\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The Chinese Government encourages firms to diffuse their operational-level environmental management (EM) into their organization's mission and strategy to develop strategic EM to promote sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to utilize two concepts of institutional theory (isomorphic pressures and decoupling behavior) to assess how different institutional forces arising from Chinese macro-level factors (market pressure, business turbulence, legal voids, carbon policy, structural-level governmental interference and guanxi with government) influence the efficacy of strategic EM.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In partnership with a major consulting firm in China, the authors collect multi-informant survey data from 183 manufacturing firms drawn from a variety of industries for testing the hypotheses posited.\nFindings: The efficacy of strategic EM in the sampled firms is confirmed by the positive association with environmental performance. The authors also find that the efficacy of strategic EM is weakened by market pressure, business turbulence and legal voids, whereas it is strengthened by structural-level governmental interference. However, carbon policy and guanxi with government do not impact it significantly.\nResearch limitations/implications: To extend the findings on the environmental importance of strategic EM, future research can develop and validate a management framework to guide the adoption of strategic EM. With regard to the four valid macro-level factors influencing the efficacy of strategic EM, future research can identify the reasons (e.g. conflict with corporate functions) behind them to aid manufacturers to mitigate their negative influence or enhance the positive influence on strategic EM.\nSocial implications: China's Government and its manufacturers (or those sharing a similar institutional environment) can expand the scope of their EM efforts from operational-level EM practices to strategic EM. The findings on the valid macro-level factors have led to practical suggestions for government bodies and manufacturers to improve the efficacy of strategic EM adoption. Overall, the implications help achieve the higher levels of firm-level environmental performance and alleviate the global pollution problem.\nOriginality/value: A particular value of this work lies in the demonstration of combining institutional theory (organization decoupling, isomorphic pressures) with practical consideration such as guanxi with government in the particular institutional environment of China to help address an important and context-related problem, environmental performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Involvement and productivity of research and development workers: A case study of a publicly-funded research laboratory	[ "Man-days involvement", "Manpower involvement", "Manpower productivity", "R&D productivity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Publicly funded research organizations are usually operated and supported by government. Such organizations are typically set up by the relevant government in the interests and wellbeing of the nation. They are meant to carry on research and development (R&D) to provide benefit to each and every citizen of the country irrespective of their social status and taxpaying capability. On the other hand, privately funded research organizations are privately owned and operated by a limited group of people usually for their own benefit. These organizations are generally set up as subsidiaries to provide R&D services to address specific business needs of an industry. Both types of funded organizations are important as they contribute to the economic development of the country.\n2. Conceptual background: Self-sustainability\n3. Theoretical background: Literature review\n4. Methodology: Data and variables\n5. Preliminary study: The scope of the study was confined to an Indian publicly funded research laboratory whose mandate is to carry out research in the areas of metals, minerals and materials. This laboratory conducts research in multiple core and non-core area projects with shared resources and manpower. The largest number of technical manpower and projects are in the core area \"Evaluation of Materials/Materials Engineering\" (see Figures 1 and 2). The R&D projects of the laboratory comprise different categories of projects, out of which the grant-in-aid/network category has the maximum number of projects. Also, the maximum amount of external cash flow is generated from grant-in-aid/network category of projects (see Figures 3 and 4).\n6. Hypothesis: From the preliminary study it was observed that more than 50 percent of the researchers were underutilized. The researchers are supposed to be mostly involved in R&D and their annual research productivity is considered an important parameter for their performance evaluation and promotion. One of the factors which may affect the individual productivity can be high man-days involvement in R&D projects.\n7. Results: The robust correlation coefficients between the dependent and independent variables are tabulated (see Table V). The robust correlation coefficients equal to or higher than 0.60, are considered to be significant for the current study. The descriptive statistics of the variables having a significant robust correlation and that have been used further for the regression model building are tabulated (see Table VI). The results of the regression models are also tabulated (see Table VII).\n8. Conclusion and limitations: In this study \"man-days involvement\" has been introduced as a determinant for explaining the productivity of manpower in R&D at a publicly funded research laboratory. The statistical analysis technique \"robust regression\" was applied to the data specific to this publicly funded research laboratory and it was found that there is a significant relationship of \"man-days involvement\" and \"manpower productivity\" in this research laboratory. Different regression models indicated that the manpower productivity was dependent upon the determinants \"Total Man-days Involvement,\" \"Man-days Involvement as Member,\" \"Man-days Involvement in Grant-in-aid Category of Projects,\" \"Number of Projects in Grant-in-aid Category\" and the two factor variables \"Age group\" and \"Subject.\"\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The effect of global integration of businesses and interchange of ideas and technology through internet has many facets. Increase in economic recessions and decrease in research funding has forced both private and public sector research organizations to introduce measures of self-sustainability. Enhancing research and development (R&D) productivity of researchers can be one of those measures. The purpose of this paper is to attempt toward identifying and analyzing those factors of productivity that may be related to the manpower in R&D.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based upon the theoretical background and the nature of data available, this empirical study has been carried out as a case study for a public sector research laboratory. The extent of involvement in research projects have been analyzed with respect to the R&D outputs generated by the researchers, which if found to be positively related, may be focussed upon, for increasing productivity of manpower in R&D. Several other determinants of R&D productivity were identified from the literature review and were analyzed in association with the \"involvement.\" \"Robust Regression\" technique was used for the statistical analysis.\nFindings: It was found that the R&D productivity of researchers has a positive correlation with their extent of involvement in the R&D projects.\nPractical implications: The result may help in creation of the policies for enhancing organizational self-sustainability.\nOriginality/value: Several prior studies have been conducted with different determinants of R&D productivity but hardly any studies were found considering \"extent of manpower involvement in research projects.\" This study can be useful for public sector research organizations to relate the findings with their endeavors of enhancing R&D productivity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Paying to see a bug on my food: How regulations and information can hamper radical innovations in the European Union	[ "European Union", "Insects", "WTP", "Regulations", "Food innovation", "Novel food" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In this paper we present and discuss a paradox which seems to characterise the agri-food innovation landscape of the European Union (EU). On one hand the EU is supporting and fostering ground-breaking innovations, especially in the direction of exploring novel and sustainable source of food ingredients, often by subsidizing research organizations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-up companies (Dries et al., 2014). On the other hand EU policy-makers are investing resources to set up and enforce an effective regulatory environment, in order to promote quality standards, to foster food safety, and ultimately protect consumers from risks derived by novel food products (Frewer et al., 2011). In principle this is guaranteeing the conditions to create a safe and profitable environment to foster innovation, and to provide win-win solutions to EU stakeholders. However we also highlight that a lack of coordination and alignment of these two streams of regulation can hamper innovation potentials, reducing potential benefits for producers and consumers, and thus creating what can be defined as an example of \"regulatory or nonmarket failures[1]\" (Borras, 2006; Wijnands et al., 2007; Rollin et al., 2011; Brouwer et al., 2012). Such a criticism is based on the idea that European consumers, as well as other stakeholders, are very sensitive to information, and strongly \"conditioned\" by their cultural patterns and issues of neo-phobia[2] when it comes to novel food (Sylvester et al., 2009; Frewer et al., 2011). The result is a lower degree of openness for radical innovations, compared to other areas in the world (Sylvester et al., 2009; Bunte et al., 2011).\nRadical food innovations and regulatory failures: Fostering ground-breaking, radical innovation at both business and consumer level is one of the main priorities for the EU (Dries et al., 2014). Particularly, the development and exploitation of new source of sustainable food ingredients is one of the new frontiers in the EU when it comes to radical innovation (Hoek et al., 2013). For example, there is increasing awareness in the scientific as well as in the business community to reduce meat consumption, and find ways to develop large-scale oriented meat-alternative products. Meat production and consumption are considered one of the most relevant sources of environmental degradation as well as health costs related to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, mainly due to over-consumption (Oonincx and de Boer, 2012; Hoek et al., 2013). From a more regulatory and policy-making point of view, we can observe the presence of two distinct but related regulatory frameworks influencing the pathways of radical food innovation within the EU (Figure 1).\nMethods: Data collection\nCE design: Based on the ENFR procedures insect-based products cannot be purchased on the market if insects have been processed, even just smashed or separated in parts (Belluco et al., 2013). Given this scenario, our empirical strategy has been to identify a number of attributes directly linked to the ENFR framework, such as the presence of insect as whole, and other attributes related to the general EU food regulation, such as labeling and health claims. To identify the \"effect\" of the ENFR regulation we identify visualization as source of potential barrier for consumers' WTP insect-based products. The main rationale is since ENFR is \"imposing\" to food producers the use of insects as a whole, the only flexibility in the design of insect-based foods is to either let the insects being visualized or not. A positive contribution to WTP will mean that visualization of insect is not hampering the potential capacity of this product to be appreciated and valued by consumers. In this case the ENFR is not creating substantial regulatory failure, since it is not misaligned with the main objectives and investments made via the R\nEconometric specification: Our theoretical model is based on the Lancastrian consumer theory of utility maximization (Lancaster, 1966), with consumers' preferences for food attributes modeled within a random utility framework (McFadden, 1974). The choice questions were analysed using the random utility framework. Thus, the final specification of the utility function is assumed to depend on the attributes and attribute levels considered in the choice questions. Hence, the utility that individual n obtains from alternative j at choice situation t is:\nResults: The estimation results are shown in Table III. The first column presents the results for a simple multinomial model (MNL - model 1), whereas the second column contains the results of G-MNL that nests a scale multinomial model (S-MNL - model 2) assuming that t\nDiscussion: The ENFR has been set up by public authorities to mitigate the risks for the European society that could surface from unregulated food markets (Borras, 2006; Rollin et al., 2011; Belluco et al., 2013). As said, setting safety and quality standards, enforcing safeguard mechanisms, and reducing information asymmetries among producers and consumers are just a few examples of what the ENFR provided. However, as described in Figure 1, when new food products are so radically innovative, such as the case of meat-substitutes and insect-based food products, a consequent lack of alignment of ENFR with other EU food regulatory and R\nConcluding remarks: This study highlights the effect of ENFR on consumers' WTP for radical food innovations, such as insect-based products in the EU. Indeed, we found that the sensitiveness of consumers to visualization of insects in the products can dampen the demand for insect-based products, thus indicating the need to re-define the standards for EU insect-food innovators. For instance, since food products with processed insects, used as ingredients, are not allowed by ENFR, food producers are forced to sell these products with a high level of visualization. As showed by our study, this is undermining the possibility of producers to increase the value-added of these products, while facing the risk of consumer's rejection. This result suggests that the ENFR is indeed creating a \"regulatory failure\" in the context of food innovations in the EU.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the European Novel Food Regulation (ENFR) on consumers' acceptance of and willingness to pay (WTP) for radical food innovations. The research question is focussed on determining whether the ENFR is hampering the market potential of insect-based food products in the European Union (EU). The authors position this question within the domain of regulatory barriers related to food innovations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a choice experiment, the authors assess the presence and relevance of these failures through the analysis of consumers' acceptance and WTP for insect-based food products with different product attributes directly imposed by the ENFR. Namely, the authors assess the effect of the visualization of insects in the product, the use of logo, and nutritional information.\nFindings: The results show that consumers prefer and are willing to pay a premium price for insect-based products with a nutritional health claim and logo, but they are not willing to pay for a product with a visualized insect.\nOriginality/value: This paper highlights the risk of regulatory failures for novel foods in the EU, such as insect-based food products due to the ENFR.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Consumer expenditures on clothing and footwear: a mixed methods study	[ "Consumer behaviour", "Mixed methods", "Developing country", "Clothing expenditures", "Product disposal" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Clothing and footwear represent a product category of great economic importance. The world apparel market is estimated at three trillion dollars annually (Fashion United, 2017). In recent decades, there have been substantial changes in consumer habits regarding clothing and footwear. For instance, rapid changes in fashion and lower prices for clothing and footwear have increased purchasing frequency (Majima, 2008). In essence, these items have been transformed from durable goods to nondurable items and consumables (Cheng, 2000; Majima, 2008).\n2. Literature review: Studies focusing on predictors of consumer expenditures on products in general, and on clothing and footwear in particular, can be classified in various ways, including the buying unit chosen as the unit of analysis. Accordingly, some studies have focused on the household, and others have concentrated on the individual. Of these studies, those focusing on the household have a longer history and, therefore, have generated more knowledge.\n3. The study scenario: The setting for the current study is Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Quito has 1.6 million inhabitants in its urban area and 2.2 million in its metropolitan area. Ecuador is a Latin American country with a population of approximately 16 million. Like most Latin American countries, it has a Spanish-speaking population, the majority of which practices the Roman Catholic religion. Economically, Ecuador is a developing country that uses the US dollar as its monetary unit. On average, Ecuadorian families spend $2.2 billion a year on clothing and footwear, amounting to 8 percent of families' total expenditures (National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), Ecuador, 2013).\n4. Qualitative phase and hypotheses: 4.1 Qualitative research design\n5. Quantitative phase and hypotheses testing: 5.1 Quantitative research design\n6. Discussion and implications: In the present study, carried out in Ecuador, a developing country, individuals' involvement with clothing was the main predictor of their spending on clothing and footwear. Previous studies in developed countries (e.g. Kawabata and Rabolt, 1999; Kinley et al., 2010) also found a strong positive association between these two variables. The consumer panels, a frequent method of studying the consumption of clothing and footwear, should consider these results, incorporating measurements of individuals' involvement with clothing with measurements of personal and family characteristics.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to establish the predictors of consumers' annual monetary expenditures on clothing and footwear in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, a developing Latin American country.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research followed an exploratory, sequential, mixed methods design. The first phase consisted of in-depth interviews with adult individuals. The second phase involved surveying a similar segment of the population.\nFindings: The present study supports the importance of demographic and psychological factors as predictors. The study also identifies two new groups of predictors: consumers' reception of used clothing and physical space at home and its management.\nPractical implications: In addition to demographic variables, consumer panels that measure expenditures on clothing and footwear should include psychological measures of participants, particularly clothing involvement. Clothing manufacturers and retailers in developing countries should consider the impact of receiving used clothes by consumers. Because clothing buying and disposal behaviors are positively associated, companies should become more involved in their customers' disposal behavior.\nOriginality/value: The contribution of the present study is twofold. First, it contributes to the understanding of clothing and footwear expenditures by considering the individual consumer as a unit of analysis. Furthermore, it provides insights into this behavior from a little-studied context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Service robots: value co-creation and co-destruction in elderly care networks	[ "Value co-creation/destruction", "Value networks", "Socially assistive robots", "Elderly care services", "Future service scenarios", "Service design" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The success of a new service depends on the value it creates for the user but also on the value it creates or destroys for the network in which that user is embedded. For example, smart alarm systems for consumers' homes might increase one family member's feelings of security, while other members find the false alarms and constant notifications stressful and feel more vulnerable when relying on such technology. In weighing the benefits and risks, each member of the network might support or impede an individual's acceptance of a service, particularly if it is co-created in a novel way. According to Skalen et al. (2015), a service innovation implies new value propositions that hold promises of value creation for a diverse set of actors. If service providers hope to encourage individuals to adopt an innovative, future service scenario, they must understand the value networks in which these individuals interacts and the impact that a new service will have on the value created/destroyed therein. Such a holistic perspective can offer service managers insights into the disruptive nature of a new service and its effect on value co-creation and co-destruction throughout the value network.\nTheoretical background: Value co-creation/destruction in networks\nMethodology: To capture the value of a novel service within the value network, emphasizing the beneficiary's experienced and expected value-in-use/context, a phenomenographic approach is appropriate (Sandberg, 2000). Such an approach is in line with the premise that value is always phenomenologically defined by the beneficiary (Vargo and Lusch, 2016). This methodology collects first-person descriptions of focal actors' context-dependent experiences (Schembri and Sandberg, 2002) and expectations of a service innovation. For this study, in-depth exploratory interviews were augmented with generative cards activities (Sanders, 2000), referred to as a Context Disruption interview protocol (see Appendix 2), designed to uncover what informants find valuable within their personal contexts. The choice of a qualitative interpretative approach reflects the research goal of building, rather than testing, theory (Lincoln and Guba, 1985).\nResults: Guided by the codes emerging from the verbal data and supported by collected visual artifacts, the authors derived a typology (Doty and Glick, 1994) that reflects the focal actors' conceptualizations of the robots' expected roles in the value networks. As indicated in Table II, the top row reveals three desired value outcomes that elderly people strive for and hope to realize within their value networks: 1. physical health, 2. psychosocial health, and 3. cognitive health. To achieve these desired value outcomes, the elderly informants cluster the services that the socially assistive robot can offer into three, respective supporting functions: 1.1 safeguarding, 2.1 social contact, and 3.1 cognitive support. Furthermore, from these elderly informants' perspectives, each supporting function provided by the socially assistive robot has two counterparts or anticipated roles: one with high value co-creation potential and one with high value co-destruction potential.\nDiscussion and implications: This research investigates the potential roles of socially assistive robots in elderly care by taking the perspective of the focal network actor (i.e. elderly person). In-depth phenomenographic interviews, supported by generative card activities, collect vivid representations of how service beneficiaries co-create value within their value networks and how they expect these practices to change after the introduction of socially assistive robots. In this way, it empirically addresses a gap in service literature, by adopting a value transformation lens on future service (Witell et al., 2016). Furthermore, this study offers a more holistic perspective by investigating how the introduction of an automated agent (i.e. socially assistive robot) disrupts value-in-context, with respect to not only the self but also other, interdependent network actors. These results expand the knowledge base about socially enhanced technology (Danaher and Gallan, 2016; van Doorn et al., 2016), by uncovering how such novel value propositions disrupt institutionalized value creation, through both their value co-creating and their value co-destroying potential. The resulting finer-grained understanding of how to increase people's willingness to accept and reduce their resistance to socially assistive robots also produces some guidelines for offering meaningful value propositions for symbiotic human-robot interactions. Furthermore, it offers nascent strategic guidelines to achieve what Wirtz and Zeithaml (2018) call \"cost-effective service excellence\" through robotic innovations that have the potential to enhance the experience for a diverse set of network actors, while simultaneously improving service quality and productivity.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential roles for service robots (i.e. socially assistive robots) in value networks of elderly care. Taking an elderly person's perspective, it defines robot roles according to their value co-creating/destroying potential for the elderly user (i.e. focal actor), while acknowledging consequences for a network of users around the elderly (i.e. network actors).\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative, interpretative study employs in-depth phenomenographic interviews, supported by generative cards activities (i.e. Contextual Value Network Mapping), to elicit an elderly person's tacit knowledge and anticipate the effects of introducing an automated actor on institutionalized value co-creation practices.\nFindings: The proposed typology identifies six roles of socially assistive robots in an elderly person's value network (enabler, intruder, ally, replacement, extended self, and deactivator) and links them to three health-supporting functions by robots: safeguarding, social contact, and cognitive support.\nResearch limitations/implications: Elderly people have notable expectations about the inclusion of a socially assistive robot as a new actor in their value networks. The identified robot roles inform service scholars and managers about both the value co-destruction potential that needs to be avoided through careful designs and the value co-creation potential that should be leveraged.\nOriginality/value: Using network-conscious phenomenographic interviews before the introduction of a novel value proposition sheds new light on the shifting value co-creation interplay among value network actors (i.e. elderly people, formal and informal caregivers). The value co-creation/destruction potential of socially assistive robots and their corresponding roles in care-based value networks offer insights for the design of meaningful robotic technology and its introduction into the existing service networks.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do job resources moderate the effect of emotional dissonance on burnout? A study in the city of Ankara, Turkey	[ "Stress", "Emotional dissonance", "Hotels", "Employees", "Hospitality services", "Turkey" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In a market environment where there are intense competitive pressures, service firms have to retain a pool of satisfied and committed employees having frequent face-to-face or voice-to-voice contact with customers for delivery of superior service quality for survival and success (Alexandrov et al., 2007; Clark et al., 2009). However, such employees in the hospitality industry are susceptible to antisocial work hours, poor training, excessive job demands, insufficient pay, and dysfunctional customer behaviors (Karatepe et al., 2009; Karatepe and Kilic, 2007; Poulston, 2008; Walters and Raybould, 2007).More importantly, frontline employees have to cope with a number of emotionally demanding interactions with customers. Specifically, they do emotional labor, which is defined as \"the effort, planning, and control needed to express organizationally desired emotion during interpersonal transactions\" (Morris and Feldman, 1996, p. 987). Emotional dissonance regarding its relationship with burnout and negative health outcomes is the key dimension of emotional labor (Dormann and Zapf, 2004) and refers to incongruence between felt and displayed emotions (Heuven and Bakker, 2003). Emotional dissonance is a work stressor and occurs widely among employees in frontline service jobs of the hospitality industry (Karatepe and Aleshinloye, 2009; Van Dijk and Kirk, 2007). This is not surprising, because such employees are expected to engage in frequent emotional displays which are not consonant with their felt emotions (Pizam, 2004). Employees who frequently fake their emotions in the workplace experience burnout, are dissatisfied with their jobs, and display turnover intentions (Karatepe and Aleshinloye, 2009; Karatepe et al., 2009; Wong and Wang, 2009).Research has demonstrated that perceived organizational support and job autonomy are among the two critical job resources that mitigate job demands (e.g. role conflict and role ambiguity) and burnout (Babakus et al., 1996; Ito and Brotheridge, 2003; Stamper and Johlke, 2003; Xanthopoulou, et al., 2007a). With this realization, it is important to initiate and implement a set of programs to enable frontline employees to deal with emotional dissonance (Anderson et al., 2003; Johanson and Woods, 2008; Pizam, 2004). It is also important to benefit from the abovementioned job resources, because organizations may maintain employee well-being and productivity, even when they have difficulty alleviating job demands or redesigning job demands (Bakker et al., 2005).Purpose and rationale\nLiterature review: As stated before, employees in frontline service jobs of the hospitality industry have frequent face-to-face or voice-to-voice interactions with customers and do emotional labor. There are three modes of acting: surface, active deep and passive deep (Hochschild, 1983). Surface acting occurs when employees fake their emotions by changing their outer demeanor to conform with the organizational display rules while the inner feelings remain unchanged (Zapf et al., 1999). Active deep acting occurs when employees have to spend effort to manage emotions by regulating their expressive behaviors and inner feelings, and passive deep acting occurs when employees may automatically feel emotions needed for a particular situation (Zapf et al., 1999). Emotional dissonance captures Hochschild's (1983) two modes of surface acting and passive deep acting, which are the opposite ends of a continuum (Kruml and Geddes, 2000). Recently, Chu and Murrmann (2006) have developed a hospitality emotional labor scale (HELS) and reported that emotional dissonance and emotional effort are the two distinct dimensions of emotional labor.According to our careful review of the tourism/hospitality management and marketing literatures, there are several studies, which have examined emotional labor/emotional dissonance. For instance, Seymour (2000) conducted a study with employees of a fast food restaurant and a traditional silver service restaurant in the UK and showed that frontline employees acted roles at work, which were related to emotional dissonance. Sandiford and Seymour (2002) investigated emotional labor in the public house sector of the UK hospitality industry and reported that employees doing emotional labor had stress in their personal lives. In a recent study of hotel service employees, Kim (2008) found that as the two personality traits, extraversion enhanced deep acting, while neuroticism aggravated surface acting. However, job autonomy did not demonstrate any significant relationships with surface and deep acting. She further illustrated that surface acting intensified cynicism, which \"represents the interpersonal context dimension of burnout and refers to a negative, callous, or excessively detached response to various aspects of the job\" (Maslach and Leiter, 2008, p. 498), while surface acting increased exhaustion, and deep acting reduced cynicism and enhanced professional efficacy.In addition, Julian (2008) demonstrated that among flight attendants, emotional dissonance eroded job performance. In a recent study of tour leaders in Taiwan, it was reported that trying to perform desired emotions was stressful and influenced physical well-being deleteriously in the long-run (Wong and Wang, 2009). According to the findings of another study among frontline hotel employees in Nigeria, it was found that negative affectivity intensified emotional dissonance, while intrinsic motivation decreased emotional dissonance (Karatepe and Aleshinloye, 2009). In the same study, it was reported that emotional dissonance was significantly and positively related to emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. Karatepe et al. (2009) also reported similar results regarding the effects of emotional dissonance on emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions among frontline hotel employees in Northern Cyprus.Although the aforementioned studies have shed light on our understanding of the potential antecedents and consequences of emotional labor/emotional dissonance, there is still a dearth of empirical research pertaining to the moderators of emotional dissonance.\nResearch model and hypotheses: Research model\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Measurement results\nDiscussion: Based on the precepts of the JD-R model, this study developed and tested a research model, which investigated perceived organizational support and job autonomy as the two moderators in the relationship between emotional dissonance and burnout. The model also examined the effects of emotional dissonance on exhaustion and disengagement. The results based on hierarchical regression analysis are encouraging and fill in the void appertaining to the moderators of emotional dissonance in the hospitality management and marketing literatures.Evaluation of findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this study is to develop and test a research model that investigates the moderating role of perceived organizational support and job autonomy on the relationships between emotional dissonance and exhaustion and disengagement. The model also seeks to test the impact of emotional dissonance on exhaustion and disengagement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data for this empirical investigation were gathered from a sample of full-time frontline hotel employees in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. Respondents self-administered the questionnaires. A total number of 620 questionnaires were obtained.\nFindings: - Results based on hierarchical regression analysis reveal that emotional dissonance intensifies exhaustion and disengagement. Results also demonstrate that perceived organizational support and job autonomy buffer the impact of emotional dissonance on disengagement.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Future studies should use longitudinal data to establish causal relationships among the study variables. Although common method bias was controlled via Harman's single-factor test using confirmatory factor analysis, in future studies it would be beneficial to collect data from multiple sources to minimize this potential threat.\nPractical implications: - There is a need for effective and continuous training programs for frontline employees to learn how to cope with emotionally demanding interactions with customers in the service encounter. Hotel managers should employ mentors and/or benefit from the existing successful more experienced senior employees as mentors to provide professional assistance to less experienced junior employees for the alleviation of emotional dissonance and burnout. In addition, supervisors should be trained to learn how to provide assistance for front-line employees to reduce emotional dissonance and disengagement. Having jobs with adequate autonomy in the workplace could help such front-line employees to decrease emotional dissonance and experience less disengagement.\nOriginality/value: - Empirical research pertaining to the moderators of emotional dissonance in the hospitality management and marketing literatures is sparse. Hence, based on the precepts of the JD-R model, this study aims to fill this void.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Country image, informational influence, collectivism/individualism, and brand loyalty: exploring the automobile purchase patterns of Chinese Americans	[ "Chinese people", "Consumption", "Brand loyalty", "Ethnic groups", "Road vehicles", "Product image" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: There exists an intriguing phenomenon among Chinese American consumers - most prefer Japanese or European brands of automobiles over US brands. Indeed, one would find only a few US brands of automobiles (e.g. Fords, Chevrolets, or Chryslers) in the parking lot at shopping centers, churches, and restaurants that Chinese Americans patronize regularly in the USA. Rather, one would most likely see either Japanese-brand automobiles (e.g. Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans) or European-brand automobiles (e.g. VWs, BMWs, and Mercedes-Benzes) at those places. Although previous research found the negative stereotyping of US brands of automobiles by general US consumers (Strutton et al., 1994), such an extreme automobile consumption pattern among the Chinese American consumers warrants serious attention from academic researchers and marketers for three important reasons.First, Chinese Americans represent a growing and appealing multicultural segment. With a population growth rate of 28.5 percent during the period between 2000 and 2006, the 3.5 million Chinese Americans constitute 1.2 percent of the entire US population. In 2006, the Chinese Americans have a median family income of $62,705, compared with the national median of $48,451. More than half of Chinese American adults have college degrees, twice the proportion of the general population. Chinese Americans are more heavily represented in managerial, professional, and related occupations than the general population (53.4 versus 34.2 percent) (OCA/AAST, n.d.). Second, little empirical research exists on studying the behavior of Chinese American consumers; perhaps this is because Chinese Americans tend to be treated as part of the broad Asian American ethnic group despite significant differences between Chinese Americans and other ethnic groups (e.g. Korean Americans, Japanese Americans) in languages and cultures, and in such consumption patterns as information gathering, use of promotional media, and household decision-making (Kaufman-Scarborough, 2000). Finally, nearly 60 percent of Chinese Americans came from mainland China (OCA/AAST, n.d.), and many recent Chinese immigrants maintain strong ties with their friends and family members in mainland China thanks to affordable communication technologies and transportation. Thus Chinese Americans of mainland China origin should have some influences on the automobile and other products' purchase decision-making of their families and friends in mainland China, an enormous market actively pursued by multinational companies (MNCs) since the early 1980s.The purpose of this study is to explore the automobile purchase patterns of Chinese Americans by identifying factors driving Chinese American consumers' strong preference for Japanese or European brands of automobiles and their strong avoidance the US brands of automobiles. The literature suggests that ethnicity, country-of-origin or country image, and interpersonal influence might serve as drivers of this automobile purchase and consumption phenomenon among Chinese American consumers.\nConceptual background: Ethnicity, acculturation and consumption\nMethodology: A research project was conducted to test the hypotheses and answer the questions in the previous section. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted to gain insights to help develop a survey questionnaire for the main study.In-depth interviews\nResults and discussion: Sample profile\nTheoretical implications: This study presents two theoretical implications. First, it contributes to the literature on ethnical identification and consumption by showing that:1. Chinese Americans perceive the country images of Japan, USA and Europe differently in their automobile purchase decision making; and2. country image is an important attribute or cue in the Chinese American respondents' automobile decision making, but its importance is lower than that of other extrinsic cues such as price, brand name and service or intrinsic cues such as safety, reliability, styling and fuel efficiency.This finding reconciles the apparent contradiction in the literature on the mixed results on country-of-origin effects. Second, the Chinese respondents' collectivistic cultural orientation rather than their individualistic orientation is related to interpersonal information influence in the context of automobile purchase decision making.\nManagerial implications: This study also has some significant implications for automobile marketers, in particular, the struggling US automobile makers, to change their marketing mix. Although the Chinese American respondents' country image perceptions of USA are not negative, they are significantly lower than their chief competitors, Japan and Europe, with regard to the automobile category. These comparatively low US image perceptions may help explain the fact that less than 7 percent of the sample owned a US brand of automobile, compared with 76 percent owning a Japanese brand and 17 percent owning a European brand. As reliability and safety are the most important intrinsic cues used for product evaluation, it makes sense to see why Japanese and European brands of automobile capture the heart, mind and wallet of Chinese Americans. The US automobile makers can improve their automobile marketability by designing a more reliable and safe automobile. Also, for Chinese American consumers, opinions of family and friends are important, second to prior knowledge and information from a third-party source such as consumer reports and web sites, but media advertisements and salespeople are not considered important sources in their decision making. Marketing budgets should be diverted from mass media and salespeople training to other relationship building tools such as local grass-roots level community outreach. This is highly doable because Chinese Americans are geographically clustered in eight big metropolitan areas:1. Greater New York/New Jersey Area.2. Greater Los Angeles Area.3. Greater San Francisco Area.4. Greater San Jose Area.5. Greater Boston Area.6. Greater Chicago Area.7. Greater Washington, DC and Baltimore Area;.8. Greater Seattle Area (OCA/AAST, n.d.).Focus should be on targeting opinion leaders (e.g. local community leaders, church pastors). Also, internet and social media (e.g. facebook.com, myspace.com) can be effective ways to target Chinese Americans, who have a higher internet penetration rate than other groups.This study found that the Chinese-American respondents were much less loyal than depicted in the literature, but their brand switching only occurred between European and Japanese brands of automobiles, suggesting US brands of automobiles were in the inept set (brands associated with negative evaluations in the minds of consumers). This presents a huge challenge to US automobile makers for its domestic Chinese American market as well as the mainland China market. It appears that US brands of automobile have been \"stigmatized\" in the Chinese American community. The potency of interpersonal communication in this community may have exaggerated the unreliable image of US brands of automobile so that US brands are consistently outside the consideration set of Chinese American consumers. The Big Three should aggressively change their marketing strategy by combating the unreliable stigma in the minds of Chinese Americans.Although some US auto makers, such as General Motors, are enjoying their smooth rides in the mainland Chinese automobile market, it is argued that such optimism or self-complacency by US auto executives should be a warning signal against repeating their mistakes in the China automobile markets, as they did in the USA. For example, anecdotal evidence in China indicates that Japanese auto makers like Honda and Toyota are resisting the temptation to increase their market shares, but aim to build its brand image by practicing a \"hunger marketing strategy\" (i.e. keeping its premium price image and limiting production) (Xinhuanet.com, n.d.).\nLimitations and future research directions: The profile of this sample is more skewed toward the more educated members of the Chinese American community, who tend to have higher incomes, as 93 percent of them have had college level or higher education. Also, there might be a gender bias because approximately two-thirds of the respondents were male and one third female. However, post-hoc Chi-square tests revealed that neither the level of education nor gender was significantly related to whether they owned a Japanese, US or European brand of automobile (for level of education, kh2=7.80, df=4, p>0.05; for gender, kh2=0.02, df=2, p>0.05). Nevertheless, future research could use a more representative sample resembling the general demographic profile of the Chinese American community. Another possible area of research is to compare Chinese Americans with other Asian American ethnic groups (e.g. Korean Americans, Japanese Americans), or mainland Chinese in automobile consumption patterns. When Chinese automakers market automobiles made in China in the US market, more research could be done to explore how Chinese Americans perceive an automobile made in their own country of origin.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The intent of this article is to explore the automobile purchase patterns of Chinese Americans by examining factors driving an intriguing phenomenon - most Chinese Americans prefer Japanese or European brands of automobiles over US brands.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This article uses data from a sample of 150 respondents using a mall-intercept survey method. Regression, analysis of variance and Chi-square analysis were employed. The factors examined include country image, informational influence, collectivism/individualism, and brand loyalty.\nFindings: - This study has four findings. In their automobile purchase decision making, Chinese Americans perceive the country image of Japan most favorably, that of US least favorably, and that of Europe in-between. Country image is important, but it is less so than other extrinsic cues such as price, brand name and service, with reliability and safety being the most important intrinsic cues. Opinions of family and friends are important, second to prior knowledge and information from consumer reports. Chinese Americans' collectivism is positively related to their susceptibility to interpersonal informational influence, yet their individualism is not. Chinese Americans are not brand loyal.\nPractical implications: - The article helps automobile marketers refine their marketing mix to attract Chinese American buyers. A reliable and safe automobile is the most important factor that affects their purchase decisions. Media advertising and salespeople have only marginal influence. Therefore the advice is to strengthen or improve interpersonal influence.\nOriginality/value: - No prior research has examined the automobile purchase patterns of Chinese Americans, who, in 2006, constituted 1.2 percent of the US population, with appealing demographics to marketers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A resource-based view on enablers of supplier integration: evidence from China	[ "China", "Resource-based view", "Human resource", "Supplier integration", "Internal integration", "Manufacturing plant information technology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, there are hot debates on whether resource-advantage (R-A) theory or resource-based view (RBV) is an appropriate grounding theory for supply chain management (Barney, 2012; Hunt and Davis, 2008, 2012; Priem and Swink, 2012). Whatever the conclusions, purchasing function or supply chain management can be a source of sustained competitive advantages (Kim, 2009; Parmigiani et al., 2011; Rajaguru and Matanda, 2013; Tracey et al., 2005). According to these arguments, supplier integration, as a capability that has access to valuable resources from suppliers, could be a source of competitive advantages. Over the past two decades, the critical roles of supplier integration have been widely observed in companies (e.g. Zara, Dell, and Toyota) and empirically verified by researchers (Huo, 2012; Liu et al., 2013; Wong et al., 2011). For example, in a recent study, Ellram et al. (2013) suggested that the rivalry in factor market should be emphasized due to that companies increasingly rely on their suppliers to obtain competitive advantages. In the emerging economy like China, the issues of labor turnover and product quality strengthen the critical role of local suppliers in the global supply chain (Jiang et al., 2009).\n2. Theoretical foundations and proposed hypotheses: 2.1. Theoretical background and conceptual model\n3. Research methodology: 3.1. Questionnaire design\n4. Results: Table III shows the means, standard deviations, and inter-correlations of HR and MP-IT resource, internal integration capability, and supplier integration. Table IV shows the measurement model.\n5. Discussion and managerial implications: 5.1. Improving capabilities through investment in firm-specific resources\n6. Conclusions: This study contributes to the literature and practices in several ways. First of all, this study empirically tests the effects of three different firm-specific resources/capabilities on supplier integration. Based on RBV, this study provides a comprehensive framework of the relationships among HR and MP-IT resource, internal integration capabilities, and supplier integration, contributing to the antecedents of supplier integration literature. Second, this study examines the joint effect of HRs and IT on internal and supplier integration, enhancing our understanding on socio-technical systems theory in supply chain management. Third, the study extends supplier integration research to a Chinese context. Given the increasing importance of Chinese companies in global supply chains, our findings will have great practical implications for managers in Western multinational companies, because China's competitive environment requires a specific implementation of internal resources and capabilities to build supplier integration. Practically, our findings provide insights into the management of internal and external resources and capabilities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of human resource (HR) and manufacturing plant information technology (MP-IT) resource on companies' internal integration capabilities and how these resources/capabilities influence supplier integration.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using data collected from 604 Chinese manufacturers, the authors empirically test the effects of different types of resources/capabilities on supplier integration.\nFindings: The results show that HR has both direct and indirect effects on supplier integration through their effects on internal integration capabilities. MP-IT resource only has significant indirect effects on supplier integration through internal integration capabilities. The results also indicate that HR is more important than MP-IT resource in improving internal integration capabilities and supplier integration.\nOriginality/value: This study empirically investigates enablers of supplier integration in China, contributing to supply chain integration literature and practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Beneficence as a source of competitive advantage	[ "Leadership", "Trust", "Competitive advantage", "Commitment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In a world increasingly dependent upon the extra-mile efforts of followers to sustain a competitive advantage (Caldwell and Hansen, 2010; Karfestani et al., 2013), a growing list of highly regarded scholars has suggested that leaders must demonstrate a \"transformative\" and highly ethical leadership approach that serves the best interests of both their organizations and their employees (Cameron et al., 2003; Cameron and Spreitzer, 2012). Advocating a new standard designed to achieve unparalleled excellence, these scholars have explained that great leadership transcends traditional leadership perspectives while honoring stewardship obligations and ethical duties that transform organizations and enable individuals to find their voice (Covey, 2004).\nBeneficence defined: Within the healthcare profession, beneficence has been traditionally identified as an important ethical value in articulating the obligations owed by healthcare providers to their patients (Sutrop, 2011). The duties owed by those who work in the medical field that guide the practice of medicine have been traced back to Babylonia and the Code of the Hammurabi as early as 1792 BC and to Vaidya's Oath with Hindu origins about 1500 BC (Ogunbanjo and Knapp van Bogaert, 2009, p. 30). The Hippocratic Oath and other medical codes of conduct recognized the obligation to both benefit others, or beneficence, and to cause others no harm, or non-maleficence (Rancich et al., 2005). This ethical duty to work for the welfare and benefit of others transcends the medical profession and applies as well to the management of organizations (Cameron, 2003a b).\nBeneficence, trust, and trustworthiness: Although trust has long been considered to be the glue that binds organizations together (O'Hara-Devereaux and Johnson, 1994), for much of the past three decades there has been a great diversity of opinion in the academic literature (cf. Parra et al., 2011) about whether trust is a cognitive belief, an attitude, a propensity, an intention, or an actual behavior (Caldwell and Hansen, 2010; Hosmer, 1995; Golembiewski and McConkie, 1975). Hosmer (1995) noted that the trust conundrum was ill defined nearly 20 years ago, and the academic literature continues to confuse trust and trustworthiness despite hundreds of articles that have been written about these constructs (Gullett et al., 2009). It is generally agreed, however, that first, one person trusts another individual or party because that second party is considered to be worthy of that trust (Dirks and Ferrin, 2002; Mayer et al., 1995); and second, the impact of that trust benefits relationships and increases organizational effectiveness (Mishra, 1996).\nBeneficence and virtuousness: Beneficence as an interpersonal and organizational level construct has a clear relationship with virtuous leadership. Beneficence, as described herein, is highly correlated with Fredrickson's (2003, p. 163) description of the leader's ability to generate \"positive emotions (that) can reverberate though other organizational members and across interpersonal transactions.\" Cameron (2003a) explained that virtuous leader behavior was clearly distinguished on a continuum in which immoral behavior represented doing that which caused harm and was possibly illegal, amoral behavior was that which created no negative impacts and was within the bounds of legality, and virtuous behavior was that which added value and benefited others. Beneficence is that behavior which creates wealth, adds value, and benefits others - consistent with our Cameron's description of virtuousness.\nBeneficence as competitive advantage: In this section of our paper we identify five specific propositions which scholars and practitioners can use to test the practical value of beneficence in the modern organization.\nExamples of beneficence in leadership: Although there are several excellent examples of leaders who have been highly respected for beneficence, we cite two outstanding men who have created great organizations. These organizations have been frequently acknowledged for leadership in their industries and these two leaders have been revered by employees, customers, and the general public.\nContributions of our paper: In identifying the importance of beneficence as a leadership behavior, our paper offers five specific contributions to the practitioner and academic literature:\nConclusion: Great leaders seek to earn the trust and followership of their employees must create organizational systems that are aligned (Pfeffer, 1998), that empower employees to excel (Bennis and Nanus, 2007), and that treat employees like owners and partners rather than like commodities (Block, 1993). In this paper we have suggested that such leaders understand the importance of acting as ethical stewards (cf. Caldwell and Hayes, 2007) whose actions are beneficent and who are committed to the welfare, growth, and wholeness of employees and the pursuit of wealth maximization (cf. Paine, 2002; Caldwell and Hansen, 2010; Cameron, 2003a).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to define \"beneficence\" as a management concept that is the action associated with \"benevolence\" the intention. This paper explains how beneficence is a critical element for leaders in building trust. The authors identify how beneficence honors the ethical duties owed to followers and creates competitive advantage for organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The approach of this paper is to present an extensive conceptual review of beneficence as it relates to leaders and managers and to suggest eight propositions identifying how beneficence can create competitive advantage.\nFindings: The findings of this paper include eight propositions about beneficence as a source of competitive advantage.\nPractical implications: The practical implications of this paper are for practitioners and scholars. This paper provides an opportunity for leaders to recognize the importance of translating good intentions into specific action in acting virtuously toward others. For scholars, this paper provides testable propositions for learning more about beneficence as a source of increased commitment, greater trust, and competitive advantage.\nOriginality/value: Although benevolence has been acknowledged to be a foundation of trustworthiness, benevolence is an attitude or intention. This paper explains the importance of beneficence as the action derived from benevolence as an attitude or intention to do that which benefits others.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Transaction-specific investments in a supplier-distributor-supplier triad in China: opportunism and cooperation	[ "Cooperation", "Marketing channels", "Prospect theory", "Opportunism", "Triadic relationships", "Transaction-specific investments" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Transaction-specific investments (TSIs), defined as assets that hold little value outside a particular relationship (Williamson, 1985), have long been recognised as a crucial factor in the development and continuity of buyer-supplier relationships (BSRs) (Anderson and Weitz, 1992; Ganesan, 1994; Corsten et al., 2011). In today's competitive world, suppliers often face severe challenges when implementing and managing their TSIs with their distributors. In almost all industries, suppliers frequently compete with peer suppliers for a distributor's business (Vinhas and Gibbs, 2012). Under these circumstances, the competing suppliers strive to gain the distributors' cooperation, which can then create a competitive advantage by strengthening the suppliers' TSIs in their relationship with the distributor. For example, Procter & Gamble and Unilever have created dedicated customer development teams to coordinate sales with Walmart (Corsten and Kumar, 2005). In an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) network, many peer OEM suppliers compete aggressively with one another to serve the same customers and thus have to dedicate significant asset-specific investments to satisfy their customers' expectations (Lin et al., 2017). However, when several competing suppliers insert TSIs into their relationships with a distributor, the distributor's positive and negative reactions to a supplier's TSIs may depend not only on the supplier's specific TSIs, but also on the level of the TSIs compared with those of other peer suppliers.\n2. Theoretical framework: 2.1 Inter-organisational triads\n3. Hypotheses: 3.1 Transaction-specific investments, opportunism and cooperation in a dyad\n4. Methods: 4.1 Data\n5. Results: The descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients for all variables are indicated in Table III. To test our hypotheses, we estimated the following regression models:\n6. Discussion: This study examines whether and how a distributor's reactions (i.e. opportunism or cooperation) to a supplier's TSIs are influenced by the level of TSIs relative to those of competing suppliers. Prior studies examine the relationships between TSIs and partners' relational behaviours in supplier-buyer dyads. Consistent with prior work, our results show TSIs improve partners' cooperation (including trust and commitment) and simultaneously induce partners' opportunism in dyadic BSRs. However, we focus on a distributor-supplier-supplier triad wherein two competing suppliers commit TSIs to their relationships with the same distributor. As hypothesised, increases in a supplier's TSIs will decrease the distributor's opportunism and increase the distributor's TSIs in a focal relationship wherein the supplier's TSIs are higher than those of its rival's TSIs. By contrast, when the supplier's TSIs are lower than its competitor's, increases in a supplier's TSIs will increase the distributor's opportunism in a focal relationship. Thus, we provide evidence of the importance of TSIs in a competitive relationship in the effectiveness of TSIs in a focal relationship. We believe our results have both theoretical and managerial implications.\n7. Limitations and opportunities for further research: This study has some limitations. First, the participants reported their own opportunistic behaviour, which may have yielded lower levels of opportunism. However, the potential denial of opportunistic behaviour did not appear to be a problem. Specifically, the mean item response on the seven-point opportunism scale was 4.21, which suggests a willingness on the part of the buyers to report their opportunism in a confidential setting. Second, based on the assumption that suppliers and competitors make homogeneous TSIs, we only investigated the moderating effect of the quantity of a competitor's TSIs. In fact, suppliers make heterogeneous TSIs, according to their differing strengths and expertise. For instance, one supplier may make major TSIs in electronic data interchange, whereas another may make major TSIs in training salespeople. Thus, future studies could also examine the moderating role of the quality of TSIs. Third, only one particular type of the supplier-buyer-supplier relationship was investigated, i.e. the triadic relationship in which the buyer interacts with two suppliers and there is no direct interaction between the suppliers. This differs from some three-way interactions characterised by cooperative relationships between the suppliers. With the rapid improvement in information technology, distribution networks are being coupled at an ever-increasing rate (Pagell and Krause, 2004). As a result, the interaction between suppliers can affect buyers' strategies (Wu et al., 2010). Therefore, it may be beneficial to explore the effects of TSIs on the suppliers' focal relationships. Finally, all of the hypotheses were tested in the context of the vertical channel system of the Chinese household appliance industry. Thus, there may be some inherent limitations because of this specific context. As China is undergoing a transition from a command economy to a market economy, the business environment is considerably different from that of other countries. Moreover, China is a large country, and there are various distributor firms in different locations. Although our sample covered most of China, it still cannot represent all nationwide distributors. Therefore, future research could expand the empirical and methodological scope of the analysis to additional settings and thus increase the theoretical generalisability of the findings.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Rather than focussing on dyadic distributor-supplier relationships, this study aims to examine whether the difference in transaction-specific investments (TSIs) between rival suppliers in a supplier-distributor-supplier triad influences whether distributors expropriate or maintain their supplier's TSIs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on triadic data from 276 questionnaires that address both the supplier-distributor relationship and the rival supplier-distributor relationship, a moderated regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: Five out of six hypotheses are supported by the empirical test. The results show that the supplier's TSIs increase the distributor's opportunistic behaviour and reduce cooperation when the distributor perceives that the supplier's TSIs are lower than those of a rival supplier. In contrast, when the distributor perceives that the supplier's TSIs are higher than those of a competitor, the supplier's TSIs do not improve cooperation and can shift the link between the supplier's TSIs and the distributor's opportunism from being positive to negative.\nPractical implications: The findings have implications for the top managers of supplier firms embedded in distribution networks. This study suggests that the competitor's TSIs can be regarded as an indicator of the supplier's relationship with the distributor. By keeping an eye on their competitors' TSIs, the top managers of suppliers can predict the likelihood of distributors' opportunistic and cooperative behaviour and make efforts to improve their position by adjusting their own firm's TSIs. Furthermore, this information can help suppliers decide on their investment strategies and maintain stable and healthy relationships.\nOriginality/value: This study 1) examines the effect of TSIs using a triadic framework and triadic data and demonstrates that how a distributor responds to a supplier's TSIs, with either opportunism or cooperation, depends on the relative level of those TSIs in focal and competitive relationships; and 2) reveals the expropriation effects and restraint effects of TSIs by drawing on prospect theory. This finding indicates the dynamics of TSIs in a triadic relationship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effects of smileys on receivers' emotions	[ "Online", "Emoticon", "Service encounter", "Emotional contagion", "Computer-mediated communication" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Interactions between customers and company representatives determine the perception of the service offered by the company (Brady and Cronin, 2001) and affect for example the perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty intentions as well as the corporate image (Gronroos, 2010; Rust and Oliver, 1993; Zeithaml et al., 1996). Researchers contributing to this body of work illustrate the importance of social and interpersonal factors and take the position that harmonious encounters positively affect the perceived service (Brady and Cronin, 2001; Park et al., 2011). Especially the displayed non-verbal behaviours (e.g. emotional facial expressions) support the correct interpretation of the messages and, hence, could lead to smooth interactions and build up relationships (Burgoon et al., 1996).\nTheoretical background: Emoticons and smileys in computer-mediated communication\nDevelopment of hypotheses: Considering these positive effects, the question remains whether emoticons and smileys can affect receivers' emotional state through the process of emotional contagion. Previous research on emotional contagion in CMC (Bareket-Bojmel and Shahar, 2011; Cheshin et al., 2011; Coviello et al., 2014; Ferrara and Yang, 2015) has focused on the communication behaviour of the sender (e.g. response time, length of the messages) (Cheshin et al., 2011; Hancock et al., 2008), on verbal text-messages (Bareket-Bojmel and Shahar, 2011) or on emoticons and smileys as part of a given message. To the best of our knowledge, none of the studies investigated the effects of these emotional cues separately (Coviello et al., 2014).\nMethod: Data for this study were obtained through an online experiment with a one-factorial between-subject design, using two scenarios. Because it is the first attempt to stimulate emotional contagion in CMC via smileys, the design of the scenarios needs to meet some requirements. First of all, the designed scenarios need to justify the usage of just a single smiley in the given message to ensure that the changes of participants' emotions (i.e. receivers) are caused by the smileys. Second, the stimulation of the emotional contagion process necessarily requires the participants' attention to the used emotional stimuli (i.e. the smileys) (Hatfield et al., 1994). Therefore, the scenarios should address a common situation of their lives and, thus, allow the participants to project their thoughts in the given situation. In the third place, the designed scenarios should be created as beneficial as possible for emotional contagion to explore the effects of this interpersonal mechanism. Considering these requirements, designed scenarios rely on a situation of a social context rather than a business context because a social context simplifies the identification of the participants with the given situation. Moreover, findings of emotional contagion research reveal that emotional contagion is more likely to occur in close relationships (Hatfield et al., 1994). Therefore, the scenarios portrayed a life event of the best friend to give appropriate conditions to analyse the effects of the smileys on the emotions of the receivers. Besides the efforts to create beneficial conditions for emotional contagion, it has to be considered that emotional contagion is an automatic and unconscious interpersonal process that occurs between two or more interacting persons, no matter whether they know each other or what relationship they have (Pugh, 2001). Therefore, smileys should likewise be able to cause interpersonal social mechanism such as emotional contagion in a business context. Finally, emotional contagion is more likely in females (Doherty et al., 1995) who are also known to use more smileys than males (Tossell et al., 2012). Consequently, we focused solely on females to further facilitate the creation of beneficial conditions for emotional contagion.\nResults: In a first step, paired t-test and regression analysis were conducted to examine the effects of smileys on receivers' emotions. Results of the t-tests reveal significant differences in means of \"joy\" and \"distress\" before and after presenting the scenario. Moreover, regression analysis shows significant effects of the smileys on the changes of \"joy\" (: b = 0.63, p < 0.001; : b = -0.63, p < 0.001) and \"distress\" (: b = -0.41, p < 0.001; : b = 0.41, p < 0.001). Hence, the emotional state of the receivers is affected by the smileys. This supports H1.\nDiscussion: The increasing importance of CMC in service encounters has underlined the need for further research on the interaction between customers and company representatives through computer-mediated channels such as websites, social media and e-mails. The present study addresses this issue and focuses on the use of smileys to investigate whether these representations of the facial expression are able to cause interpersonal social mechanisms like emotional contagion. The findings of the experimental study support the assumption that emotions expressed by smileys affect receivers' emotions through the process of emotional contagion. The presentation of the negative smiley leads to enhanced valence-consistent emotions (i.e. distress) and reduced valence-inconsistent emotions (i.e. joy). Furthermore, the present study documents that the effects of the negative smiley on the emotions of the receivers depend on the receivers' susceptibility to emotional contagion. At this, the negative smiley leads to higher changes in the emotions when the receivers have a high susceptibility to emotional contagion.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Nowadays, computer-mediated communication (CMC) is an inherent part of consumers' daily interactions. That kind of communication, however, is associated with limited options to express emotions and, thus, impairs smooth interactions. Considering these shortcomings, existing research has paid attention to the use of smileys and examines their impacts on communication. Nevertheless, little is known about the effects of smileys on the receivers' emotions as well as on the interaction between the communication partners. Against this background, the study aims to investigate the appropriateness of smileys in causing emotional contagion in CMC. That interpersonal mechanism fosters harmonic interactions and strengthens the relationship between interaction partners by sharing emotions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Field data of 1,745 females were obtained through an online experiment applying two scenarios that only differ by the use of either a positive or a negative smiley. The appropriateness of both smileys to express positive or negative emotions was pretested in a study with 18 respondents.\nFindings: The findings support the assumption that emotions expressed by smileys affect receivers' emotions through the process of emotional contagion. Furthermore, the effects of the negative smiley on the emotions of the receivers are moderated by the receivers' susceptibility to emotional contagion.\nOriginality/value: Findings contribute to current research on CMC by offering a deeper understanding of the impacts of smileys on interactions. In that way, the present study underlines the suitability of smileys to stimulate emotional contagion in a \"cueless\" environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge, knowledge dynamics, and innovation: Exploration of the internationalization of a multinational corporation	[ "Knowledge", "Diversity", "Redundancy", "Innovation", "Internationalization", "Case studies", "Multinational corporation", "Semiconductor industry", "Cumulative knowledge", "Incremental innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Following the seminal work of Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul (1975) and Johanson and Vahlne (1977), known to have developed the Uppsala internationalization model, scholars started showing interest in internationalization four decades ago. The nature of knowledge (tacit vs explicit) has been discussed extensively in the literature on knowledge and internationalization. For instance, tacit knowledge appears to be very important in the Uppsala model (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977). More recently, Fletcher and Harris (2012) distinguished internal and objective knowledge (transformed internally) from internal and experiential knowledge (acquired through direct experience).\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Internationalization and the debates in the literature\n3. Methodology: Studying 34 important articles published in the field of internationalization, Fillis (2001) observe a large number of studies are based on only one case study. Studying internationalization longitudinally seems appropriate since internationalization is a process that occurs over time. It is important to study the process of NPD in the field of innovation management, in which NPD is considered a complex and iterative process composed on several stages (Tidd et al., 2001). Westhead et al. (2001) note that very few longitudinal studies have been conducted.\n4. The case of MNC-SC: Our \"multinational corporation in the semiconductor\" will be called \"MNC-SC\" to maintain the name of the firm anonymous. MNC-SC is a large SC firm that implemented a NPD process. The biographical narrative follows the different stages of the firm's NPD process. The company's turnover was EUR7,400M in 2014. It develops and manufactures products used in five different areas of application: communications (38 per cent), consumer (16 per cent), computer (17 per cent), automotive (15 per cent), and industrial (14 per cent). This paper focuses on a project of development of an \"integrated circuit\" (IC) for Nokia, a customer representing 20 per cent of their turnover. The biographical narrative follows the structure and various stages as specified in the project management methodology (PMM).\n5. Discussion: Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul (1975) and Johanson and Vahlne (1977) 40 years ago developed the Uppsala internationalization model. Since that time, many firms went international and developed worldwide knowledge dynamics. Large firms increasingly rely on explicit knowledge as compared to tacit knowledge, which constitutes a major change since the Uppsala model.\n6. Conclusion: In this study we have examined knowledge, knowledge dynamics, and innovation in the particular case of the internationalization process undertaken by MNC-SC.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Knowledge is a strategic resource for firms and it can enable them to achieve competitive advantage. Large companies engaged in internationalization pay particular attention to knowledge as a source of innovation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate current debates in the field: the first is about cumulative vs composite knowledge; the second concerns the degree of diversity and redundancy in knowledge-based dynamics; and the third debate is about incremental vs radical innovation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors have used an inductive approach to perform a longitudinal case study of multinational corporation-semiconductor (MNC-SC). Total of 13 interviews were conducted over a four-year period. The MNC-SC case study has given the opportunity to analyse knowledge resources, knowledge, and innovation processes in a context of internationalization.\nFindings: The findings indicate that in order to achieve technological innovation in a context of internationalization, the company builds knowledge in a cumulative fashion, which can create a path dependency problem. To ensure complementarity between cross-functional teams located long distances from one another, and maximize the utilization of resources, MNC-SC must establish common standards. To maximize returns from composite knowledge, in a context of internationalization, knowledge diversity is preferable over redundancy. However, true knowledge transfer, sharing, and learning are limited. Combinatorial and incremental innovation through internationalization is a process based on trial and error; it maximizes technological performance and enables the company to fulfil needs without diverging from the technological trajectory of the SC industry.\nOriginality/value: The internationalization process revealed limitations: limited understanding of the content of each knowledge module, competency traps, limited innovativeness, and therefore limited wealth creation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Quality management challenges in a dynamic reality of mergers, acquisitions and global expansion	[ "Globalization", "Multinational organizations", "Mergers and acquisitions (M&A)", "Global quality management (GQM)", "Global value", "Quality management system (QMS)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Globalization changes the operational environmental structure and creates a system of processes and products that cross-borders and states. Changes in the international regulatory environment, especially in the areas of information technology and communication, and economic growth in most regions of the world are driving many companies to go global in order to remain competitive (Caiazza and Volpe, 2015). Global expansion beyond the local system and into other geographical sites gives rise to an international operations system - an array of products and processes at disparate sites that exhibit varying dependence relations. Varied relatedness and mutual relational levels develop between the operational units or the different businesses.\n2. Literature review: Businesses in the twenty-first century operate in an increasingly complex global environment. The global reality and its defining characteristics highlight the need to change the way quality management is perceived and implemented, given the increasing complexity and the large number of mutual relationships between the production, product, services and network processes (Srinivasan and Kurey, 2014). Sitnikov and Giurca Vasilescu (2008) note that in international companies, the focus of management processes shifts from internal factors to external factors.\n3. Methodology: This paper is based on the results of a study - quality management in global organizations - performed in the department of statistics at Haifa University between the years 2012-2015. The primary goal of the study was to characterize the development and challenges of the global quality system, as one of the functional systems in a complex multinational company with multiple interfaces and interactions, working in a dynamic, ever changing, competitive market. Beyond the classical issues of local operations, global operations raise new dilemmas related to the distribution of production, purchasing, marketing and management units worldwide that also impact the QMS. The study involved intensive field research among 18 international that brought out the voices of local and global managers and quality managers that deal with the daily management responsibilities of GQM and risk reduction in the complex and interrelated chain of processes, suppliers and customers. This study also draws on those in depth interviews.\n4. Results: Needs and challenges of both the parent corporation and the subsidiary, as they relate to quality management, were identified. These two perspectives are explored in depth in the Subsections 4.1 and 4.2, and included typical direct quotes from the interviews that serve to illustrate the challenges.\n5. Discussion: The challenges that are identified in our study have clear consequences. Failure to address them can result in damage to the organization and its competitiveness within the global market. On an organizational level, failure to include input from quality managers in strategic decisions regarding global expansion means that there is no functional support of the QMS for M&A. A consequence of the lack of coordination between the different QMSs within the organizational structure and between the local and corporate quality systems is the loss of the value added by aggregate quality management. Such an environment makes it difficult to coordinate local and global operations, and hinders the development of a coherent global identity.\n6. Conclusion and directions for future research: The systemic analysis of the network topology of the operational and marketing systems represents a multi-dimensional flexible structure that emphasizes the importance of the relationships between units and the content exchanged as part of these relationships. The shift to a network structure is a change from a static state to a dynamic state, and thus well suited to developing a state-of-the-art model for managing global quality, a model where the quality system is proactive, well rooted in strategic moves, and at the heart of global management. Better understanding of the network structure can be a useful tool for identifying the diverse requirements of the quality system, requirements that must be met via the creation of an appropriate quality strategy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the challenges facing the quality management system (QMS) of parent and subsidiary companies within the dynamics of multinational mergers, acquisitions and strategic partnerships, and to present guidelines for developing a global quality strategy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The quality systems of 18 multinational companies at different stages of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) processes and different global expansion levels were studied in depth using observations, content analyses and interviews with CEOs and operational and quality managers in parent or subsidiary companies.\nFindings: As part of the M&A process, not enough consideration is given to the functional aspects and challenges facing the QMS of subsidiaries, and to the integration of the subsidiary QMS into the corporate QMS. The findings highlight the strategic role of the parent company in creating a corporate QMS and developing a corresponding global quality strategy.\nPractical implications: The classification of the challenges facing the parent and subsidiary QMS forms a diagnostic tool that supports a functional preparedness for integrating quality systems, while addressing their local needs, integrating them into the global activity of the system, and utilizing the growing integrative array of resources and capabilities to achieve global value.\nOriginality/value: While M&A is perceived as a strategic topic, it has direct impact on the QMS. This study outlines a necessary conjoining of quality management and strategy, which is the key to global quality management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Integrating perspectives: proposal for the analysis of work as a multifaceted phenomenon	[ "Labour", "Meaning of labour", "Sense of labour", "Labour perspectives", "Labour trajectories" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The authors from different theoretical lines agree on one point: work is crucial in society. According to Mercure and Spurk (2005, p. 7), \"work can never be ignored for its presence, its strength and the space it occupies.\" We could also quote Mow (1987) and Morin (2001) in a functionalist and managerial perspective and the authors like Antunes (2002a), Dejours (2004), and Cattani and Holzmann (2011) in a critical and non-functionalist perspective.\n2. The different meanings attributed to work: Problematizing the theme \"work\" from eight different perspectives leads to a ground of historical analysis, provided it follows relevant social changes. It is necessary to rescue several authors to understand those multiple perspectives, as well as to elaborate a synthesized plan. However, the already-consolidated discussion on the work process in different production models or the consequent passage from Fordism to post-Fordism has been avoided. The focus relied on the theoretical discussion about work nowadays, once the subjects investigated live it currently. Thus, the theoretical review goes from authors who studied the themes after the productive restructuring of the 1990s, the consolidation of the so-called \"post-Fordist\" production and work model, and characteristic of a globalized and flexible society.\n3. Methodological procedures: This study was conducted using a predominantly quantitative approach and was characterized as an exploratory survey. On the decisions relating to the study, it is important to highlight the search for respondents with diverse backgrounds, i.e., people from different backgrounds, cultures, ages and professions. The works published about senses and meanings of work, as a rule, have focused on certain professions and careers, a fact which limits perspectives and interpretations of the phenomenon.\n4. Data presentation and analysis: 4.1 Sample characterization\n5. Conclusions and recommendations: From the analysis of the data collectively collected, it was realized that work cannot be seen from a single perspective, but it must be seen in its multifaceted character and sense. The application of a survey was important to analyze that several perspectives, as well as to give the respondents, through alternative answers on the several items, an extension of the ways to understand the sense of work.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the phenomenon of work from eight different and subsidiary perspectives: physiological, cultural, spiritual, ideological, economic, political, legal and psychosocial.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is based on an exploratory quantitative survey with a probability sample composed of 407 cases. The bibliographic review resulted from several readings about the phenomenon of work and the impacts arising from these different perspectives.\nFindings: The analysis of the data collected confirmed that the meaning and the sense of work are multifaceted. The authors also found that work is an important source of reflection and learning in people's life. The research instrument promoted thinking and analysis of the participants' careers. The research process resulted in mutual and interactive learning of investigators and investigation.\nResearch limitations/implications: The data collection came from a single source: a written questionnaire. This limits the scope of the data and raises interpretative discussion concerning the contents of the answers. For future reference, the authors suggest to complement it with different techniques of data collection, associating qualitative and quantitative approaches.\nPractical implications: The main contributions of the paper are, on the one hand, the effort of synthetizing and recording eight different categories of analysis of the multiple and possible meanings of work, which were elaborated using the available literature, and on the other hand, to understand and analyze those categories using the perception of a numerically meaningful sample of the public, coming from different backgrounds.\nSocial implications: The purpose of this paper is to propose a guideline for future studies so that they could choose with increased awareness the initial perspectives at the basis of the analyses. This study could encourage continuity and provide greater incentives on this increasingly relevant subject.\nOriginality/value: After analyzing the data, it was acknowledged that work cannot be seen from a single perspective, but it must be viewed in its multifaceted character and sense. The published material on the meanings of work usually focuses on specific professions and careers, the authors argue that this fact limits the scope of perspectives and interpretations of the phenomenon.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

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